Books

books

The Best Sex That Less Author Andrew Sean Greer Has Ever Read

 “Instead of thinking, How will I describe a penis?, you think, What else is sex? What else will bring it alive to people?” By Andrew Sean Greer and Isle McElroy
book review

When Grief Returns Again, and Again, and Again …

 In her time-looping novel The Furrows, Namwali Serpell’s deft use of repetition makes the plot feel dynamic even as she retells the same story. By Mary Retta
rhojf

The Real Housewives of Jonathan Franzen

 In suburbia, the plight of Franzen’s housewives is of a piece with their entrapment. By Rafaela Bassili
  1. biographies
    Asia Argento Reacts to the Unauthorized Anthony Bourdain BiographyShe posted a picture with her last words to Bourdain: “Stop busting my balls.”
    By Zoe Guy
  2. at home in asian america
    Cathy Park Hong, the Poet PunditHer book Minor Feelings became COVID canon — and Hong became liberal America’s go-to Asian thinker.
    By Clio Chang
  3. at home in asian america
    The Mixed MetaphorWhy does the half-Asian, half-white protagonist make us so anxious?
    By Andrea Long Chu
  4. snape’s snipes
    Alan Rickman’s Decades-Old Diaries Are Still Hot GossSnippets of Snape’s snipes.
    By Rebecca Alter
  5. fire and blood
    Who’s Who in Westeros: A House of the Dragon Character GuideKeeping up with the Targaryens after episode six.
    By Sean T. Collins
  7. ex-wife guy
    Jesse Eisenberg Summons Divorced-Man Energy for Fleishman Is in TroubleClaire Danes and Lizzy Caplan co-star in the upcoming FX limited series.
    By Zoe Guy
  8. harris’s foam book
    Comedy Bang! Bang! Podcast to Perform in Character As a BookComing April 2023 wherever you find books (not podcasts).
    By Hershal Pandya
  9. magical thinking
    The Media Remembers Joan DidionHer New York memorial service focused on her body of work with the more personal bits out of frame.
    By Erin Schwartz
  10. essential reading
    7 Essential Marilyn Monroe Books to Read After Watching BlondeThe Netflix film is based on Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel.
    By Nathan Smith
  11. rip
    Hilary Mantel, Decorated Wolf Hall Author, Dead at 70She won the Booker Prize twice for her celebrated historical series.
    By Zoe Guy
  12. a long talk
    Hilary Mantel Thinks the Last Book Is Her Best“I’ve always been very ambitious. But it’s more in my own terms than in other people’s terms.”
    By Hillary Kelly
  13. vulture lists
    7 Great Audiobooks to Listen to This MonthStephen King, Ian McEwan, Steve-O, and more.
    By Marshall Heyman
  14. book deals
    James Comey Trades Memoirs for a Life of Crime (Novels)Murder, he wrote.
    By Zoe Guy
  15. books
    Hua Hsu Is True to the GameHis new memoir is both a coming-of-age story and an evolutionary step for Asian American literature.
    By Ryu Spaeth
  16. awards
    National Book Award for Fiction Longlist Honors Eight Fiction DebutsWe love to see it!
    By Zoe Guy
  17. chapters
    The Day Deadwood DiedHow a single phone call and “a clash of fucking egos,” as star Ian McShane put it, led to the abrupt end of the beloved HBO series.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz and Jeremy Fassler
  18. memoirs
    Posthumous Anne Heche Memoir, Call Me Anne, Set for January 2023Heche reportedly turned in a manuscript before she died.
    By Justin Curto
  19. celeb tell-alls
    No, Selma Blair Never Sent Drew Barrymore Death ThreatsBlair says she was the victim of a poison-pen writer for years.
    By Bethy Squires
  20. respect the classics
    Uh-Oh, Jann Wenner Might Have Just Revealed a New Bruce Springsteen Album“There’s a new Bruce record coming out this fall, which is stunning,” he told Billboard.
    By Justin Curto
  21. disrespect the classics
    Ha, Jann Wenner Is Pissed About a Recent Rock Hall Induction“I hadn’t heard of a single contribution this individual made to the creative side of music. But he had accumulated influence and wealth.”
    By Devon Ivie
  22. remembrances
    This Time Tomorrow, TodayEmma Straub remembers her father, horror icon Peter Straub.
    By Emma Straub
  23. vulture recommends
    You Gotta Listen to the Heat 2 AudiobookGory prose read in a voice so low it’s almost below hearing.
    By Bethy Squires
  24. banned in ya
    John Green: Don’t Ban My Book at My Old School“It’s really upsetting for my mom.”
    By Bethy Squires
  25. vulture lists
    The Best Books of 2022 (So Far)A few novels, a transcendent memoir, and an old Greek tale to enjoy by the fire.
  26. profile
    ‘I Need to Tell You This’Kate Beaton captured the aesthetic of a late-aughts internet. Her new memoir is a monumental synthesis of politics, history, and her own life.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  27. i’m glad my mom died
    Jennette McCurdy Reads a Belittling Email From Her Mom on Red Table Talk“Love, Mom (or should I say DEB since I am no longer your mother). P.S. Send money for a new fridge. Ours broke.”
    By Zoe Guy
  28. coming soon
    The Incendiaries Novel Is Being Recruited to a New CultThe best-selling book by R.O. Kwon will become a limited television series.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  29. rip
    Supernatural Author Peter Straub Dead at 79Best known for writing Julia and Ghost Story.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  30. the booker prize
    6 Novels Are Booker Prize Shortlist FinalistsIncluding Percival Everett’s satire The Trees.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  31. books
    The Best Sex Kristen Arnett Has Ever Read“It’s extremely queer to be like, I’m deeply sad, but it’s making me horny.”
    By Kristen Arnett as told to Isle McElroy
  32. best of 2022
    The Best Comedy Books of 2022 (So Far)Featuring funny haikus, an SNL alum’s memoir, and an academic exploration of right-wing humor.
    By Brian Boone
  33. must reads
    7 New Books You Should Read This SeptemberClarice Lispector’s unpredictable newspaper columns, behind the scenes with Stokely Carmichael, tension and eroticism from Sandra Cisneros, and more.
    By J. Howard Rosier
  34. rip
    Author and Activist Barbara Ehrenreich Dead at 81Best known for her 2001 book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  35. recommendations
    8 Books to Read If You Liked The RehearsalGreat works of fiction that provide the same sort of uncanny feeling as Nathan Fielder’s inventive show.
    By Adam Dalva
  36. fall preview
    57 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This FallWith new releases from Ling Ma, Darryl Pinckney, Namwali Serpell, Cormac McCarthy, and more.
  37. fall preview
    How Gwendoline Riley Makes Words FailIn her brutally funny novels My Phantoms and First Love, conversation only makes people feel more alone.
    By Rachel Connolly
  38. books
    23 Wonderful Books Under 200 PagesHave a little time for a great read? Here’s a selection of worthwhile stories, novellas, essays, and treatises you can finish in an afternoon.
    By Maris Kreizman
  39. chapters
    ‘Omar Became a Superhero Costume I Wore to Hide From Myself’As The Wire’s breakout character, Michael K. Williams felt invincible — leaving him vulnerable to his real-life demons.
    By Matt Zoller Seitz
  40. book wars
    So Who Won the Antitrust Trial?Will it be the Big Five or the Big Four?
    By Victoria Bekiempis
  41. discourse
    You Know Holden Caulfield Isn’t Real, Right?The way a fictional character should make you feel is … however they make you feel.
    By Isle McElroy
  42. dream shows
    Cathy Yan to Adapt Live-action Paprika Series Based on Yasutaka Tsutsui’s NovelSatoshi Kon previously adapted the book into a 2006 animated film.
    By Zoe Guy
  43. so random
    The Biggest Plot Twists in the Simon & Schuster Antitrust TrialThe publishing world’s inner workings come to light.
    By Victoria Bekiempis
  44. tragedy plus time
    Jennette McCurdy Says Her Old Ariana Grande Jealousy Is ‘Comedy Gold’“To be on set at 21, where you’re just the most susceptible to jealousy … and I’m there across from a burgeoning pop star of the day.”
    By Zoe Guy
  45. here we go again
    So, Uh, What Is House of the Dragon, Anyway?A guide to the who, what, when, where, and why.
    By Nate Jones
  46. read on
    Salman Rushdie Book Sales Soar Following AttackThe Satanic Verses author has reentered best-seller lists while recovering.
    By Lincoln Michel
  47. american crisis
    Andrew Cuomo Can Keep $5 Million for COVID-19 Book, Judge RulesAfter an ethics panel previously said he had to give it up for reported improper use of state resources.
    By Justin Curto
  48. lumon+
    You Can Guess What a Book Called Talkin’ and Walken Would Be AboutOkay, but can you guess who would write it?
    By Rebecca Alter
  49. best of 2022
    The Best Horror Novels of 2022 (So Far)In the mood for some transgressive splatterpunk?
    By Emily Hughes
  50. tributes
    Padma Lakshmi ‘Relieved’ Ex-Husband Salman Rushdie Is Recovering After AttackStephen King, Neil Gaiman, and more react to the attack on Rushdie.
    By Jason P. Frank
  51. books
    Salman Rushdie Talking, Joking After StabbingHe may still lose an eye, however.
    By Bethy Squires
More Articles