Between the two of us (and Betsy is nearly 100%), Betsy and I read and posted thoughts on every New Yorker story this year. Here are our six favorites. You’ll notice Betsy and I diverge quite a bit (and though I didn’t post on each of her favorites, I have read them all). How on … Read more
I usually post this before Christmas — just in case people want to use it to make their Christmas lists. But this year, with children growing up and making things around Christmas even busier, I didn’t get it done. But now you can use this list to make New Year’s Resolutions. Below are my ten favorite reads … Read more
It’s getting closer to Christmas, and these are some more items I’d recommend for you and yours. I’m afraid I didn’t have time to go through and write-up thoughts on each, but I find them all exciting. 1. Postertext Wall Art This team of bibliophiles have created dozens of pieces of wall art out of … Read more
Click here to read the abstract of the story on The New Yorker webpage (this week’s story is available only for subscribers). Rebecca Curtis’s “The Christmas Miracle” was originally published in the December 23 & 30, 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Betsy “The Christmas Miracle,” by Rebecca Curtis, is not for the squeamish. She says … Read more
Always provocative, even if you don’t agree with her, Susan Sontag was one of the most influential critics of the last fifty years. She came of age in and was a central player in the intellectual rigor of the 1960s and 1970s, and may have the reputation for pushing esoteric, highly sophisticated works of art, though one … Read more
If you’ve ever wanted to provide financial support to the website or the podcast, there is now an easy way to do so. In the upper-left corner of the blog there is a new button: “Donate.” Over the years I’ve received several emails from people asking how they can support the site and, now, the podcast. … Read more
While I don’t typically do a holiday gift guide, I think I have some good ideas this year that might help you get gifts for your book-loving friends and family — and you might find something on here for yourself. This is Part I. Part II will include children’s books and a few other knick-knacks. 1. … Read more
Wieslaw Mysliwski was born in Poland in 1932, and over the course of a nearly fifty-year career he’s told the stories of that turbulent place and time. Or, so I’ve heard. In English, we have only a fraction of the work of this Polish master. In 1991, Ursula Phillips translated his 1970 novel The Palace. Then for … Read more
Click here to read the abstract of the story on The New Yorker webpage (this week’s story is available only for subscribers). Steven Millhauser’s “Coming Soon” was originally published in the December 16, 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Trevor I’m always in the mood for a new Millhauser, but this one didn’t quite do it for … Read more
Nick Flynn’s “The Day Lou Reed Died” was first published in the November 25, 2013 issue of The New Yorker and is available here for subscribers. Nick Flynn’s “The Day Lou Reed Died” is about his father’s death, and it is terrific. This poem is unavailable except with a subscription to The New Yorker, but to me this … Read more