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Tyehimba Jess, the African-American poet from Detroit, won this year's Pulitzer in poetry for a collection that shines a different light on minstrel shows.

Jonathan Lethem's Dissident Gardens sketches a history of the American left that is at once intimate and expansive. Out of the lives of a few conflicted characters, reviewer Mohsin Hamid explains, the book lends depth and emotion to events that affected millions.

Critic Maureen Corrigan says Tommy Orange's novel, which centers on a cast of native and mixed-race characters whose lives intersect at a powwow, features "a literary authority rare in a debut."

Gustave Flaubert was an apostle of le mot juste — using exactly the right word. Lydia Davis elegantly translates his masterpiece, Madame Bovary, in the same spirit. Davis' words lure readers back into Emma Bovary's sexy, scandalous and tragic tale.

The anthology of African-American nature poetry features work by contemporary writers, and writers like 18th century poet Phillis Wheatley. Camille T. Dungy, the editor of the collection, says the poems offer a different view of the natural world.

Adam Langer's enigmatic new novel, The Thieves Of Manhattan, twists and turns like a Mobius strip. The author speaks with Liane Hansen about his myriad influences, his love of puzzles, and how his novel simultaneously skews and celebrates the industry of literature.

The veteran journalist's new novel takes place in an old-school print newsroom, not unlike the one where he worked. Hamill, a longtime columnist, reflects on changes in the news industry, and explains how columnists of his day differed from today's media bloggers.

The Passenger and Stella Maris -- the author's first two books in more than a decade — seem to want to decode the meaning of life, both as standalone novels and together as intertwined works.

Did Jack Kerouac really write On the Road in a drug-fueled three-week frenzy? Yes — and no. Whether you believe the legend or not, it's 50 years since the event, and the 120-foot scroll is on tour to celebrate the anniversary.

Sebastian Barry's relentlessly bleak, stunning new novel follows his character Tom, a retired police detective, as his life is thrown into disarray when he's confronted with a past he'd rather forget.