Lonely Planet
Envy-magnet Nell Freudenberger is back with a smart and rueful tale of a Chinese fish out of water.
• The Dissident, By Nell Freudenberger, Ecco; August 15 ($25.95).

Tragicomic
The Illustrated 9/11 Report, a comic-book condensation of the best-selling document.
• The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation, Hill and Wang; September 4 ($30).

Richard Ford’s Manly Meditations
Reading Ford, you can feel uplifted and empowered in a way that might make you wonder if his books are not some sublime species of self-help.
• The Lay of the Land, By Richard Ford, Knopf; October 24 ($26.95).

Waiting for Lefty
Frank Rich connects the dots from the Green Zone to Hollywood.
• The Greatest Story Ever Sold, By Frank Rich, Penguin Press; September 19 ($25.95).

Both Sides Now
The big questions, seen from the left and the right.

Shrink Rap
Heidi Julavits’s twisty tale of Freudian mind games.
• The Uses of Enchantment, By Heidi Julavits, Doubleday; October 17 ($24.95).

A Hard Look in the Mirror
Recent years have witnessed a sneaky shift in the portrayal of plastic surgery.
• Beauty Junkies, By Alex Kuczynski, Doubleday; October 17 ($24.95).

Song of Himself
No one knows how much readers anticipate Thomas Pynchon’s sixth novel—his first in nine years—more than Pynchon.
• Against the Day, By Thomas Pynchon, Penguin Press; November 21 ($35).

The Best of the Rest
Freud, foodies, Franzen, the Apocalypse, and more.