THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 3TO SUBSCRIBEto the Book Review by mail, visit nytimes.com/getbookreview or call 1-800-631-
Book Review NOVEMBER 15, 2020
Fiction
8 Historical Fiction
Reviewed by Alida Becker
10 TO BE A MAN
Stories
By Nicole Krauss
Reviewed by Molly Antopol
11 THE COLD MILLIONS
By Jess Walter
Reviewed by Joshua Ferris
17 SHELTER IN PLACE
By David Leavitt
Reviewed by
Michael Callahan
17 THE BEFORELAND
By Corinna Vallianatos
Reviewed by
Karolina Waclawiak
18 BESTIARY
By K-Ming Chang
Reviewed by Amil Niazi
18 THE WIND TRAVELER
By Alonso Cueto
Reviewed by Jennifer Croft
26 The Shortlist
Stories
Reviewed by Jane Hu
Nonfiction
1 APOLLO’S ARROW
The Profound and Enduring
Impact of Coronavirus on
the Way We Live
By Nicholas A. Christakis
Reviewed by
David Quammen
9 LIFE WITH THE AFTERLIFE
13 Truths I Learned About
Ghosts
By Amy Bruni
Reviewed by Allison P. Davis12 ABE
Abraham Lincoln in His
Times
By David S. Reynolds
Reviewed by Robert W.
Merry13 KANT’S LITTLE PRUSSIAN
HEAD AND OTHER REASONS
WHY I WRITE
An Autobiography in Essays
By Claire Messud
Reviewed by Frank Bruni14 THE LANGUAGE OF THIEVES
My Family’s Obsession With
a Secret Code the Nazis
Tried to Eliminate
By Martin Puchner
Reviewed by Corinna da
Fonseca-Wollheim15 THE NEW MAP
Energy, Climate, and the
Clash of Nations
By Daniel Yergin
Reviewed by Adam Tooze16 THE DEAD ARE ARISING
The Life of Malcolm X
By Les Payne and
Tamara Payne
Reviewed by Michael P.
Jeffries19 INFERNO
A Memoir of Motherhood
and Madness
By Catherine Cho
Reviewed by Kim Brooks21 INVENTORY
A Memoir
By Darran Anderson
Reviewed by David KeenanChildren’s Books
22 THE WANDERER
By Peter Van den EndeTHE LIGHTS & TYPES OF
SHIPS AT NIGHT
Written by Dave Eggers
Illustrated by Annie Dills
Reviewed by Brian SelznickFeatures
7 By the Book
Lenny Kravitz27 Sketchbook
By Bob EcksteinEtc.
4 New & Noteworthy
6 Letters
6 From Our Archives
23 Best-Seller Lists
23 Editors’ Choice
24 Inside the List
24 Paperback RowFromthebestsellingauthor
of theMaisieDobbsnovels
JACQUELINE
WINSPEAR
“Amemoirof herEnglishchildhood
thatiseverybitasengagingas
herMaisieDobbsnovels.”
—ANNE LAMOTT,bestsellingauthor
ofAlmost Everything: Notes on Hope“[An]elegantworkof
literaryarchitecturejoining
thepresenttothepast.”
—HOPE EDELMAN,
bestsellingauthorofThe AfterGriefAlsofrom:Availablewhereveraudiobooksaresold