Recent Reviews
Fiction: ‘Under the Wide and Starry Sky,’ by Nancy Horan
From the author of “Loving Frank,” a novel about the marriage of Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny.
Ping pong in the service of world peace
‘Ping-Pong Diplomacy’ is the story of how the Chinese used table tennis as the a tool for Communist propaganda
The marriage of Pat and Richard Nixon
‘Pat and Dick’ reveals a little more of a marriage that has interested and puzzled this country for a long time
Unexpected ways creatures populate corners of the earth
“The Monkey’s Voyage” explains how animals took to the sea and colonized the world
Finding one’s way through the landscape and through life
Beset by “empty nest syndrome” Lynn Darling relocated to an unfinished, off-the-grid house in Vermont
‘The Parthenon Enigma,’ by Joan Breton Connelly
The grand frieze on the exterior colonnade of the temple doesn’t mean what you think it does.
Carl Phillips coming to the Hill Center Poetry Series
An in-depth conversation at the beautifully restored Old Naval Hospital on Feb. 6.
Fiction review: ‘What We’ve Lost Is Nothing’
In journalist Rachel Louise Snyder’s novel, break-ins rock a suburb already tense with racial divisions
How the FBI’s surveillance empire collapsed
Betty Medsger’s “The Burglary” is the tale of eight activists who stole files and brought the FBI’s spying to light.
‘Egyptomania,’ by Bob Brier
Readers seeking a serious history of the West’s infatuation with “the land of the pharaohs” should look elsewhere.
“What Humanists Do” — the winter issue of Daedalus
For this special issue, a range of scholars chose the books that inspire them most.
Book World: ‘Orfeo,’ by Richard Powers
A brilliant novel tells the tale of an avant-garde composer accused of bioterrorism.
Fiction: ‘The Lost Domain,’ by Alain-Fournier
The 100th anniversary of the French masterpiece, “Le Grand Meaulnes.”
‘Tales of the City’ wraps with ‘The Days of Anna Madrigal’
Forty years after “Tales of the City” began, and elderly Anna prepares to leave like a lady.
New issue of Granta: ‘Do You Remember’
An essay about South Africa by Jonny Steinberg and a story about dying by David Gates are among the highlights of the winter issue.
Fiction: ‘The Kept,’ by James Scott
A boy and his mom set out to find the men who murdered their family in James Scott’s powerful debut novel.
Book World: ‘Careless People’ by Sarah Churchwell
A history of 1922 as it was lived by the Fitzgeralds and their circle, as well as by the cast of “The Great Gatsby.”
How new technologies will drive an economic growth spurt
‘The Second Machine Age,’ by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee.
The rise and decline of D.C.’s Dunbar High School
“First Class” looks at the rise and fall of Dunbar, the nation’s first public high school for African Americans.
An unsolved mystery from World War II
Did a Japanese war criminal fake insanity to escape the executioner’s noose?
An American eats her way through France
Ann Mah’s “Mastering the Art of French Eating” is her culinary exploration of French food.
Hilary Mantel to publish ‘The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher’
Collection of short stories is expected to appear in September.
How a lawyer grapples with life and death issues
David Dow represents Texas death row inmates, mediates on mortality and the state’s willingness to kill
Review: ‘I’ll Take You There,’ by Greg Kot
Gret Kot tells the story of Mavis Staples and her family’s road to pop stardom and civil rights activism.
Women of scandal, shock and awe — long before Miley
In “Flappers,” Judith Mackrell profiles six iconoclastic women who made the 1920s sizzle.
‘The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles,’ by Katherine Pancol
When her husband absconds to Kenya to raise crocs, poor Jo must find a quick way to make money.
Fiction: ‘The Conductor and Other Tales,’ by Jean Ferry
These very short stories may remind you of Italo Calvino or Steven Millhauser at their most beguiling.
Decades later, ‘Polly’ comics still tickle the funny bone
REVIEW | Book gives sophisticated cartoonist Cliff Sterrett his due.
Fiction: ‘Perfect,’ by Rachel Joyce
A thoughtful new novel by the author of “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.”
Fiction: ‘Andrew’s Brain,’ by E.L. Doctorow
REVIEW | The rambling testimony of a depressed scientist presents a puzzle that’s not worth solving.
‘The Way of All Fish,’ by Martha Grimes
The delightfully goofy sequel to Grimes’s satire of publishing, “Foul Matter”
Thriller: ‘The Last Dead Girl,’ by Harry Dolan
This is dark material, yet Dolan balances it with his portrayal of a world much like the one we know.
How our bodies are ill-adapted to 21st-century life
Daniel E. Lieberman discusses the impact of natural selection and the dynamics of evolution on our bodies.
Authors and alcoholism
In “The Trip to Echo Spring,” Olivia Laing looks at six American authors and their boozing ways.
How society makes people fat
Deborah Cohen doesn’t blame fat people for their obesity but rather the “obesogenic environment” around us.
Fiction: ‘The Pagan Lord,’ by Bernard Cornwell
This is the seventh installment of the exciting Saxon Tales series about the creation of England.
Dark tales from deep within the CIA
In “Company Man,” John Rizzo describes his long career, including his role in interrogation policy.
Review: ‘Mozart,’ by Paul Johnson
The great composer’s life was not so tragic — or debt-ridden — as we’ve been led to believe, historian writes.
Amiri Baraka, poet and firebrand, dies at 79
The writer, once known as LeRoi Jones, was a provocative voice of the Black Arts movement of the 1960s.
Washington Post Bestsellers Jan. 19
The books Washington has been reading.
Washington: From cover to cover
From novels to history to cooking and ghost stories, Post editors and critics offer introduction to capital.
Book World: ‘Orfeo,’ by Richard Powers
A brilliant novel tells the tale of an avant-garde composer accused of bioterrorism.
Fiction: ‘Andrew’s Brain,’ by E.L. Doctorow
REVIEW | The rambling testimony of a depressed scientist presents a puzzle that’s not worth solving.
National Book Festival to move indoors this year
After 12 years on the Mall, the Library of Congress event is moving to the D.C. convention center.
‘Egyptomania,’ by Bob Brier
Readers seeking a serious history of the West’s infatuation with “the land of the pharaohs” should look elsewhere.
Fiction: ‘The Conductor and Other Tales,’ by Jean Ferry
These very short stories may remind you of Italo Calvino or Steven Millhauser at their most beguiling.
Swift’s brilliance, shining through his life’s mysteries
Swift’s writing is pervasively ironic, but in a new biography it sometimes it seems his life is, too.
The marriage of Pat and Richard Nixon
‘Pat and Dick’ reveals a little more of a marriage that has interested and puzzled this country for a long time
Coming of age in Flyover Country
The writer Diane Johnson recounts her Midwest childhood in the 1940s and ‘50s
Authors and alcoholism
In “The Trip to Echo Spring,” Olivia Laing looks at six American authors and their boozing ways.
Literary Calendar
Going Out Guide: Upcoming events
Get the latest on readings, signings and author appearances in the D.C. area.
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Actor Dean McDermott enters rehab
