Pick up Oyeyemi's fantastical "Mr. Fox" this week. (Riverhead)

"Lost Memory of Skin: A Novel"
By: Russell Banks
(Ecco, Hardcover, $26)

A young man, only referred to as the Kid, struggles with how to live after being imprisoned for relations with an underage girl and ends up under a Florida causeway in a colony of other registered sex-offenders. Still fairly lost and innocent, the Kid meets the Professor, a university sociologist, who takes him under his wing as a test subject for his research on homelessness and reform among sex-offenders. A series of shocking events lead to the cracking open of the Professor’s past—full of secrets and lies—and as a result, the Kid is left scrambling to understand what he believes in and who to believe when facing a new level moral decision.
(Sept. 27)

"Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend"
By: Susan Orlean
(Simon and Schuster, Hardcover, $27)

Orlean recounts the unexpected turn of events that began with Corporal Lee Duncan’s discovery of the orphaned puppy Rin Tin Tin on a WWI battlefield which results in the dog’s movie star legacy. Rin Tin Tin’s personality and charm won the hearts of movie-goers, TV viewers, radio listeners the world over throughout his 13 years of life, and Duncan cared for him during his life as well as the dog’s descendants. The German Shepherd’s hero roles even earned him a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. The book delves into the bond not only between Duncan and the original Rin Tin Tin, but also between humans and animals in American society. For dog-lovers and non-dog lovers alike! (Sept. 27)

"Mr. Fox"
By: Helen Oyeyemi
(Riverhead, Hardcover, $26)

In Oyeyemi’s uniquely-crafted love story, writers Mr. Fox and his wife Daphne cannot help from killing off their heroines until Mr. Fox’s muse, Mary, comes to life and turns them all into the subjects of a bigger and more complicated tale. As Mr. Fox and Mary enter into a game in which they make up their own fantastical stories and try to be together no matter the roles they play, Daphne becomes increasingly suspicious that the two are having an affair. When Daphne throws herself into their game, Mr. Fox faces the choice between his dream woman and his real woman—who will he choose to be with and who does he truly love? Their magical journeys reveal great truths about how we as humans learn to be together. (Sept. 29)

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