NYT Books

After a career of framing the country’s past through the myths that inspire Americans to fight, kill and make money, Richard Slotkin wants to find a gentler story.

In her novel “Say Hello to My Little Friend,” Jennine Capó Crucet explores existential questions of isolation and belonging through two unlikely figures.

In Helen Oyeyemi’s “Parasol Against the Axe,” a woman’s trip to Prague becomes a meta-narrative about connection with art, people and more.

In his thoroughly researched “Radiant,” Brad Gooch considers the short, blazing life of the ’80s artist, activist and man about downtown.

“The Hunter,” set in western Ireland, is a sequel to 2020’s “The Searcher.”

“Change,” Édouard Louis’s latest work of autofiction, retraces his trajectory from abject poverty to life as a cultured Parisian.

In “The Witch of New York,” Alex Hortis revisits a Staten Island case that helped usher in a lurid new era of journalism.

In “Double Click,” the writer Carol Kino explores the pioneering glamour of a famous fashion-photography pair.

Tessa Hulls’s “Feeding Ghosts” chronicles how China’s history shaped her family. But first, she had to tackle some basics.

Molly recommends a novel about a scornful teenager and a collection of interviews about a difficult filmmaker.