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Thomas Bernhard's novel is willfully oppressive and agonizing to read, hilarious and awful by turns, says author Claire Messud. An unflinching, ranting monologue, it couldn't care less about the reader — but it contains bitter truths.

A caterpillar, guided by the wisdom of Aristotle, William Blake and Ludwig Wittgenstein, speaks volumes about the human condition, writes author Marina Lewycka.

When the U.S. was rich, it could afford to be the world's policeman. Now it's strapped for cash, and that might mean a new phase for American foreign policy.

In her new book, A Diamond in the Desert, Tatchell looks at the economic explosion of the desert city. The British author moved to the city when she was a little girl; a lot has changed in the 35 years since.

Julian Baggini, the author of the book Should You Judge This Book by Its Cover?, attempts to prove the old proverb: You can lead people to an understanding of why they're misusing common sayings, but you can't make them think.

When Deborah Cadbury was a child, an enormous box of Cadbury chocolates arrived on her doorstep every Christmas. It was just one of the perks of being related to a famous chocolate dynasty: the Cadburys. Cadbury delves into her family's legacy in Chocolate Wars.

Abigail Adams said that "simple truth" was George Washington's "greatest eulogy," and Ron Chernow proves it in his captivating new biography. Chernow keeps his distance from the founding father's mythology, and instead examines his foibles and triumphs.

In her new book, Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties, Lesley M.M. Blume creates a world in which trolls use bones for money and dwarfs dig rubies out of the Lincoln Tunnel.

In his new novel, Philip Roth sets a fictional yet plausible polio outbreak in his New Jersey hometown. Set in 1944, Nemesis describes the fear that plagued the country in the years before the vaccine was developed.

Romance comics flourished in the 1940s and '50s, with titles like Was I a Wicked Wife? and Kisses Came Second. Pop culture writer Michael Barson collects some of his favorites in the new anthology, Agonizing Love: The Golden Era of Romance Comics.