Review by New York Times Review
CHOKEHOLD: Policing Black Men, by Paul Butler. (New Press, $26.95.) A law professor and former federal prosecutor argues in this readable and provocative book that releasing prisoners who are not dangerous would free up resources to combat the segregated poverty that underlies our criminal justice system. LESS, by Andrew Sean Greer. (Lee Boudreaux/Little, Brown, $26.) On the eve of his 50 th birthday and a former lover's wedding, a mediocre novelist takes refuge in literary invitations that enable him to travel around the world. The novel is smart, humane and laugh-out-loud funny. THE RETREAT OF WESTERN LIBERALISM, by Edward Luce. (Atlantic Monthly, $24.) Luce, a columnist for The Financial Times, employs fluid prose and telling statistics to argue that the tradition of liberty and democracy, and by extension the open international and economic system that has characterized the Western world since 1945, is under mortal threat. THE ANSWERS, by Catherine Lacey. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26.) Funny, eerie and idea-dense, Lacey's novel features a woman hired by a team of researchers to perform the transactions that make up a romantic relationship for a famous actor. She is "Emotional Girlfriend," bound to affirm his opinions and text him often. WHO IS RICH?, by Matthew Klam. Illustrated by John Cuneo. (Random House, $27.) The protagonist of this challenging novel, a middle-aged illustrator, is a conflicted adulterer. Klam agilely balances an existentially tragic story line with morbid humor and self-assured prose. LIGHTS ON, RATS OUT: A Memoir, by Cree LeFavour. (Grove, $25.) This gritty account of a woman's struggle with self-abuse describes nearly gothic suffering. It is also a love story about a dedicated and gifted analyst and his difficult but equally gifted patient. Courageous and unsettling, LeFavour's memoir is infused with humor and wry insight as well as pain. THE LAST LAUGH, by Lynn Freed. (Sarah Crichton/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $25.) Three friends, nearing 70, decide to spend a year in Greece in this darkly, mordantly funny novel. There they encounter sexy locals and their angry wives, while people from their pasts keep turning up. HOUSMAN COUNTRY: Into the Heart of England, by Peter Parker. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $30.) This critical biography attributes Housman's contemporary popularity to his ability to evoke a timeless countryside while England was becoming increasingly urban. THE CRIME WRITER, by Jill Dawson. (Harper Perennial, paper, $15.99.) Dawson's novel uses the life of Patricia Highsmith to probe the territory between reality and fantasy that so fascinated her. Told in both the first- and the third-person, it is full of pomo fun. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 27, 2017]
Review by New York Times Review
