Books

Book Review: “A History of Philosophy” — An Excellent Tour for the Curious

December 7, 2019
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A.C. Grayling’s history is an excellent tour for the curious and a refresher for everyone who had Philosophy 101 and wants to remember why it was so moving at the time.

Book Review: “Life Isn’t Everything: Mike Nichols, as remembered by 150 of his Closest Friends” — A Frothy, Gossip-filled Bauble

December 4, 2019
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If you are a fan of Mike Nichols’ large and elegant body of work, you’ll regret as I did that the authors did not take the time to create the kind of book he deserved.

Book Feature: Terry Tempest Williams on the Agonies of “Erosion”

November 29, 2019
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Terry Tempest Williams thinks that we must seize opportunities to save an increasingly endangered world — we don’t have a choice to feel powerless against the forces that seek to exploit and destroy the beauty of life on this planet.

Book Review: “Galway Girl” — Anarchic Fury

November 24, 2019
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Jack Taylor has always been a version of the reluctant detective, but now he seems more impotent than ever — distracted, beat down, and very tired.

Poetry Review: Paul Muldoon’s “Frolic and Detour” — Making the Intricate and Difficult Seem Easy

November 22, 2019
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Frolic and Detour contains a few poems that I judge to be instant classics of English-language poetry.

Book Review: “Blowout” — A Devastating Vision of What is at Stake

November 22, 2019
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This is a brilliant book that comes at a propitious time in our country’s history.

Book Review: “Irving Berlin: New York Genius” — A Significant Life

November 22, 2019
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Biographer James Kaplan was aided by the assistance of Irving Berlin’s two elder daughters, and that makes this biography particularly valuable.

Poetry Review: “If Men, Then” — Verse on Present Day Firing Lines

November 17, 2019
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Because Eliza Griswold’s poems often take place in war zones, she’s always provocative — even when she is tendentious.

Author Interview: “The Cult of Trump” — Deprogramming the GOP

November 15, 2019
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When someone recommended to Steven Hassan he write a volume called The Cult of Trump, “it just seemed like the most important book I could write, frankly.”

Book Review: Biographies of Lou Reed and Warren Zevon — Satisfying Lives of Singular Talents

November 15, 2019
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Two recent biographies take very different approaches as they revel in the wild lives and examine the distinctive songs of two of rock music’s most enigmatic figures: Lou Reed and Warren Zevon.

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