L.A. Times - Books & Talks

'The Second Plane' by Martin Amis
Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700
September 11: Terror and Boredom IT would be too easy to read Martin Amis' slim book on Sept. 11 in a day and to dismiss it with a politically correct glare. The dozen essays, columns and reviews and two short stories in "The Second Plane: September 11, Terror and Boredom" are more illuminating than that, though deeply, sometimes self-indulgently flawed.
'The House of Widows' by Askold Melnyczuk
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Family secrets lie at the end of a dark and twisted path FROM its puzzling opening line ("The most common grammatical error is the lie"), there's an ominous vibe to Askold Melnyczuk's third novel, "The House of Widows," and the sense of unease lingers until the final sentence. It's a mysterious, masterfully taut story in which dread plays a prominent role.
'Marco Polo' by Laurence Bergreen
Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700
An account of the adventures of the celebrated 13th century world traveler. MARCO POLO was only 17 when he departed for China in 1271 with his father, Niccolò, and his uncle, Maffeo. Those two merchants of Venice were known to the boy primarily as storytellers of their fabulous exploits, writes award-winning biographer and historian Laurence Bergreen, for they had been absent more than 16 years, Marco's entire childhood. The pair had followed trade routes east, encountered exotic countries and customs and survived many perils; they had even lived for a time at the court of Kublai Khan, the leader of the Mongol Empire. Eventually they agreed to accompany his emissary west to the pope, vowing to return to Cambulac (Beijing) with several items the Great Khan had requested.

NYT > Books

Children’s Books: The Greatest’s Story, Told Twice
Mon, 12 May 2008 15:42:56 -0000
Two handsome new books for different age groups take on the formidable challenge of telling the story of Muhammad Ali’s epic life.
Children’s Books: Earth to Young People: Help!
Sat, 10 May 2008 01:28:12 -0000
A “family encyclopedia of ecology” and the first book by “the MySpace community” spell out environmental threats and suggest action to help.
Children’s Books: When We Last Saw Our Heroes ...
Sat, 10 May 2008 12:57:15 -0000
Sequels to the popular children’s books “Not a Box,” “Zen Shorts” and “Little Pea” — plus the latest in Mo Willems’s “Pigeon” series.

Fiction & Poetry

Thirteen Hundred Rats
T. Coraghessan Boyle Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
There was a man in our village who never in his life had a pet of any kind until his wife died. By my calculation, Gerard Loomis was in his mid-fifties when Marietta was taken from him, but at the ceremony in the chapel he looked so scorched and . . .
Songs of a Season
Maureen N. McLane Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
for here or to go-- a glass mug, a paper cup-- life is fast, art slow only a few years before all that I am blows free, subatomic not for me that life the careless joy of the dog not for me that leap how to say beautiful weekend in . . .
After Love
Jack Gilbert Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 -0000
He is watching the music with his eyes closed. Hearing the piano like a man moving through the woods thinking by feeling. The orchestra up in the trees, the heart below, step by step. The music hurrying sometimes, but always returning to quiet, like the man remembering and hoping. It . . .

London Review of Books

Gazillions · Neal Ascherson: Organised Crime
Karabas was gunned down in 1997. He and his mob had taken over the port city of Odessa as law and order disintegrated in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. One might call his reign a comprehensive protection racket. But, looked at in another way, Karabas became the only reliable source of authority and social discipline. He arbitrated the city's commercial disputes (10 per cent of net profits was his price); he kept the drug peddlers to one area of Odessa, and prevented the horrific people-smuggling in the harbour district from infecting the rest of the town. Using a bare minimum of thuggery, he kept the peace. Karabas seldom carried a gun. Everyone looked up to him, and levels of violence stayed lower in Odessa than in other Russian and Ukrainian cities. His murderers were probably Chechens hired to break Odessa's grip on the local oil industry, a grip coveted by Ukraine's then president, Leonid Kuchma, who 'during his ten years in power . . . presided over the total criminalisation of the Ukrainian government and civil service'.
An Element of Unfairness · Ross McKibbin on the Great Education Disaster
The modern history of English secondary education begins with the 1944 Education Act, usually known as the Butler Act. It was, for better and worse, the most important piece of education legislation of the 20th century, but was expected to reform an educational system already deeply divisive and inequitable. In some ways it promoted the hopes of wartime democracy; in others it betrayed them. It raised the school-leaving age to 15 and made secondary education universal and free. It equalised the payment of teachers in all state secondary schools and devised procedures by which nearly all the religious elementary schools were incorporated into the state system. It didn't specify what kind of secondary education local authorities should establish, and as a result they fell back on what already existed and what conventional opinion thought appropriate: grammar schools for the academically inclined, junior technical schools for those with superior technical aptitudes and secondary moderns for those of a 'practical' turn of mind.
Kick over the Scenery · Stephen Burt on Philip K. Dick
When an art form or genre once dismissed as kids' stuff starts to get taken seriously by gatekeepers - by journals, for example, such as the one you are reading now - respect doesn't come smoothly, or all at once. Often one artist gets lifted above the rest, his principal works exalted for qualities that other works of the same kind seem not to possess. Later on, the quondam genius looks, if no less talented, less solitary: first among equals, or maybe just first past the post. That is what happened to rock music in the late 1960s, when sophisticated critics decided, as Richard Poirier put it, to start 'learning from the Beatles'. It is what happened to comics, too, in the early 1990s, when the Pulitzer Prize committee invented an award for Art Spiegelman's Maus. And it has happened to science fiction, where the anointed author is Philip K. Dick.

Guardian Unlimited Books

Summer reading: how to pick the right book for any trip
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0000
A Room With a View might be perfect for a Tuscan villa, but what should you read at the Burning Man festival or while cooped up with the kids in a West Country cottage? Six leading writers select the best books to take with you - whatever type of holiday you're going on
Review: Fishing in Utopia by Andrew Brown
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Review: Fishing in Utopia by Andrew Brown Ignore what its crime writers say: it turns out Sweden isn't brimming with neo-Nazis, paedophiles and jihadis after all
Review: War Plc by Stephen Armstrong
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0000
Review: War Plc by Stephen Armstrong The rise of the professional mercenary in the aftermath of the intervention in Iraq raises worrying questions about legitimacy and accountability

NPR Topics: Books

Bit O' Lit Founder Provides Quick Reads
Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:38:00 -0400
Metro riders in Washington, D.C., have a new distraction for their morning commute — Bit 'o Lit, a free commuter 'zine filled with short excerpts from fiction and non-fiction books. Bit o' Lit founder Shannon Macdonald says her mission is to spread her love for books.
Ambitions, Tragedy Collide In 'America America'
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:24:00 -0400
After a seven-year absence, author Ethan Canin returns with America America, a novel that explores power and influence in politics past.
Literary Adventures To Occupy The Long Weekend
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:00:00 -0400
We look at some the most exciting pieces of new literature. City of Thieves by David Benioff, The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst and The Finder by Colin Harrison top the list.

Slashdot: Book Reviews

Dungeons and Desktops
samzenpus Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:30:00 -0000
Aeonite writes "Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games chronicles the rise and fall of the Computer RPG industry, from Akalabeth to Zelda and everything in between. While the bulk of the book is devoted to the genre's 'Golden Age' in the late '80s and early '90s, author Matt Barton explores the entire history of CRPGs, from their origins in the mid '70s to the very recent past. While not entirely comprehensive, the book covers not only the major players and award-winners, but also dozens of obscure 'also-ran' as well as notable games in related genres." Keep reading for the rest of Michael's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google Apps Hacks
samzenpus Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:58:00 -0000
stoolpigeon writes "It seems that it wasn't long ago that Google was just a search company. The number of on-line products that fly under the Google moniker, today, is impressive. Google has moved well beyond its office-suite-like applications and excelled with everything from mapping to blogging to 3-D drawing. Google Apps Hacks is a new book from O'Reilly, published in conjunction with their Make magazine. This volume presents the reader with 141 hacks in an attempt to get the most out of a wide array of Google's on-line applications. The result is a quick ride that is rather fun — and while a bit shallow at times, it provides a great overview of just how much is available out there." Read below for the rest of JR's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Terminal Chaos
samzenpus Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:10:00 -0000
Ben Rothke writes "While Terminal Chaos should be shelved in the current events or business section of a bookstore, it could also be placed in the modern crime section. After reading it, one gets the impression that the state of air traffic today could only come due to criminal neglect or mischief. If one looks at pictures of airline flights from the 1960s, you will see well-dressed passengers enjoying their flight. In 2008, barely a day goes by without an incident of air rage, from irate passengers in the terminal, to those in the air causing flights to be diverted. Today's airline traveler considers it a near miracle if his flight arrives on time with his baggage." Keep reading for the rest of Ben's review.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Books

What was in the box
editorial Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:44:11 -0000
Three days ago I let my art director husband be a guest blogger here and he rhapsodized about his favorite bookstore in LA, Hennessy & Ingalls. He finished the blog by telling of a box of eight books from H&I that he had shipped to our home in Massachusetts. Since then I’ve had questions from a [...]
Painting the Invisible Man
picks Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:22:25 -0000
I highly recommend Painting The Invisible Man by Rita Schiano. In 2001, while researching the online archives of her hometown newspaper for a client, the author, freelance writer Rita Schiano made a keying error, a simple mistake that led her to a path she’d been avoiding most of her life. It took her on a journey [...]
Kazakhstan beyond Borat
reviews Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:09:29 -0000
Ask any Western family heading to Kazakhstan to adopt a child: It’s hard to scare up readable English books on the Central Asian nation, and even harder to find an upbeat one. Like the rolling Kazakh steppe, the few existing volumes tend to be dry and bleak.

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