You Must Read This "You Must Read This" presents conversations with writers about the books they love to read and recommend.

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You Must Read This

Writers recommend their all-time favorite books

Sunday April 14, 2013

Dreaming Of Justice: Hardscrabble Lives In Hallucinatory Prose

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Review

Dreaming Of Justice: Hardscrabble Lives In Hallucinatory Prose

April 14, 2013 • Tomás Rivera's ... And the Earth Did Not Devour Him is the account of a boy bearing witness to the injustices faced by migrant workers in the mid-20th century. Author Alex Espinoza says this book showed him that storytelling doesn't have to be private, it can be revolutionary.

Sunday April 7, 2013

Review

In A Vivid Memoir Of Life In Pakistan, A Vortex Of Tragedies

April 7, 2013 • Sara Suleri Goodyear's heartbreaking memoir, Meatless Days, describes growing up in post-colonial Pakistan with an elegiac immediacy. Author Rajesh Parameswaran says the book does justice to the way memory actually lives in the mind.

Sunday March 31, 2013

In Alice McDermott's 'Charming Billy,' Love Turns To Grief

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Review

In Alice McDermott's 'Charming Billy,' Love Turns To Grief

March 31, 2013 • In this novel about sadness and delusion, critic Harold Augenbraum says, "love ... tatters its own lovers." What's your favorite tragic novel? Tell us in the comments.

Sunday March 17, 2013

'The Quick And The Dead': Parables Of Doom And Merry Rapture

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Review

'The Quick And The Dead': Parables Of Doom And Merry Rapture

March 17, 2013 • Joy Williams' The Quick and the Dead, about three motherless girls traveling through the desert, left author Domenica Ruta with more questions than answers. Do you have a favorite book that left you confused — in a good way? Tell us in the comments.

Sunday March 10, 2013

Review

Darkness Visible: 'He Died With His Eyes Open' Is A Crime Novel Like No Other

March 10, 2013 • Derek Raymond has been called the father of British noir. But author A.L. Kennedy says He Died With His Eyes Open is a crime novel so far beyond noir that there isn't even a word for that kind of darkness. Is there a book you find deeply disturbing but still love? Tell us in the comments.

Monday February 11, 2013

On The 50th Anniversary Of Sylvia Plath's Death, A Look At Her Beginning

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Review

On The 50th Anniversary Of Sylvia Plath's Death, A Look At Her Beginning

February 11, 2013 • Poet and critic Craig Morgan Teicher says The Colossus, Plath's first book of poetry (and the only one published in her lifetime), shows us glimpses of the poet she would later become. Do you have a favorite Plath poem? Tell us in the comments.

Sunday February 10, 2013

Review

The Splendor Of Suffering In 'The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne'

February 10, 2013 • Brian Moore's The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, a book about an alcoholic looking for love, is the novel that author Ann Leary always turns to when she's depressed. What books do you read when you're sad? Tell us in the comments.

Monday January 21, 2013

Review

Urban Oases: Getting Lost in 'Invisible Cities'

January 21, 2013 • Marco Polo sits in the garden of Kublai Khan and weaves tales of spider cities, gold cities and dream cities. Author Eric Weiner explains why the best travel book he has ever read isn't about a real place. What's your favorite book about an imaginary journey? Tell us in the comments.

Sunday January 20, 2013

Opinion

Fiction Truer Than Fact: A Haunting Autobiographical Novel

January 20, 2013 • Leonard Michaels' Sylvia, an account of a violent and tumultuous love affair, began as an autobiographical essay and then grew into a novel. Author Sarah Manguso writes that despite all of its particularities, the story could really be about anyone. What are some novels that you can relate to?

Sunday January 6, 2013

Adjust Your Vision: Tolstoy's Last And Darkest Novel

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Review

Adjust Your Vision: Tolstoy's Last And Darkest Novel

January 6, 2013 • Resurrection, Tolstory's last and perhaps least-read novel, is also his most bleak. Author George Saunders writes that it opened his eyes to the plight of the disenfranchised — in Tolstoy's Russia and the modern world. What book opened your eyes to the suffering of others? Tell us in the comments.

Tuesday January 1, 2013

Review

Depression-Era Evil: Gothic Horror In A Haunted Land

January 1, 2013 • The Night of the Hunter is a much-loved film, but author Julia Keller says the book it is based on is even better — a forgotten masterpiece. Do you have a favorite book that became a movie? Tell us in the comments.

Depression-Era Evil: Gothic Horror In A Haunted Land

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Wednesday December 19, 2012

Review

War Writ Small: Of Pushcarts And Peashooters

December 19, 2012 • Jean Merrill's classic children's book The Pushcart War explores war, peace and pushcarts on the streets of New York. Author Adam Mansbach writes that the story still resonates. Do you have a favorite children's book that deals with heavy themes? Tell us in the comments.

War Writ Small: Of Pushcarts And Peashooters

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Monday December 3, 2012

Review

A Gruesome 'Sabbath': Roth's Vile, Brilliant Masterpiece

December 3, 2012 • Philip Roth recently announced that he had written his last novel. Author Matthew Specktor explains why Sabbath's Theater, released in 1995, is not only Roth's most disgusting novel but also his best. Do you have a favorite book that breaks all the rules? Tell us in the comments.

Wednesday November 28, 2012

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A Warrior's Welcome In 'Billy Lynn'

November 28, 2012 • Ben Fountain's newest book, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, takes place over the course of a single day in the life of Spc. William Lynn. Author Jonathan Evison writes that this is a book so vivid he felt like he lived it. Have you ever read a book that felt real? Tell us in the comments.

Monday November 26, 2012

Review

Strange Fruit And Stranger Dreams In The Deep South

November 26, 2012 • The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You may be more than 15,000 lines of almost entirely unpunctuated poetry, but author Steve Stern says this Southern gothic fun house is so bewitching you'll have to finish it. Do you have a favorite impossible book? Tell us in the comments.