August 22, 2002

THE DEATH OF SWEET MISTER by Daniel Woodrell (Plume, pb $13) One of our favorite unsung heroes. His newest novel (now in paperback) is about a “lonely fat boy of thirteen” and the family turmoil he must endure when a slick, T-bird-driving city boy sparks up a torrid affair with his mother, behind the back of his vicious father. If you’ve never read Woodrell — with his dizzying, poetic tricks and his hard-driving, roughneck bravura — you should check this one out, though it’s not for the faint of heart.

Mr. Woodrell will sign books at 5 p.m. and read at 5:30.