Kangaroo Notebook, by Kobo Abe (Vintage, $12).
Surreal fiction by the celebrated Japanese writer who died in 1993; in this novel a man wakes up one morning to discover that his legs are growing radish sprouts.
The White Blackbird: A Life of the Painter Margarett Sargent by Her Granddaughter, by Honor Moore (Penguin, $14.95).
An illuminating investigation into why alcoholism and manic-depressive illness caused the author’s grandmother, a gifted though now-forgotten painter (and a relative of John Singer Sargent’s), to abandon her art.
The Ogre and Friday, by Michel Tournier (Johns Hopkins University Press, $15.95 and $14.95).
Reissues of two novels by the celebrated French writer. “The Ogre” delineates the transformation of a passive German schoolboy into a fierce Nazi; “Friday” reimagines the legend of Robinson Crusoe.
The Empire State Building: The Making of a Landmark, by John Tauranac (St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.95).
An informative study of the famous New York City building, which, though no longer the tallest structure in the world, is still the most mythical and iconic.
Man to Man: Surviving Prostate Cancer, by Michael Korda (Vintage, $12).
A candid, highly personal account of a dreaded illness by the editor in chief of Simon & Schuster.
Take Ten: New 10-Minute Plays, edited by Eric Lane and Nina Shengold (Vintage, $14).
Snapshot dramas ranging from monologues to an eight-character farce by 32 of America’s finest playwrights, including John Guare, David Mamet, Tony Kushner and Laura Cunningham.
Grassland: The History, Biology, Politics and Promise of the American Prairie, by Richard Manning (Penguin, $12.95).
A vivid evocation of America’s lost prairie, which once covered 40 percent of the nation, and a compelling argument for preserving our remaining prairie ecosystems.
Large Animals in Everyday Life, by Wendy Brenner (Norton, $11).
Animals are a comforting presence to the lonely people at the center of these stories, including an unhappy lottery winner, a psychic grandmother and a supermodel.
Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen, by Alix Kates Shulman (Penguin, $10).
A reissue of the tart 1969 best seller, delineating one woman’s sexual and intellectual awakening.
Strange Business, by Rilla Askew (Penguin, $10.95).
Insightful short stories about sad, unsophisticated people in a dusty Oklahoma town.
