Russell Banks has a new book out, The Lost Memory of Skin, which is shaping up to be just as good as his others. One reviewer said the theme was "This is how a good man loses his goodness" just as in some other of Banks's novels; however, to me, one of the main points is that The Kid (the protagonist of the book) is still a boy despite what the calendar says. The Kid is a registered sex offender and it's hard for me to say anything that could be seen as excusing or even rationalizing that behavior; it is true that he is the victim of a globally irresponsible and indifferent mother -- you have to wonder if she's even a mammal. Anyway he is kept from being repugnant by his total lack of self-pity, even regarding the Catch-22 situation he's in -- legally he cannot leave the county, but also he can't ever go within 2500 feet of a place where minors might be. This means one of the three places he can actually stay is the hobo camp under the causeway, which is where he is when the book opens.
I don't mean to sound like you shouldn't read the book -- EVERYONE should read this.

Tom Perrotta's new book, The Leftovers, about what happens after the Rapture. The difference is, there are no tribulations, no Antichrist, the people did just disappear into thin air, Moslems, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and assorted others, as well as Christians. It has started being called the Sudden Departure, because of this - well, he's God, he can do whatever he wants. Needless to say, some people are not happy -- one character is a minister that keeps sobbing "I should have been first in line!!" This man takes to passing out leaflets outlining the dirty secrets about the Departed he happens to know -- despicable, but there is never any shortage of takers. Mostly it's just an attempt at a realistic description/evaluation of an extraordinary situation.

New werewolf book - excellent first effort. Those Across The River by Christopher Buehlman.

For nonfiction, two memoirs I'm reading right now, Fiction Ruined My Family by Jeanne Darst, and The Adderall Diaries, by Stephen Elliot. Both are very interesting expositions of the writing life, with emphasis on the connection between literary production and alcohol/other chemical crutches, subtext on how families are affected. They both manage to tell the story without too much woe-is-me boohooing, and some interesting anecdotes.

A new writer, Kevin Wilson, has just come out with a very interesting new book -- The Family Fang. NOOOOOOO!! It's not about vampires, nothing to do with vampires, sorry to shout. (I say that a lot). The Fang family consists of Caleb and Camille Fang, performance artists, and Child A and Child B, also known as Annie and Buster, who are forced to participate in their parents' "events". There's nothing abusive or sordid, just the usual trauma kids feel when they are embarrassed by their parents -- which they always are. Anyway it's an unusual and interesting little novel.

Francine Prose has another new book, My New American Life , which is between Blue Angel and A Changed Man in quality, which of course means it is very, very good. An Albanian girl comes to America, gets a job as a "nanny" - the kid is a teenager, but his mom is off being crazy somewhere - the whole story is from her point of view. P. S. I knew John Belushi was Albanian, but Mother Theresa? Yes, she was.

Two new coming-of-age titles; First, Big Girl Small, by Rachel DeWoskin, about a female little person - a dwarf or midget as some people call them, and what happens when she transfers to an artsy up-market high school. Told in the first person and very intelligent, also full of factoids about Little People.

Next, In Zanesville, by Jo Ann Beard, also told in the first person, about two girls just entering high school in a small town, with its exquisitely tuned evaluations of money and class. As you may have guessed, the two protagonists are from the less-advantaged neighborhood. Smart and funny.

Sorry about the hiatus. It was a heck of a summer.

Anyway, I have some more good suggestions. The Pack by Jason Starr - This is kind of an unusual pick for me because I don't read fantasy a lot. It reads like a typical Yuppie novel only the protagonist becomes - and joins - a pack of werewolves (also Yuppies). Anybody that likes this will probably also like Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow, a long prose poem on the same subject.

Finally, there is The Last Werewolf , by Glen Duncan. Of course, it turns out --- you'll have to read the book.

Also, Sara Gran, the author of Come Closer and Dope, has written a new, female-detective mystery story, Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, and of course it's very, very good. The jacket copy said it was the first of a series -- hope, hope that's true.
Come Closer was a very convincing horror story - in the same league as Heart-Shaped Box. Dope was non-supernatural but well written and dark. You should read both of them and find out more.

Bathsheba Monk has written a very good novel titled Nude Walker, about (mainly) two families in a dying small American town; freaky realitives, corporate wrongdoing and a love triangle, all very well told.

Last week a man brought back former Mobile resident E. O. Wilson's book Creation : An Appeal to Save Life on Earth and told me it was the best book he'd ever read, bar none. It's in the form of a letter to a pastor from a secular humanist (himself), about the importance of preserving all the different forms of life on earth. It gave me pause a little bit to think how much my father, who died at the beginning of last month, would have liked this book. I'm not really used to his going yet I suppose, because I keep seeing things and thinking "I'll have to tell Daddy about this". Anyway, I agree, anyone that can read should read this book, just like John Hershey's Hiroshima.

Three Stages of Amazement by Carol Edgarian. VERY good modern story. Even has a big party scene in it like Edith Wharton.

Two more new books worthwhile for spring; first, Just Like a Person Without Mental Illness , by Mark Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut's son. In it he describes growing up as the son of the famous writer (be forewarned, he says his father is a better writer than Hemingway or James Joyce, a loyal son's prerogative I guess), and also growing up with his form of schizophrenia, which seems to have a genetic predisposition. Even without the connection to the author of Slaughterhouse Five it's worth reading.
Next, Sara Gruen's new book Ape House, which is if anything even better than Water For Elephants. (They're making a movie out of WFE, with somebody like Matt Damon in the lead). This story is about a primate study project like the big national one in Tennessee, I forget the name of it, and what happens when everything goes south. She doesn't skimp on characters, action, or storylines.

I'm about halfway through The Snakewoman of Little Egypt by Robert Hellegna, and its quite good. A young woman released from prison after shooting her abusive husband (she didn't kill him) receives a small inheritance from an uncle who was a custodian at a small college; she goes there, starts classes and a relationship with an anthro professor. Hellegna is a good storyteller. His book The Sixteen Pleasures was a good narrative altho a complete different story.

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon is the winner of the National Book Award this year, and deservedly so. It's a 'dark horse' (ha ha) selection concerning a little bottom-level race track and five characters that work there, over the course of a year. Even if you don't automatically read all the Nat Book winners read this one.