For most people, Mario Puzo’s The Godfather is the beginning and end of mafia books, the sole notable entry in a sparse and little-known genre. That’s why it’s helpful that Roberto Dainotto, in The Guardian, published this list, which includes The Godfather, Eric Hobsbawm’s Primitive Rebels, and Alexander Stille’s Excellent Cadavers, among other picks.
Poor Options for Refusal
Family Matters
Piggybacking off a brief aside in Ian Frazier’s new review of James Agee’s Cotton Tenants, Claire Kelley explores an odd and intriguing question: was Agee related to Walt Whitman? (Related: Mallory Ortberg on the probability that Whitman did the dirty with Oscar Wilde.)
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5-Year-Old Library Thief
A Massachusetts mom said police went too far when they paid her and her 5-year-old daughter a visit for failing to return their library books on time.
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Literary Destinations
Over at The Week, Jeva Lange recommends books based on where your travels are taking you this summer. For other recommended reading, don’t miss our Great Second-Half Book Preview.
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Sarah Baracuda, In Her Own Words
Sarah Palin‘s memoir, Going Rogue, arrives in bookstores on November 17th; For those who can’t wait, may we suggest The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring and Activity Book?
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City On A Hill
“I was born in the lair of Romulus and Remus, Washington D.C.” And The Los Angeles Review of Book’s interview with the late Gore Vidal just gets better from there.
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Grit & Grace
At The New York Times, Stanley Fish on True Grit as “a truly religious movie” in its understanding of the Christian idea of grace.
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