ANN BEATTIE -- FOLLIES: NEW STORIES

Ann Beattie has often been branded the voice of the '60s generation -- a label she resents, and I don't blame her. While she's a product of that time and has written about baby boomers for the past 30 years, her keen observation of reality should hit home with us all. Follies, her 15th book and eighth collection of stories, finds Beattie at her best. In the opening novella, "Flechette Follies," a man rear-ends a woman at a stoplight, and the encounter has a vast and catastrophic effect. You'll want to keep those pages turning. The shorter stories are wonderful, too. In "Find and Replace," a grown daughter becomes upset with her mother when the mom announces she's moving in with another man seven months after her husband's death. The dialogue is funny, touching and real. "That Last Odd Day in L.A." shows us a fussbudget of a man who can't get along with his friends or grown kids but who finds redemption on the last day of his vacation with his niece and nephew. It's a gem. My favorite is "Apology for a Journey Not Taken: How to Write a Story," simply about a woman who didn't show up where she promised she would and all the excuses she comes up with for not doing so. It's laugh-out-loud funny. Follies is good summertime fun, so go to the park and take this book with you. It doesn't matter if you're a baby boomer or much younger -- Beattie speaks to all generations. (Larry Gross) Grade: A+

GRAEME THOMSON -- COMPLICATED SHADOWS: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF ELVIS COSTELLO

GRAEME THOMSON -- COMPLICATED SHADOWS: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF ELVIS COSTELLO (CANONGATE)

I've been a big Elvis Costello fan for 25-plus years, and yet I know remarkably little about him. Until now. Graeme Thomson (a music writer for Mojo, Observer Music Monthly and other magazines) has produced a fascinating unauthorized biography that covers Declan MacManus' childhood years; his early Rock bands; his explosion as New Wave pioneer Elvis Costello; his love affairs and marriages; his forays into Country, Classical and Opera composition; and his emergence as elder statesman and Rock Hall of Famer. Piecing together previously published Costello interviews with his own interviews of former bandmates and associates, Thomson explains why MacManus chose the stage name Elvis Costello, how Elvis' Catholic upbringing effected his songwriting, how his manager invented and hyped the Angry Young Man persona and how Elvis' original band, The Attractions, formed, gelled, imploded, reunited and eventually broke apart for good. Under the entire story is the curious tale of how and why Elvis seems to have sabotaged his career at every step of the way, leaving him a critic's darling who missed the brass ring of superstardom. Bonus: My first Elvis concert in 1979 is mentioned in detail as an example of his debauched, crazed U.S. tours. (John Fox) Grade: A

TIMOTHY S. SIMER -- THE COTERIAN RETREAT

TIMOTHY S. SIMER -- THE COTERIAN RETREAT (VANTAGE PRESS)

For the kid in all of us, Timothy S. Simer presents a collection of sweet and honest reflections on his childhood life. The 51-year-old actor and director compiles 33 short stories that focus on his family's time in nearby Hamilton. The first story describes 7-year-old Simer visiting the town in 1961 with his parents and three sisters, as his father interviews for a pastor position at High Street Christian Church. Subsequent stories describe his first friend, first kiss and lots of baseball. Native Ohioans will recognize the names of hometown heroes such as Oscar Robertson and Joe Nuxhall. The tales end after his high school graduation in 1972. In his preface, Simer says, "To the reader the details may sometimes prove tedious..." and this sets the tone for the entire book. His description of his newspaper route or of the players on his basketball team is dry, and his clichéd sentences and unexciting language make it hard for the reader to fully connect with the main character. Stories that start with a dramatic flair ("The Christmas Story," "The King and Me," "Saturday at Bill's") peter out into melancholy narratives that neither inspire nor excite. The book ends up reading as someone's diary -- with most of the emotion sucked out to leave just the gritty details. (Christine Mersch) Grade: C+

NICOLE KRAUSS -- THE HISTORY OF LOVE

NICOLE KRAUSS -- THE HISTORY OF LOVE (W.W. NORTON & COMPANY)

Novelist Nicole Krauss takes two huge literary gambles in her new novel, and she wins. Second novels can be a curse. But the great advantage Krauss' successful first effort, A Man Walks into a Room, presented was for her to take another literary risk. One gamble is the novel-within-a-novel motif; the second is a multi-generation approach that ties it to three main characters who don't know each other. Know this, though: You're compelled to read to make the gradual connections. Leo Gursky, the core character, is a novelist whose long ago-written novel, The History of Love, is forgotten and lost by him in Poland during World War II. It's found years later and translated into Spanish and ultimately into English. The daughter of the American translator, Alma, offers an affectionate contrast to the irascible, comic yet loving Leo. Krauss controls the sweeping storyline with utterly precise and moving language. Translation: This is a beautifully edited novel and could be studied by fiction writers for editing alone. Krauss is on a roll. She's as significant a novelist as her husband, Jonathan Safran Foer. (Jeff Hillard) Grade: B+

AMANDA FILIPACCHI -- LOVE CREEPS

AMANDA FILIPACCHI -- LOVE CREEPS (ST. MARTIN'S PRESS)

Lynn Gallagher is a successful, attractive Manhattan gallery owner who's lost the ability to desire. Alan Morton is a modest-looking accountant who stalks her obsessively. Lynn, desperate to alleviate her lack of desire, tries an unexpected remedy by mimicking the clearly desire-infested Alan -- she stalks Roland Dupont, a sophisticated French lawyer who lives in their neighborhood. Along the way a failed-psychologist-turned-street bum figures prominently, as does a parade of minor characters, including a recovering sex addict, a codpiece-wearing lothario and an evil supermodel. Yes, things get complicated in the ever-questioning, surreal world of Love Creeps. Amanda Filipacchi's third novel is about the elusive nature of obsession, perception, desire and attraction. Its characters are neurotic to the point of ludicrousness -- think Woody Allen on Viagra -- yet slowly and surprisingly Love Creeps digs in. At a certain point its twisted, farcical narrative becomes undeniable, gleefully sucking the reader into its psychological and emotional brutality. Filipacchi is clearly interested in addiction -- from its symptoms to how to treat it -- yet Love Creeps asks more questions than it answers. The rights to film this karmic killer have already been snapped up; it's safe to assume Tom Cruise wasn't the buyer. (Jason Gargano) Grade: B