Chick lit, chauvinism and modern Ireland
Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. Knopf, 2007. 352 pages. Recently my sister asked me if I had met anyone, which…
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What is wrong with teaching in the US?
In 1991, 30-year veteran and master teacher John Taylor Gatto resigned immediately after being named “Teacher of the Year” in…
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Intersection of American minds
American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever. Simon & Schuster, 2006. 240 pages Susan Cheever, novelist, critic, and writer of acclaimed memoirs…
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Life in the midst of change
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas. Harcourt, 2006. 192 pages A blurb on the front cover of Abigail Thomas’…
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A taste for noir
Wild to Possess and A Taste for Sin by Gil Brewer. Stark House Press, 2006. One of the great delights…
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Burning down the house
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke. Algonquin Books, 2007. 305 pages. Some writers come…
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Put your money on Saratoga Fleshpot
Murdering Americans by Ruth Dudley Edwards. Poisoned Pen Press, 2007. 236 pages. Skewering the politically correct codes of our colleges…
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Heading Home waffles but New Stories shines
Choosing the genre in which to write is, of course, a major factor in the success with which we communicate…
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Harry — The boy who lived
By Katie Polonsky I’m a firm believer that when reading a novel, you bring to it the whole of your…
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Book Mania: Showcasing some up-and-coming writers
Cataloochee by Wayne Caldwell. Random House, 2007. 368 pages Readers planning to attend Book Mania in Waynesville have several treats…
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Deer hunting in the twilight of American culture
The Twilight of American Culture by Morris Berman. W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. 224 pages. When I think of…
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Author’s bias shows through
What’s Liberal About The Liberal Arts? Classroom Politics and “Bias” in Higher Education by Michael Berube. W. W. Norton, 2006.…
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Summertime and the reading’s hazy
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Penguin Classics. 310 pages Summertime, and the living is easy ... For most of…
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A Frank look back
From Violins to Violence: A Memoir by Marshall Frank. Fortis Book, 2007. 308 pages In Tom Stoppard’s Lord Malquist and…
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A clean miss
Gun Show Nation: Gun Culture and American Democracy by Joan Burbick. New Press, 2007. 288 pages. While teaching Latin at…
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Dad’s take on father’s day
Father’s Day, surely a boon to the greeting card industry and certain segments of the male apparel industry, has taken…
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Schwartz discusses impacts of Catholicism on four British writers
A country which has accepted the mantle of “empire,’ however inimical that mantle may be to its professed destiny; a…
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A hard day’s work
On Earth’s Furrowed Brow: The Appalachian Farm in Photographs by Tim Barnwell. W. W. Norton, 2007. 224 pages. For a…
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The first lady of the South
First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis’s Civil War by Joan E. Cashin. Belknap Press, 2006. Civil wars are marked…
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Hootnoggers: History, definitely delightful
First, the tomatoes. Then the applause. Rob Neufeld’s Mountains, Heroes & Hootnoggers: A Popular History of Western North Carolina (The…
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Southern Comfort
Cornbread Nation 2 by Lolis Eric Elie. The University of North Carolina Press, 2007. In the last 50 years, home…
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Livingroom predators
Relentless Enemies: Lions and Buffalo by Dereck and Beverly Joubert. National Geographic, 2006. 176 pages. Four years ago, my family…
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Heir to the King
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. William Morrow, 2007. 376 pages Although both the publisher and the author of Heart-Shaped Box…
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Today’s writing smacks of sameness
The 1920s were a golden age for American fiction and poetry. F. Scott Fizgerald helped give the decade its name…
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Stories from the dead
In the small Southern community where she lives, Finch Nobles, the narrator of A Gracious Plenty, easily qualifies as a…
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The rise and rise of the American empire
H.W. Crocker’s Don’t Tread On Me: A 400-Year History of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting gives…
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War can be murder
Recently, a distressing bit of information surfaced on CNN about the war in Iraq. There has been a significant increase…
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Fascinating as Lewis himself
Among Christians, C.S. Lewis has a reputation that runs in several directions. As the author of The Chronicles of Narnia,…
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A debut reminiscent of other stirring westerns
Back in the 15th century, when Europe underwent a remarkable surge in creativity, the word “Renaissance” (meaning “rebirth”) was frequently…
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Thankfully, some books are short
Ludie’s Life by Cynthia Rylant. Harcourt Children's Books, 2006. 128 pages. Sometimes bad things come in small packages.
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Locked away
Coventry by Joseph Bathanti. Novello Festival Press, 2006. 261 pages. When 30-year-old Calvin Gaddy finds himself working as a guard…
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Two outta three ain’t bad
Snow and falling temperatures — we’ve had little of the former this winter, and some of the latter — provide…
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The Stone Raft: Surreal of so real
If you remember those wonderful fairy tales in which the hero acquires the aid of “helpers” in their journey to…
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History 2 - Food 1
The Avenger Takes His Place: Andrew Johnson and the 45 Days that Changed the Nation by Howard Means. Harcourt, 2006.…
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Revenge rising
Well, dear readers, modern pop fiction’s most famous killer, Hannibal the Cannibal, has quietly returned. For those of you who…
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Snowed in and booked up
“I never trusted happiness,” Robert Duvall says in “Tender Mercies.” I have begun to feel the same way about vacations.
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Dexter: friendly, gruesome with a twist of sociopath
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. New York: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. $12.95 – 288 pages. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff…
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Steps towards manhood
I’m Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers by Tim Madigan. Gotham, 2006. 208 pages. Dear Chris, Your questions…
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Frankly eye-opening
Militant Islam in America by Marshall Frank. Fortis Books, 2006. 198 pages. This morning (Dec. 9), I sat down to…
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A darkness that resides
Coronado by Dennis Lehane. William Morrow Publishers, 2006. $24.95 — 232 pages.
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Christmas stories aloud
The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. Penguin - 6th edition, 2006. 432 pages Of course, we cannot all read aloud…
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Recommended diversions
Stand on Zanzibar In 1968, a British science fiction writer named John Brunner wrote a novel, a 50-year projection into…
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Atypical King
Stephen King has written more than 40 novels now — books that are classified in the “horror/thriller/fantasy genre.” King is…
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Crucial issues facing America
Al Qaeda in Europe: The New Battleground of International Jihad by Lorenzo Vidino. Prometheus Books, 2005. 403 pages. The Democrats…
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A ghost in the city of angels
Ask the Dust by John Fante. Black Sparrow Press. $13 (paperback) — 165 pages. Back in Charles Bukowski’s youth (the…
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Occupational reading
Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers by Amy Stewart. Algonquin Books, 2006.…
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Smith thrills in his new dark suspense
“The Ruins does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches.” — Stephen King The Ruins by Scott…
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Sifting through the stack
For many people, autumn means more than colorful leaves and blue, crisp days. For them fall is, like spring, a…
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Ashes to ashes
Before Cormac McCarthy’s nameless father and son have ventured more than a few yards down The Road, we realize that…
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Evolution in Europe
While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West From Within by Bruce Bawer. Doubleday, 2006. 256 pages —…
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