Books

A field guide to hoaxes, pranks and fakes, from the curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. Open it to any page and you will find something absurd and true.

An arrogant Palm Beach antiques dealer bumbles his way through Paris high society. A light, sunny satire with a sensible French waiter as its real hero.

A disgraced White House spokesman, a Tennessee plantation, a first love and the mob. A crisis-management expert’s novel about spin, told across two timelines.

A mock campaign manual from the satirist behind the Borowitz Report. Partisan, yes, but the target is really political cynicism of every kind.

The website of baffling parent text messages became a bestselling book. The autocorrect disasters are funny, but the affection underneath is what lasts.

An oral biography of the comedian, told by his family, friends and colleagues. It overturns the easy story of a party animal and finds a frightened, generous man.

A world history told in six drinks and a business book about companies that chose to stay small share one surprising character: Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing.