Book of Other People

The Book of Other People is about character. The premise is simple: make somebody up. Creating character is at the heart of the fictional enterprise—and this book concentrates on writers who share a talent for making something recognizably human out of words (and in the case of the graphic novelists, pictures). But the purpose of the book is variety; straight "realism"—if such a thing exists—isn't the point. There are as many ways to create character as there are writers. Edited and with an introduction by 2006 Orange Prize winner Zadie Smith, The Book of Other People is a must-have collection of stories by writers at the top of their game.