Lou Reed: A Life
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To the Back of Beyond
Politics and Prose Comes to the Wharf
One of the area’s favorite independent bookstores brings its treasures to the Wharf, Washington’s premier waterfront shopping/dining/exploring destination situated along the Potomac. Opening today, Politics and Prose’s new 2,300-square-foot store will offer shoppers a selection of novels, nonfiction, stationery, and other goodies, as well as space for author and community…
Though I don’t always agree with the Nobel Prize in Literature’s choices (cough, Bob Dylan, cough), it’s their award to bestow, and I thank them for celebrating literature and doing their part to keep it relevant. This year, I congratulate them on their inspired selection of Kazuo Ishiguro, “who,” according…
The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir
The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir
4 Fun Titles for Middle-Grade Readers
Slider By Pete Hautman Recommended for ages 10-14 (Candlewick) David seems like any other middle-school boy with a growing appetite — except for his uncanny ability to devour a large pizza in under five minutes. (His parents aren’t thrilled with his talent for speed-eating.) Now, with the Super Pigorino Bowl…
Two Prominent Novelists Win Genius Grants
Congratulations to novelists Jesmyn Ward and Viet Thanh Nguyen, who were just named 2017 MacArthur Fellows! The so-called “genius grant” gives the writers $625,000 each to do with as they please, no strings attached. We hope it frees them up to write more works of transformative fiction, such as Ward’s…
<p>Mundy’s multi-faceted book tells the story of the 10,000 women who worked as cryptographers for the U.S. Army and Navy during the Second World War. Their work breaking German and Japanese codes shortened the hostilities, saved lives, and gave these women the skills and the confidence to pursue careers. It…
The Sworn Virgin: A Novel
An Interview with Francesca Segal
Francesca Segal’s latest novel, The Awkward Age, will strike an emotional chord with readers who are familiar with the complexities of a blended family. Segal portrays the ups and downs of James and Julia, a middle-aged couple who’ve found each other after years of being alone. The relationship is significant…
On Wednesday, September 13th, writers and lit lovers from around the DC area packed into the Battelle Atrium at American University to fête Richard Peabody and Gargoyle Magazine. The occasion was a celebration of multiple milestones: Gargoyle’s 40th anniversary and the launch of issues 65 and 66. Most importantly, it…
Golda Meir (1898-1978) was Israel’s fourth prime minster, the first woman to hold that position. As Klagsbrun, a columnist for the Jewish Week and author of The Fourth Commandment, recounts in this deeply researched biography, Meir’s was an exceptional life from the beginning. Born in Czarist Russia, she immigrated to…
The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World
The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest Home
As is often the case, I'd read Eryk Pruitt's work before I met him in person. Actually, allow me to amend that statement — I met Eryk because I'd read his work, and it haunted me relentlessly. The influential crime-fiction site Detectives Beyond Borders had glowingly written about his novel…
Kazuo Ishiguro Wins the Nobel Prize
Congratulations to Kazuo Ishiguro, who was just awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. In honor of today’s news, we present here an interview we did with the famed author back in 2015, along with our review of his novel The Buried Giant, which came out that same year. Like…
Fight-or-flight response is that physical reaction to a perceived threat that characterizes much of the animal kingdom, including humans, creating a cascade of hormones that prepare us for either. It is arguable that contemporary life — with its growing web of digital networks, frenetic multitasking, ubiquitous noise (through those earbuds),…
5 Most Popular Posts: September 2017
Joel Looper’s review of Crucible of Faith: The Ancient Revolution that Made Our Modern Religious World by Philip Jenkins. “That story is mind-bendingly complex. It begins in the years after Israel has returned from exile in Babylon and rebuilt the temple, stories readers may know from the biblical books of…
Join us from 7-8:30 pm as ten crime fiction writers scar you with selected readings from their work. Participating guys and dolls include: Winner of multiple awards for his short fiction and author of On the Road with Del and Louise, Art Taylor. Former president of the Maryland chapter of…
An Interview with Nelson DeMille
Calling Nelson DeMille a novelist is leaving out a lot of the story. Along with writing six New York Times bestsellers, he’s a decorated Army veteran, winner of the Air Medal, Bronze Star, and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Oh, and he’s a member of Mensa, an organization full of people…
Join us October 4th for a reading, book talk, Q&A, and author signing with author LB Gschwandtner and her novel, The Other New Girl. In a fresh take on the prep-school-lit genre, sassy sophomore Susannah Greenwood enters Quaker prep Foxhall School in 1960s Pennsylvania, and soon finds herself in an…
6 Creepy Picture Books for Halloween
My son owns a scary amount of Halloween-themed kids’ books. This is my fault, of course, but I’m not apologizing. Dash loves a good creepy book. When he was younger, he had a fondness for one baby book that featured a haunted house with a headless knight, a spider named…
The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters upon Your Shore: A Story of American Rage
Art Garfunkel in Conversation with Scott Simon
With Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel performed as Simon & Garfunkel from 1963 to 1970. The duo won six Grammy awards, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. That's the heart of the story, but there's a lot more to…
WWI Fiction: Still Relevant a Century Later
What aspects of that conflict were of most interest? The experiences of ordinary soldiers; conditions behind the lines; political circumstances surrounding the war; and women’s roles during the war. While some men expressed a preference for novels concerning the war front and some women preferred those emphasizing the home front,…
In June 2013, author/philosopher/videogame-designer Ian Bogost and Loyola University New Orleans associate English professor Chris Schaberg introduced a series of books and essays called Object Lessons, described as “a series on the hidden lives of ordinary objects.” Bogost and Schaberg serve as the series’ editors, while the 2,000-word essays are…
Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926-1966
From the days of the Mayflower and the Virginia Company, America has been a place for people to dream, invent, build, tinker, and bet the farm in pursuit of a better life. Americana takes us on a 400-year journey of this spirit of innovation and ambition through a series of…
Washington, DC, native and award-winning writer Ann Beattie wants to talk about fellow author Peter Taylor these days. Formerly colleagues at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Beattie took on the massive task of reviewing Taylor’s impressive canon for a new Library of America two-part collection, Peter Taylor: The Complete…
Gretchen Rubin: Reading is my work and my play, my cubicle and my treehouse. I have a few rules for reading. If I don’t enjoy a book, I stop reading it without guilt. That way, I enjoy my reading more and have more time to read books that I love.…
Love and Treachery in Nouvelle France
When Canadians are pressed to name literary classics, they will likely reference the works of Mordecai Richler and Margaret Atwood. Born in 1931 and 1939, respectively, these laudable authors aren’t exactly of the same vintage as the 19th-century canon-establishers to the south, greats like Hawthorn and Melville. In Canada, where…
Champions Way: Football, Florida, and the Lost Soul of College Sports
The Sagrada Família: The Astonishing Story of Gaudí’s Unfinished Masterpiece
Gretchen Rubin in Conversation with Chris Guillebeau
From The Happiness Project to Better than Before to her popular podcast, “Happier with Gretchen Rubin,” Rubin has probed the nature of happiness — what it is, what it isn’t, and how to have more of it. In her new book she demonstrates that this seemingly elusive state hinges on…
Katy Tur in Conversation with Jake Sherman
Part of the NBC News team reporting on the 2016 Presidential campaign, Tur was assigned at the start of the primaries to cover Trump. She was on the story for more than sixteen months, following the volatile candidate and meeting his white middle- and working-class base. Her detailed, behind-the-scenes account,…
Visit Us at Politics and Prose this Friday!
Why should you come to Politics and Prose, one of DC’s finest indie bookstores, this Friday, Sept. 22nd? Because the Independent will be there, and 20 percent of your purchase will go to support us! After you’re done shopping — you know you're buying something — tell the cashier you…
In her debut novel, All Is Beauty Now, Sarah Faber combines the raw splendor of Rio de Janeiro with family tragedy. In 1960s Brazil, the Maurers seem to enjoy a picture-perfect life. But scratch beneath the surface and things are far from idyllic. Hugo, the patriarch and a Canadian expat,…
Ben Loory returns with a second collection of timeless fables and fairy tales, inviting us to enter his worlds of whimsical fantasy, deep empathy, and playful humor, in the signature voice that drew readers to his highly-praised first collection. In stories that eschew literary realism, Loory’s characters demonstrate richly imagined…
The Last of the Tsars: Nicholas II and the Russian Revolution
5 Reasons to Attend the Baltimore Book Festival
The chance to meet and connect with 500+ authors. The great thing about the Baltimore Book Festival is that authors don’t just sign their books then leave. Each presenting author interacts with the audience by sharing their stories and opening up the floor for Q&As. Participating authors include Michael Eric…
The Highway to the End of the Night
In September 1981, I was 16, living in Indianapolis with my family. I had an older brother who subscribed to Rolling Stone magazine. I’d tried marijuana, and I’d begun drinking beer. But I had never considered “breaking on through to the other side.” Then the issue with the Jim Morrison…
The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur
Danzy Senna in Conversation with NPR’s Sam Sanders
From the bestselling author of Caucasia comes New People, a subversive and engrossing novel of race, class and manners in contemporary America. As the 20th century draws to a close, Maria is at the start of a life she never thought possible. She and Khalil, her college sweetheart, are planning…
Crucible of Faith: The Ancient Revolution that Made Our Modern Religious World
5 Great Books about America’s Birth
September 17th is Constitution Day! (Hope your shopping’s done.) In its honor, we offer five good reads about how the U.S. got its start. Sentimental Democracy: The Evolution of America's Romantic Self-Image by Andrew Burstein. This is an unsentimental look at the manner in which the founders addressed both reason…
I heard someone once say that movies are the only artistic entertainment Americans view collectively. And despite this second (and enjoyable) golden age of television we're in, I think that assertion is still largely true. I've been thinking about movies a lot lately, especially since writing my column a couple…
Meet “America’s Librarian,” Nancy Pearl
Meet Nancy Pearl, the NPR books commentator fondly hailed as “America’s Librarian,” and celebrate the release of her debut novel, George & Lizzie (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 9/5/17). This author talk and signing is presented by Curious Iguana bookstore in partnership with Frederick County Public Libraries. Free event; registration not required,…
September 2017 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
Ashbery, Collected Poems, edited by Mark Ford. The Library of America. 767 pages. Dots & Dashes by Jehanne Dubrow. Southern Illinois University Press. 71 pages. Don’t Call Us Dead by Danez Smith. Graywolf Press. 104 pages. Appearances by Michael Collins. Saddle Road Press. 80 pages. Abloom & Awry by Tina…
Lynn Kanter’s novel, Her Own Vietnam, uncovers a slice of the forgotten story of women who served in that war. Kanter performs the novelist’s magic act — although she didn’t serve in Vietnam, and has never visited there, she brings the experience alive through Della Brown, a nurse forced to…
In his latest novel, acclaimed sports-writer Mike Lupica takes readers onto the football field, where the hits come fast and hard. After witnessing a few particularly scary tackles, Clay finds his love of the game tainted by fear. This fear grows when Coach Coop starts forgetting things and getting lost.…
Once I’d made the decision to self-publish, it meant I would be the one to do everything that my publisher would normally do for me. If you ever want to appreciate your publisher, self-publishing will make you do it! The first five steps: Developmental Editor Line/Copy Editor Cover Design Formatting…
Messud’s sixth novel is the story of Cassie and Julia, best friends from nursery school until seventh grade. For Julia, who narrates their experiences, the two are as close as sisters, though their families fail to mesh and the differences between them grow more apparent over time. Without Julia to…
Because the publishing industry loves to chase a trend unto the last cliché, I have been following the recent surge of novels depicting transracial adoption with both hope and trepidation. After reading The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See, The Leavers by Lisa Ko, and Everybody’s Son by…
Literary Cocktails in the Reading Room
Every Friday and Saturday night, the exquisite Chantal Tseng crafts a new cocktail menu based on a new author each week in the Reading Room at Petworth Citizen. No reservations required for this acclaimed night of craft cocktails, paired with delicious food from Petworth Citizen Chef Jamie Rutherford. At Petworth…
Under the Lights and In the Dark: Untold Stories of Women’s Soccer
5 Most Popular Posts: August 2017
Rafael Alvarez’s review of A Horse Walks into a Bar: A Novel by David Grossman. “I have never read a book like this, or even thought that one could exist. Maybe that’s because Buddy Hackett never wrote his autobiography. From concept to execution (was it imagined whole or did the…
For New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul, it’s an everyday requirement to sift through dozens of books, only a fraction of which will make it into the hands of reviewers. Paul is herself a writer, too, whose most recent book, My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book…
McGregor, former Beijing bureau chief for the Financial Times, argues that the Pacific Rim, not the Middle East, will determine the shape of international politics and the future of American power in the 21st century. Following up his award-winning look at China, The Party, with a close analysis of China’s…
There are a lot of good reasons to read series novels. The characters grow fuller over time. There is usually a good sense of place or era. But another lure of these novels is more enigmatic. A successful series can initiate the reader into arcane mysteries that are fascinating and…
Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Future of Evolution
3 Engrossing End-of-Summer Reads
For many years, summer vacations in Nantucket and the Berkshires has been the time I reserve for the joy of reading what I don’t have to read. No newspapers; a junkie all year, I go cold turkey for this brief time — and find the world is still there when…
By the mid-1970s, one in every 50 albums sold worldwide had Elton John’s name on it. From a music nerd playing sentimental dreck in local pubs, to wearing a sequined baseball uniform before sellout crowds at Dodger Stadium in 1975, Elton, born Reginald Dwight, came to epitomize the wild, sexually…
Debut YA author Sandhya Menon will be joining us to talk about her delightful romantic comedy, When Dimple Met Rishi, which follows two Indian-American teens whose parents conspire to arrange their marriage. At One More Page Books, 2200 N. Westmoreland St., Arlington, VA. Click here for info. Like what we…
Today marks the first day of school for two-thirds of our household. Our son, Dashiell, is starting kindergarten — a milestone transition — and I’m teaching my first classes of the new semester at George Mason University. Not incidentally, the other one-third of the house, my wife, Tara, started a…
The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn: An Untold Story of the American Revolution
Throughout Jewish history, preserved foods have served both practical and spiritual needs, keeping alive a people and their faith through sojourns in deserts and isolation in ghettos. In her second book, Paster, a D.C. native now based in Chicago where she writes the West of the Loop blog, presents seventy-five…
Back in June in this column, I ruminated about the decline of editing as a valued element of the book-publication process. That column anticipated by about 10 days the brouhaha that erupted at the New York Times when its management decided to eliminate a copy desk and spread its duties…
Beyond Snowden: Privacy, Mass Surveillance, and the Struggle to Reform the NSA
José Ballesteros - Knocking on the Door of the White House: Latino and Latina Poets in Washington, D.C. (2001-2009). Zozobra Publishing was established in 2013 and is dedicated to publishing bilingual English-Spanish editions of the best Spanish-language poetry by Latinx writers living in the U.S. Co-edited by Ballesteros, one of…
August 2017 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
A Doll for Throwing by Mary Jo Bang. Graywolf Press. 86 pages Mira and Other Poems of Guyana by Stanley Niamali. Mountain Arbor Press. 84 pages. Sorry You Are Not an Instant Winner by Doritt Carroll. Kattywompus Press. 30 pages. Here in the Afterlife by Daniel Thomas Moran, translated by…
An Interview with Sarah Creech
Nashville figures heavily in your new novel, The Whole Way Home. What do you find most compelling about the city, and why did you choose to set your story there? Nashville is a fun city that feels like a small town despite its rapidly growing population and popularity due, in…
“Encourage aspiring writers to continue writing when things are going against them, when it feels hard…” – Patrick Modiano, 2014 Nobel Laureate In pursuit of both “truth and storytelling,” a new Connecticut-based literary journal is seeking submissions for a $500 prize, the winner of which will be announced in January…
Steam Titans: Cunard, Collins, and the Epic Battle for Commerce on the North Atlantic
Tuesday Night Open Mic with Guest Host Charity Blackwell
A Busboys and Poetry event! For two hours, audiences can expect a diverse chorus of voices, and a vast array of professional spoken word performers, open mic rookies, musicians and a different host every week. At 2021 14th St., NW, Washington, DC. Click here for info. Like what we do?…
Join our free Sunday morning storytime for all ages! Caregivers must be present. At East City Bookshop, 645 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington, DC. Click here for info. Like what we do? Click here to support the nonprofit Independent!
I recently reviewed House of Spies, the latest in Daniel Silva’s entertaining espionage thrillers featuring Gabriel Allon as the head of Mossad, the legendary Israeli spy agency. As I noted in my review, Allon was not always a spy chief. He started out as an art restorer who also spied…
Ben Greenman: Ah, bed-table reading matter, the enemy (and sometimes the enabler) of sleep. I tend to have some basic rules for the books that end up in the stack. First of all, only paperbacks: If you nod off, books can end up in the bed with you, and who…
How many times have you heard readers argue about which is better, Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights? The works of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne continue to provoke passionate fandom over a century after their deaths. Brontë enthusiasts, as well as those of us who never made it further than those…
Healing Children: A Surgeon’s Stories from the Frontiers of Pediatric Medicine
An Interview with Anne Hillerman
Anne Hillerman’s latest novel, Song of the Lion, starts with a car bombing that sends Navajo tribal policemen Jim Chee and his wife, Bernadette Manuelito, on a mystery that includes ecoterrorism, love triangles, and the majesty of the Grand Canyon. This book, like Hillerman’s other two novels, Spider Woman’s Daughter…
Laurence Sterne’s Three Great Books
My reading interests are always in the life of the mind. What goes on there? Where does it come from? How can the mind be regulated? That’s one reason I love 20th-century literature, because the mind came to predominate writing in a liberating and vastly expansive way. But the great…
Edward Doyle-Gillespie will be joined by writer Jenny O’Grady and actor and teaching artist Alex Hewett. Edward Doyle-Gillespie is a longtime Hampden resident. Holding a degree in History from George Washington University, and an MLA from Johns Hopkins University, he spent roughly ten years teaching literature and history. His writing…
Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship
Summer Sundays with Carolyn Parkhurst
About the author: Carolyn Parkhurst is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Dogs of Babel, Lost and Found and The Nobodies Album. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and two children. About the book: How far will a mother go to save her family?…
Occasionally, people ask me for rap recommendations. They've read my columns and know that I write about the music, and they're curious. But their experience is limited to what's reported in the news or played on the radio. Neither tends to be the best representation of the form. So I…
Opening Wednesday at a Theater or Drive-In Near You: The Shadow Cinema of the American ‘70s
Islamophobia has long been a part of the problem of racism in the United States, and it has only gotten worse in the wake of shocking terror attacks, the ongoing refugee crisis, and calls from public figures like Donald Trump for drastic action. As a result, the number of hate…
An Interview with Gail Honeyman
In her debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman dissects the life of a woman in her thirties whose world is filled with trauma and personal challenges. Honeyman brilliantly adds a dose of quirky humor to a potentially extremely dark narrative. In an email interview, the author speaks…
I’ve always chosen to pursue the traditional publishing route. I think this stems from my time in academia, where an article is only as reputable as the peer-reviewed journal that accepts it. Skip peer review and good luck getting anyone to take you seriously. So, when I began fiction writing,…
Hurston Wright Foundation Summer Workshop Reading
Born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Yanique is an award-winning poet, essayist, fiction writer, and an associate professor of English at Wesleyan. Her debut novel traces Caribbean history over some sixty years as it follows the Bradshaw family, starting with a set of sisters and their half-brother. Left orphaned after…
5 Most Popular Posts: July 2017
Avery J.C. Kleinman’s review of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel by Gail Honeyman. “Whatever happened to Eleanor was bad. So bad that it left a scar covering half her face. So bad that it explains why she has no friends and lives a reclusive life. The reader doesn’t…
A friend recently sent me a link to a cntraveler.com listicle of books recommended by U.S. ambassadors set in the countries where they serve. I love traveling and I love reading, and combining the two is double the pleasure, double the fun!! Because of past, um, transgressions, I’ll never be…
In The Streak, John Eisenberg tells the fascinating story of baseball’s most legendary “Iron Men,” Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig, who each achieved the coveted record of most consecutive games played. Eisenberg is the award-winning author of Ten-Gallon War, That First Season, My Guy Barbaro (co-written with jockey Edgar…
An Interview with David Swinson
David Swinson is back. Or rather, his alter ego, Frank Marr, is back, in Crime Song, the second installment of his gritty “‘The Wire’ on paper” crime series. Once again, the plot involves drugs, burglary, and murder as seen through the eyes of Marr, a down-on-his-luck P.I. whose cocaine and…
In honor of Sam Shepard, who passed away yesterday at age 73 from complications of ALS, we invite you to revisit our critique of his final work, The One Inside, which reviewer Jason Tinney called “a complex and fascinating read that straddles myriad forms.” Click here to see the full…
Meet Tracy Crow and Jerri Bell
Tracy Crow and Jerri Bell will discuss their new book, It's My Country Too: Women's Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan. This event is free to attend with no reservation required. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. At Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave.,…
Hey, Lady Chatterley: who’s your new boo? Click “Next” for sizzling photos. By D.H. Lawrence Quasi to full: local bell-ringer goes from hunchback to hunk with a little help from Cupid’s arrow. By V. Hugo Police sting stymies career of brilliant academic traveling with young companion. By V. Nabokov Traveler…
American Sanctuary: Mutiny, Martyrdom, and National Identity in the Age of Revolution
Join our free Sunday morning storytime for all ages! Caregivers must be present. At East City Bookshop, 645 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington, DC. Click here for info. Like what we do? Click here to support the nonprofit Independent!
July 2017 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
Lessons on Expulsion by Erika L. Sánchez. Graywolf Press. 73 pages. Towline by Holly Karapetkova. Cloudbank Books. 70 pages. Philadelphia Poems by Lynn Hoffman. Kelsay Books. 82 pages. Falter by Marjorie Stelmach. Cascade Books. 84 pages. First, Do No Harm: New and Selected Poems by Laura Brylawski-Miller. Poet’s Choice Press.…
When I was growing up, I loved comic books. I had subscriptions to several. I counted the twice-weekly deliveries at the local drugstore to get a free comic or two. I had moving boxes full of comics that would probably be worth a fortune today had my mother not thrown…
The crowdfunding industry has generated several billions in funding, but the harsh reality is that around 60% of Kickstarter campaigns fail. Enter Forbes 30 under 30 alumna Alex Daly, a crowdfunding expert who has raised over $20 million for her clients’ campaigns, including ones for TLC’s newest album, Neil Young’s…
The Arrangement, the new novel by TV writer and novelist Sarah Dunn, takes up the often-taboo subject of open marriages. In it, Owen and Lucy, a young couple who find their relationship worn out by routine and by the challenges of raising an autistic son, attempt to revive things with…
Moving sucks generally, but it's even worse when you're a book-lover. For one, it limits the places you can move into — you need plenty of wall space to line with bookshelves. My husband, Art, and I once fell in love with a townhouse and were ready to make an…
Meet Gina Cascone and Bree Williams Sheppard
Come meet Gina Cascone and her daughter, Bryony (Bree) Williams Sheppard, when they drop by to sign copies of Around the World Right Now during their nationwide Around the Bookstores Tour! Gina and Bree’s mother-daughter collaboration resulted in a delightful multicultural travelogue that takes young readers through each of the…
In June, I found myself at my first-ever writer’s retreat at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in tiny Interlochen, Michigan. A music camp since the early 20th century, Interlochen now also plays host to all types of artists, including writers. There, I had the pleasure to meet and learn…
Plato’s Symposium (or Drinking Party) presents men of great importance discussing love as represented by the Greek god Eros. The book begins with an intro where clear thinking and good writing guide us to another reality, a text that’s readable, accessible, and enjoyable. In it, six notable men, including Socrates…
Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die
An Interview with Mike Scalise
In Mike Scalise’s memoir, The Brand New Catastrophe, illness is a competitive sport. His mother suffers from a chronic heart condition, which leaves her the undisputed “best sick person” in the family until Mike is felled by a ruptured brain tumor on the pituitary gland at age 24. In the…
“To realise one’s nature perfectly — that is what each of us is here for.” So says Lord Henry Wotton to Dorian Gray and Basil Hallwood. The three men are gathered at Basil’s studio where he is painting a portrait of the young and impressionable Dorian. Lord Henry (called Harry)…
Lauded as a “compelling” (The New Yorker) and “eye-opening tour of a process that many Americans never see” (Washington Post), David Daley’s Ratf**ked documents the effort of Republican legislators and political operatives to hack American democracy through an audacious redistricting plan called REDMAP. Since the revolutionary election of Barack Obama,…
The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family’s Quest to Bring Him Home
Summer Sundays with Monica Hesse
Join Curious Iguana for Summer Sundays, a series of author talks and book signings presented in partnership with Frederick County Public Libraries. About the author: Monica Hesse is a features writer for The Washington Post and the author of Girl in the Blue Coat, a young adult novel set in…
Tim Wendel: In difficult times, a familiar voice can make all the difference. So with the country being pulled apart at the seams, my nightstand has become populated not only with new works but several old favorites, as well. Many of Alan Furst’s books are set in Europe on the…
When I first contemplated writing novels, I was very insecure. It wasn’t because I couldn’t write. After all, I had written hundreds (maybe thousands) of articles for various newspapers (including the New York Times), won journalism awards, and even was featured in a couple of anthologies. As a two-fingered typist…
The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness
Teresa Bruce in Conversation with Sarah Wildman
Teresa Bruce is an award-winning screenwriter, PBS documentary filmmaker, and TEDx speaker. Her published books include IBPA's best memoir of 2014: The Other Mother: A Rememoir and the narrative for Transfer of Grace: Images of the Lowcountry. Sarah Wildman is the author of Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My…
This August, for the sixth time since 2012, hundreds of writers will be anxiously checking their Twitter feeds for more than just cat videos. They’ll be looking for any hint that they’ve been chosen. The drama, of course, is half the fun of Pitch Wars, an annual mentoring contest run…
You know you’re going to be shopping today (we’re not judging; we’re observing), so why not support the nonprofit Independent at the same time? Just click on any of our reviews (such as this one or this one) and then click “purchase title from Amazon.com” at the bottom. You’ll be…
An Interview with Anton Piatigorsky
Your novel was published in 2017, but it’s set in 2008. How much, if at all, are your fictional justices based on members of the Bush-era Supreme Court? Some of them — not all — have clear roots in the Bush-era justices. That said, they all remain fictional. The great…
Lincoln’s Pathfinder: John C. Frémont and the Violent Election of 1856
Dear Rufus (of course, I could call you James. I don't resent that you changed your name): You were born 56 years before me, and dead 11 years before I was born. If you had a “time,” it was the Depression era, but you morphed so well everywhere you went.…
Molotov Theatre Group is pleased to bring author Rafael Alvarez, a former writer for the legendary HBO series “The Wire,” to the DC Arts Center (DCAC) on July 11 to read selections from his new collection, Basilio Boullosa Stars in the Fountain of Highlandtown. At the DC Arts Center, 2438…
The Age of the Horse: An Equine Journey Through Human History
Do you have a book coming out, an important literary event in the offing, or something else reading-related to trumpet? Advertise it in the Independent! Ours is a highly educated audience of literature lovers, and we’re eager to help you reach them via our website and twice-weekly newsletter. Click here…
(Note: Here be spoilers for Wonder Woman.) It was right around the time that Wonder Woman punched through a sniper tower that I thought, “Oh, hell, yes.” You’ve heard of the movie, right? Record-breaking, box-office success, first major action movie helmed by a female director, breathing life into DC Comics’…
Like her protagonist, Young grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, a place nearly synonymous with Mark Twain. Now a lecturer at American University and contributing editor for the Fiction Writers Review, Young has written what she describes as “the book Mark Twain would have written if Becky Thatcher had gone home…
5 Most Popular Posts: June 2017
“Writing Outside the Color Lines.” For the second month in a row, columnist Alice Stephens reigns supreme, this time for her insightful look at literature, cultural appropriation, and the lessons of history. Josh Trapani’s review of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson. “Tyson also has a…
Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
An Interview with Colleen Oakley
What happens when the characters we love literally cannot get near the ones they love? In her new novel, Close Enough to Touch, Colleen Oakley explores this unimaginable possibility via her main character, Jubilee Jenkins, who suffers a rare condition that makes her allergic to any kind of human touch.…
I’m one of those crazy people who has three Facebook accounts. Three. I have my family/friends page, my mystery-writer page, and now my LGBTQ+ romance writer page. It’s a lot of work to maintain those pages, and I’ve sometimes wondered whether I should have combined two of my identities so…
Starting with Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and continuing with Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, Fuller has kept readers riveted with stories of her unconventional family and her early years in Africa. With her first novel, the accomplished memoirist draws on the history of her adopted…
Confronting a bit of a crisis in my writing, I decided to do what comes most unnaturally to me: become part of a group. There are myriad reasons why I love to write, not the least of which is the solitude. I mean, I like people and all, at least…
Meet the (Small) Press: Virginia Quarterly Review
Let’s start with the Jedi. When you open the Winter 2017 issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review, the first feature article is an interview with Alex Bird, a knight and deacon in the Temple of the Jedi Order. (Yes, those Jedi.) But the surprise of reading about a real-life Star…
Shake it Up: Great American Writing on Rock and Pop from Elvis to Jay Z
Join us in kicking off wedding season with an event that explores marriage after the big day. Ada Calhoun will discuss her new book, Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give, in conversation with Latoya Peterson (Deputy Editor for Digital Innovation at The Undefeated). RSVP on Facebook or by emailing [email protected]. At…
What was the most challenging part of writing Healing Children? One of the toughest parts about writing Healing Children was choosing which stories to include. I’ve had so many inspiring patients, colleagues, and mentors over the years, and each one has helped shape my views on pediatric medicine and what…
Join us for a book launch featuring DC-area author Nicole Harkin, as she presents her memoir of family and grief, Tilting: A Memoir. RSVP by emailing [email protected]. At East City Bookshop, 645 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington, DC. Click here for info. Like what we do? Click here to support the…
It’s like I’ve always said: You come to the Independent for info on books and writers, and you stay for the skinny on cons. Wait, what? No, I'm not talking about felons. I'm talking about the lively circuit of sci-fi, fantasy, and comic conferences in the DC area. Hang on,…
Lincoln’s Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac
Busboys & Poets welcomes Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn for a book talk and discussion about her new, critically-acclaimed book, City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement. Within the complicated politics and wars of the Middle East, one issue is particularly contentious: the 60,000 Jewish Americans who…
June 2017 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
The Best Poetry to Begin SUMMER The Half-Finished Heaven, Selected Poems by Tomas Tranströmer, translated from the Swedish by Robert Bly. Graywolf Press. 118 pages. Scribbled in the Dark by Charles Simic. Ecco. 72 pages. Miss August by Nin Andrews. Cavankerry Press. 105 pages (with a kick-ass writer’s note at…
Laura Evans Manatos: You are the company you keep. That’s what I tell my kids. I also like to think that the books around me represent a small piece of who I am. I keep several books close by…books I’ve read in the past that I check in with from…
What is it about the windswept isolation of an island in a northern sea that is so appealing? It’s not a survival thing, but maybe it is an antidote to hectic life in a crowded city. What commuter would not envy the empty, desolate roads in the ITV/BBC series “Shetland”…
David Grossman Wins a Man Booker
A Horse Walks into a Bar — a comic grotesque by the Israeli novelist David Grossman — has won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. The $63,300 prize is awarded for a work of fiction that has been translated into English from any country on the globe. The widely lauded…
The Girl on Amtrak Fear and Loathing in Reno To Kill a Titmouse The Big Nap The Ciderhouse Guidelines Lord of the Fleas Uncle Tom’s Condo The Grapes of Annoyance Ben-Him The Mediocre Gatsby Have your own title that just doesn’t cut it? Tweet it to @WIRoBooks, post it on…
The Uncorked Reading Series with the Book Maven — in the Den
Join local book critic Bethanne Patrick — who Tweets @TheBookMaven — for the first installment of our new reading series in The Den. Patrick will lead a spirited discussion of the works of Richard Russo, including his new book of stories, Trajectory. Whether you loved Nobody’s Fool or are a…
Henny Youngman once called mixed emotions watching your mother-in-law drive your Ferrari over a cliff. Author Walt Gragg knows all about mixed emotions. His debut novel, The Red Line, tells the story of a resurgent Russia invading Germany and sparking World War III. It’s fiction. So far. You must have…
An Interview with Paulette Jiles
(In honor of today's release of the paperback version of News of the World, we present an interview we did with author Paulette Jiles last fall.) In her latest novel, News of the World, Paulette Jiles masterfully evokes the American West, conjures the memorable character Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, and…
This past Christmas, some good friends gave me a present that I’ve only recently had time to enjoy. The Greatest Books You’ll Never Read: Unpublished Masterpieces by the World’s Greatest Writers looks at books and stories left unfinished or unpublished by writers — often because of death, but also for…
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me is a searing, deeply moving memoir about family, love, loss, and forgiveness from the critically acclaimed, bestselling, National Book Award-winning author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Alexie, a poet, short-story writer, novelist, and performer, is the winner of…
5 Middle-Grade Books Perfect for Summer
Judy Moody and Friends: April Fools’, Mr. Todd! By Megan McDonald (author) and Erwin Madrid (illustrator) Recommended for ages 5-9 Judy can’t wait for April 1st. Not only is it April Fools’ Day, but it’s also her birthday! She’s thinking hard about ways to prank her teacher, Mr. Todd, on…
Straight Talk about Self-Publishing
You’ll Learn: The strengths and weaknesses of different publishing options. How to create your own press. The ins and outs of publishing on Amazon. HOW NOT TO GET SCAMMED. What help you (truly) need, costs, where to find cover designers, book templates or interior designers, line editors, proof readers and…
Now available in paperback, Foer’s expansive third novel unfolds over just four weeks in contemporary Washington. But as his title suggests, with its echoes of Abraham and the Old Testament prophets, Foer is exploring timeless and universal questions of faith, sacrifice, and intimate human relationships. Centered on the Bloch family,…
Autumn of the Black Snake: The Creation of the U.S. Army and the Invasion That Opened the West
As a member of the National Book Critics Circle, I had both the privilege and pleasure of reading all six of the finalists for the 2016 John Leonard Award, given for an author’s first book. Of the six, I felt that five were exceptional, while the sixth was merely well…
Katherine Heiny in Conversation with Jennifer Close
For readers of Where’d You Go, Bernadette, comes Katherine Heiny’s debut novel Standard Deviation - a rueful, funny examination of love, marriage, infidelity, and origami. Divorcing his wife to marry his girlfriend, Audra, is the one impulsive thing Graham Cavanaugh has ever done. Audra is charming and spontaneous and fun,…
An Interview with Richard Mason
Who Killed Piet Barol? is a tale set in South Africa in 1914. Germany has just declared war on France, and the Native Land Act has eliminated property rights for black South Africans, while allowing whites the privilege of domain. European whites are scrambling to stay out of the war…
French author Gustave Flaubert’s debut novel, Madame Bovary, was first published in 1856. The story centers on Emma Bovary, an adulterer whose numerous affairs are an attempt to escape her suffocating, banal existence. I first read Madame Bovary during a grim time. In that uncertain climate of 2008, the heady…
Sponsored by the Washington Independent Review of Books: Busboys and Poets Takoma welcomes Mary and Donald Collins to present their new book, At the Broken Places: A Mother and Trans Son Pick up the Pieces. 234 Carroll St., NW, Washington, DC. Click here for info. Like what we do? Click…
Ellen Prentiss Campbell's debut novel is a moving, intimate story inspired by an unusual chapter in the long history of Pennsylvania’s Bedford Springs Hotel: its use in 1945 as a detainment center for the Japanese ambassador to Berlin, his staff, and their families. The author will discuss writing her book,…
I recently spent some time in Ojai, California, a wonderful little artsy resort town about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles (or four hours north, depending on traffic). Anyway, once you get outside of LA, you are reminded how nice California can be, which is why so many people live…
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