The David Foster Wallace Reader by David Foster Wallace (Hamish Hamilton, £25)
The David Foster Wallace Reader by David Foster Wallace (Hamish Hamilton, £25)
The late Foster Wallace is like literary Marmite: you either love him or you can't bear him. But even if you're in the latter camp, you might find one or two of the essays or semi-autobiographical pieces such as The Planet Trillaphon, about what it's like to suffer from severe depression, easier to handle and less intense and speed-fuelled.
Agostino by Alberto Moravia (NYRB, £7.99)
Moravia's 1942 Freudian tale of a young boy full of such passionate adoration of his mother that he cannot bear the men who pay court to her and turns to a brutal gang as he gets older was initially banned in Italy, then published again towards the end of the Second World War. Beautifully sensuous and boldly told.
Report From The Interior by Paul Auster (Faber, £10.99)
Following on from his 'memoir' of his body in Winter Journey, Auster turns his focus to his inner world as he was growing up, and appropriately writes much of this in the second person, addressing his younger self. Some will find this exercise hugely self-indulgent, others will appreciate the insights and the honesty.
Parisian Sketches by J-K Huysmans (Dedalus Press, £8.99)
Huysmans's accounts of the prostitutes, dancers and drinkers he observed in demi-monde Paris probably inform our contemporary romantic idea of what the city was once about, and his remarkably detailed descriptions of the atmosphere of the Folies-Bergeres create unforgettable visual impressions.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article