Art
BOOKS: The Lake Shore Limited
“The play’s the thing…” and you know how the rest goes. These are Hamlet’s words to describe his plan to gin up some special lines for the local troupe to put in their play so that he can watch for a reaction from Claudius confirming his part in the murder of Hamlet’s father. MORE...
BOOKS: So Much for That
“So Much for That”
By Lionel Shriver
Harper ($25.99, 433 pp.)
Who doesn’t dream of retiring with a million dollar IRA and then moving to some island where the living is cheap, the air smells of spices, and the sun always shines? Shepherd Knacker has it all planned out in the opening of Lionel Shriver’s new novel “So Much for That”. His airline… MORE...
BOOKS: What Happens in Austin Stays in Austin
Kevin Quinn has recently turned fifty. His girlfriend thinks she might be pregnant. Kevin has lived in Ann Arbor all his life and now is an editor (the only editor) for the publications division of the Asian Studies department. On a whim he has applied for an editing job in Austin and has been invited for an interview. He meets many people but is still very much alone in his own head as the day goes by. MORE...
BOOKS: Why Translation Matters
Academic lectures are usually snoozers in person. They can be even worse when transcribed into a book, the intent of which is usually to satisfy the surprisingly still prevalent “publish or perish” mandate for academic success (the “perish” part being dramatically illustrated recently by the infamous Amy Bishop shootout at the University of Alabama-Huntsville). MORE...
BOOKS: The Three Weissmanns of Westport
Miranda, one of the three Weissmann women in Cathleen Schine’s new novel, runs a one-woman literary agency specializing in the memoirs of the woe-is-me crowd. They are a needy bunch requiring lots of attention, and Miranda jokingly refers to them as her “Awful Authors.” Every one “had always overcome something ghastly and lurid, something so ghastly and lurid they had to write a ghastly and lurid book recounting every detail of their mortification and misery.” MORE...
Just Kids: Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe
“This one has the magic.” With this phrase Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe would collaboratively designate the successes in their lives. It could refer to his best photo in a contact sheet, the best of her poems, the best song, the best drawing, the best cheap clothes, the best studio or apartment, even the best lover for the other. It also applies to Smith’s terrific new book “Just Kids.” MORE...
Wither Independent Bookstores?
In the heart of Silicon Valley with the campuses of the digital giants surrounding them, booksellers spent a day learning about the technology, marketing, and distribution of eBooks. Apple had just announced its iPad, Amazon was duking it out with MacMillan over eBook pricing, and Barnes & Noble’s Nook was back in production and gaining market traction. It was hard for independent booksellers even to feel like players in the $20 billion book business, much less winners… MORE...
BOOKS: The Godfather of Kathmandu
Sonchai Jitpleecheep is the introspective half-breed cop who stars in John Burdett’s four novels of crime in Bangkok. MORE...
BOOKS: The Privileges
“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor. Rich is better.” So goes the old vaudeville line attributed to everyone from Mae West to Gertrude Stein. MORE...
BOOKS: The Unnamed
Does it seem that things have been especially nasty this last decade? Nature threw us mass destruction and death from hurricane, tsunami, wildfire, flood, freeze, drought, pandemic, and now earthquake. When nature wasn’t interested, we created our own devastation and terror with suicide bombings and subsequent wars of revenge, revolution, and redress. Yet only a very small percentage of the world’s population actually directly experienced this pain and suffering. MORE...
JK: I know what would make my sore back feel better….. A nice big bowl of Mac ‘N Cheese!
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