Heller McAlpin
Heller McAlpin is a New York-based critic who reviews books regularly for NPR.org, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The San Francisco Chronicle and other publications.
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Patrick Bringley's story — he jumped off the career ladder, deliberately taking a position divorced from ambition in order to find the space for quiet contemplation — is oddly suited to our times.
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In Jane Smiley's latest novel, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," characters Eliza and Jean are determined to figure out who killed their missing colleagues.
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Three new art books feature female subjects of every shape and hue from all over the world, doing the things that women have historically done — and also the things that men have historically done.
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Atypical of inspirational weight-loss books, Fatty Fatty Boom Boom by Rabia Chaudry — an advocate of Serial podcast subject Adnan Syed — is a love letter to the author's native cuisine.
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Elizabeth McCracken promised her mom she'd never write about her. But this work of fiction strives to conjure her up in order to prevent her from "evanescing."
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Brit Bennett's triumphant new novel follows two light-skinned black sisters whose lives take very different paths; you'll keep turning pages not to find out what happens, but who these women are.
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Now's the time for cheerful reads, so we've picked three — including Emma Straub's latest and two lively culinary memoirs — that'll help transport you to a happier place for a few hours.
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Anne Tyler's latest novel — about a man who discovers that his calm, routine life may not be the one he really wants — is a balm for jangled nerves.
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Kate Elizabeth Russell's new novel centers on a woman coming to terms with a relationship she had with a predatory teacher when she was 15. It's overworked and overlong, but still packs a punch.
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Lily King's latest novel — about a young woman choosing between two loves while trying to live a creative life — proves literature doesn't have to be groundbreaking to be absolutely compelling.