This week, best-selling author Russell Shorto never thought to write about his own past. He grew up knowing his grandfather and namesake was a small-town mob boss but maintained an unspoken family vow of silence. Then an elderly relative prodded: “You’re a writer―what are you gonna do about the story?” The result is Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob. (more…)
“The Friday Afternoon Club” by actor Griffin Dunne is a memoir of growing up among larger-than-life characters in Hollywood and Manhattan. The book finds...
Jenny Offill’s new novel, “Weather,” is about a family, and a nation, in crisis. Lizzie Benson slid into her job as a librarian without...
Simon Rich is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. He has written for “Saturday Night Live,” Pixar, and “The Simpsons” and is the...