Article Archive for November 2011
Book Review: Reprobates
They were for King, country, and courtesans – not necessarily in that order! They were the Cavaliers, and a spirited new book tells their story.
Book Review: Catherine the Great
She nearly doubled the size of the Russian empire, she debated with philosophers, she endowed the first women’s college in Russia, and she was a beloved mother to her people for 34 years – and she had a steady stream of lovers through it all. She was Catherine the Great.
Now in Paperback: Napoleon
Arcade Publishing re-issues Frank McLynn’s merrily magnificent biography of that pestiferous little Corsican!
Book Review: The Romulan War
Two new linked “Star Trek” novels dramatize a pivotal event in the fictional universe of the beloved TV show – Earth’s first war with the Romulans!
Book Review: Venice Disputed
A beautifully illustrated examination of one Venetian nobleman’s life-long wrangling with the experts over the public face of the Queen of the Adriatic.
Book Review: The Goblin King
A new romance makes beefcake from the least likely material imaginable, treasure-hunting goblins
Classics Reissued: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
One of the greatest works of 20th century – and of all time – gets a handsome paperback reprint as it turns 50.
Now in Paperback: Evolution – The First Four Billion Years
A gigantic new paperback examines every nook and cranny of Darwin’s famous theory, still controversial after 150 years.
Classics Reissued: The Once and Future King
T. H. White’s towering, sad, uplifting tale of King Arthur, Merlyn, Guenever, and Lancelot gets a beautiful Penguin reprint
Classics Reissued: Lucretius
A handsome re-issue of the best English-language translation of Lucretius’ famous (and famously scatter-brained) poem
Desultory Vivacity
Does marriage mean much anymore? Does the novel? Jeffrey Eugenides sets out to reinvent the classic literary story—but can he combine the style and the substance of the greats he hopes to update to our times?
Lee Miller’s Eye
Lee Miller, known for a hundred years as Man Ray’s muse, comes into her own in a new book and exhibit. What’s she like?
An American in China
A meticulously-researched rendition of the horrifying massacres that comprised the “Rape of Nanjing” is the backdrop for Ha Jin’s latest telegraphic and affecting novel.
The Personal Was Always the Political
Vivian Gornick’s new biography of Emma Goldman focuses more on the famous anarchist’s love life than her political ideologies–but might those tumultuous relationships offer new insights into her beliefs?
A Heartbeat Away
John Nance Garner famously referred to the vice presidency as being not worth a bucket of warm, er, spit – and yet, during the two terms of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney used that office to wield unprecedented power. The former vice president writes an unapologetic memoir.
There Will Be No More Great Ideas
Robert Musil’s magnum opus The Man Without Qualities was groundbreaking not because it’s unfinished but because it’s unfinishable. A new study attempts to take scope of its deep and mesmerizing pointlessness.
The Restful “I”: Rumi, Psychology, and the Discovery of Love
The 12th-century Sufi poet Rumi is said to have re-created himself as an avatar of love. Chase Nordengren explores the stations on the life cycle that lead to such a radical rebirth.
Real Illusions
“You’ve got to learn the language of art to be able to appreciate it. And then, where you go with it, what you see with it, is only limited to your own imagination.”– A conversation with cover artist John Bonath
The Hero of His Own Life?
It’s easy to love the Dickens we think we know–the man whose warm compassion and boundless imagination gave us Scrooge and Tiny Tim, Pip and Magwitch, Oliver Twist and Nancy. But what about the man behind the novels? Claire Tomalin’s magisterial new biography brings us up close and personal.
It’s a Mystery: “A Father’s No Shield for His Child”
A gripping thriller, the debut collaborative work from a duo of Danish writers, is the first in a trilogy you won’t soon forget.
Skulking in the Sewers
Umberto Eco’s potboiling new novel The Prague Cemetery was denounced in Europe for anti-Semitism, and then went on to become a best-seller. Is the controversy valid? What strange creation has Eco brought forth?
In Lieu of a Drink
Provocative public intellectual/muckraker Christopher Hitchens offers an enormous volume of collected essays and articles, probably his last.
The Steward
He’s been waiting for the throne longer than any Prince of Wales before him, and he’s changed the nature of the monarchy while he’s been waiting. But will we ever see King Charles III? ‘A Year with the Windsors’ takes a look at the heir.
Set Sail, Come Home
On the surface, the new RPG Bastion is a fairly straightforward hack-and-slash video game—but a complex narrative back-story reveals some hidden depths.
Last Month
Alan Hollinghurst’s latest; an essay from Douglass Shand-Tucci; Sargent’s El Jaleo reconsidered; António Lobo Antunes’ thrillers; Ben Lerner’s latest; vintage scents; Akilah Oliver’s final volume and far more….
The OLM Quiz: From All Saints Day to Thanksgiving
This month’s quiz has scoured the archives for November-based literary trivia. Do your worst!
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