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.
Fresh Complaint by Jeffrey Eugenides
Novels like The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex have garnered Eugenides a reputation for dark humor-infused explorations of sex, relationships, and the curveballs of fate (not to mention a Pulitzer Prize). While his first short story collection may be a departure in terms of form, the substance of his work remains just as compelling. Ranging across the decades, from Eugenides’ student days (the story “Capricious Gardens” was reportedly part of his MFA thesis) to brand new tales, it’s easy to get swept up in these often raw, always empathetic, and invariably wry tales of marriages gone wrong, the search for enlightenment, and people from all walks of life desperately seeking a path forward.
Fresh Complaint by Jeffrey Eugenides, $17, amazon.com on October 3. Shop
