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Atkinson, Kate. Behind
the Scenes at the Museum. St. Martin's Press, 1996.
Written with comic flair, this remarkable first novel spans four generations of a
Yorkshire family -- with alternate chapters linking the legacy of past experiences to the
present against the backdrop of historical events.
Atwood, Margaret. Alias
Grace. Talese/Doubleday, 1996.
The celebrated Canadian novelist's dramatic retelling of the story of Grace Marks,
convicted of murder in the 1840s. In Atwood's compelling version, a young American doctor
is hired to unlock Grace's memories of the crime she maintains she cannot remember, and
determine whether she is truly guilty or innocent.
Bainbridge, Beryl. Every
Man for Himself. Carroll & Graf, 1996.
The story of the Titanic disaster in 1912 has served as rich narrative material for many
authors, and Bainbridge is among the most recent. Her main character is a wealthy young
American uncertain of his future and haunted by his past whose strength of character is
put to the ultimate test when disaster strikes.
Barrett, Andrea. Ship
Fever and Other Stories. W. W. Norton, 1996.
Winner of the National Book Award for fiction, the six stories and novella that comprise
the collection all have to do with the lives of scientists --- their passions,
disappointments, and frailty.
Berry, Wendell. A
World Lost. Counterpoint, 1996.
Berry returns to the fictional farming community of Port William, Kentucky in this story
about the impact of a murder and the sense of innocence that was lost.
Brown, Larry. Father
and Son. Algonquin Books, 1996.
Out of prison after serving a term for manslaughter, Glen Davis returns to his small
Mississippi town -- a brooding man determined to take revenge on those he believes have
wronged him. Brown's skill at character depiction and dialogue results in an intense and
harrowing story.
Doyle, Roddy. The
Woman Who Walked into Doors. Viking, 1996.
An Irish woman comes to grips with what she has endured in an eighteen year marriage to an
unpredictable and abusive husband. A wholly realistic portrayal of domestic violence.
Dubus, Andre. Dancing
After Hours. Knopf, 1996.
In these consistently fine stories, Dubus writes of people whose lives are suddenly and
dramatically changed.
Faulks, Sebastian. Birdsong.
Random House. 1996.
A superb novel of the First World War with its horrors explictly depicted juxtapositioned
with a tender love story and the legacy of these experiences on the generations following.
Hansen, Ron. Atticus.
HarperCollins, 1996.
A father is summoned to Mexico to claim the body of his son, an apparent suicide, in this
well-crafted pseudo-mystery.
Jen, Gish. Mona
in the Promised Land. Knopf, 1996.
The continuing story of the Chang family, begun in Typical
American. Adolescent Mona's rebellious and idiosyncratic behavior baffles and
unnerves her immigrant parents--especially when she decides to convert to Judaism.
Livesey, Margot. Criminals.
Knopf, 1996.
A kindhearted London broker enroute to visit his distraught sister in Scotland finds an
abandoned baby in a bus stop. This caring act affects the lives of five very different
people. An engrossing and masterful novel.
McManus, James. Going
to the Sun. HarperCollins, 1996.
A 29-year-old diabetic graduate student undertakes a grueling cycling trip from Chicago to
Alaska to return to the place where her lover was mortally wounded in a bear attack. A
compelling and complex story with an ambiguous conclusion.
Mackay, Shena. Orchard
on Fire. Moyer Bell, 1996.
The memories of a summer when she was eight still haunt the narrator of this insightful
and compelling novel.
Maraire, J. Nozipo. Zenzele:
A Letter for My Daughter. Crown, 1996.
A debut novel in the form of a letter from a Zimbabwe mother to her daughter at Harvard
with stories that are a testament to the richness of African culture.
Mitcham, Judson. The
Sweet Everlasting. University of Georgia Press, 1996.
At age 74, the son of a Georgia sharecropper re-examines the life he has lived and what
has driven him to act out his moments of rage. A dramatic and touching story.
Moore, Brian. The
Statement. Dutton, 1996.
A superb political and moral thriller based on fact. A Frenchman guilty of war crimes has
been sheltered and protected in various monasteries throughout France for over forty
years. Now, at age 70, he is being pursued by assassins and his options are narrowing.
Nelson, Antonya. Talking
in Bed. Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
A stellar novel written with humor and insight that tracks the unlikely friendship between
an affluent psychologist and a roofer resulting in uncommon complications and moral
quandries. Winner of the Heartland fiction prize for 1996.
Pelletier, Cathie. Beaming
Sonny Home. Crown, 1996.
Much to the despair of his mother Mattie, Sonny is in the national news for taking two
women and a poodle hostage in his ex-wife's trailer to protest world hunger. A funny and
surprisingly touching story.
Swift, Graham. Last
Orders Knopf, 1996.
Honoring a dying request, four men travel from London to scatter their friend's ashes in
the sea. What is revealed about the lives of each of these characters on this journey is
at the heart of this brilliant and sad novel. Winner of the 1996 Booker Prize.
Theroux, Paul. My
Other Life. Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
Using himself as the main character, Theroux's latest novel reads like an autobiography,
and is thoroughly entertaining.
Todd, Charles. A
Test of Wills. St. Martin's Press, 1996.
An absorbing story of a World War I veteran who returns to his job as a Scotland Yard
inspector, but who does not reveal that he is still suffering from shell shock which
manifests itself as a tormenting inner voice. T
revor, William. After
Rain. Viking, 1996.
This newest collection of twelve memorable stories reaffirms Trevor's place as one of the
preeminent short fiction writers in the English language.
Wolff, Tobias. The
Night in Question. Knopf, 1996.
Fifteen stories with a wide range of focus--from "A Bullet in the Brain," about
a man whose laughter is fatal, to the title story, a parable of moral choice.
Yoshimura, Akira. Shipwrecks.
(Tr. by Mark Ealey) Harcourt Brace 1996.
A moralistic and mythic tale set in medieval Japan about poor villagers who intentionally
set traps to lure ships to their rocky coast where the vessels are looted and the crews
murdered. The final outcome of this yearly tradition is the climax of this elegant and
sparse novel.
Ambrose, Stephen. Undaunted
Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West.
Simon and Schuster, 1996.
The Lewis and Clark expedition has provided historians with an abundance of material.
Ambrose goes beyond the pure retelling of this great adventure, concentrating on the
personal triumph and tragedy of Meriwether Lewis.
Bryson, Bill. Notes
from a Small Island. Morrow, 1996.
Complete with a glossary, this is a very spirited social commentary on the British.
Buchwald, Art. I'll
Always Have Paris. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996.
The irrepressible humorist writes of his experiences as a reporter for the Paris edition
of the New York Herald Tribune.
Carroll, James. An
American Requiem. Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
The ex-priest and novelist writes frankly and poignantly about his family, particularly
his father, and how their relationship deteriorated during the turbulence of the Vietnam
era. An extraordinary memoir and winner of the National Book Award.
Denby, David. Great
Books. Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Film critic Denby returns to his alma mater once again to immerse himself in the works of
great writers and philosophers.
Fussell, Paul. Doing
Battle: The Making of a Skeptic. 1996.
A personal and uncompromising reflection of his World War II experiences and his anger and
distrust of those who do not comprehend the horrors of warfare.
Grandin, Temple. Thinking
in Pictures. Vintage, 1996.
Featured in An
Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks, this remarkable and accomplished woman
describes what it is like to live with autism and how she has coped--including her
invention of the "squeeze machine."
Hendrickson, Paul. The
Living and the Dead. Knopf, 1996.
Hendrickson probes the psyche of Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense in the Vietnman
era, and the lives of five people whose lives were impacted by his Vietnam policy--an
artist whose personal rage exploded on a ferry to Cape Cod; a Marine who suffered physical
and emotional trauma; a Quaker who burned himself to death; a nurse who suffered
excruciating physical ailments; and a Vietnamese.
Huston, James. Confessions
of an Igloo Dweller. McClelland & Stewart, 1996.
This wonderful piece of storytelling recounts Houston's fascinating and often hilarious
adventures in the fourteen years he spent among the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic.
McBride, James. The
Color of Water. Riverhead Books, 1996.
Raised with eleven siblings in an all-black housing project McBride's mother never
disclosed any facts about her roots or admitted she was white and Jewish until recently.
Her remarkable story in told in this memoir.
McCourt, Frank. Angela's
Ashes. Scribner, 1996.
An astonishing and unforgettable account of McCourt's childhood growing up in Limerick,
Ireland in extreme poverty. One of the finest examples of memoir writing in recent years.
Markovia, Mireille. Immortelles.
MacMurray and Beck, 1996.
Now eighty, Markovia writes of her childhood in an isolated village near Chartres before
and after World War I.
Merton, Thomas. A
Search for Solitude. HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. I
n these journal entries, Merton reflects on his contemplative life and how to reconcile it
with his role as a social activist.
Norris, Kathleen. Cloister
Walk. Riverhead Books, 1996.
An insightful and spiritual book about her experience as an oblate at a Benedictine
monastery in Minnesota.
Trillin, Calvin. Messages
from My Father Farrar, Staus & Giroux, 1996.
A loving tribue to his father Abe, a Russian immigrant.
Vanderbilt, Gloria. A
Mother's Story. Knopf, 1996.
An intensely personal and painful recall of the tragic death of her son Carter in 1988
that she witnessed and was powerless to prevent.
Wharton, William. Houseboat
on the Seine. Neumarket Press, 1996.
A long time resident of France, Wharton enthusiastically buys a houseboat where he and his
family intend to live. What happens before the Whartons can call it home is the core of
this entertaining book.
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