The Book of the Month

Book excerpt: This collection of essays and reviews from the Book-of-the-Month Club offers a unique literary history of American readership in the twentieth century. From The Sun Also Rises to The Accidental Tourist, the judges, editors, and reviewers of the Book-of-the-Month Club help readers all across America find their next favorite book. In this comprehensive anthology compiled from the Club’s monthly News, astute reviewers praise and critique a diverse array of authors including Dashiell Hammett, Barbara Tuchman, Sinclair Lewis, Saul Bellow, Margaret Mitchell, James Baldwin, Willa Cather, and Evelyn Waugh. Harper Lee affectionately profiles Truman Capote, poet laureate Robert Penn Warren praises his friend Bill Styron, and Gore Vidal interviews himself. John le Carré shares why it was particularly hard to write A Perfect Spy, and E. L. Doctorow reveals the intentions of his masterpiece, Ragtime. A celebration of the life-affirming power of the written word and a treasure trove of reviews, essays, and author portraits related to classic books we all know and love and less famous titles well-deserving of rediscovery, The Book of the Month is a must-read for bibliophiles everywhere.