The trio of Foer brothers—sons of Cleveland Park lawyer Albert Foer and PR exec Esther Safran Foer—might be Washington’s most accomplished set of siblings, possibly matched only by Rahm Emanuel (who moved back to Chicago to run for mayor after his stint as White House chief of staff) and his brother Zeke, an NIH bioethicist (whose other brother, Ari, is a Hollywood agent). As the youngest Foer brother, Joshua, publishes his first book in March—one he sold for a reported $1.2 million—it’s a good time for a guide to the literary wonder that is the Foers.

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While reading about Matthew Kluger, the former Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati lawyer accused of using information about firm clients to conduct a massive insider-trading scheme, several things shocked me.

Obviously, the fact that Kluger allegedly got away with this for 17 years is incredible. That he supposedly did it at some of the most prestigious firms in the country—Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Skadden; possibly Fried, Frank; and his most recent firm, Wilson Sonsini—is even more staggering. These are the kinds of places that—by all appearances—guard their clients’ information like state secrets. At mega-firms, you typically need to swipe a key card a half-dozen times just to get from point A to B. On a recent visit to Skadden’s DC office, I noted what I assume was a security camera keeping watch over the reception area.

But also surprising was Kluger’s job title, given his seniority. At 50 years old and 17 years out of law school, Kluger has never risen beyond the level of senior associate. The usual trajectory at major law firms is to prove yourself as an associate for eight to 11 years before becoming a counsel or partner, or, if you’re not progressing, to simply move on from the firm or the legal profession. There are increasingly more exceptions to this path, thanks to the recession—the financial pressures on firms have made it harder to promote people. Still, an associate as senior as Kluger is a rare find.

Writers are like fishermen in the stream of culture. In most cases, an important idea isn’t enough to hook readers; it takes some bait, and keeping us on the line requires sustained ingenuity. Make no mistake, David Brooks’s The Social Animal is a heady primer on the latest trends in brain research, a field currently fixated on the role of the unconscious mind—the realm of feelings, desires, and imagination—in human happiness and prosperity. What makes these abstract concepts palatable, even endearing, is how Brooks—a New York Times columnist who lives in Bethesda—presents them in the form of a story. Raiding philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s toolbox, Brooks creates two characters, Harold and Erica, and trails them across their lives—from Harold’s childhood laughing fits and Erica’s extramarital affair to their final vacation, a cathedral tour of France—letting their impulses and emotions put flesh on the data.

Simon & Schuster eager to stoke speculation about the identity of the anonymous author of O, a novel about the Obama administration that aspires to be Primary Colors for a new generation. So eager, in fact, that publicist Jonathan Karp sent this email to a blind-copied group of Washington luminaries, including Chuck Todd:

On January 25, we'll be publishing a secret novel simply titled O, about President Obama's campaign for re-election in 2012. The author of the novel wishes to remain anonymous. You may be asked to comment on whether or not you are the author. If so, it would be great if you refrained from commenting, in solidarity with the principle that a book should be judged on its content and not on the perceived ideology of its author.

The author, an individual with integrity and talent, is someone who has been in the room with Barack Obama and knows the political world intimately. In fact, you may know this person, or know of this person -- if you are not in fact the author yourself.

Thanks in advance for your consideration. I apologize for the impersonality of this blind group email, but this seems like the best way to protect the author's identity. I hope you enjoy the book. It's terrific.

There's no question that the speculation is good for business. But given this excerpt, the author might not be eager to claim the prose as his (the pronoun the publishers have used at least one to refer to the author) or hers. Rumors that the president takes some time off aren't exactly the equivalent of behind-the-scenes accounts of sex scandals.

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In the poems of Traveling Light, author Linda Pastan evokes Eve and the Garden of Eden in the ordinary moments of her life in Potomac.

Read a full review of Traveling Light here.