"The Limit" written by Michael Cannell
16 Nov 2011 01:06:37
Pulling a dramatic narrative from auto racing is tougher than it might seem. Hollywood's efforts, for example, often sputter and come up short. In spite of stunning photography, "Grand Prix" (1966) tends to throttle down with the off-track action, particularly its strained love stories. "Le Mans" (1971) fails to find a strong dramatic center to complement its documentarylike approach.
"The Limit" avoids such hazards. With vivid and straight-on writing, journalist and author Michael Cannell explo... Read Full Story
Talking about new Ann Beattie's novel "Mrs. Nixon"
16 Nov 2011 01:05:15
Pat Nixon, who chose the name Patricia in college because she believed her given name didn't suit her, had at least 11 nicknames including Starlight, her code name as first lady. The mere fact of so many, when most people go through life with one or two, suggests an elusive, ghostly quality that has proved irresistible to Beattie, one of the most acclaimed short story writers of the baby boomer generation.
In that moment when the disgraced Richard Nixon stood in the door of the airplane that wou... Read Full Story
Michael Jackson is still alive in our hearts
14 Nov 2011 11:42:18
Frank Cascio, who became a family friend to Jackson at age 5 and eventually one of the singer's closest friends and employees, writes in a new book that he first noticed Jackson taking the drug Demerol while accompanying the singer on his "Dangerous" tour in 1993.
He writes in his new book, "My Friend Michael: An Ordinary Friendship with an Extraordinary Man," that Jackson started the first of two anniversary shows in 2001 an hour late as a result of being drugged up in his dressing room.
"My na... Read Full Story
New bag-book "Shiny Objects" by James A. Roberts
14 Nov 2011 11:40:19
Now along comes James Roberts' "Shiny Objects," which promises to explore and explain Americans' possession obsession. Roberts' book contains hard evidence for some claims you probably already suspected were true. People who are more materialistic are less happy and more stressed. We are more likely to buy something when we make the purchase with a credit card. And lottery winners are no happier than the rest of us.
The book also includes some genuinely sobering statistics. In 2007, the average ... Read Full Story
"An American Betrayal" written by Daniel Blake Smith
14 Nov 2011 11:39:05
After Andrew Jackson became president of the United States, he led efforts to remove the Cherokee Nation from its homeland. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and Jackson quickly signed the bill into law.
Cherokee leader John Ross believed in remaining on their ancestral lands, and fought hard for his people. Others, including Elias Boudinot and Major Ridge, believed the best way to stay alive and remain strong was to move. Their heartfelt beliefs tore their people apart before the ... Read Full Story
Jeffrey Sachs presented his book
10 Nov 2011 10:39:20
"At the root of America's economic crisis lies a moral crisis: the decline of civic virtue among America's political and economic elite," Sachs, a professor at Columbia University and a special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, states at the outset of "The Price of Civilization."
Much of the polemical book, which calls on wealthier Americans to pay more taxes and lauds the more socially minded economic systems in Scandinavia, is a direct assault on the Tea Party and libert... Read Full Story
What's the matter with "Assassin of Secrets" from Q.R. Markham's ?
10 Nov 2011 10:38:06
A day after Q.R. Markham's "Assassin of Secrets" was pulled by Little, Brown and Company, readers are apparently hurrying to snap up remaining copies. The book's ranking jumped on Amazon.com from 62,924 on Tuesday afternoon to 174 on Wednesday afternoon, making it the online retailer's No. 2 "Mover & Shaker."
The book was released Nov. 3 with an initial printing of 6,500, but within days Little, Brown learned that Markham had lifted material from James Bond novels and numerous other sources. A p... Read Full Story
What's the matter with "Assassin of Secrets" from Q.R. Markham's ?
10 Nov 2011 10:38:04
A day after Q.R. Markham's "Assassin of Secrets" was pulled by Little, Brown and Company, readers are apparently hurrying to snap up remaining copies. The book's ranking jumped on Amazon.com from 62,924 on Tuesday afternoon to 174 on Wednesday afternoon, making it the online retailer's No. 2 "Mover & Shaker."
The book was released Nov. 3 with an initial printing of 6,500, but within days Little, Brown learned that Markham had lifted material from James Bond novels and numerous other sources. A p... Read Full Story
Keith Richards became a winner of the Mailer Prize book prize
10 Nov 2011 10:15:08
Wearing tinted glasses, a long scarf around his neck and a wide red band around his sprawl of salt and pepper hair, Richards stood before hundreds dressed in suits and gowns at the Mandarin Hotel in Manhattan and loosened up as if presiding over a celebrity roast. He chuckled. He swore. He reasoned that since he had been writing — songs — since age 16, his appearance at a literary event was not a total "intrusion."
It had been an evening of earnest speeches about the importance of writing and ed... Read Full Story
Another story about another life "Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope"
08 Nov 2011 10:29:36
Months later, when she was shown photos of famous people to see if she recognized faces, Giffords looked at Arnold Schwarzenegger and replied, more or less accurately: "Messin' around. Babies."
These and other details emerge in a new book written by Giffords and her husband that offers the most personal look yet at her slow, agonizing recovery after being shot in the head at point-blank range.
The memoir, titled "Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope," describes Giffords' efforts over the past 10 m... Read Full Story
"Learning to Live Out Loud" real story about real life from Piper Laurie
08 Nov 2011 10:24:48
"Learning to Live Out Loud" is Laurie's absorbing memoir about that personal transition as well as her professional development from a popular star of grade B entertainments to an Oscar-nominated actress ("The Hustler," ''Carrie" and "Children of a Lesser God") who also had memorable roles on television and the stage.
She was born in 1932 to first-generation American Jews — her mother's parents had emigrated from Russia, her father's from Poland. They accepted their youngest daughter's relative ... Read Full Story
"The Table Comes First" written by Adam Gopnik
08 Nov 2011 10:22:23
With foodie culture encompassing everything from locavores, who eat only locally grown foods, and the slow food movement to Ferran Adria's "techno-emotional" cooking and molecular gastronomy, it seems there was never a time when society has been more obsessed by food.
Gopnik, however, points out that it only seems that way. Man's obsession with food is as old as civilization itself, or as he succinctly puts it: "An animal that eats and thinks must think big about what it is eating not to be take... Read Full Story
