After Long Silence, Michael Straight (Norton). Autobiography...

After Long Silence, Michael Straight (Norton). Autobiography of the man who was one of the principal targets of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade.

The Alliance, Richard J. Barnet (Touchstone). Narrative history explains how Germany and Japan became American allies after World War II, written by the author of “Global Reach.”

Auto-Da-Fe, Elias Canetti (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). Story of a scholarly recluse who marries a brutish housekeeper, written by the Nobel Prize-winning author.

Four Masterworks of American Indian Literature, edited by John Bierhorst (Arizona). Collection of modern translations of four texts: the Quetzalcoatal hero-cycle of the Aztecs; the Iroquois Ritual of Condolence; the Cuceb prophecies of the Classic Maya; and the Navaho Night chant.

My Last Sigh, Luis Bunuel (Random House). Autobiography of one of the greatest film directors of all time, from his provincial Spanish roots and his involvement in the Spanish Civil War to international fame.

Pitch Dark, Renata Adler (Bantam). Complex novel examines a love affair between a high-strung journalist and a married man.

Pretty Boy Dead, Joseph Hansen (Gay Sunshine Press) Male playwright’s marriage sours; he turns to boyfriend for love, and later becomes a suspect in his murder, in this novel.

Rope of Gold, Josephine Herbst (Feminist). Novel, first published in the 1930s, fuses feminism and radicalism in this story about a couple’s involvement with a workers’ strike.

Russia: Broken Idols, Solemn Dreams, David K. Shipler (Penguin). Analysis of the Soviet system and society by the former Moscow bureau chief of The New York Times.

The Salt Line, Elizabeth Spencer (Penguin). Forgotten love triangle heats up again after a hurricane devastates a small down, in this novel.

Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, Michael Walzer (Basic). Analysis of the distribution of wealth, power, honor, education, work and love, by the author of “Just and Unjust Wars.”