Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.
Our recommended books this week include two substantial new biographies: one a reassessment of Ronald Reagan and his legacy, the other an account of the estimable partnership between the Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson and his American wife, Fanny Van de Grift. We also recommend a memoir of raves and romance gone wrong, a new poetry collection by the virtuosic Paul Muldoon, and fiction from Yoko Ogawa, Ismet Prcic and Laszlo Krasznahorkai. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles
REAGAN:
His Life and Legend
Max Boot
Boot, a historian and foreign policy analyst, grew up idolizing Ronald Reagan, but in this measured, comprehensive biography of the 40th president, he explores the legacy of the Reagan years to ask whether they paved the way for Donald Trump, whose presidency led Boot to abandon his habitual embrace of the right.
“Gripping. … Stands out for its deep research, lucid prose and command of its subject’s broad political and social context. ‘Reagan’ dives straight into the contradictions that defined the man.”
From Jennifer Burns’s review
Norton | $45
A WILDER SHORE:
The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson
Camille Peri
Stevenson’s American wife, Fanny Van de Grift, was a powerful personality in her own right: an individualist who paid no mind to conventional gender roles, a brave and sometimes reckless adventurer who encouraged Stevenson’s penchant for a wandering life.
“Engrossing. … Previous Stevenson biographers have reflexively labeled Fanny as ‘difficult’ without trying to understand how necessary she was to her delicate and high-strung husband, or the ‘passion, companionship and creative energy that became the life force of the Stevensons’ marriage.’”
From Brooke Allen’s review
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