10182 results were found.
I’ve written previously about what happens when the well runs dry and no ideas are forthcoming, but I’m currently having the opposite dilemma where I have too many ideas that are spilling over and flooding my office floor. I know, poor me, right? But ideas, while great, are only part…
The United States currently is deporting more people than ever before: 4 million people have been deported since 1997 – twice as many as all people deported prior to 1996. In Deported, Tanya Golash-Boza uses the stories of 147 of these deportees to explore the racialized and gendered dimensions of…
Margo Jefferson in Conversation with Lisa Page
Now a professor of writing at Columbia University School of the Arts, Jefferson won a Pulitzer for criticism during her years as a book and theater critic at the New York Times and associate editor at Newsweek. The author of On Michael Jackson, Jefferson in her second book turns her…
I don’t think I’ve ever truly had writer’s block, except when writing checks to various credit card companies. But I do occasionally suffer from writer’s fatigue, when I reach a point in one of my thrillers or mysteries when I’m stumped over how to proceed. That is because I typically…
Michael Stanley in Conversation with Sujata Massey
Author Michael Stanley discusses A Death in the Family, the fifth installment in the Detective Kubu series, in which the smartest detective in the Botswana police sets out on the trail of his father's killers. At the Ivy Bookshop, 6080 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD. Click here for more info.
Bedtime Stories: November 2015
Serenity Gerbman: Currently reading: Just Enough Liebling: Classic Work by the Legendary New Yorker Writer with an introduction by New Yorker editor David Remnick. The longtime New Yorker reporter A.J. Liebling helped establish the reputation for excellence that the magazine still enjoys. Best known for his writing about food and…
An Interview with Emily Schultz
In Emily Schultz’s new novel, The Blondes, protagonist Hazel Hayes needs to escape: from Toronto, and from her affair with Karl, a married professor. Settling into a small apartment in Brooklyn, she tries to still her mind enough to write her master’s thesis. Enter an unexpected pregnancy. As Hazel attempts…
Disciples: The World War II Missions of the CIA Directors Who Fought for Wild Bill Donovan
Ethan Hawke in Conversation with Margaret Talbot
Hawke discusses Rules for a Knight, a fable about a knight’s journey and a short guide to what gives life beauty and meaning. Admission: 1 ticket: $18 1 ticket + 1 book: $30 2 tickets + 1 book: $45 At the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 I Street, NW,…
Recently, I’ve added working with a collaborator to my list of writing goals. The idea of working with someone on a project first appealed to me when I got to know the poet, columnist, and painter LC Van Savage. At the time of our introduction, her as-told-to biography about classic…
Orhan Pamuk in Conversation with Elliot Ackerman
Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk's latest novel, A Strangeness in My Mind, employs different perspectives from a host of beguiling characters to tell the coming-of-age story of an Istanbul street vendor and the love of his life. Admission: 1 ticket: $16 1 ticket + 1 book: $30 2 tickets +…
Friends who knew Ireland well and had lived there took us on our first visit to the Emerald Isle years ago. After our Aer Lingus flight from New York City landed, we went directly to a classic small Irish pub to begin our cultural visit appropriately. We ordered our mugs…
While visiting a college town a few years ago, I spied a flier for a talk by a famous author on the topic “Why I Write.” That’s a no-brainer, I muttered indignantly to myself. She writes because she’s extravagantly talented, gets published, receives rave reviews, wins awards, and her books…
4 Picture Books to Share with Baby Bookworms
In case anyone’s feeling nostalgic about childhood, let’s get this clear: It’s hard to be a kid. In our house, it’s particularly evident that it’s hard to be a preschooler. Emotions curdle in an instant, attention is always in insufficient supply, and other children are, sometimes, H-E-Double-Hockey-Stick. Especially if those…
Jane Smiley is one of America’s foremost novelists. Among other honors, she has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and, in 2006, received the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. PEN/Faulkner brings her to DC to read from her newest novel, Golden Age, the…
Tom Glenn has lived a hard life. However, he’s used writing as a catharsis to produce some well-received, harrowing fiction that exudes unmistakable truth and honesty. Critics have noticed, too. His first novel, No-Accounts: Dare Mighty Things, garnered the Somerset Award first prize for literary fiction. His latest, The Trion…
5 Most Popular Posts: October 2015
Poetry Exemplars. Force-of-nature Grace Cavalieri brings her insight and appreciation of verse to our site each month, and readers can’t seem to get enough. A review of Nut Country: Right-Wing Dallas and the Birth of the Southern Strategy by Edward H. Miller. C.M. Mayo wrote a smart critique of Miller’s…
About four years ago, I entered my classroom and found each of the nine or 10 students there looking at their smartphones. It hadn’t been more than six years from the time that I remembered students talking to each other before class started. So I asked them, “Why do you…
Join us as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff paints a portrait of Salem during the witch trials—in a dark, unsettled time when the colony braced itself daily against Indian attack and English oversight, and when anxiety rippled just under the surface. Hear Schiff examine: The legal and social ramifications of…
13 of the Scariest Stories Ever
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. A novella written under the pen name Don A. Stuart, it’s the basis for two movies called “The Thing.” Scary because an alien creature takes over scientists' bodies by mimicking what they look like — so no one knows who anyone is!…
Meet the Author: John M. Priest
A program in support of the traveling exhibit “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” Priest will discuss his latest book, Stand to It and Give Them Hell from 2PM-3:30PM. Priest, a retired high school history teacher and graduate from Loyola College and Hood College, has written many works on…
“So many books, so little time…” has been the plaintive refrain of booklovers for some time now, with T-shirts, bumper stickers, and other paraphernalia proclaiming our frustration about the daunting prospect of trying to read everything that interests us. The best response to this is simply to give up. You…
“Thriller Thursday” with Keith Donohue
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Child comes The Boy Who Drew Monsters, a hypnotic literary horror novel about a young boy trapped inside his own world, whose drawings blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years…
It’s no news flash to say that the human heart is awash in contradictions. It’s just that some people are more interesting about it than others. Exhibit A: Gore Vidal, one of America’s pre-eminent and most controversial men of letters. The Lincoln author died in 2012 and left in his…
The most popular books in my elementary-school library, much to the dismay of our librarian, were Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Southern Fried Rat and Other Gruesome Tales. While Ms. Polachek was trying to promote the wonders of Jane Eyre or Huck Finn, we hovered around a…
Meet the Author: John Kelly - “Never Surrender”
Meet John Kelly, author of Never Surrender, a remarkably vivid account of a key moment in Western history: The critical six months in 1940 when Winston Churchill debated whether the British would fight Hitler. At Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe, 1517 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC. Click here for more info.
October 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
OCTOBER’S EXEMPLARS: BEST POETRY BOOKS Reviewed by Grace Cavalieri INSOMNIA by Linda Pastan. W.W. Norton & Co. 93 pages. Tory Dent: Collected Poems. The Sheep Meadow Press. 376 pages. The Unworn Necklace by Roberta Beary. Snapshot Press, Great Britain. 78 pages. Spirit Hovering by Nancy Arbuthnot. Tate Publishing.76 pages. Romanian…
How a Recurring Donation Helps the Independent
Your recurring monthly donation — in any amount — gives us breathing room to plan new stories, improve our site, hire additional contributors, and more. Think of us as a utility bill you actually feel good about paying! Donating is simple — and tax-deductible! Here’s how: Make a one-time donation…
A few months ago, Jenny Milchman (noted writer, odometer enthusiast, and director/VP of Author Programs for the International Thriller Writers) asked me to revamp and run the Thrill Begins, ITW’s online resource for aspiring or debut writers. I was flattered by the offer and, as I do whenever anyone presents…
Your $50 donation lets us retain an accountant to manage our contributors’ invoices and keep our IRS-related ducks in a row. (Obviously, we English majors can’t be left in charge of this sort of thing.) Donating is simple — and tax-deductible! Here’s how: Make a one-time donation via PayPal. Set…
Enjoy readings, workshops, and over 60 local author and publisher vendor booths during this free two-day event. The Vendor Fair is Saturday; Workshop Day is Sunday. (Don't miss the “Writers and Book Reviews” panel on Sunday at 3:40 p.m., featuring the Washington Independent Review of Books' Carrie Callaghan and Holly…
It turns out artists prefer not to starve, which is why we pay our contributors! Your $25 donation pays for one terrific review, feature, or author interview. Donating is simple — and tax-deductible! Here’s how: Make a one-time donation via PayPal. Set up a recurring monthly contribution — for any…
In June, Amazon rolled out a new payout system for e-books “borrowed” from its massive Kindle Unlimited library. After a careful study of the results, both my own and those of other self-published authors, I am finally ready to render a judgment on the system’s efficacy. (There is basically a…
Raw Deal: How the “Uber Economy” and Runaway Capitalism are Screwing American Workers
An Interview with Shannon Burke
Sometimes, a book appears in your life at just the right moment. Into the Savage Country sneaked into my suitcase only to salvage what was otherwise an exhausting “vacation.” (A trip with small children who can’t swim but want to launch themselves into multiple nearby bodies of water really ought…
A ten-spot won’t finance the care and feeding of even a single Kardashian, but it will help the Independent purchase a stack of mailers to ship our review copies out in! Donating is simple — and tax-deductible! Here’s how: Make a one-time donation via PayPal. Set up a recurring monthly…
Have you ever finished a big writing project and thought you’d just jump right back into another one, only when you put your fingers on the keyboard nothing happened? If not, lucky you. But it has most definitely happened to me. And, at least in my universe, a blank page…
David Locke Hall in Conversation with Chris Chester
Author David Locke Hall will be in conversation with Chris Chester, web producer and reporter at WAMU 88.5. Locke's new book, Crack99: The Takedown of a $100 Million Chinese Software Pirate, is the utterly gripping story of the most outrageous case of cyber piracy prosecuted by the U.S. Department of…
Jud Ashman: I’m in the midst of a highly contested re-election campaign which will culminate on November 3rd, so while I’m usually a voracious reader, my page-turning pace these days can be best described as “glacial.” Here’s what’s on my nightstand now: The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony…
Meet the Author: Ruth Reichl - “My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life”
From Tender at the Bone through Comfort Me With Apples and Garlic and Sapphires, Reichl has chronicled her life with food. In her new memoir, My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life, the former Gourmet editor-in-chief focuses on one difficult year — 2009, when Gourmet folded. Out of…
The New York Times recently ran a front-page article calling into question the growth of e-books. In it, the author suggested that traditional printed books were making a comeback at the expense of Amazon, which dominates the e-book landscape. The Times also said that the increasing numbers of independent bookstores…
Meet the (Small) Press: Santa Fe Writers Project
Let’s clear one thing up right off. The Santa Fe Writers Project is based in Bethesda, MD, not New Mexico. But it was in that Southwestern state that Andrew Gifford, founder and director of SFWP, was inspired to start the small press. “SFWP began at the El Dorado Hotel bar…
Geraldine Brooks in Conversation with Joel Achenbach
From the boy with the slingshot to the legendary king and the man willing to do anything to have Bathsheba — ultimately, what kind of person was David? In her fifth novel, The Secret Chord, Brooks — who won the Pulitzer Prize for March, the New England Book Award for…
An Interview with Geraldine Brooks
Geraldine Brooks is the author of five novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning March. Her other works include Caleb’s Crossing and People of the Book. Brooks uses her considerable talent to give flesh and blood to real historical figures (or figures who ought to be real). This time, she offers The…
I’ll always remember the day I received a signed photo from Jackie Collins. I had written to her on several occasions, and this latest time, she was gracious enough to send along a personalized picture. When she died just days later, I knew I would treasure her picture forever. As…
Meet the Author: Thomas Mallon
Adding to a fiction chronicle that has already spanned American history from the Lincoln assassination to the Watergate scandal, Thomas Mallon now brings to life the tumultuous administration of the most consequential and enigmatic president in modern times. He'll discuss his latest book, Finale: A Novel of the Reagan Years,…
A Conversation with David O. Stewart
Listen from 2-3:30PM as Washington Independent Review of Books' president David O. Stewart reads from and discusses his latest novel, The Wilson Deception, at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum in Staunton, VA. Click here for more information.
Patti Smith in Conversation with Maureen Corrigan
Musician, writer, poet — the artist known as Patti Smith is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has a record on the list of top 100 albums of all time. The French Ministry of Culture has declared her a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres,…
5 Conversation-Starting YA Novels
The school year is well underway, and that means homework, homework, and more homework. But in those sweet moments when you want to encourage your teen to read something free-ranging and unassigned, when you want to say life isn’t all work (even homework), suggest one of these new or soon-to-be-released…
In this era of ruthless self-promotion, when so many thirst for their 15 minutes of fame, pen names seem quaintly anachronistic. Elena Ferrante is that very rare bird who employs one to retain anonymity. Famous authors use pseudonyms to distinguish their franchises, as with Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) and Anne…
My Southern Journey: True Stories from the Heart of the South
An Interview with Rachel Louise Snyder
A decaying lizard carcass rests in a glass box on top of Rachel Louise Snyder’s desk. “It reminds me of my immortality,” she says, welcoming me into her home in Washington, DC. The lizard traveled in a moving box from Cambodia. It’s caught mid-motion, its left arm outstretched, its body…
5 Most Popular Posts: September 2015
“7 of the Most Annoying Literary Characters.” Can’t we all just get along? When it comes to our mutual hatred of irritating protagonists, yes. Yes, we can. “5 Ways Not to Suck at Readings.” Columnist E.A. Aymar’s advice to authors on how not to blow during public appearances resonated in…
Between my mother and father’s families, I grew up surrounded by relatives — swamped by, and lost within, them. So I’ve taken some lessons: Ignore people who are older than you if they are a) mean b) selfish c) hurtful d) imperious e) spoiled or f) disinterested. Gain what you…
Ben Bernanke in Conversation with Judy Woodruff
*This program does not include a book signing. All books will be pre-signed by Bernanke. In 2006, Bernanke was appointed chair of the Federal Reserve, the unexpected apex of a personal journey from small-town South Carolina to prestigious academic appointments and finally public service in Washington’s halls of power. There…
An Interview with Joby Warrick
What led you, in Black Flags, to take on a subject as shadowy and complex as the history of ISIS? I frankly had not anticipated that the ISIS saga would be quite so complex when I started out! When I began working on the book in the spring of 2013,…
The High Castle of Imagination
As streaming video is finally fulfilling the futuristic visions for digital television we’ve been hearing about for years, it’s appropriate that one of the country’s greatest science-fiction writers, Philip K. Dick, is behind two new series debuting this season. It was Dick who wrote the story that became the 1982…
Nut Country: Right-Wing Dallas and the Birth of the Southern Strategy
An Interview with Leah Stewart
The setting of Leah Stewart’s The New Neighbor is a sleepy Tennessee mountain town where we meet two very different women: Margaret, a 91-year-old retired nurse and WWII veteran, and Jennifer, a mysterious single mother who’s new to town and keeps to herself. Margaret knows a challenge when she sees…
5 Indian Authors You Should Be Reading
Diverse in their language, culture, and faith, Indian authors embrace multiple storytelling genres, reaching millions of diasporic readers with distinctly different tastes. Here are just five of the countless contemporary Indian writers you should be reading. Devdutt Pattanaik. To understand Indian philosophy and its mythological depths, try reading Pattanaik. He…
8 Types You’ll Always Find at Book Festivals
For many people, autumn means the start of football, school, sweater weather, pumpkin-flavored junk — for me, it means book festivals. Particularly, Fall for the Book, which started yesterday and runs through Saturday, Oct. 3rd at George Mason University and other parts of the Washington, DC, region. I get giddy…
It's a week-long FREE celebration of all things literary! Enjoy author talks, workshops, readings, and kids' activities on the campus of George Mason University and at locations throughout the DC area. Visit fallforthebook.org for more information, including a complete schedule of events.
13 Fall Biographies You’ll Be Talking About
Pope Francis is the subject of several forthcoming biographies and, of course, presidential candidates also have bios (authorized or otherwise) hitting the shelves this fall. But none is likely to garner as much attention as the highly anticipated ones below. Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed…
5 Ways Not to Suck at Readings
I went to my first reading in college and, wow, I was super bored. I don’t remember who the author was, but the writing was terrific — it was the delivery that sucked. The guy stared into his book, mumbled into the microphone, and…that was it. I kept thinking, “I’m…
September 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
SEPTEMBER 2015 BEST BOOKS Reviewed by Grace Cavalieri The Hour of the Poem by David Bristol. New Academia/Scarith. 61 pages. Bright Dead Things by Ada Limon. Milkweed Editions. 105 pages. Kingdom of Speculation by Barbara Goldberg. Accents Publishing. 24 pages. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo. W.W. Norton.…
With her previous novels Still Life with Husband and Friends Like Us, Lauren Fox has earned a reputation for deft comic prose and compassionate insight into marriage and friendship. In Days of Awe, the central character, Isabel Moore, lives and relives the year her best friend died suddenly, her husband…
Writing is a hard business. This is no surprise to any of us who write — or want to write — for a living. When we put out a new novel, memoir, or short story, we are putting out a piece of ourselves. Calling one of my stories sucky is…
An Interview with Kelley Clink
Memoirs seeking to come to terms with a loved one’s suicide are not rare — after all, suicide leaves the survivors with more baggage than does any other kind of death — but Kelley Clink’s A Different Kind of Same stands out. Hers is the voice of a sister grappling…
Visit Us at Politics and Prose Next Friday!
Why should you shop at Politics and Prose, one of DC’s greatest indie bookstores, next Friday, Sept. 25th? Because 20 percent of what you spend will go to the nonprofit Independent! And it couldn’t be simpler to do. When you’re in the store next Friday paying for your stack of…
“A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” I have this quote, from Eugène Ionesco, prominently displayed on my website. It’s also taped to my desk at home, where it shares space with several hundred other notes and jottings I…
Tom Gjelten: I tend to drift off pretty quickly, so the books next to my bed stack up. I have to admit that the one on top right now is my own new book, A Nation of Nations — not because I’m enamored of my own writing, but because I’m…
Wealth Secrets of the One Percent: A Modern Manual to Getting Marvelously, Obscenely Rich
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5 Reasons to Attend Fall for the Book
Over the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3, the annual Fall for the Book festival will host nearly 200 authors at George Mason University’s Fairfax, VA, campus, and at locations around VA, MD, and DC. Why should you join in the festivities? Here are five reasons: It’s Fun for the Whole…
Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground between Humans and Robots
Let’s face it. We write because we want to as much as because we have to. If we really detested the business, we’d have given up on it long ago. But why are so many of us hesitant to proclaim what we do for a living? The short answer is…
Having children isn’t all giggles, Kumbaya, and stuffed animals. There are some, um, inconveniences to parenthood. Most notably, to quote my economist father, “Children are in the money-out column.” From childcare to college to orthodontics to electronics, the outrageous expenses keep piling up. Another downside to children is that you…
An Interview with Marjorie Agosín
The first book I ever read by Chilean poet Marjorie Agosín was Circles of Madness: Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The power of its images left me numb. The title refers to the mothers of “disappeared” sons and daughters during the “dirty war” carried out by the military dictatorship…
Even half a century later, dramatic events during the New Frontier days of the Kennedy administration continue to capture the public's interest — the Cuban Missile Crisis and, domestically, the war against organized crime and racketeering and the civil rights revolution, much of which was overseen by Robert F. Kennedy.…
Perhaps some of my readers remember a fine song by the Police called “Spirits in the Material World.” It starts with a modern riff as tense with energy as “Flight of the Bumblebee.” Sting on bass, Stewart Copeland on drums, and a strained, haunting keyboard rushing around, circling a still…
“Haven’t drawn a regular paycheck since 1967!” That was the proud boast from Paul Dickson 10 years ago as he joined me for a get-acquainted breakfast. I was about to give up my law firm partnership to write a book. Nervous about what might lie ahead, I turned to Paul,…
An Interview with Thomas Mallon
If journalists write history’s first draft, Thomas Mallon gives us a well-considered second look. An accomplished editor and writer of nonfiction, he’s best known for his array of historical novels covering the Lincoln assassination (Henry and Clara), politics in the late 1940s and 50s (Dewey Defeats Truman), and the world…
Although I’m often surprised by how dull the New York Times Book Review can be, the weekly feature “By the Book,” which questions writers and other celebrities about their reading preferences, often leads me to great discoveries — particularly to little-known works by bestselling authors. For example, Ta-Nehisi Coates referred…
5 Most Popular Posts: August 2015
A review of The Dying Grass: A Novel of the Nez Perce War by William T. Vollmann. You appreciated Nathan Blanchard’s thoughtful critique of this 1,300-page brick, er, book that brilliantly chronicles a little-known conflict in American history. “Writing Tics.” This installment of Tara Laskowski’s blog, Long Story Short, runs…
7 of the Most Annoying Literary Characters
Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye. Whiny, pampered, annoying at almost every level. ~David O. Stewart Aeneas from The Aeneid. He enters wailing about how sorry he is for himself and goes on to make a lot of people sorry they ever met him. ~Alice Padwe Heathcliff from…
Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention that Launched the Military-Industrial Complex
I expect that most folks who listen to audiobooks here in the DC area do so to soften those tedious commutes — especially with the latest news that we top the nation in worst congestion overall. My own commute these days is a mere three miles (don’t hate!), but I…
The Contemporary Fiction Reading Series
Attention, DC-area bookworms! Politics and Prose is teaming up with the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to present a free Contemporary Fiction Reading Series this fall. Held at three Busboys and Poets locations in the District, the series kicks off Sept. 2nd and will initially feature the following heavy-hitters: Sept. 2: John Darnielle,…
Last week, the folks at the popular crime fiction blog 7 Criminal Minds (which includes our own Art Taylor), weighed in on the importance of character names. I’ve been mulling that topic over a lot lately but, inexplicably, nobody over there asked for my opinion. That’s cool. Invite was probably…
Lighting the World: Transforming Our Energy Future by Bringing Electricity to Everyone
Authors on Audio: a Chat with Rebecca Dinerstein
Rebecca Dinerstein’s debut novel, The Sunlit Night, has been called “a poignant exploration of what it means to be alone in love” and “funny, dark, warm, and as knowing of place as any travel book or memoir.” Set amid tiny islands in the Arctic Circle, the tale is one of…
An Interview with Christopher Moore
A world without velvet-pantalooned squirrel people is one not worth living in. Luckily for fans of Christopher Moore’s earlier work, A Dirty Job, the natty vermin — along with a host of other weird, fiendish charmers — are back in Secondhand Souls, which comes out today from HarperCollins. Here, the…
Dark Places of the Earth: The Voyage of the Slave Ship Antelope
I hate criticism. Loathe it. I want everyone to love everything I write. Everything. Even if it’s me scribbling my name…preferably at a signing. But I can’t control other people’s tastes or reactions. And believe me, if I could, I would. “So why be a writer?” you ask. Okay, I’ll…
August 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
Poetry Notebook by Clive James. Liveright. 234 pages. *Dome of the Hidden Pavilion by James Tate. Ecco/HarperCollins. 143 pages. Rel(am)ent by Jamison Crabtree. The Word Works. 91 pages. Only The Dead Are Forgiven by Greg Kuzma. The Backwaters Press.126 pages. Always by Julia Lisella. WordTech Editions. 83 pages. Muse by…
I was stumped for a column topic until the New York Times bailed me out this weekend by launching its latest salvo in its ongoing war against Amazon. “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace” (subtitled: “The company is conducting an experiment in how far it can push…
The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger
An Interview with Dorothy U. Seyler
Dorothy U. Seyler’s new book, The Obelisk and the Englishman, is the story of William John Bankes, a multi-talented member of 19th-century English gentry and one of the first Egyptologists. Seyler tells of his time at Cambridge as an intimate of Lord Byron, and of his daring and thorough work…
It’s difficult — if not impossible — to find an affordable academic program that will benefit you as a writer. But the good news is that you don’t necessarily need formal coursework in the first place. Instead, look for a program, class, seminar, or workshop that suits your goals as…
Alas, summer is drawing to an end. In my house, the dog days of August are marked by a frantic rush to finish summer reading assignments. This year, the English assignment for my rising 11th grader is to pick two books from a list of four. Not one of which…
Forrest Aguirre: Soon, my stack of books will create a room within a room and I will be forced to read my way out. At this point, though, I am only concerned with having enough air to breathe. Here are the books that I am currently carving through in order…
An Interview with Ellen Crosby
Ghost Image: A Sophie Medina Mystery is the second in a series by Ellen Crosby. In it, Crosby takes readers from the lush grounds of a monastery in Washington, DC, to the beautiful gardens of London and back, all on the hunt for a murderer. Who knew killers could be…
Willa Cather, whose spiritual touch was as light and powerful as frankincense, once said that there was suddenly a moment in her life, one year in particular (1910, I believe), when she ceased to look forward for the content of her writing, and turned instead to the past. Thus she…
The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal
5 Middle-Grade Books to Enjoy before School Starts
Mrs. Noodlekugel and Drooly the Bear By Daniel Pinkwater (author) and Adam Stower (illustrator) Recommended for ages 5-9 When Nick and Maxine’s father goes to a knitting competition, they stay at their babysitter Mrs. Noodlekugel’s house — which comes complete with talking cats and glasses-wearing mice. Soon, Mrs. Noodlekugel’s own…
An Interview with Erika Swyler
In Erika Swyler's debut novel, The Book of Speculation, protagonist Simon Watson has a lot on his mind. Not only is he about to lose his library job, but his seaside childhood home is in danger of toppling over a cliff. Then a battered old tome mysteriously arrives one day.…
5 Most Popular Posts: July 2015
“Atticus Finch Still Walks a Righteous (If Winding) Path.” Author and attorney Talmage Boston’s thoughtful essay on why the beloved character’s sentiments in Go Set a Watchman shouldn’t be judged by 2015 standards drew scores of Harper Lee fans. (And likely provoked some soul-searching, too.) A review of The Dorito…
Seven of the 13 stories in the original version of my manuscript Bystanders had characters named Jack. Apparently, Jack is my go-to name for guys in fiction. I had no idea I was doing that until I put them all together for the book. Who knows how many other Jacks…
Planes, Trains, and Audiobooks
Over the decades, book publishers have earned a reputation for modest commercial savvy. After all, they sell their products on consignment and take them back from retailers if they don’t sell. It’s a business populated with people who love to read books — not a dominant trait for brilliant commercial…
An Interview with Karim Dimechkie
Lifted by the Great Nothing is a debut novel full of humor about a young man, Max, coming of age with a father who loves him, a treehouse, an odd temporary roommate, and a great big lie. Max's mother was killed by burglars in Beirut before Max and his father…
Meet the (Small) Press: July 2015
Barrelhouse magazine, which has grown to be a major presence on the literary scene over the past decade, was intended to bridge “the gap between serious art and pop culture.” Ten years on, the mission hasn’t changed. “We’re looking for writing that engages with the world right now,” says Barrelhouse…
Several weeks ago, Alan Cheuse — writer, professor, book reviewer for NPR’s All Things Considered — was involved in a serious car accident. He went to the hospital, developed an acute subdural hematoma, and underwent emergency brain surgery. As of this writing, he’s doing better. The recovery will be slow,…
Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Perched atop nearly everyone’s must-read list, this provocative story revisits Atticus and Scout Finch 20 years after To Kill a Mockingbird. [Click here to read the Independent’s recent essay about the misunderstood Watchman.] Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. A thoughtful,…
An Interview with Michelle Brafman
Set against the backdrop of Orthodox Jewish life and its rituals, Michelle Brafman's Washing the Dead (Prospect Park Books) tells the story of Barbara, a Milwaukee preschool teacher, as she retraces her path from her family’s exile to her own claim on motherhood. She questions her thorny feelings about her…
Atticus Finch Still Walks a Righteous (If Winding) Path
A breathless media warned readers of Harper Lee’s new Go Set a Watchman that they would surely feel betrayed and scandalized by the transformation of Christ-like To Kill a Mockingbird hero Atticus Finch into a hypocrite whose late-in-life “black-is-black-and-white-is-white” attitude shift appears to be in total conflict with his prior…
Hey, you! Yes, you. The introverted writer in the back. No, don’t go slipping behind the tall potted plants. I see you. I’ve got a bone to pick with you. Ever since Susan Cain published Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, I can’t get…
E.L. Doctorow: An Appreciation
Working in journalism, I’ve gotten to interview some famous people. Usually, it’s all about them, except when it isn’t. And, sometimes, you learn a lot about a person who, rather than being self-aggrandizing, would rather talk about others. An interview with Thurgood Marshall in his Supreme Court chambers was only…
July 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
JULY EXEMPLARS BEST POETRY OF THE MONTH Books Reviewed by Grace Cavalieri Load Poems Like Guns: Women’s Poetry from Herat, Afghanistan, edited by Farzana Marie, foreword by Dr. Sharif Fayez. American University of Afghanistan. Holy Cow Press. 163 pages. Our Portion: New and Selected Poems by Philip Terman. Autumn House.…
I’ve been rereading all of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels. I do this periodically whenever I think my own thriller prose is becoming stale. Sometimes we, as writers of colorful fiction, forget to what ridiculous extremes a craftsman such as Fleming could take characterization and make it fun and believable. Auric…
An Interview with Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of countless bestselling books (both for adults and children) and three series. The Novel Habits of Happiness is the latest in his popular Scotland-based Isabel Dalhousie series, also known as the Sunday Philosophy Club. In this installment, protagonist Isabel comes to the rescue of…
Why is a column covering “letters” reviewing books by sports writers? Because good sports writers, and the larger-than-life characters and lessons their writings describe, go beyond sports. In the best pieces, there are more than facts and statistics; there are lessons of life. Years ago, I listened on radio to…
Private Doubt, Public Dilemma: Religion and Science Since Jefferson and Darwin
Ask any freelancer what the scariest part of writing is, and he or she will most likely tell you, “Going it alone.” It’s a lot like traveling to an unfamiliar destination: Although you have a map, you’re unsure about what will happen as you proceed with your journey. This fear…
The Lyrical Gifts of Tom Raworth
Even though Tom Raworth is often described as the most American of British poets, most American readers have not heard of him. He was born in southeast London in 1938, left school at 16, and kicked around in odd jobs until he settled into what now seems barely possible —…
An Interview with Marguerite Reed
Marguerite Reed’s Archangel is the first in a projected series called the Chronicles of Ubastis. Set in the far future on a newly colonized world, Archangel is the first-person narrative of Vashti Loren, a xenobiologist. Ubastis is an unspoiled paradise with a robust ecosystem. Loren and her young daughter are…
They say that the Internet loves a list, but according to my Facebook feed, the Internet loves a quiz even more. (Personally, I’m addicted to Slate’s Friday News Quiz.) Bookworms especially love to prove how smart and well-read they are. Finally, the Independent is giving you a chance to show…
Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles
Russ Hodge: Because I am a TV producer, small business owner, AND father of three boys and stepfather to two girls, I’m only capable of having two books at a time on my nightstand. Actually, I’m capable of having a lot more than that, as evidenced by the dust, but…
The 19-year-old freshman came to my office for a conference. He told me he wanted to write about the conflicted relations between North and South Korea. I said, “That’s a big topic. How many years have these countries existed?” He replied, “60.” I said, “So, you’re going to write a…
The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger’s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare’s First Folio
Whether you’re traveling the world or staying put, these summer selections will transport you — from war-torn Bosnia to the rolling Irish countryside, from Darfur to the Philippines. Told through a photographer’s lens, a veteran novelist’s discerning prism, and a few new literary voices, each narrative calls on us to…
That’s the Way It Is: A History of Television News in America
Does it matter that the main character in Lily King’s Euphoria, one of the New York Times 10 Best Novels of 2014 and clearly based on real-life anthropologist Margaret Mead, is a fictional character called Nell Stone? King portrays a love triangle among three researchers in a steamy New Guinea…
An Interview with Asali Solomon
Disgruntled is a riveting story about Kenya Curtis, a young girl growing up with Afrocentric parents in mid-1980s Philadelphia. Throughout the novel, Kenya learns to deal with her disintegrating family and find a sense of self as she navigates race and class issues. Here, author Asali Solomon discusses the book,…
One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway
Most folks who know me might bet that Facebook is my number-one distraction of choice; in fact, I’ve hinted elsewhere about some small addictions in that direction. But I’m here today to admit a sometimes-stronger obsession. Just as I once visited used bookshops (and still do) looking for hard-to-find titles…
I fell for spy stories early. It started with the black-and-white despair of Richard Burton’s portrayal of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. The short-lived but largely baffling TV series “Secret Agent” closed the deal. For at least a week in junior high school, I tried to mimic…
5 Most Popular Posts: June 2015
“Withdrawn.” In the latest installment of her blog, Long Story Short, Tara Laskowski told you exactly why she won’t be submitting to your literary journal. (You do have a literary journal, right?) “6 New Historical Novels We Can’t Wait to Get Our Geeky Hands On.” Judging by the number of…
“I want to be an honest man and a good writer.” — James Baldwin, 1952 I didn’t have much in common with James Baldwin when I first read him in the late 90s. Baldwin, who died in 1987, was black, gay, born into poverty, the son of a reverend, a…
It’s something we’ve wanted to do since day one, and it’s finally happening. The Independent is thrilled to announce that we’re now able to pay our contributors! (It’s only $25 a pop, so don’t quit your day job. But still…) “We’re so grateful to our outstanding reviewers for staying with…
The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth about Food and Flavor
10 Findings about Historical Fiction
A third comprehensive historical-fiction reader survey took place during April and May, reaching 2,033 participants (84% female, 16% male) from all over the world. While all participants are readers, 537 identified themselves as authors, 92 as bloggers, 61 as librarians, 26 as publishing-industry professionals, and six as book retailers. While…
An Interview with Sarah Stodola
Hemingway may have been a notorious boozer, but he never drank while writing. Joan Didion begins her daily writing session by retyping all the work from the day before. Junot Diaz composed his novel Drown while listening to the movie soundtrack of “Conan the Barbarian” endlessly on loop. Nabokov drove…
Hollowed Out: Why the Economy Doesn’t Work without a Strong Middle Class
Critique Checklist, or, “Hey, Am I Doing This Right?”
Critiquing is a tricky business. When I receive a submission, I have a few items I need in order to get started. First, coffee. Second, a comfy place to sit. (Otherwise, I’ll get grumpy. You don’t want me to critique when I’m grumpy.) Third, the Red Pen of Doom. Fourth,…
Don Winslow is one of those authors who makes writing seem effortlessly easy while being effortlessly cool, neither of which I’ve ever managed to do. I discovered his books a couple years ago through a friend, Keith Rawson, and subsequently went on a binge, tearing through the Boone Daniels novels…
The most confusing piece of advice writers are given is to write what they know. It’s easy for someone to suggest this, but what does it mean? This question lingered in my mind as I sat down to pen this latest column. One of the mistakes we make as beginners…
Kat Martin is the author of more than 60 novels. She has achieved worldwide fame with her books and continues to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. When I interviewed her, I found her to be as intriguing as the stories she so masterfully writes. You became a…
June 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri
JUNE EXEMPLARS: POETRY REVIEWS By Grace Cavalieri A Clearance by Fiona Wilson. Sheep Meadow Press. 75 pp. The Word Kingdom in the Word Kingdom by Noah Eli Gordon. Brooklyn Arts Press. 151 pp. Kaleidoscope by Tina Barr. Iris Press. 84 pp. Archives of the Air by John Morgan. Salmon Poetry…
People often ask me, given the daunting number of choices out there, how does one decide what to read next? The question is especially vexing for those who don’t have a lot of time to read and want to make every book count. The most obvious answer is to join…
The Porcelain Thief: Searching the Middle Kingdom for Buried China
An Interview with Joel Fishbane
Joel Fishbane’s new novel, The Thunder of Giants, features two fascinating women: Anna Swan, a Nova Scotian giantess from the 19th century who spent time as an attraction at P.T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York City, and Andorra Kelsey, a woman struggling to make ends meet in the 1930s…
Diana Abu-Jaber: Lately, my reading list has been oddly divided: One pile contains hard-hitting, grown-up novels set during or around wartime. On the other pile are night-time books to read to my 6-year-old. First, the war pile. If you haven’t yet joined the rest of us and read All the…
A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars
We all have 206 bones in our bodies, if we're whole and healthy, inshallah. Whatever religion or science say about it, no matter about exceptions that prove the rule, and despite surgical removal, when humans have babies, if whole and healthy, the babies grow up to have 206 bones. But…
Andrea Mays’ debut book, The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger’s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio, is the story of one man’s unwavering quest for Shakespeare’s collected works. Mays’ narrative is laced with the intrigue of the hunt for literary treasures combined with a masterful biographical profile of a…
When asked to describe what Paycock Press publishes, founder and editor Richard Peabody demurs. After all, he has nearly four decades’ worth of books to consider. “The typical Paycock book?” Peabody says. “That’s a tough one. A little bent, a little radical. Could be realism or magical realism. We’ve never…
In American Ghost: A Family’s Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest (HarperCollins), Hannah Nordhaus writes a detective story, although it’s not fiction, and a ghost story, although it’s not a chiller. It’s biography and history and the product of investigative research, yet everything of power, even scholarly process, must come…
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