Books Update: 'A Widow's Story: A Memoir'

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February 18, 2011 Books Update

On the Cover of Sunday's Book Review 'A Widow's Story: A Memoir' By JOYCE CAROL OATES Reviewed by ANN HULBERT Joyce Carol Oates's memoir of her husband's death is more painfully self-revelatory than anything she dared produce as a fiction writer or critic. 'Widow: Stories' By MICHELLE LATIOLAIS Reviewed by LEAH HAGER COHEN These stories present a world wrapped in spiked barbed wire, while also containing passages of searing tenderness. ADVERTISEMENT Also in the Book Review 'When the Killing's Done' By T. CORAGHESSAN BOYLE Reviewed by BARBARA KINGSOLVER A habitat restorer and an animal lover square off in T. C. Boyle's rollicking novel set in California's Channel Islands. Poetry, Prose and Letters By ELIZABETH BISHOP Reviewed by WILLIAM LOGAN Three new collections illuminate the life and work of Elizabeth Bishop, including her time as a poet for The New Yorker. Visuals Irreverence You Can Almost Touch By STEVEN HELLER Visual histories of fanzines, horror magazines and banned comics, and of the Italian shelter magazine Abitare. Slide Show: New Visual Books 'The Hemlock Cup' By BETTANY HUGHES Reviewed by WALTER ISAACSON Bettany Hughes examines the life and death of Socrates, and the city that nurtured and killed him. 'The Old Romantic' By LOUISE DEAN Reviewed by SYLVIA BROWNRIGG An acerbic comic novel about an old divorced couple gradually finding a spark of reconnection. 'Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War' By DEB OLIN UNFERTH Reviewed by JULIA SCHEERES The author, 18 and in love, dropped out of college and headed for Central America to hunt for a revolution. 'West of Here' By JONATHAN EVISON Reviewed by MIKE PEED Jonathan Evison's panoramic novel contrasts a group of visionary settlers with their pussyfooting descendants. Reviews by The Times's Critics 'Under the Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin' 'Swamplandia' by Karen Russell 'Tough Without a Gun' by Stefan Kanfer 'Mad as Hell' by Dominic Sandbrook ADVERTISEMENT Get home delivery of The New York Times for as low as $3.15 a week.

Best Sellers Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction Hardcover Fiction Hardcover Nonfiction Paperback Trade Fiction Paperback Mass-Market Fiction Paperback Nonfiction All the Lists » Related Columns TBR: Inside the List Editors' Choice Paperback Row Book Review Features Essay Egypt: The Cultural Revolution By ROBYN CRESWELL The poems and songs of Tahrir Square directly challenge the official worldview propagated by the Mubarak regime. Book Review Podcast Featuring Walter Isaacson on the life of Socrates; and Pamela Paul on children's books. A Word From Stieg Larsson's Partner, and Would-Be Collaborator Maid Sues Author of 'The Help' In Memoriam: Margaret K. McElderry Paper Cuts Joins ArtsBeat Archive Crime Columns Children's Books The New York Times Book Review: Back Issues Editor's Note Thanks for taking the time to read this e-mail. Feel free to send feedback; I enjoy hearing your opinions and will do my best to respond. Blake Wilson Books Producer The New York Times on the Web ADVERTISEMENT

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