American Pastoral - Philip Roth

About a third in to this book Zuckerman, Roth's alter ego, completely disappears into the life of Swede Levov, a paragon of post-war, post-religion America - born Jewish, he marries an Irish former Miss New Jersey and takes over his father's glove business and makes it more successful. He moves from the city to a rural paradise, complete with cows, stone houses that reek of history and the WASPy descendants of the men who created the country. Everything picture perfect, and a stark contrast to Zuckerman's life, who has no wife, no family. But, of course, nothing is perfect, for the Swede's only daughter joined the anti-Vietnam movement and planted a mailbox bomb in the rustic post office/general store that kills the local doctor who was dropping of his bills.

As a boy Zuckerman idolized the Swede but was always afraid to talk to him, even when Zuckerman came over to get beat at ping pong by the Swede's younger brother. Years later Swede writes Zuckerman a letter, asking if he might be interested in writing a story about his father. They meet for dinner and nothing comes of it, but it's after Zuckerman attends a high school reunion and talks to Swede's brother, now a successful cardiac surgeon in Miami who keeps divorcing and marrying his nurses, does bits of the story comes out. Of course Zuckerman was wrong about the idolized version of the Swede, just as wrong as he is about the fiction one he creates. We're always wrong, according to Roth:

''You get them wrong before you meet them,'' Zuckerman says of ''people'' in general, ''while you're anticipating meeting them; you get them wrong while you're with them; and then you go home to tell somebody else about the meeting and you get them all wrong again.''

Honor Thy Father - Gay Talese

The true story of a son of Mafia Don who finds himself regretting the life he chose as the bodies pile up around him. Instead of the glam and gals of the Movie Mafia, it's doom and gloom, sitting for long hours in a car and wondering if the next shot you hear is for you. New Journalism once shook the foundations of non-fiction, but these we expect our stories to seem as real and as fiction. Instead of a hail of bullets the Mafia Don's son is brought down by a credit card fraud case - an example of truth being stranger than fiction.

Half-Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan

The language saves this novel from the now conventional structure in which the ending is revealed at the beginning and the middle is spent getting back to the beginning. The Nazis are "boots", men are "jacks", women are "janes". Three black jazz musicians (two Americans, one African/German) make it out of Berlin to Paris, where they meet Louis Armstrong. They record the title track, which later becomes the subject of a documentary that brings all three characters back together. We know that the two Americans survive the Nazis, and about a third of the way in we know the German does as well, but getting to the end is worth the price on the ticket.

The Devil In The White City - Erik Larson

In 1893, Chicago held a World's Fair, an event designed to show the world that the United States could match any fair in Europe. Having mostly disappeared from memory, the event held many firsts, including the first Ferris Wheel and the first eight-hour work day contract, and was a focal point for the people who would play an important role in early 20th century history (Teddy Roosevelt and t Arch Duke Ferdinand, to name two)

It was also the backdrop for one of history's most chilling serial killers, H.H. Holmes. Using money he gained from killing people he took out insurance policies on, Holmes built a hotel specifically designed to lure in, trap and kill young women. There's also the unstable young man who believes his tireless (yet unsolicited) campaigning for the mayor guarantees him a cushy job in the government. All the stories build momentum to a conclusion that could only happen in non-fiction.