Barbara Molinard

Readers like a good story, don’t we? Isn’t that why we pick up a book, turn the pages, dig in? Sometimes, the best stories are those we learn of the writers themselves. Think John Kennedy Toole and A Confederacy of Dunces. Toole’s mother worked to place his manuscript after he committed suicide, sending it to publisher after publisher in search of a home. Consider Ernest Hemingway and his war injuries, his cold and drunken life in Paris, his standing desks, six-toed cats, and multiple wives.

Sign up for weekly emails A peek at what’s on tap in the Independent this week. Monday: A review of Panics by Barbara Molinard; translated by Emma Ramadan. Tuesday: An interview with Eugene L. Meyer, author of Hidden Maryland: In Search of America in Miniature. Wednesday: Podcast: David Maraniss, author of Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe. Thursday: October’s “Bedtime Stories,” featuring Rafael Alvarez, author of Don’t Count Me Out: A Baltimore Dope Fiend’s Miraculous Recovery.

This month, we’re so excited to feature seven recently released titles in translation.