Carl Reiner: Remembering His Droodles Interview
Comedy legend Carl Reiner has died at age 98. For once, the term “legend of comedy” clearly applies: Nine-time Emmy Award winner, recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American …..
Posts tagged: books
Honor Blackman Had Her Own Self-Defense Book
Honor Blackman — better known as Pussy Galore from the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger — has died at the robust age of 94. It’s a surprise to learn that she …..
Joni Mitchell is a Terrific Artist, Too
How much talent can one woman have? Joni Mitchell made her name with catchy singles like “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970) and confessional albums like Blue (1971). But while she was …..
Look at This Spot-On Portrait of Kurt Vonnegut
Just because we like it, we’re re-upping this portrait of author Kurt Vonnegut by our own Mr. Paul Hehn. This sketch was originally done for a post about Kurt Vonnegut’s marital contract …..
Great Fun for Book Lovers
Do you like looking at book collections? At creative gifs of old photos and miniature oddities?
P.L. Travers Biography — New!
She wrote Mary Poppins and hated the movie version. Now she’s the central character in a big new Disney movie starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.
Grumpy Cat is Going Hollywood
The popular feline meme is soon to be a star of books and (maybe) major motion pictures.
Sheryl Sandberg Biography: New!
The powerful Silicon Valley businesswoman is in the news with her new book, Lean In.
Gore Vidal, Ladies’ Man
There’s a good feature in Vanity Fair about writer and high society gossipmonger Gore Vidal.
Edward Gorey Biography: New!
We have a new biography of writer and illustrator Edward Gorey, and a couple of videos that show his work.
Henry Fielding Biography: New!
Now that he’s been dead 258 years, we thought it would be safe to have a biography of 18th century novelist Henry Fielding!
Robert Hooke on the Web
Science writer Carl Zimmer leads the way to seeing Robert Hooke’s 17th century classic Micrographia online.
Ike’s Bluff: How a Canny President Kept the Cold War Cold
Wily Dwight Eisenhower used a combination of brains and befuddlement to keep nukes out of action in the 1950s.
President Harry Truman Was ‘Kind of a Sissy’
He grew up to finish a world war and drop the A-bomb, but he wasn’t “big-fisted” as a boy.
Sherlock Holmes and His Dippy Hat
A new exhibition of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia got me thinking about that goofy hat of his.
Philip K. Dick Books You’ve Never Heard Of: A Photo Gallery
A photo gallery of books by Philip K. Dick, most of which most people aren’t familiar with. In other words, books that aren’t Blade Runner.
E.L. James is Earning a Cool Million Bucks a Week
The author of 50 Shades of Grey is making money handcuffs over fist.
How is James Brown Like Howard Hughes?
How a self-made man can make himself crazy.
Common Bonds: Publish and Perish
Six authors who made a bundle — after they were buried.
Neil Gaiman Interviews Stephen King
Comic book writer Neil Gaiman has a long conversation with tons-of-books writer Stephen King.
J.K. Rowling’s New Novel Announced
The Little, Brown Book Group has announced the publication date of the next J.K. Rowling novel.
Michael Cunningham Biography: New!
Remember The Hours? This is the guy who wrote it. Our new biography of Michael Cunningham is now live.
Harper Lee and ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’
American Masters from PBS presents ‘Harper Lee: Hey, Boo’ on April 2nd.
A Tower of Lincoln Books
Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. is where Abe Lincoln got shot in the head. Their Center for Education and Leadership is now open to the public and features a tower made of books about Lincoln.
How Much Do You Like Ray Bradbury?
Do you like Ray Bradbury enough to read this weird piece that somehow screws Ray Bradbury’s work into a political screed? I do.
Happy Birthday, Anne Rice!
Author Anne Rice is 70 years old today. She’s the one who gave us the vampire Lestat, introduced in her 1976 novel Interview with a Vampire. If you don’t know that book, uh… it’s like Twilight for grown-ups. Grown-ups who like to read pages and pages of flowery prose.
Peter Gent, Author of ‘North Dallas Forty,’ Has Died
His first novel, North Dallas Forty, showed the pain, glory, mayhem and racism of the NFL. And, weirdly, made the Dallas Cowboys more popular than ever.
Birthday Twins: Bruce Springsteen and ‘Left Behind’ Author Jerry B. Jenkins
They were born on the same day in 1949, then both got things started in 1973. And both are looking pretty good for 62.
Viola Davis Said ‘Ugh’ When She Picked Up ‘The Help’
What did you think initially about The Help? Did you first hear about the book? I heard about the book and I said, ‘Oh my god, I’ve got to …..
Connie Willis Wins Her Seventh Nebula Award
Science fiction author Connie Willis has won her seventh Nebula award, this one for Blackout/All Clear, her two-volumes-makes-a-book time travel novel.
Read the news account here. Find out more about the Nebula award by reading the rules provided by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
The Secret Artworks of Beryl Bainbridge
It is not a puzzle why they have been overlooked until now; Bainbridge dismissed them herself. If anyone admired a painting, “she’d pull a face and say, ‘Oh, darling, don’t be silly'”.
“She Had Time to Read Some Twice”
“She had books she was reading. She had time to read some twice.”A son describes how Rita Chretien spent her seven weeks stranded in the Nevada desert. She was found, near starvation, on Friday. Her husband is still missing.
Jesse James Has a Book, Too!
Speaking of Dick Van Dyke’s new book, here’s another lovable, family-friendly guy with a memoir. Jesse James’s book is called American Outlaw.
Dick Van Dyke: Once a Ham, Always a Ham
And we mean that in the friendliest possible way. Dick Van Dyke is on the road promoting his new autobiography: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business. He’s …..
Add Another Enid Blyton Novel to the Pile
It looks as if there is such a thing as an unpublished novel by Enid Blyton.
You wouldn’t think so, given that Blyton supposedly published nearly 800 books. Enid Blyton wrote the successful series of books about The Famous Five, as well as the Noddy series of books for younger children. She also wrote several other series, articles, poems, short stories and picture books. Blyton became one of Britain’s best-loved authors. She died in 1968.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Biography
Who2 now has a profile of the Japanese-Engish novelist Kazuo Ishiguro.
He’s the guy who wrote The Remains of the Day, one of the most heart-breaking books I’ve ever read. It’s good. I’ve never seen the movie all the way through, however, because I’m not one for those kinds of movies, the ones about stuffy English manners and unrequited love.
I can thoroughly enjoy books like that, but when it comes to movies, I have an automatic Homer Simpson reaction: BOR-RING!!
Frank Sinatra and ‘La Bande de Rats’
Book review: Une Histoire AméricaineBy Georges Ayache256 pages for 20 euros [[wysiwyg_imageupload:1737:]]