“We don’t know what’s up there. What’s going to happen? Gravity’s a pretty serious issue. What happens if you take that away? We are little sacks of flesh and muscle and blood. We’re little frail things. What the heck will happen to us?” …more

In Packing for Mars, Mary Roach matches her curiosity and humor against government secrecy, drunken Russian cosmonauts, and free-floating turds. …more

Siri Hustvedt’s memoir is a sprawling exploration of memory and the ways trauma manifests in physical illness—less Mary Karr, more Oliver Sacks. …more

An actor’s memoir of growing up with a dangerous father channels Augusten Burroughs, Sean Wilsey, et. al.—maybe a bit too closely. …more

Kurt Caswell’s award-winning essays channel Phillip Lopate and David Foster Wallace, while exploring the plight of a “mountain man” stuck in a paved-over world. …more