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| Colson Whitehead |
The 25 Best Books of 2016
PART ONE
A collection of the best novels, non-fiction, and memoirs from the past year.
At a time when politics have dominated the national conversation in a way that can often feel overwhelming, the best books of 2016 so far have provided escapism and comfort. They've shown us that empathy is a great virtue, and that art can transcend the unhappiness of the everyday. These 25 books are all highly recommended.
By Maris Kreizman and Angela Ledgerwood
Dec 5, 2016
6. Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Evicted is one of those Important Books That Every American Should Read that you might pass up because it looks so Important and Not Fun. But you should know that it's worth a full read—the excellence of Evicted lies not only in the overall message that the housing crisis in America is an endless cycle of pain and inequality, but in the details that humanize the facts and figures that accompany the writing. Matthew Desmond is a sociologist and urban ethnographer who gets in on the ground of the poorest districts in Milwaukee and reports on eight families who are on the brink, along with the landlords and the city officials with whom they interact. With a presidential election coming up, there's no book that speaks more to the injustice of America's infrastructure. —MK
5. The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar
Hisham Matar's award-winning novels and essays have examined the legacy of disappeared fathers, political exile, and totalitarianism. In his most intimate work to date, he reveals the true story of his father's kidnapping by the Egyptian secret police and his delivery to brutal Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 1990. As one of the Qaddafi regime's most prominent opponents, Matar's father was taken to Abu Salim prison, in Tripoli, known as "The Last Stop" – the place where the regime sent those it wanted to forget. Hopeful that his father was still alive (the family received three letters from his 22 years of his captivity), there was no sign of Matar's father in the wake of Qaddafi's fall. In this haunting memoir, Matar returns to the place of his childhood and grapples with the question of how to live without knowing his father's fate. —AL
4. Innocents and Others by Dana Spiotta
Like Joan Didion and Don DeLillo, two legends to whom she's often compared, Dana Spiotta is a master of observing the way cultural artifacts take up so much space in our daily lives. Her latest novel takes place in the world of film in the 1980s, and two friends who've taken dramatically different paths in their careers as filmmakers. But more than that, Innocents and Others is about the power of the phone—particularly the landline. In the pre-internet age, all you needed to charm and seduce a stranger (even a big shot Hollywood VIP) was a pleasant phone voice and a deep ability to listen. As the two friends' lives intersect with a woman named Jelly, who has anonymous yet romantic phone conversations with the Hollywood elite, it's clear how an undeniable trait of humanity is seek meaningful connection in an isolating world. —MK
3. Grief Is the Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
Winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize, this Kafkaesque, bizarre, and beautiful debut thrusts us deep inside an East London flat where a widower and his two young boys are reeling from a monumental loss. It's the arrival of an uninvited houseguest—of the belching, burping, slurping (and hugging) kind—in the form of a giant, Ted Hughes-inspired crow that comforts the fledging family. Equal parts novella, poem, and play, Porter obliterates the confines of form, transforming the manuscript into a breathing living organism of its own. This book is guaranteed to change the way you see everyone precious in your life, and it's a powerful reminder to love hard and relish everyday intimate moments. —AL
In this exceptional debut, Yaa Gyasi traces the lives and legacies of two African half-sisters, one who is sold as a slave and taken to America in the 18th century, and one who remains in Ghana. The novel spans more than 300 years and many generations, chapter by chapter exploring the lives of the women's descendants. And while it's epic in ambition and scope, Homegoing still manages to feel profoundly intimate and personal. Each and every one of the characters, in each and every decade where their stories are set, is so finely drawn that any of their stories alone could bring you to tears. Together, they're a tour de force that will leave you in awe. —MK
Coming in just under the wire because Oprah convinced its publisher to release the book a month early, Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad enters the pantheon of one of the Great American Novels. It may not be quite as easy or escapist a read as Oprah's previous book club picks, but it is possibly the most essential. Whitehead's novel, which follows two slaves as they make their escape via the Underground Railroad, is a wonderful reminder of what great literature is supposed to do: open our eyes, challenge us, and leave us changed by the end. —MK
Maris KreizmanKreizman, a former book editor and avid reader who writes frequently about books, has contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and more.
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