New J.D. Salinger bio, David Foster Wallace

* What books will you be reading this year? Kenneth Slawenski’s portrait of the Catcher in the Rye author, J.D. Salinger: A Life is rumored to be the most in-depth biography yet. O: A Presidential Novel by an anonymous author that proudly claims to “have been in the room with Barack Obama” is said to be “about aspiration and delusion, set during the presidential election of 2012 and written by an anonymous author who has spent years observing politics and the fraught relationship between public image and self-regard” could very well be this year’s Primary Colors. Or not. * April sees the release of The Pale King, the much-anticipated final work from the late David Foster Wallace. Although the book was unfinished at the time of his death, the 496-page novel said to cover “questions of life’s meaning and of the value of work and society” is sure to give fans plenty to chew on and debate. * Speaking of chewing, few chef memoirs have generated as much advance buzz as NYC chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. Rumored to be as incendiary as Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential , and hailed by Bourdain himself as “the best memoir by a chef ever,” this should make every foodie’s short list. * Another much buzzed-about debut is Tea Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife, a novel that follows a young doctor as she travels to a war-torn country in the Balkans to work at an orphanage and learn more about her grandfather’s mysterious death. Named by The New Yorker as one of the 20 best American fiction writers under forty and included in the National Book Foundation’s list of 5 Under 35, Obreht is one to watch. * Remember James Frey, the bestselling author of A Million Little Pieces that was called on the carpet by Oprah herself for fabricating parts of his book? His next novel, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, due out this spring, will likely generate just as much publicity and rancor. The book imagines what might happen if Christ returned to Earth today and was living in New York City and having plenty of sex with both men and women. Comments? Questions? Want more? Check out Booked online at thereader.com. Or email us at booked@thereader.com.