By Stuart Nadler
256 pages; Reagan Arthur/Back Bay Books
Available at: Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Stuart Nadler's The Book of Life (Reagan Arthur/Back Bay) is that rare thing: a collection of short stories that are not technically "linked" but together define a whole world as deliciously as any novel. Set among upper-middle-class Jews in contemporary New England, these tales—an arrogant 50-ish man begins an affair with his business partner's daughter; a teenager is dragged to visit the grandfather he'd always been told was dead; a husband seems to accept his wife's affair—are funny and tragic and old-fashioned and brand-spanking-new, all at once.

— Sara Nelson