Fall is a good time for books, as the year bends toward the gift-buying season and publishers trundle out their big guns and prestige titles. Here's a selection.
The Plot Against America
By Philip Roth
In this dyspeptic counter history, the fabled author gives us an America that elected anti-Semetic flyboy hero Charles Lindbergh president in 1940, under whose leadership we sit out World War II. Something very much like fascism ensues. This is "a moving family drama," sez Publisher's Weekly, which also terms it "stunning" and "as suspenseful as the best thrillers." (October)
Inner Circle
By T.C. Boyle
For his latest, comic novelist Boyle turns to Alfred Kinsey, celebrated sex researcher. The novel follows one of his research assistants-turned-disciple as he descends into a moral and spiritual emptiness by unquestioningly complying with his genius mentor's omnisexual demands. (September)
I Am Charlotte Summers
By Tom Wolfe
Wolfe's sure-to-be-controversial novel about college and sex. To the question, can a really old guy in a white suit relate to kids these days, one must keep in mind that Wolfe has vigorously argued against the sort of fiction penned by writers who never leave their garrets. As readers of Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full know, he bases his fiction on heavy-duty reporting. We'll see. (November)
The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty
By Kitty Kelley
Just in time to send shockwaves through the election process, the muckraking biographer comes out with a book that airs a laundry list of alleged Bushian bad behavior: sex, drugs and arrogance. It recently proved too hot for Newsweek, which declined to run an excerpt. (September)
The Know-It-All
By A.J. Jacobs
A funny and eccentric Esquire editor sets out to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica in hopes of knowing more than everyone else. Then, to put his increased brainpower to good use, he hangs with some Mensans, takes on chess geeks and competes on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (September)
Sun, Sin and Suburbia
By Geoff Schumacher
Lastly, no roundup of hotly anticipated books would be complete without a nod to Schumacher, editor of the noble opposition, the Las Vegas Mercury. His carefully researched book examines the making of the modern Valley. (October)