LIT PICKS

We reviewed recommend books: these recently

Fates By Lauren and Groff Furies (Riverhead; 390 pages; $27.95) In her fourth book, Groff takes her readers on a delirious, exhilarating and heartbreaking ride through the decades of one fable-like marriage.

Underma jor domo Minor By Patrick de Witt (Ecco; 317 pages; 26.99) DeWitt’s third novel breezes along in staccato chapters, a mix of dark comedy and twee world-building that reads like Roald Dahl for the Wes Anderson generation.

The Lost Landscape A Writer’s Coming of Age By Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco; 353 pages; $27.99) Oates’ intriguing memoir is a collection of autobiographical essays that trace her roots from childhood through early adulthood.

Fat City By Leonard Gardner Introduction by Denis Johnson (New York Review Books Classics; 191 pages; $14.95 paperback) There’s not a false note or a wasted sentence in Gardner’s pitch-perfect account of boxing, blue-collar bewilderment and the battle of the sexes, set in late 1960s Stockton and now reissued in a handsome edition. The Rise and Fall of Urban Economies Lessons From San Francisco and Los Angeles By Michael Storper, Thomas Kemeny, Naji P. Makarem and Taner Osman (Stanford University Press; 328 pages; $60) Using the structure of a scientific detective story, this is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of California and cities more broadly.