Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.
Information wants to be free, the saying goes — but misinformation does too, alas, and the journalists who reliably distinguish one from the other still need to be paid somehow. This tension has prompted a lot of head-scratching in the news business over the past few decades, as two seasoned insiders explain in books we recommend this week: In “Collision of Power,” the former Washington Post editor Martin Baron recalls his tenure at that august institution, while in “The Times” my colleague Adam Nagourney looks at challenges and sea changes at the news outlet we both call home. (For one thing: It’s an “outlet” now, not just a newspaper.)
Also recommended: a history of the AR-15 and its place in American culture, written by a couple of Wall Street Journal reporters, and a clutch of new fiction including a terrific story collection by Jamel Brinkley and novels by Ayana Mathis, Ben Fountain, Bryan Washington and more. Happy reading.
—Gregory Cowles
COLLISION OF POWER:
Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post
Martin Baron
Baron, the executive editor of The Washington Post from 2013 to 2021, delivers a gripping and candid account of his tenure — encompassing the sale of the paper to Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos; Donald Trump’s presidency; and a journalism industry in tumult.
“Chronicles an era when disruptions from the internet (and now artificial intelligence) have profoundly shaken journalists’ confidence. … Shows that newsroom leadership, however devoid of ease or glamour, remains essential.”
From Sewell Chan’s review
Flatiron | $34.99
THE TIMES:
How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism
Adam Nagourney
Elegant, measured but pulling no punches, this history of The New York Times by a veteran reporter at the paper offers an insider’s look at internal rivalries, missteps and triumphs over four recent decades.
“The New York Times, rooted in the wealthiest city in the world and with its family ownership structure, cannot provide a playbook for all its peers. But, notwithstanding the slips along the way, its quality and resilience are still a beacon to many.”
From Alan Rusbridger’s review
Crown | $35
FAMILY MEAL
Bryan Washington
Washington’s poignant novel follows former best friends, Cam and TJ, who are reunited after Cam’s lover dies. As Cam spirals toward a grief-fueled self-destruction and TJ grapples with his own fraught relationships, the novel explores what it means to continue on after loss.
“A novel about what it means to leave, and how even when it seems we’ve moved on, there are some things that can never be left behind.”
From Ernesto Mestre-Reed’s review
Riverhead | $28
WITNESS:
Stories
Jamel Brinkley
Brinkley’s new collection meditates on what it means to see and be seen. These stories — set in Brooklyn and featuring animal rescue volunteers, florists, ghosts, UPS workers and a host of other characters — demonstrate that witness and actor are one and the same.
“Each story is a gift of the highest quality, reminding us that we are all both in the audience and on life’s stage, even if we don’t know it.”
From Mateo Askaripour’s review
Farrar, Straus & Giroux | $27
AMERICAN GUN:
The True Story of the AR-15
Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson
This masterly feat of reportage unfolds the grim history of a combat weapon that is now in millions of American homes, underscoring the corporate greed and political ineptitude that facilitated the gun’s lethal spread.
“A magisterial work of narrative history and original reportage. … Calm, precise language that allows the authors’ exhaustive research to shine through.”
From Mike Spies’s review
Farrar, Straus & Giroux | $32
THE UNSETTLED
Ayana Mathis
This historical novel, by the author of “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie,” follows three generations across time and place: a young mother trying to create a home for herself and her son in 1980s Philadelphia, and her mother, who is trying to save their Alabama hometown from white supremacists seeking to displace her from her land.
“Makes a strong case for the fact that the past can never truly be shaken off. … Mathis skillfully and subtly drops allusions to historical events, sending the reader on a kind of intellectual treasure hunt.”
From Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’s review
Knopf | $29
DEVIL MAKES THREE
Ben Fountain
Fountain’s novel follows three characters in Haiti after the 1991 coup: an American entrepreneur who finds his scuba-diving business upended, a C.I.A. officer trying to install Washington’s preferred government and a worker at a health clinic stretched thin by the upheaval.
“Engrossing, psychologically complex and politically astute. … Not only a skillful author, but a brave one, Fountain is drawn to difficult subjects.”
From Francine Prose’s review
Flatiron | $31.99
BRAINWYRMS
Alison Rumfitt
The central characters in this novel — Frankie, who is trans, and Vanya, who is nonbinary — try to survive in a world ravaged by fascism, anti-trans bigotry and a ravenous brainworm that causes its hosts to go violently mad.
“Smart, seething social horror that is forthright in its use of fiction to react to real-world terrors. … Perhaps best described as ‘The Last of Us’ dunked in the toilet bowl of Samuel R. Delany’s impressively foul, taboo-shattering ‘Hogg.’”
From Megan Milks’s review
Tor Nightfire | Paperback, $17.99
THE MOST SECRET MEMORY OF MEN
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
Based on a true story and translated by Lara Vergnaud, Sarr’s novel — about a Senegalese writer brought low by a plagiarism scandal — asks sharp questions about the state of African literature in the West.
“A wildly expansive interrogation of everything from the nature of erotic love to the literary canon. … Sarr navigates a spider’s web that enmeshes fact and fiction, biography and gossip, authenticity and plagiarism, fame and infamy.”
From Ben Libman’s review
Other Press | Paperback, $19.99