Editor’sChoice
Invisible, by Paul Auster, $25. Adam Walker, a poetry student at Columbia in the spring of 1967, is Auster’s latest everyman, revealed in four parts through the diary entries of a onetime admirer, the confessions of his once-close friend, the denials of his sister and Walker’s own self-made frame. Publishers Weekly
FICTION
The Creed of Violence, by Boston Teran, $25. Teran’s cinematic fifth novel portrays the 1910 Mexican revolution via the gunsights of an unlikely duo: Rawbone, a hardened smalltime assassin, and John Lourdes, a Bureau of Investigation agent. The two are thrown together when Rawbone is caught smuggling munitions from Texas into Mexico and Rawbone’s lawyer arranges a deal: immunity in exchange for Rawbone sharing his criminal intel. Publishers Weekly
Ancestors and Others: New and Selected Stories, by Fred Chappell, $27.99. Chappell’s newest culls from a productive career; the result, a broad, richly textured anthology that exquisitely captures the author’s contribution to Southern literature. Chappell’s evocative prose surprises with the quiet power of its descriptions. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Paul McCartney: A Life, by Peter Ames Carlin, $26. McCartney emerges from Carlin’s admiring biography as a brilliant musician who provided the creative direction for the Beatles, who taught John Lennon how to play guitar and who continues to create musical challenges for himself even now, when he’s moving past 64. Publishers Weekly
Beyond America’s Grasp: A Century of Failed Diplomacy in the Middle East, by Stephen P. Cohen, $27. The director of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development fashions a big-picture overview of the long-teetering relationship between America and the Arab nations. Both hectoring and wise, this historical blueprint makes a powerful argument for building mutual respect in the region. Kirkus
Something in the Air: American Passion and Defiance in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, by Richard Hoffer, $26. Hoffer chronicles the racially charged 1968 Olympics. Even if the event hadn’t taken place during one of the most turbulent and revolutionary decades of the 20th century, the Mexico City Summer Games would have stood out as unique. Kirkus
PAPERBACKS
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke, $15.99. A reader more distractible than I am might yawn for 300 pages running and still discover several book-length stretches to enjoy. I never yawned. Clarke’s imagination is prodigious, her pacing is masterly and she knows how to employ dry humor in the service of majesty. The New York Times
The Book of Illusions, by Paul Auster, $5. David Zimmer, an English professor in Vermont, is trying to rebuild his life — after his family perishes in an airplane crash — by researching the work of Hector Mann, a minor figure from the era of silent movies, in this enigmatic, elliptical 10th novel, one of Auster’s best. Publishers Weekly
Brothers in Arms: The Kennedys, the Castros and the Politics of Murder, by Gus Russo and Stephen Molton, $15. Two investigative journalists recount the dangerous political duel between the brothers Kennedy and Fidel Castro. A serious, intriguing look at the blood feud whose horrible consequences continue to reverberate.
COMING UP
The Burning Land, by Bernard Cornwell, $25.99. Another chapter in the author’s fictional Saxon Tales. (January)
