The Polish heroine of Susan Sontag's compelling new novel dreams of losing her European identity. But rebirth isn't as easy as crossing the ocean.

Malcolm Gladwell uses a medical metaphor to explain modern culture. And his optimism recalls that of a medical forebear: Dr. Pangloss.

E. L. Doctorow's newest depicts a New York on its way to a spiritual awakening. But as a novel, it doesn't quite get out of bed.

We should have guessed that Donald Trump (albeit completely inadvertently) is one of America's greatest political satirists.

The Native Americans in "On the Rez" aren't noble savages, to be revered for their mystical connection to nature. For once, refreshingly, they're people.

What are a couple of smart, ironic writers doing in a place like a casino? They're (how did you guess?) losing. But their loss is the readers' gain.

"Ahab's Wife," the latest in the emerging genre of footnote fiction, doesn't add much to Melville's masterpiece. On its own terms, though, it's surprisingly successful.

In Michael Lewis's new book, a "Last Tycoon"-ish tale of brilliant excess, a Silicon Valley genius builds the tallest sailboat in the world.

Is the S.A.T., instituted to create a fairer society, having the opposite effect? That's Nicholas Lemann's conclusion in his excellent new book.

In her new book, Susan Faludi takes her reporter's microscope in search of American men. Predictably, she misses the forest for the trees.