National Book News
Books of The Times: The Man Who Discovered Oxygen (Maybe) and Gave the World Soda Water
Steven Johnson’s portrait of the 18th-century chemist, theologian and perennial agitator Joseph Priestley is also a lament about the intellectual specialization of our modern age.
Source: NYT > Books | 5 Jan 2009 | 2:01 am
Donald E. Westlake, Mystery Writer, Is Dead at 75
The prolific, award-winning novelist pounded out more than 100 books and five screenplays during his career. Source: NYT > Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 11:40 pm
Books of The Times: They Vacuum Maggots, Don’t They? Novel Delves Into the Trauma Cleaning Trade
Charlie Huston has written a smoking-hot new crime novel. Source: NYT > Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 10:54 pm
Puttin’ Off the Ritz: The New Austerity in Publishing
Amid a relentless string of layoffs and pay-freeze announcements, book publishers are clamping down on some of the business’s most glittery and cozy traditions. Source: NYT > Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 10:32 pm
A road map to Gaza
Back in 1936, Aldous Huxley borrowed "eyeless in Gaza," a phrase from Milton's Samson Agonistes, for the title of perhaps his best novel. That story revolves around a Huxleyan stand-in, Anthony ...
Source: Inquirer Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 3:01 am
The American ideal, in 13 volumes
The watershed moment of Nov. 4, 2008, has made a perfect clearing on the bookshelf for Jay Parini's latest book, Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America. In the aftermath of a presidential election, ...
Source: Inquirer Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 3:01 am
Hounded by Hitler and Stalin, family finds it can't go home again
It's always a pleasure to read Witold Rybczynski, the architect and Wharton professor of urbanism whose writing links architecture to literature, history, anthropology, sociology, and other arts. His wide-ranging, ...
Source: Inquirer Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 3:01 am
Samuel Huntington and the Positivity of Power Thinking
Samuel Huntington, the political theorist who died on Dec. 24, demonstrated the potency and peril of the big idea. Source: NYT > Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 12:22 am
The Plot Curdles
A modest proposal for bailing out the publishing industry. Source: NYT > Books | 4 Jan 2009 | 12:16 am
Letters
Ralph Peters is a prolific writer with a pen for stinging commentary and always enjoyable to read, but in his review of Steve Fainaru's Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq (Book World, ...
Source: washingtonpost.com - Bookstores, book reviews and events in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland - washingtonpost.com | 4 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am
Natural Marvels
The first significant American contribution to environmental literature was probably William Bartram 's straightforwardly titled Travels Through North & South Carolina, Georgia, East & West Florida.
Source: washingtonpost.com - Bookstores, book reviews and events in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland - washingtonpost.com | 4 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am
Into the Woods
WILDWOOD A Journey Through Trees By Roger Deakin
Source: washingtonpost.com - Bookstores, book reviews and events in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland - washingtonpost.com | 4 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am
Poet's Choice
Pretty much any spiritual practice, whether religious in the formal sense (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, etc.) or purely secular (counting breaths, a centering prayer), finds divinity in contemplation ...
Source: washingtonpost.com - Bookstores, book reviews and events in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland - washingtonpost.com | 4 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am
Picture-perfect poetry.
This substantial compendium has all the hallmarks of a classic: satisfyingly fat (175 pages), beautifully illustrated (by 13 different artists), thick paper, spacious lay-outs, sturdy binding, plus three ...
Source: washingtonpost.com - Bookstores, book reviews and events in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland - washingtonpost.com | 4 Jan 2009 | 12:00 am
The Funny Pages | Sunday Serial: The Girl in the Green Raincoat
Last chapter: Tess Monaghan, recognizing that her best friend ran true to Don Epstein’s type, asked Whitney to flirt with the man. And Whitney, as it happened, didn’t mind. Source: NYT > Books | 3 Jan 2009 | 11:04 pm