Felled Oaks

Subtitled "Conversations with DeGaulle," this account by Andre Malraux finds the French leader at the end of his life to be practical and surprisingly modest. Other than the inviolable principle of preserving the ideal of France, everything was up for negotiation: alliances with Communists, the surrender of Algeria, the nationalization of parts of the economy. DeGaulle saw his importance not in what he said, but in the hope he roused.

The Flaming Corsage

William Kennedy's characters always have an engaging vitality, best expressed through their snappy dialogue, but in The Flaming Corsage there are gothic elements as well: ghosts, madness, jealousy, and revenge.

Being Mortal

Atul Gewande, a physician, has written a useful reminder about the limitations of medicine. It is a message that will probably go unheeded by most doctors who, grotesquely, view death as optional.

All the Girls He Wanted

This Avon paperback from the early 1960s collects 32 John O'Hara stories, most of them character sketches of a few pages rather than traditional stories. As such they often trail away wistfully, without much resolution. O'Hara has great ear for dialogue, and as another reader has observed, his "simple style," unlike Hemingway's, does not call attention to itself. O'Hara was published hundreds of times in the New Yorker, but not a single one of these stories would be published in the magazine today if submitted anonymously.