Lionel Trilling and the Fate of Cultural...

Lionel Trilling and the Fate of Cultural Criticism, Mark Krupnick (Northwestern University), “maps the nuances of (Lionel) Trilling’s thought with insight and a fine historical understanding” (Murray Baumgarten).

The Waters of Darkness: Scenes From the Life of an American Jew, John Sanford (Black Sparrow), uses “brief, intense vignettes from American history to create an intellectual context for personal recollections. . . . As the writer’s understanding deepens, the perceptions become increasingly astute” (Elaine Kendall).

Group Sex, Ann Arensberg (Knopf). Frances Girard, an editor at a small and absent-minded publishing house, “is fragile, candid and instantly responsive.” Other people are heavy brooms, purposefully sweeping. “For most of the time, besotted or in flight, Frances is a fairly sustained delight” (Richard Eder).