Poet and Guggenheim Fellow Mary Karr recounts her descent into alcoholism and her relationship with her mother, her family, and her faith.
Archive | Books 100
The Books 100 list was written in 2009 and 2010. It is not currently being updated.
2“Lark and Termite”
Jayne Anne Phillips’ novel “Lark and Termite” entrances readers with its distinct, sensual descriptions and unfamiliar characters.
3“Await Your Reply”
The construction and embodiment of identity is assiduously scrutinized by Dan Chaon in his new novel “Await Your Reply.”
4“Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned”
Wells Tower delves into the lives of fathers, sons, brothers, and ex-husbands struggling to love and survive in the depths of Wild America.
5“Wolf Hall”
In “Wolf Hall,” Hilary Mantel tackles a larger-than-life character that has been exonerated, bashed, recast, and recycled for centuries: Henry VIII.
6“In Other Rooms, Other Wonders”
Short story collection “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” puts the triumphs and tragedies of Pakistani life on center stage
7“Cheever: A Life”
Blake Bailey provides detailed personal insight into the simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary life of author John Cheever
8“Love and Obstacles”
In his collection of short stories “Love and Obstacles,” Aleksander Hemon renders lost youth and an extinct Sarajevo without oppressive nostalgia.
9“Just Kids”
In “Just Kids,” punk queen Patti Smith reveals the nuances of her creative relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in 1970s bohemian New York.
10“The Tyranny of Email”
We’re obsessed with email, and John Freeman tackles this obsession in a thought-provoking work of social commentary.