“The Son” spans 200 years, six generations and a great many downfalls in one proudly purebred American family, the McCulloughs of Texas.    

In new books by Jennifer Lloyd, a kindergarten class lists the best things about school and a gorilla detective goes in search of stolen banana muffins.    

The agent Luke Janklow may be the last man having fun in the industry. You may have read about some of it in the tabloids.    

“Seven American Deaths and Disasters” transcribes radio and television broadcasts of painful events, from the Kennedy assassination to Sept. 11, as they unfurled on the air, live and unmediated.    

The pianist Jeremy Denk will transform an article for The New Yorker into a book for Random House.    

A writer comes to realize he is too old to follow anyone else’s rules and can express his true nature.    

A washed-up monkey, sex in a morgue, a severed arm at the end of a fishhook and other Carl Hiaasen capers make “Bad Monkey” his funniest novel in almost a decade.    

Dr. Danielle Ofri delves into the ways doctors’ emotions can exert a strong influence on a case, particularly when it grows complicated, frustrating or unyielding.    

Supporting friends in times of serious trouble, like during an illness, can be difficult.    

Yale University has acquired a vast and renowned collection of English lawbooks and legal manuscripts assembled by the barrister Anthony Taussig.