Barbara Kingsolver’s debut, and a bad seed’s beginnings.

An entertaining new history by Steven Johnson explores an explosive moment when terror and nascent surveillance collided.

Jessica Shattuck’s “Last House” dips into the cultural intrigues of 20th-century America, but keeps its nose surprisingly clean.

Inspired by her own family’s past, Claire Messud’s “This Strange Eventful History” unfolds over seven decades and two wars.

A renowned member of the New York School of poets, he also found accidental notoriety when he was photographed during the 1968 uprising at Columbia University.

The best-selling author of dark fantasy novels for Y.A. and adult audiences discusses her career and her stand-alone new historical fantasy, “The Familiar.”