Barnes is not only a talented writer, but also a talented and finely attuned reader. This is clear to anyone who has read “The Flaubert’s Parrot.” In his new book, Barnes writes about those writers whose works mean the most to him. He opens before us the world of “his” Hemingway, “his” Updike, “his” Orwell, and Kipling—and we understand: truly, “novels resemble cities,” ones we will have to discover, feel, and come to love. So “In the Offing/Out of the Window” is a kind of guide that will help the reader find new names and rethink long-ago read material.