In Steve Hendricks’s new book, terrorism and spycraft make for nonfiction that reads like a le Carré novel
“A spy prefers to share only that which is to his benefit, no more, and much of what he shares will not be true,” cautions the journalist Steve Hendricks in…
In Lee Sandlin’s eclectic new history, it’s a treat to beat your feet in the Mississippi mud
Among the many peculiar beliefs, practices, and entertainments along the Mississippi in the early nineteenth century was a ritual sport known as “shout-boasting.” As essayist Lee Sandlin explains in Wicked…
Sonny Brewer assembles an astonishing pool of Southern writers to reflect on their day jobs
It’s an adage drummed into beginning writers from the hallowed yellow barns of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference to the humblest classroom of the Hardeman County Correctional Facility: write what…
For Matt Dellinger, Interstate 69 is paved with beautiful dreams and ugly politics
In the 1960s at The New Yorker, John McPhee perfected a style of nonfiction writing which has since built the careers of many staff writers there, including Ian Frazier, Susan…
Karin Slaughter’s latest thriller combines two series and a dozen very human characters in a rich, satisfying read
David Baldacci. Stuart Woods. Lisa Gardner. Besides churning out at least one thriller a year, all have created a series featuring a particular set of characters, only to move on…
As the war in Afghanistan drags on, Sebastian Junger joins the ranks of Michael Herr and Ernie Pyle in exploring the psychological horrors—and insidious appeal—of modern warfare
…Pyle’s eyewitness accounts in World War II to the masterful work of Michael Herr and Philip Caputo in Vietnam. Readers tend to trust journalists willing to be shot at in…
