Paperback Writers: An Archive of Past Reviews

George Smiley gives a master class on gentle spycraft in a reissue of ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.’

Plus: Brilliant translations of Victor Hugo, Robert Walser, Rilke and others.

‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ is an enduring classic, but how about Kurt Vonnegut’s other work? Reissues of his early novels are a time for reconsideration.

Plus: How Sherlock Holmes made mistakes and a new translation of the Koran that seeks to correct errors in other versions.

In “First as Tragedy, Then as Farce” (Verso: 158 pp., $12.95), the philosopher and cultural-theorist Slavoj Zizek uses his razzle-dazzle postmodern intellect to probe the economic catastrophe of 2008.

In ‘1,001 Afternoons in Chicago,’ the dazzling early journalism of screenwriter Ben Hecht is on display.

The guide, a Depression-era reissue, examines the city’s colorful past.

A reissue of Brooke Hayward’s ‘Haywire’ offers a poignant memoir of her Hollywood parents; Nobel laureate Herta Müller’s novel ‘The Appointment’ follows a woman on a bleak errand.

Time and change move subtly through the landscapes of Bruce Chatwin’s novel ‘On the Black Hill’ and Erskine Childers’ thriller ‘The Riddle of the Sands.’

The handwritten pages of James Boswell’s “ London Journal 1762-1763” languished forgotten in a trunk in Scotland before being brought to light in the middle of the last century and issued under the auspices of Yale University.

New books offer glimpses into earlier versions of “The Maltese Falcon” and “A Moveable Feast.”

Hilary Mantel’s novels ‘Every Day Is Mother’s Day’ and ‘Vacant Possession’ show her formidable talent even as she’s learning her craft.

A reissue of “The Colossus of Maroussi” chronicles the American writer’s travels around Greece with pal Lawrence Durrell in the grim days of World War II.

A reissue of Thomas’ ‘Collected Poems’ offers an occasion to consider the poet’s elemental voice and outrageous behavior.

Dennis Lehane, David Mamet and many others learned a lesson from George V. Higgins’ novel “The Friends of Eddie Coyle.”

William Lindsay Gresham’s novel ‘Nightmare Alley’ draws deeply on autobiographical sources to tell the story of a doomed carnival hustler.

Reissues of Alan Sillitoe’s early work show why John Updike felt he had the stamina to last.

A reissue of Don DeLillo’s classic novel.

Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ never goes out of fashion, as new editions illustrate.

The year 1939, when Europe was going up in flames and America clung to the hope that it need not become part of a world at war, turned out to be a miracle moment for Los Angeles fiction, seeing the publication of “The Big Sleep” by Raymond Chandler, John Fante’s “Ask The Dust,” and “The Day of the Locust” by Nathanael West (the latter just reissued in a new edition, along with “Miss Lonelyhearts,” by New Directions, $11.95), three books that distilled distinctly and in very different ways the city that was being written about, and have continued to dictate how Los Angeles is perceived today.

“On this day of drink and depression / I think about life on our Tuling farm / where will I be on the Ninth of next year / in such hard times I can’t hope to go home,” wrote the poet Wei Ying-Wu in the year 756 AD.

In a reissue of his “Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies,” we see how Banham challenged stereotypes with controversial claims about the city’s status.

Reissues include classic authors like Stephen Crane and Gay Talese; a study of the “American Nerd” and more.

In his early novel ‘The Collected Works of Billy the Kid,’ Michael Ondaatje provides us with a stunning display of his storytelling -- visceral, violent, sensuous.

Michael Moorcock’s “Elric” series portrays a desperate, superhuman loner who struggles with his destiny.

The Australian Nobel laureate’s characters in ‘Voss’ and ‘The Vivisector’ are obsessed with the harsh, brutal aspects of life.

In his latest book, “Flying Home,” Eric Kraft adds to his previously published “Taking Off” and “On The Wing” to complete a trilogy about Peter Leroy.

Barry Day (ed): “The Letters of Noel Coward” (Vintage) “The human race is a let down.

Clear, impassioned, brilliant: Works by Ernesto Cardenal, Du Fu and Abraham Lincoln shimmer. Plus: Mysteries, dead philosophers and more.

In poetry debut collections by Matthew Dickman and Valzhyna Mort, we experience a ferocious awareness of the past and present.

Reissues of intimate voices ancient and present: John Cheever, Maurice Manning, St. Augustine and more

Was Bellow a nice person? Why should it matter next to a funny, luminous story like this one?

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a story you’d expect from, say, Franz Kafka - but not F. Scott Fitzgerald

A reissue of Chabon’s first novel displays a young novelist in supreme control of his storytelling abilities.

Reissues of ‘Roseanna,’ ‘Soldier’s Heart,’ ‘The Book of Contemplation,’ ‘House of Mist’ and much more

Though Truman Capote adored spectacle, reissues of his letters, fiction and nonfiction remind us of subtler aspects of his technique.

The disappearance of poet Weldon Kees is still unsolved, but his poetry remains to feed the appetites of his fans. Also: New paperbacks of Mario Vargas Llosa, Tom Wolfe, Les Murray and more.

The writer wandered the roads he wrote about in these heartfelt tales of desperation and desire. Also: New paperback releases by Jose Eduardo Agualusa, Marina Warner, Richard Hofstadter, Naomi Klein a

The anthology “ ‘ Guys and Dolls’ and Other Writings” gives us a fresh look at the classic writing of Damon Runyon. Also: New paperback releases by Saul Friedlander, Fred Vargas, Peter Schrag and more.

Why James Joyce’s “Ulysses” is a masterpiece, but for many it will remain an unread one; also: thrilling reissues of Edna O’Brien, Franz Kafka and more

The fairy godmother of Salman Rushdie, Jeanette Winterson and many other writers leaves behind a legacy of bold storytelling at a paperback price

Careers have arcs.

Robin Cook, the first Robin Cook (not the guy who writes bestselling medical thrillers), was born in London in 1931 and died there 63 years later, suggesting an order otherwise absent in a chaotic and almost dottily brave life.

By Richard Rayner The new, 50th anniversary edition of Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged” (Signet: 1,080 pp., $8.99 paper) -- appearing only three years after an edition commemorating the centennial of the author’s birth -- comes with one of those weird business reply postcards pasted in the middle, a relic of a bygone publishing era and a testament to the continuing power of the Ayn Rand Institute, which handles the Rand copyright and requires Signet to include the cards.