Fall is in the air, which means it's time for a change—at least according to the author's in this month's crop of new releases. October's new books bring genre-shifts from best-selling authors, Pulitzer Prize-winners experimenting with form, and a treasure trove of unexpected material for every kind of reader.
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Fans of Egan’s oscillating Pulitzer Prize-winner, A Visit From the Goon Squad, may find the narrative of her latest novel straightforward by comparison, but Manhattan Beach proves that for all the flash of her previous entries, the success of her work remains in her mastery of language. Here, Egan ferries readers through the entanglements of small-time criminal Eddie Kerrigan, his headstrong daughter Anna, and mobster Dexter Styles in the New York City of the ’30s and ’40s. But it’s the haunting way Egan evokes her characters—like sea creatures slipping through dark water, straining for the surface only to skitter away from the light—that makes the novel a worthy addition to any bookshelf.
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan, $17, amazon.com on October 3. Shop
