MY SECRET HISTORY by Paul Theroux...

MY SECRET HISTORY by Paul Theroux (G.P. Putnam’s Sons: $21.95; 512 pp.) “At 48, Theroux is of an age to enjoy the tiny nuances that separate people, and to delight in the ambivalence that plagues modern man. ‘My Secret Life’ is a wonderful book.”--Andrew Jaffe

THE ROAD FROM COORAIN by Jill Ker Conway (Alfred A. Knopf: $18.95; 233 pp.) “Vivid, poignant, witty, rich with anecdote and detail, compulsively readable, it delineates a life that is part adventure story, part trial by ordeal.

A fascinating autobiography.”--Janette Turner Hospital