Stuart Nadler’s new novel “Wise Men” is not easily digestible, though its prose is not difficult. The themes it explores — from race, to lust, to the corruptive power of wealth — are so large and multifaceted as to render this one doozy of a seaside saga. Maybe it’s best Read More…
For all the recent institutional attention to graffiti, its natural habitat remains the grimy-glorious concrete jungle. “Rage is Back,” a new novel by Berkeley-based Adam Mansbach, author of children’s-book-turned-viral-sensation “Go the Fuck to Sleep,” knows it: “Don’t ever mention Haring to a graffiti writer by the way, or Basquiat either. Read More…
In his new book, T Cooper recounts an interview with a journalist about one of his previous works. After an interview in which the journalist was overly interested in his life (even off the record), Cooper read the published story and was dismayed to see that the majority of the Read More…
The Brothers Grimm have always seemed to be a fictional pair themselves — they are known for their collection of witches, princesses and elves, and never insert their opinions or morals into their tales. But Philip Pullman presents the two as “serious-minded” intellectuals in the introduction of “Fairy Tales from Read More…
Summing up an entire lifetime in a book seems either impossible or depressing. We hope that our lives cannot be compressed into a single volume. With her new collection of stories, “Dear Life,” Alice Munro attempts to do this, but she ultimately fails in offering more than flat emotion and Read More…
In New York City, sometime in the early hours of October 30, a car made its way uptown. The streets were unusually empty for that hour (or any hour in NYC). A hurricane was in town and instead of the benign ambivalence with which the city usually greets new arrivals, Read More…
In “Hallucinations,” Oliver Sacks once again plays the role of the encyclopedic doctor of neurological phenomena. His signature way of telling strange tales of medicine fit for television hospital dramas hasn’t changed, but his topic has shifted to a small degree. He explores hallucinations and the human brain in his Read More…
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. never wrote an autobiography — his story is in his works, woven into the irony-filled science fiction that he’s known for. He never wrote a singular personal account perhaps because the category would be too constricting and the self-reflection too painful. Right before his sudden death in Read More…
When was the last time you heard an 81-year-old describe someone as “white boy wasted?” Only the master of observational journalism Tom Wolfe would ever be able to work this phrase into the right context. His reputation precedes him; however, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t work hard to continue Read More…
Comic Book Education The creativity of the art on display in the Concourse Exhibition Center was enough to inspire anyone to pick up a pencil and start doodling. When asked how they got their start, many artists revealed that they were self-taught, but a vast majority had some kind of Read More…
