Wise-guy social critic Walter Kirn goes on the road in America in his new novel, “Mission to America,” while Stephen Hawking does a rewrite to his best-selling former work in “A Briefer History of Time.” In paperbacks, look for the wacky story of a man who reads an encyclopedia from front to back in “The Know-It-All.” Look for Greg Iles to bring back the hero of his “The Quiet Game” in a new novel called “Turning Angel,” out in December.
FICTION
“Mission to America,” by Walter Kirn, Doubleday, 271 pages, $23.95|Social critic Kirn turns to the novel to take on an overstimulated America in this satiric story about a group of people visiting the country by van.
“The Year the Music Changed,” by Diane Thomas, Toby, 244 pages, $22.95|In this fanciful debut novel, the king of rock music, Elvis Presley, exchanges letters with a 14-year-
old girl.
“Missing Mom,” by Joyce Carol Oates, Ecco, 434 pages, $25.95|
The prolific Oates tells the story of two sisters who must come to terms with the unexpected and untimely death of their mother.
NONFICTION
“A Briefer History of Time,” by Stephen Hawking, Bantam, 176 pages, $25|Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” became a best seller despite its density. Here is the book without the lengthy and complex explanations about such subjects as the origin of the universe and the nature of space and time.
“Restless Giant: The United States From Watergate to Bush v. Gore,” by James T. Patterson, Oxford, 448 pages, $35|In the final volume of the Oxford History of the United States, the Bancroft-winning author offers his take on these turbulent times.
“Harvey Cushing: A Life in Surgery,” by Michael Bliss, Oxford, 591 pages, $40|This is the first biography in 50 years of a man known as “the father of modern neurosurgery” and uses new collections of personal and family papers, diaries and patient records to tell his story.
PAPERBACKS
“The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World,” by A.J. Jacobs, Simon & Schuster, 388 pages, $14|The humorous story of a National Public Radio contributor’s quest to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.
“Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2,” by Annie Proulx, Scribner, 219 pages, $14|In this sequel to “Close Range,” Proulx uses the terrain the rough people who live in it to tell her stories.
“Magical Thinking: True Stories,” by Augusten Burroughs, Picador, 281 pages, $14|From the author of “Running With Scissors,” here are stories that asks questions all of us would like answered but are reluctant to ask.
COMING UP
“Turning Angel,” by Greg Iles, Scribner, pages, $25.95, December|Penn Cage, the hero of thriller writer Iles’ best book, “The Quiet Game,” returns in this story of two old friends who are thrown together again when a violent crime turns a community upside down.
“Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays,” by David Foster Wallace, Little, Brown, 384 pages, $25.95, December|In this eclectic collection, the author of “Infinite Jest” looks at the latest presidential election, attends a lobster festival in Maine and infiltrates a radio talk-jock’s show, among other burning issues.
