IN SHORT

David Payne goes to the bone in his deeply felt Barefoot to Avalon (Atlantic Monthly Press). Amitav Ghosh ignites a Flood of Fire (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Gioia Diliberto unwraps Diane von Furstenberg (Dey Street). Gill Hornby conducts a ragtag choir in All Together Now (Little, Brown). Nick Tosches'sUnder Tiberius (Little, Brown) resurrects Jesus. Ben Marcus cherry-picks the best New American Stories (Vintage). Russ Bonham takes off with Fligher: 100 Years of Boeing (Chronicle). Val Brelinski's debut, The Girl Who Slept with God (Viking), is a revelation.

Amy Seek confesses in God and Jetfire (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). Juan Gabriel Vasquez exposes Lovers on All Saints' Day (Riverhead). Deborah Davis trails Andy Warhol in The Trip (Atria). William T. Vollmann captures the Nez Perce War in The Dying Grass (Viking). William Finnegan surfs through Barbarian Days (Penguin). Blaine Lourd was Born on the Bayou (Gallery). Christopher Dickey spies Our Man in Charleston (Crown). Janis Cooke Newman draws up A Master Plan for Rescue (Riverhead). Lauren Holmes introduces Barbara the Slut and Other People (Riverhead). Barton Swaim pins down The Speechwriter (Simon & Schuster).

E.S.