Books Archive |
Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington: Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes - In 1928, a heckler shouted at presidential candidate Al Smith, "Tell 'em all you know. It won't take long." Smith shouted back, "If I tell them all we
Arrowsmith - Since the election, classic dystopian fiction has become a Thing. One of those novels is about fascism coming to the United States: "It Can't Happen Here," by Sinclair Lewis. [To
Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason - Guest Butler Barbara Finkelstein is the author of Summer Long-a-coming. Her pieces for Head Butler include In Defense of Long Books and The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. She
Arthur Miller: Focus - Almost no one knows about Arthur Miller's one and only novel. If you’re aware of “Focus,” it’s probably because of the movie adaptation, starring William H. Macy, Laura Dern and Meat
Artists in Residence - Here, in a lovely slip case, is a slip of a book. A pamphlet, if you will. But it is packed with information to whet an art lover's
As Always, Jack - I crave a simple, old-fashioned book. With nice people I'd like to meet. With only one plot, so I don't have to remember who's who in the cast. And
At Blanchard’s Table: A Trip to the Beach Cookbook - Melinda Blanchard is a home-taught cook, not a trained chef. That seems to make all the difference, because Blanchard's Restaurant is apparently so remarkable that Caribbean-bound foodies go
At Elizabeth David’s Table: Classic Recipes and Timeless Kitchen Wisdom - I have such a schoolboy crush on Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, the team that produces the Canal House cookbooks, that I reflexively pull their recipes. But no one is
At Home in the Garden - I met Carolyne Roehm for media reasons --- at the height of Wall Street prosperity in the mid ‘80s, I wrote a piece about her and Henry Kravis, her then
At Home with May and Axel Vervoordt: Recipes for Every Season - So I get this beautiful --- no, make that gorgeous --- cookbook. With the most spectacular photographs I’ve seen in ages. But when I flipped through it, I felt like
At Risk - You don’t forget the books that stop you in your tracks. In 1988, that book was “At Risk,” Alice Hoffman’s novel about an 11-year-old girl who gets AIDS from a blood
Atlas of Remote Islands (Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot on and Never Will) - No worries that "Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot on and Never Will" will be showing up on gift lists. Though published by Penguin, the
Atlas of the World - Atlas of the World produced by National Geographic "Whenever you see a straight line in the Middle East,"
Audrey Hepburn said, “Paris is always a good idea.” So…. - Here's one version of a perfect day in Paris: Have breakfast at the Marly. Be moved by a silent stroll through the "Deportation" memorial to the 200,000 French Jews taken
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup - Elizabeth Holmes, the 37-year-old founder of the failed blood testing start-up Theranos, has been found guilty of four of 11 charges of fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of
Badenheim 1939 - When Aharon Appelfeld, one of Israel's greatest writers, died in 2018, The Times gave him the "great writer" obituary. But the odds that you know his name or have read
Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere - READER MAIL: "The pineapple recipe --- great launch for whadawegot improvising. Got a grocery-store pineapple (which I never buy because I remember eating sun-warmed, macheted pineapple in a Hawaiian field).
Banker to the Poor - Because we are all financially sophisticated here, we know that the time to borrow money is when rates are low and you don't need it. What do you do
Baptism by Fire - Heather Choate was baptized at a font at a Los Angeles church so beautifully designed that it looked like a movie set. She went to Sunday school. She was confirmed.
Barack Obama: A Promised Land - When I was a toddler, the grownups read Time Magazine so they could sound smart at cocktail parties. They didn't read the books reviewed there or dig into The Times
