Blake Bailey Jonathan News Today

by Blake Bailey (Jonathan Cape £30, 912pp) Graham Greene said a writer needed a splinter of ice in the heart. In the case of the great Jewish-American writer Philip Roth, who died three years ago, aged 85, after a glittering but controversial career, it was more like a raging fireball that engulfed anyone in its path. Roth, author of bestselling Portnoy’s Complaint, is one of the undisputed heavyweights of the American novel. A National Humanities Medal, given by Barack Obama in 2011, was am...

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka (Bloomsbury) The Nobel laureate’s first novel in almost 50 years promises “murder, mayhem and no shortage of drama” in contemporary Nigeria. The Thursday Murder Club 2 by Richard Osman (Viking) Last year the Pointless co-host’s cosy crime debut set in a retirement home broke sales records; here comes the sequel. Waters of Salvation by Richard Coles (W&N) A new crime series from everyone’s favourite vicar begins ...