An ancient band of vampires camouflaged in the trappings of middle America and roving the interstates in search of special children to prey on, a protagonist tortured by alcoholism and past traumas both supernatural and self-inflicted, a little girl wielding an awesome and terrible power — these are the ingredients of Stephen King’s newest novel, […]
books
Posted inArts + Scene
Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas
The connection between Tarzan and Jane Goodall never occurred to me until Page 2 of Primates, when a young Goodall daydreams of swinging on vines, jealous of Tarzan’s other Jane. Primates, a graphic novel written by Jim Ottaviani and drawn by Maris Wicks, tells the story of three icons in the field of primate studies: […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Heavenly Bodies
Skeletons decorated with jewels in their eye sockets, crowns of golden leaves on their fissured skulls and pearl-encrusted filigree on their ribs pose in glass cases. These are skeletons that the Catholic Church sent out in the 1500s to replenish the relics destroyed by Protestants, as well as to bolster faith in the German-speaking regions […]
Posted inNews
Feeling OK
Pop quiz: Sarah Palin, in a speech during the 2008 presidential campaign, famously accused candidate Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” Who were these terrorists she was referring to? Bonus question: How did at least one of these said terrorists handle all of the attention, much of it threatening, that blossomed during the campaign? Answer: […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Good writers can be divided into two categories: recounters and listeners. Recounters make you want to hear their story. Listeners make you feel like you’re reading your own. Cheryl Strayed is a listener. Her immensely popular advice column, “Dear Sugar,” resounds with empathy, wisdom and universal positive regard. Reading her gentle words, you often feel […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Cuckoo’s Calling
By now, you’ve probably heard that Robert Galbraith, the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling, is really J.K. Rowling. Given how recently Rowling’s Harry Potter follow-up, The Casual Vacancy, was released under her real name, it’s strange that she would write under a pseudonym. Or maybe not. Like the story’s cold body, Lula Landry, Rowling knows […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Call of the Mild: Learning to Hunt My Own Dinner
In the first few pages of Lily Raff McCaulou’s memoir, Call of the Mild: Learning to Hunt my Own Dinner, she quotes the opening line from the cover letter she sent to prospective employers in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana while living in New York City: “I’m not just a city slicker looking for a Western […]
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Henry D. Thoreau Essays: A Fully Annotated Edition
Here’s something you might not know about Thoreau: Even after he was a published writer he worked in the family pencil business and contributed several technical innovations to the art of pencil making. Here’s something else: When Thoreau stayed for a year in the cabin on Walden Pond, there were active railroad tracks skirting one […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish
David Rakoff wrote the sort of books that you can never shake off; his essays grab hold of the emotional center of your brain, burrow themselves deeply into your gray matter and take root. He boils down the most complex emotional experiences into poignant and precise prose (and sometimes verse!). But at the center of […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Faraway Nearby
Stories are compasses. We navigate by them, build our sanctuaries and our prisons out of them. So says Rebecca Solnit, who excels at steering seemingly unconnected stories. Call this a memoir, but don’t expect tidy or even linear reflections on a serious illness, a caving relationship or her mother’s debilitating Alzheimers. Instead, navigate Solnit’s meanderings […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman is a charmingly bizarre combination of Roald Dahl and Edgar Allen Poe. He has gained rock star status as a writer in the hipster/nerd crowd, penning popular episodes of Doctor Who, winning repeat Hugos and Nebulas, and gaining a Twitter following that boggles the mind. Gaiman’s imagination produces fantastically dark and quirky stories […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Power of Habit
Habit is the basic substrate of our lives, so basic that its influence is easy to ignore. The Power of Habit tries to peek behind the curtain and reveal the mechanisms of habit — so that readers can grab the levers for themselves and take control. The book begins with a story of someone who […]