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'Death Comes to Pemberley'

Using Austen's characters for nefarious purposes

Phyllis Dorothy James died recently at the age of 94. While her most recent book was a murder mystery based on Pride and Prejudice, she is better served if you remember her for all the work that went before.

Naomi Orwin

Jan 06, 2015 Articles 5 minute read

'The Sweetness of Life' by Paulus Hochgatterer

The dread that arises from winter darkness

It’s not a holiday thought, but let’s consider briefly the matter of crushing heads.

Rick Soisson

Dec 21, 2014 Articles 3 minute read

Wilson's Grimm, ©1999 Cottage Classics and S. Clay Wilson

S. Clay Wilson's ABC

A left turn in Lawrence

The work of underground artist S. Clay Wilson has been compared to Breughel’s and has hung in museums beside Bosch. An alphabet series connected with his illustrations of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm has just been published.

Bob Levin

Dec 21, 2014 Articles 4 minute read

John Lahr's biography of Tennessee Williams

Rethinking the life and work of Tennessee Williams

After enduring youthful austerity, Tennessee Williams sought relief from his suffering through chaotic sexual liaisons and cravings for admiration, alcohol, and drugs. Yet, at his best, he was able to use his inner conflicts to create dramatic works that transformed the American theater and cinema. The characters in his plays, as John Lahr takes pains to show, were mirrors of what was going on inside him.

Victor L. Schermer

Dec 02, 2014 Articles 6 minute read

Peggy Lee and Paul Whiteman on his radio show in 1947.

'Is That All There Is? The Strange Life of Peggy Lee' by James Gavin

A showbiz legend and a piece of work

Painstakingly researched and beautifully written, Is That All There Is? is at times touching, sad, disturbing, and hilarious. Just like Peggy Lee.

Bruce Klauber

Nov 11, 2014 Articles 3 minute read

B'rith Sholom children en route to America, 1939: The 'ordinary' Krauses (center) seized their moment.

Two in-laws confront Hitler

Ordinary people, extraordinary responses (and vice versa)

When your moment of truth comes, how will you respond? Two books published this year portray diametrically opposite responses to the greatest crisis of the 20th century.

Dan Rottenberg

Nov 11, 2014 Articles 6 minute read

Literary wild man James Ellroy (photo by Mark Coggins via Creative Commons/Flickr)

James Ellroy's 'Perfidia'

James Ellroy in Nighttown

Perfidia is a twisted labyrinth of plot and counterplot, casual racism, murder most bloody and foul, and hypnotic prose, with real-life big names passing through or nudging the story along.

Bob Ingram

Nov 01, 2014 Articles 4 minute read

Lev Grossman's 'Magician's Land'

Finding the magic in adult life

Grossman is successful in providing a contemporary alternative to the fantasy paradigm, engaging the reader’s material reality with his multiple layers of fantasy more effectively than the single-layer fantasy novels of Rowling, Lewis, or Tolkien before him.

Nicholas Silcox

Oct 19, 2014 Articles 4 minute read

Laurence Bergreen's 'Columbus: The Four Voyages'

A critical look at a mythic figure

Christopher Columbus isn’t revered as he once was. Laurence Bergreen presents a critical assessment of a man who is fascinating despite his great flaws.