Nomi Eve's first novel is billed as a multigenerational historical allegory of Israel. Yet its real subject is simply sex, and the writing is just a sin.

A Multitude of Sins
By Richard Ford.

Harold Bloom's windy boasting about the books he's read blows a chance to teach the magic of literature, but Geoffrey O'Brien gets the job done.

Edmund White's reputation has mushroomed in recent years. But his talent, compared to a younger generation of gay writers, looks like it's shrunk.

Philip Roth is trying to tell us something in his second artistic wind, a trilogy that binds the American dream to our recent national nightmares.

Set in the comic-book business, Michael Chabon's surprising new novel reaches for grand themes. Could this be the next Great American Novel?

Claire Marvel
By John Burnham Schwartz.
Sounds of the River
By Da Chen.

In the Land of White Death
By Valerian Albanov.
Modern Library;
205 pages; $21.95.

The World Below
By Sue Miller.

My Little Blue Dress
By Bruno Maddox
Cranberry Queen
By Kathleen DeMarco