A Big Year for Small Books

There were lots of big books in 2018. We got a sizable memoir from Michelle Obama, 900 pages each on Frederick Douglass and Ulysses S. Grant, and another 750 on Thomas Cromwell, plus another long Murakami novel, and the sixth and final book in Karl Ove Knausgaard’s already gargantuan My Struggle. At more than 1,000 pages, Book Six‘s sections on Hitler alone could probably have been published as a big book of 2018.

Big books are great. But looking back at the truly excellent books published in 2018, it turns out that a large number of them are quite small. In technical terms, their hardcover editions are shorter than nine inches and/or their page count is under 300 pages (yes the hardcover of My Struggle: Book Six is under nine inches but let’s not pretend that counts). On the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2018, 30 of the 48 fiction picks were small books. Four of the five National Book Award fiction finalists were under 300 pages long, including the winner. The Man Booker Prize winner was a small book too. Half of Fiction Advocate’s 10 Best Books of 2018 qualify.

It gets smaller. Many of the best books of 2018 were small collections of short stories. If you had wanted to fill 2018 with short stories from books you could easily fit in a messenger bag, you had your choice of two National Book Award nominees, two posthumous collections from literary giants, the first African American woman to win the Hugo award — who won it three times in a row — and many more I’m certainly missing.

I don’t know how to account for this, or if it’s substantially different from any other year. The books are strange and difficult enough that it doesn’t seem like a market research algorithm at work. If I had to speculate, I’d say that the marquee authors of years past — the Great Whites — have been replaced by an array of new and excellent voices. A huge proportion of the great books of 2018 were written by women and minorities. Two of the best-known white males on this list passed away years ago. And two of the best books of the year, big or small, feature old, white male writers who feel like figures from yesterday.

Hard to be sure. What is certain is that a lot of great writing in 2018 was published in shorter, thinner volumes. They are optimal books for gift giving and travel reading, and I hope you have lots of both planned in the weeks ahead.

And so, here are the great small books from a long, tough year…

My Recommendations

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. No need to take my word for it. The Friend won the National Book Award. It’s a quiet, tragi-comic reflection on the slow decline of idols and art in the modern age. For some reason, it felt a lot like reading Wittgenstein’s Mistress without all the weirdness and tennis balls.

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson. Johnson’s posthumous short story collection is staggeringly good. Less brutal than his usual fare, these are stories of lonely wonder and melancholy magic.

My Duck is Your Duck by Debra Eisenberg. Small but mighty. Every story is a new world and a new life, about many things all at once. And funny, too.

…AFTERWORDS Did we mention that Fiction Advocate’s …AFTERWORDS series published three new entries in 2018? These small books are not just great books — they are also the perfect size for stocking stuffers.

What Are We Doing Here? by Marilynne Robinson. In Robinson’s words, “This country is in a state of bewilderment that cries out for good history.” Her latest collection of essays is at least part of the remedy, going back to the sources of what made America, and the things we should remember if we are actually going to make it great again.

French Exit by Patrick DeWitt. Funny and woeful. Acid and touching. Not too much or too little of all those things. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday. One of the most celebrated books of the year. Ultimately, it was a less monumental experience than the hype surrounding it, but it still earns a place as one of the excellent early novels about the world after September 11, 2001.

The Secret Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Not technically a 2018 book, but a fantastic companion to one of the best books of 2018, The Overstory by Richard Powers.

Other Great Small Books of 2018

The recommendations above were just the few that I had time and space to read. Here are some of the other highly acclaimed books from the past year that also just happen to be small: