THE AUSTRALIAN: MICHEL Houellebecq is a literary lion whose novels have been acclaimed by critics as the cruel illumination of a troubled era.
But France's most celebrated and controversial contemporary author could be pushed off his pinnacle following an astonishingly vitriolic attack from a critic with a unique insight into his oeuvre.
allAFRICA: WAR has long held a deep fascination for a wide range of writers - scholarly and otherwise - writes Richard Reid, a lecturer in African and Imperial History in Durham University, in the introduction to his book
War in Pre-colonial Eastern Africa.
A PROGRESSIVE ON THE PRAIRIE: It’s surprising sometimes just what the popularization of certain scientific ideas can do. Certain concepts work their way into popular culture, despite the difficulty of math or science truly behind them. David Ambrose’s
The Man Who Turned Into Himself indicates that even theoretical physics can actually prolong the life of and perhaps even resurrect a book.
SMITHEREENS: …But I guess I’m going to skip the last part of Lunar Park (2005) or just skim over it. I knew I was in for a tough ride when picking up this book. I have mixed feelings about Mr. BEE and his novels...
THE ELEGANT VARIATION:
Nina Revoyr was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a white American father, and grew up in Tokyo, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles. She is the author of
The Necessary Hunger and
Southland and her books have been
Los Angeles Times bestsellers, Book Sense 76 picks, finalists for the Edgar Award and winners of the Ferro Grumley Award and the Lambda Literary awards.
READY STEADY BOOK: Well, at last, the genius that is Rosalind Belben has been recognised!
Our Horses in Egypt has been shortlisted for "Britain's oldest literary award" the
James Tait Black Memorial Prizes ...
OF BOOKS AND BYCICLES: Margery Allingham’s Sweet Danger was the novel under discussion at my latest mystery book club meeting; once again it was a great discussion that went on for nearly four hours.
THE INDEPENDENT: This is the 17th in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series of detective novels, set in Venice, which began in 1992. From my observations, the same qualities are cited by those such as I, who admire and enjoy these works, and by those who either actively dislike them or can't see what the fuss is about. Those characteristics include the warmth of Brunetti's family life (he is not your clichéd solitary private eye), with its shared, home-cooked meals; the author's social conscience, illustrated in Brunetti's university-lecturer wife's strident outbursts against corruption; in Brunetti's more nuanced musings about the compromises that morality in the real world necessitates; and a loving portrayal of the city of Venice, in all its ineffable beauties and crippling problems.
CBC CA:
Gary Snyder, a poet known for his verse about nature and spirituality, has won the United States' richest poetry prize, the $100,000
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.
CBC CA: Iran's culture minister has shared some eyebrow-raising advice with authors seeking to see their work published in Iran:
"Censor pages which are likely to create a dispute."
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