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Hearing Things With Ruth Ozeki

 Her latest novel teems with voices — most of them belonging to what she might call “nonhuman persons.” By Helen Shaw
book review

You’ve Heard This One Before

 Maggie Nelson believes we react too quickly and think ungenerously. In her new book, she’s guilty of both. By Andrea Long Chu
book review

Sally Rooney in the Struggle

 Beautiful World, Where Are You is both her clearest attempt to wrestle with big ideas and her least readable novel. By Jane Hu
  1. awards
    Katie Kitamura, Lauren Groff on National Book Award for Fiction LonglistPlus three debut novels.
    By Justin Curto
  2. book review
    The Magician Resists the Shallow Gestures of the Hollywood BiopicColm Tóibín’s new novel about Thomas Mann reaches for depths in its subject that mainstream film wouldn’t bother with.
    By Rumaan Alam
  3. profile
    Hearing Things With Ruth OzekiHer latest novel teems with voices — most of them belonging to what she might call “nonhuman persons.”
    By Helen Shaw
  4. books
    Patricia Lockwood Makes the 2021 Booker Prize ShortlistNo One Is Talking About This is up against works by Damon Galgut, Maggie Shipstead, and more.
    By Zoe Haylock
  5. read like the wind
    Matrix and 9 Other Reads I Can’t Get Out of My HeadEnjoy tales of angsty Irish lovers, computer repair, and radical nuns.
    By Molly Young
  7. best of 2021
    The Best Romance Novels of 2021 (So Far)Featuring enemies-to-lovers, office romances, and — of course — lots of Happily Ever Afters.
    By Carly Lane
  8. one grand books
    Michaela Coel’s 10 Favorite BooksBreakfast of Champions, Society Within, The Book of Eels, and more.
    By Michaela Coel
  9. book review
    You’ve Heard This One BeforeMaggie Nelson believes we react too quickly and think ungenerously. In her new book, she’s guilty of both.
    By Andrea Long Chu
  10. best of 2021
    The Best Books of the Year (So Far)Including bangers from Alexandra Kleeman, Akwaeke Emezi, Frances Wilson, and others.
    By Hillary Kelly
  11. book review
    Sally Rooney in the StruggleBeautiful World, Where Are You is both her clearest attempt to wrestle with big ideas and her least readable novel.
    By Jane Hu
  12. well read
    Close Reading the Reads of The ChairFrom Chaucer to The Family of Man, every book in the Netflix series tells its own story.
    By Roxanne Fequiere
  13. fall preview 2021
    The Party Girl’s RevengeMarlowe Granados’s debut novel, Happy Hour, is a picaresque for the glamorous and broke.
    By Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz
  14. fall preview 2021
    Knausgaard Debarks for a New Frontier: Genre FictionNorway’s most famous self-exile talks to Torrey Peters about his horror-inspired novel The Morning Star.
    By Torrey Peters
  15. fall preview 2021
    40 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This FallIncluding Sally Rooney, Colson Whitehead, Tiphanie Yanique, and, yes, Jonathan Franzen.
  16. book excerpt
    ‘Never Call Me Your Drummer Again’The full story of the time Charlie Watts punched Mick Jagger, excerpted from Sympathy for the Drummer.
    By Mike Edison
  17. vulture lists
    7 Great Audiobooks to Listen to This MonthStephen King, Sarah Ferguson, Andrea Bartz, and more.
    By Marshall Heyman
  18. fact vs fiction
    What Do Fiction Writers Owe Their IRL Inspiration?Cat Person and Stillwater constantly betray their main characters. It’s what makes them interesting.
    By Alice Bolin
  19. books
    The Spine CollectorFor five years, a mysterious figure has been stealing books before their release. Is it espionage? Revenge? A trap? Or a complete waste of time?
    By Reeves Wiedeman
  20. literature
    Dolly Parton Is Writing Her First Novel Run, Rose, Run With James PattersonAnd it comes with a companion album, y’all.
    By Zoe Haylock
  21. bad monkey
    Bill Lawrence’s Ted Lasso Follow-up Is a Show About Vince Vaughn in FloridaBad Monkey is based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel, and you better believe there’s an actual monkey in it.
    By Rebecca Alter
  22. chat room
    Cecily Strong Feels Good Whether or Not She Returns to SNL“I would love to go back; I would also love to have that be my end.”
    By Rebecca Alter
  23. The Best Comedy Books of 2021 (So Far)Featuring a history of the Twin Cities comedy scene and Quinta Brunson’s debut.
    By Brian Boone
  24. read like the wind
    The Listening House and 9 Other Reads I Can’t Get Out of My HeadBuoy yourself through the dog days with tales of intrigue and minutiae.
    By Molly Young
  25. tv development
    Colson Whitehead’s Sag Harbor in Development at HBO MaxThe Underground Railroad effect.
    By Zoe Haylock
  26. scary stories
    Netflix’s Cinematic, Blood-Soaked Fear Street ExperimentHow a horror trilogy meant for theaters survived the pandemic-era streaming shake-up.
    By Isaac Feldberg
  27. book review
    Magma Lucidly Captures the Magical Thinking of a Coercive RelationshipWe see a young woman increasingly substituting an abuser’s logic for her own, and we see the ways that such a substitution damages her.
    By Brandon Taylor
  28. memoirs
    Mel Brooks Wrote a Memoir at 95All About Me: My Remarkable Life in Show Business is out November 30.
    By Rebecca Alter
  29. profile
    Anthony Veasna So Knew He Was a StarWhen the author died at 28, he was on the cusp of literary fame. Everyone remembers him differently.
    By E. Alex Jung
  30. book review
    Alexandra Kleeman Writes a Neo-Noir About an Even Thirstier HollywoodIn her novel Something New Under the Sun, Alexandra Kleeman writes a water war as disturbing as it is absurd.
    By Jennifer Wilson
  31. booker prize
    Booker Prize Announces 2021 LonglistSee the full longlist here.
    By Cydney Lee
  32. underrated
    Revisiting Adam Resnick’s Brilliant 2014 Memoir With Tom Scharpling“It’s just the funniest book I’ve ever read.”
    By Ian Goldstein
  33. trailer mix
    Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen Are Turning Their Libcast Into LiblitThe news arrived alongside a trailer showing Obama test-driving one of Springsteen’s convertibles.
    By Justin Curto
  34. vulture lists
    7 Great Audiobooks to Listen to This MonthDanny Trejo, Maggie Smith, Quentin Tarantino, and more.
    By Marshall Heyman
  35. keeping up with the ex-royals
    God Save the Queen After She Finds Out About Prince Harry’s Tell-All Memoir“I’m writing this not as the prince but as the man I have become.”
    By Devon Ivie
  36. movie review
    Maybe Netflix’s Fear Street Should Have Just Been a TV ShowThe delightfully nasty Fear Street exists in this strange space between movies and television, serving neither format well.
    By Alison Willmore
  37. casting couch
    Robert Downey Jr. to Pivot From Hero to Villain in HBO The Sympathizer SeriesHis first major role since Avengers: Endgame is also his first full TV series.
    By Justin Curto
  38. book excerpt
    My Afternoon With Papa RoachAn excerpt from Tom Scharpling’s new memoir, It Never Ends.
    By Tom Scharpling
  39. encounter
    The Untidy Tales of Katie KitamuraHer hypnotic new novel asks: What happens when your main character is a passive witness to her own life?
    By Molly Young
  40. respect the classics
    Robby Krieger Wants You to Read His Doors Memoir Two Times, BabyOpen it.
    By Devon Ivie
  41. adaptations
    Kumail Nanjiani to Relive Chaos of Past Few Years in Homeland Elegies AdaptationAyad Akhtar is adapting his 2020 novel as an FX limited series.
    By Justin Curto
  42. read like the wind
    The Plot and 8 Other Reads I Can’t Get Out of My HeadHit the beach with a paranoid plagiarist, your best friend’s diary, and “a 17th-century female version of Larry David.”
    By Molly Young
  43. best of 2021
    The Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Year (So Far)Africanfuturism, Norse mythology, and trans dystopia.
    By Sadie Gennis
  44. the great british chatting show
    U.S. vs. U.K.? An Anglophile and an America Fanboy DebatePodcast host Roger Bennett has written a new memoir, Reborn in the USA, detailing his youthful fascination with all things American.
    By Nate Jones
  45. vulture lists
    8 Funny Books, Recommended by 8 Funny ComediansFeaturing picks by Ziwe Fumudoh, Meg Stalter, Karen Chee, and more.
    By Sarah Moroz
  46. one grand books
    François Ozon’s 10 Favorite BooksForbidden Colors, Wuthering Heights, Time Regained, and more.
    By François Ozon
  47. book excerpt
    Kobe and Gigi, Forever CourtsideInside the Nets game that produced a father-daughter moment seen round the internet.
    By Matt Sullivan
  48. last night on late night
    Bill Maher Reacts to Quentin Tarantino’s Novel, Says He Should Make More MoviesNot the producer of, uh, Religulous trying to give Quentin Tarantino film-career advice!
    By Rebecca Alter
  49. book excerpt
    The Meet-Cute That Made WrestleManiaHow a ponderous wrestler and a pop star from Queens formed a friendship that started it all.
    By Jon Wertheim
  50. chat room
    Rita Moreno Talks Bitterness, Anger, and Loving Show Business AnywayAlong the way, the legendary West Side Story actress credits Marlon Brando with getting her into therapy.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  51. suck it
    Grab Your Crucifix Recorders, Interview With the Vampire Gets Adapted for AMCThe series will be Anne Rice’s first for the network.
    By Devon Ivie
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