Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“The Lost Sons of Omaha,” “Natural Light,” “A History of Burning,” and “The Book of Eve.”

How Thomas Lanier Williams Became Tennessee

A collection of previously unpublished stories offers a portrait of the playwright as a young artist.

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“The Great Displacement,” “The Half Known Life,” “Big Swiss,” and “Age of Vice.”

Maylis de Kerangal, the Novelist Watching Us Work

For more than twenty years, Maylis de Kerangal has been writing strange, singular books that turn the worlds of our jobs into art.

What Conversation Can Do for Us

Our culture is dominated by efforts to score points and win arguments. But do we really talk anymore?

How America Manufactures Poverty

The sociologist Matthew Desmond identifies specific practices and policies that consign tens of millions to destitution.

Eleanor Catton Wants Plot to Matter Again

In “Birnam Wood,” the novelist suggests that choices—how they’re made, and the long, hidden trail of their consequences—are what lend a story meaning.

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“Palo Alto,” “Life on Delay,” “The Sun Walks Down,” and “Collected Works.”

Why We Never Have Enough Time

In her new book, Jenny Odell argues that structural forces have commodified our moments, days, and years. Can our lost time be reclaimed?

Is Artificial Light Poisoning the Planet?

A Swedish ecologist argues that its ubiquity is wrecking our habitats—and our health.

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“This Other Eden,” “Daughter in Exile,” “Young Bloomsbury,” and “Morgenthau.”

A Novel That Confronts Our True-Crime Obsession

In “I Have Some Questions for You,” Rebecca Makkai depicts the charms of the murder podcast while evading its flaws.

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“Master Slave Husband Wife,” “How Far the Light Reaches,” “After Sappho,” “Cursed Bunny.”

Daughters Outgrow Their Parents in Two Unsparing Novels

The fiction of Gwendoline Riley ruthlessly depicts the fragile tedium of broken people who are desperate to be normal.

A Biography of the Wife of Bath, Reviewed

The Wife of Bath, one of the most beloved characters in English literature, asked provocative questions: Why shouldn’t widows remarry? Why must we procreate?

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“Pirate Enlightenment,” “The Scythian Empire,” “The Sense of Wonder,” and “The Guest Lecture.”

What’s the Matter with Men?

They’re floundering at school and in the workplace. Some conservatives blame a crisis of masculinity, but the problems—and their solutions—are far more complex.

What Monks Can Teach Us About Paying Attention

Lessons from a centuries-long war against distraction.

Briefly Noted Book Reviews

“Forbidden Notebook,” “This Afterlife,” “Hatching,” and “The Lion House.”

Has Academia Ruined Literary Criticism?

Literature departments seem to provide a haven for studying books, but they may have painted themselves into a corner.