Books Archive |
An Intimate Interview: Beneath the Surface of Bruce Springsteen - After a year on Broadway, the Bruce Springsteen evenings have come to an end. It’s an amazing show --- I saw it in January and reviewed it here -- and
An Invisible Thread: The True Story of an 11-Year-Old Panhandler, a Busy Sales Executive, and an Unlikely Meeting with Destiny - We all have a list of books/movies/music that make us nuts. Based on what I heard, this book surely looked to be on mine. Consider: One Monday on a New York street,
An Officer and a Spy - "An Officer and a Spy" is a page-turner of a novel about a soldier who is fraudulently judged, an officer who learns the truth, a truth that is suppressed, and
And There Was Light: The Autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran, Blind Hero of the French Resistance - His favorite color was green --- the color, he later learned, of hope. And hope is what pours over you on every page of Jacques Lusseyran’s memoir. It’s unavoidable. It’s the
Andre Dubus: A story about a murder - As he drops his kids off at his ex-wife’s house in winter, a father realizes that the condensation on the windows of his car is the warm breath of his
Andre Dubus: Selected Stories - He was a small boy from Louisiana who listened to the opera on the radio on Saturday afternoons. When he graduated from college, he joined the Marines. And
Andy Warhol - I would bet that most Americans think that Andy Warhol was some kind of idiot --- at best, an idiot savant. His art was of the
Andy Warhol - Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987 --- a Sunday morning, the best time for a media death. By Sunday night, I'd skimmed four books about Warhol and called the
Angela’s Ashes - Angela’s Ashes, the first of Frank McCourt’s memoirs, touched me deeply. And not just for itself. It took me back, to when I was 15 and in my first year
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life - Just as Barbara Kingsolver and her family were leaving their beloved Arizona home, the local authorities made an announcement. It was fine to drink the water,
Ann Patchett: Commonwealth - Ann Patchett is fiction’s current heartthrob. She’s written books that have literary merit and commercial appeal --- “Bel Canto” sold a million copies and has been translated into 30 languages.
Anna Akhmatova - "Poetry is respected only in this country,” said Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. “There's no place where more people are killed for it.” Anna Akhmatova --- Russia's most beloved female poet ---
Anne Lamott: Bird by Bird - I was talking to an artist about why artists have it easy. "Nobody knows how to paint,” I said. “But everybody knows how to write." Sounds facile. But it’s true. When it comes
Annie Ernaux - As a reader, I’m prone to sudden, extreme enthusiasms --- they’re like crushes. With Annie Ernaux, that first happened in 2004, when I read “Simple Passion,” a novel-that-read-like-a-memoir. Even better,
Annie Ernaux: The Years - I don’t know what to call “The Years” --- history? memoir? --- but I do know it’s the best book I’ve read this year. For me, that means the writer
Another Side of Paradise - I can’t remember who had the first success with a book that promised the untold, inside story of a famous writer, but it seems to have spawned a cottage industry.
Anthony Quinn’s Eye - If you are of a certain age you remember Anthony Quinn as a protean force, not just as an actor but as a collector and artist. (In much the same way, Yul
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: The Little Prince - When Robin Williams died, my Facebook screen lit up with one quote after another from “The Little Prince.” I didn’t understand why so many people responded with lines from this book. And
Antonya Nelson: Female Trouble - Both her parents were English professors, so it wasn’t entirely surprising that Antonya Nelson grew up writing stories. Or that her mother would give her an entry form to a
April is Poetry Month. Here are 9 great poets and 9 great poems. And Robin Williams. - SHOPPING ON AMAZON: As an Amazon Associate I earn a modest commission from qualifying purchases. How does that work? You start on Butler, buy something on Amazon, Butler gets a
