Six notable books on love, betrayal, and creative people who behave badly

Ben Schrank published his first novel, Miracle Man, in 1999. The New Yorker selected it as one of six debut novels in that year’s fiction issue, saying “As the ethical lines blur, Schrank makes New York seem sharp and new.” Time Magazine called it a “brilliantly observed story about the desire to live in an egalitarian world.” In 2002 Schrank published his second novel, Consent. Leonard Michaels wrote of Consent: “It is a very serious story, and, in places, it is hilarious. As for the woman at the center, she is unforgettable.” Schrank has taught at the MFA program at Brooklyn college. He was for some years the voice of "Ben’s Life," a fictional column for Seventeen magazine.

Schrank's new novel is Love Is a Canoe.

One of his six favorite books on love, betrayal, and creative people who behave badly, as told to The Week magazine:

Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan

Emily Maxwell, the least creative person on this list, is in her eighth decade and passes her days mostly alone at home in Pittsburgh. Perhaps there is some small betrayal in Emily's husband having died before her. A car dies too, and Emily takes up with a bright blue Subaru. Who knew a writer could give readers such joy by describing an old woman falling asleep on a winter afternoon?

Read about another book on Schrank's list.

Visit Ben Schrank's website.

Writers Read: Ben Schrank.

--Marshal Zeringue