NYT Books

His spare, icily precise books explore humanity’s most serious themes, including South Africa’s legacy of apartheid. And not all of them are downers.

She oversaw Modern Photography for 20 years and wrote an acclaimed book about her rough-and-tumble childhood, some of it spent in an orphanage and in remote Alaska.

Some publishers balked at the title but, just shy of its first birthday, “I’m Glad My Mom Died” has stood the test of time.

His clever, melancholic mind produced some of the most enduring heroes in spy fiction. Here are his best books.