“The Pale King asks you, for instance, why it is that you haven’t spent more time considering the morality of our tax code. It asks what it means to be a citizen of Grand Rapids, Michigan, or Beloit, Wisconsin, or Peoria, Illinois, and whether being an American really means anything at all.” –Benjamin Alsup reviews The Pale King for Esquire.

• Alexander Chee’s essay “100 Things About a Novel” is pretty fantastic.
• At Largehearted Boy, John Wray chats with Steve Sallett of The Poison Tree (and formerly of The King of France).
• Edan Lepucki examines books about having a baby. (At The Millions.)