Maureen Corrigan

Lily King's new novel centers on a woman who's spent six years working on her own novel. It's a story of ambition — and what happens when the markers of adult achievement are slow to materialize.

Writer's block can be temporary — or it can be massive and long lasting. After her third short story collection, Honey, came out in 1993, Elizabeth Tallent fell victim to a rockfall, avalanche, total-impasse-of-the-imagination writer's block and didn't publish another book for 22 years.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan says this is the only dystopian novel she's ever read where images of doom and baseball diamonds co-exist.

Deepa Anappara's debut novel defies characterization. Set in a sprawling Indian slum, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line centers on a trio of kids who venture out to look for a missing classmate.

Maureen Corrigan reviews a debut non-fiction book about the murder of two female hitchhikers in 1980.