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Short Fuse: Robert Stone’s ‘Fun With Problems’

March 9, 2010
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American author Robert Stone is attuned to the havoc latent in masculine pride and to the hostility likely to break out for no particular reason between males of our species. Fun With Problems: Stories by Robert Stone, Hougton Mifflin Harcourt, 195 pages, $24 Reviewed by Harvey Blume Though one of our prose masters, Robert Stone…

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Dissident Chinese Writer Liao Yiwu—Travel Denied

March 5, 2010
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by Bill Marx On his way to the Cologne literature festival earlier this week, dissident Chinese writer Liao Yiwu was escorted off the plane by the Chinese authorities and handed over to the police for interrogation. He has sent an open letter to the world, available in English, asking for help.

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Opera Review: ‘Madame White Snake’

March 4, 2010
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Reviewed By Caldwell Titcomb It has been many years since a major new opera was mounted here. But Opera Boston has done just that with its recent world premiere of “Madame White Snake” at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. This was the most demanding and expensive undertaking in the company’s history.

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Coming Attractions in Film: March 2010

March 2, 2010
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By Justin Marble March 2–4: “Children of Invention” at the Brattle: Young filmmaker Tze Chun’s first feature was shot on location in Boston and focuses on a single mother with two small children struggling to make ends meet. When she doesn’t return home one night from her con-artist-esque job, it falls to the older brother…

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World Books: In Search of a Saudi Tolstoy

March 2, 2010
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By Bill Marx Saudi Arabian author Abdo Khal won the $60,000 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the Arab Booker) for his novel Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles, which is also known as She Throws Sparks. Taleb Alrefai, who served as chair for this year’s panel of judges, said, “The winning novel is a brilliant…

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Coming Attractions in Jazz: March 2010

March 1, 2010
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By J. R. Carroll March is the month for Elder Statesmen—and drummers. Bassist Buster Williams has played and recorded with, well, damn near everyone, and currently leads his own Something More Quartet; they’ll be coming to Scullers on March 2 at 8 p.m. Photo by Mandy Hall, available under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Drummer…

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Classical Music Review: Norwegian Student Orchestra

February 27, 2010
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By Caldwell Titcomb The Student Symphony Orchestra of Trondheim, Norway, concluded its U.S. tour at Massachusetts Institute of Technololgy’s (MIT’s) Kresge Auditorium on February 26. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the 70-member orchestra was under the leadership of Gavin David Lee, who has been in his post since 1992. The group’s repertory on this…

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Classical Music Sampler: March 2010

February 27, 2010
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By Caldwell Titcomb March 2: The Contemporary Music Ensemble in residence at Boston University, Alea III, under the direction of Theodore Antoniou, offers a free concert in celebration of the late eminent composer/teacher/conductor Lukas Foss (1922–2009). Works by Foss to be performed are “Echoi,” “For Toru,” “Elegy for Anne Frank,” “For Aaron,” “The Prairie,” and…

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Coming Attractions in Theater: March 2010

February 27, 2010
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Highlights on stage this month include the world premiere of a drama about evolution by a respected local playwright and an intriguing collection of plays and musicals that bring an unusual perspective to topics ranging from love and music to extinction and dehumanization. And the wait is over: a show featuring singing dinosaurs has arrived.…

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Theater Review: Ayckbourn’s Comedy of Desire

February 26, 2010
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Boredom is the root of all evil . . . The influence that it exerts is altogether magical, except that it is not the influence of attraction, but of repulsion. — Søren Kierkegaard, “Either/Or” Private Fears in Public Places by Alan Ayckbourn. Directed by David J. Miller. Set design by Miller. Staged by the Zeitgeist…

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