Book Review: Quicksand
/A failed writer seizes on a most unlikely inspiration for his great book: the catastrophically unlucky life of his best friend
Read MoreBook Review: Islam and the Future of Tolerance
/A polite conversation by two intellectuals about an explosive subject: the rise of militant Islamic groups throughout the world, and the world's response
Read MoreBook Review: I Ching
/The ancient Chinese classic of divination gets a brisk new English-language translation
Read MoreBook Review: Washington
/The venerable sub-genre of the Washington, DC history gets a substantial new update
Read MoreSix for Sexy Kit Marlowe!
/He had the hair, the Mona Lisa smile, the subtle hands, the loudly fashionable clothing, the bad-boy attitude – it’s little wonder that Christopher Marlowe has been an extremely popular subject for fiction-writers over the years (especially blossoming after 1952, when the portrait we all so badly want to be a 21-year-old Marlowe was discovered). […]
Read MoreBook Review: Apollo in the Grass
/A revelatory new volume brings to English-language readers a selection of the verses of St. Petersburg poet Aleksandr Kushner
Read MoreRomance Roundup: Location, location, location!
/Any batch of new romance novels will certainly feature a few whose narratives are grounded not on people but on places. Their covers feature landscapes and promise to be “A [Location X] Novel,” and a newcomer to the phenomenon might wonder at the appeal. When we look at three of them chosen at random, that […]
Read MoreBook Review: Gallipoli
/The new entry in Oxford University Press' "Great Battles" series focuses on the long and potent afterlife of the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War
Read MoreEsquire #1000 in the Penny Press!
/How could I not make mention of the fact that Esquire, one of my most steadfast glossy lad-mags, hits its 1000th issue this month? To put it mildly, it’s not every magazine that reaches one thousand issues – hell, there aren’t many writing endeavors of any kind that reach such a milestone (blushing modesty prevents […]
Read MoreBook Review: Those We Left Behind
/In the latest crime novel from Stuart Neville, two young killers are getting paroled - much too soon for the son of their victim
Read MoreThe Vineyard at Summer’s End!
/Our book today is On the Vineyard, a 1980 collection of short essays and reflections about Martha’s Vineyard, accompanied by stunning black-and-white photos by Peter Simon, and the impulse that drove me to take it down from my shelf is akin to the impulse that always makes me think of Cape Cod at summer’s end. […]
Read MoreBook Review: Mary McGrory: The First Queen of Journalism
/From the McCarthy era to the Watergate era and beyond, Mary McGrory ruled the Washington press corps, as a wonderful new book details
Read MoreBook Review: Gamelife
/Growing up in suburban Illinois, author Michael Clune discovered the world of gaming - and nothing was ever the same again
Read MoreBook Review: Killing the Messenger
/In his new book, David Brock, foremost champion of the Clintons, comes to the defense of Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
Read MoreThe Hound of the Baskervilles!
/Our book today is Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal The Hound of the Baskervilles,which brought back, in 1901, the beloved character of Sherlock Holmes who’d been killed off nearly a decade earlier by an author who was both bored by his formulaic stories and jealous of his international fame. The events of The Hound of the […]
Read MoreBook Review: A Strange Business
/James Hamilton's fascinating new book looks behind the glorious paintings of the Victorian era at the men who designed the frames, discovered the paint pigments, and heated the galleries
Read MoreBook Review: The Murdstone Trilogy
/The author of several well-regarded but unprofitable novels about sensitive misfit boys turns to the industry's top money-maker: epic fantasy. Disaster promptly ensues.
Read MoreBook Review: Everland
/In 2012, a trio of Antarctic explorers re-traces the path of a doomed expedition from 1913
Read MoreBook Review: Voyage of the Sable Venus
/A stunning debut volume from poet and teacher Robin Coste Lewis
Read MoreBook Review: Six Poets
/British literary icon Alan Bennett looks at six poets whose work has meant a great deal to him over the years
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