John Leonard

E.L. Doctorow's newest novel, like his past work, incorporates real history into fictional narratives. This time, he focuses on the criminal underworld of New York in the early twentieth century. Book critic John Leonard says the book is superb.

Novelist Salman Rushdie's new book has been banned in several countries because of what many see as its blasphemous take on Islam. Book critic John Leonard says the novel is indeed blasphemous, but Rushdie directs his ire ecumenically, critiquing Indian culture and Margaret Thatcher as well. The narrative is messy, but it's the messiness that makes it interesting.

Book critic John Leonard says that V.S. Naipal's book about his travels in the American South reflects a tourist's mindset. The author's sentimental perspective prevents him from seeing the complicated race and class issues that shape the region.

Martin Duberman's new book delves deep into the complicated political and artistic life of the African American actor and activist. Book critic John Leonard admires how exhaustive the biography is, and how it never shies away from difficult topics like Robeson's womanizing and depression.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the new detective novel Ratking, by Michael Dibdin. Leonard says the narrative, set in Italy, keeps the mystery genre alive by confronting bourgeois life and corrupt politics.

Susan Brownmiller's book is based on the murder case of Lisa Steinberger, a six-year-old victim of child abuse. The trial is still ongoing. Book critic John Leonard says Waverly Place weaves through New York's Greenwich Village in ways reminiscent of Balzac and Celine.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Eva Hoffman's new memoir, Lost in Translation, about the writer's childhood in Eastern Europe and later move to North America. Leonard says the book deserves the same praise as other literary memoirs like Nabokov's Speak, Memory and Kingston's The Woman Warrior.

Book critic John Leonard says poet Brad Leithauser writes difficult fiction. The author's new novel, Hence, features an apocalyptic view of the modern world. Leonard calls it a contradictory book filled with Nabokovian cleverness.

Ward Just is a former journalist who now writes fiction about the inner workings of American politics. Book critic John Leonard says his unassuming new novel, Jack Gance, about a Congressional candidate, has heart.

Book critic John Leonard says that Len Deighton's thriller Spy Hook, the first in a planned trilogy, lacks the edge of the author's earlier work, and spends too much time setting up the sequels.