Thursday, February 9 2012
Q&A with Dickens scholar
When Ruth Schuldiner reads Charles Dickens, she is transported back in time. Schuldiner, 27, of Akron, Ohio, is working on her doctorate in English literature…
Concord Free Press gives away books for a donation to a charity of readers’ choice
LOS ANGELES — In less than four years, the Concord Free Press has given away thousands of books. Its founder, Stona Fitch, admits that it’s…
Wednesday, February 8 2012
‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ turns 50; does it stand up to time?
“Cuckoo’s Nest.” Sure, everyone’s heard of it. But is it worth reading? Before Jack Nicholson won his first Oscar, before there was a bus full…
4 good reads from National Book Critics Circle awards’ finalists
Every year for the last six years, this has been my routine in January and February: I shut myself in a room with a jar…
Eleanor Brown finds universality in our peculiarities
Readers are fond of asking author Eleanor Brown which of her fictional, Shakespeare-loving sisters she’s most like: capable, responsible Rose (named for Rosalind in “As…
Thursday, February 2 2012
Online magazine, the Rumpus, embraces snail mail
LOS ANGELES — Fans of the online literary magazine the Rumpus recently opened their mailboxes to find a missive from its founder, Stephen Elliott. In…
Two approaches to book criticism
Partway through “Higher Gossip,” the seventh and final collection of reviews and occasional pieces by the late John Updike, I began to understand the problem…
Friday, January 27 2012
An ‘un-Korean’ novelist tackles Dear Leader
SAN FRANCISCO — The Dear Leader is dead — long live the Dear Leader! That, of course, would be North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il,…
Award-winning young-adult novelist John Green has leveraged the Web to build a rabid fan base
While watching one of his recent YouTube videos, it’s immediately clear that John Green isn’t just an author. He’s a multimedia darling playing to 1,000-seat…
Stephen King knows us all too well
On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, I spent half an hour or so discussing Stephen King with my colleague David Lazarus on Patt Morrison’s…
