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October 31, 2007
"Writing is easy," wrote legendary sportswriter Red Smith. "Just sit down at the typewriter and open a vein." Though most of us no longer sit at typewriters nor face blank pieces of physical paper, there's nothing more daunting than a blank screen and the notion of putting something meaningful on... [continue]
| October 29, 2007
MONDAY: Peter Behrens will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his latest book, The Law of Dreams. Maybe Behrens can analyze our reoccurring dream where we keep getting lost while driving down some featureless freeway. Wait ... His book is about a young man roaming the Irish countryside in... [continue]
October 26, 2007
The last time I had my heart broken? When Brian Lamb, the founder and CEO of C-SPAN, decided back in 2004 to put an end to Booknotes after 16 years on the air. Sunday nights found Lamb spending an hour (an hour!) with a non-fiction writer (usually a historian,... [continue]
October 24, 2007
Authors Matthew Gilmore and Andrew Brodie Smith dug through a wealth of treasures at the Library of Congress and in the D.C. public libraries to produce Historic Photos of Washington, D.C.. Gilmore and Smith will be at Candida's World of Books tonight to sign their weighty book. Though certainly... [continue]
October 22, 2007
MONDAY: We apparently didn't pay enough attention in history class, because we never knew Alice Roosevelt Longworth was such a bad girl. The daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, Alice married then Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth and had a child by Sen. William Borah of Idaho. Stacy A. Cordery... [continue]
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October 17, 2007
In England, being named poet laureate is a lot like being named to the U.S. Supreme Court: once there, you're there for life. More importantly, you're expected to be the living, breathing embodiment of a tradition, of an institution constructed entirely of words, texts, precedent. And, though you aren't expected... [continue]
"The trouble with radicals,” goes a quote widely attributed to early 20th century economist Thomas Nixon Carver, “is that they only read radical literature, and the trouble with conservatives is that they don’t read anything.” That both sides of the political spectrum have proven that to be a lie will... [continue]
October 15, 2007
MONDAY: We will never understand why some people dislike Garrison Keillor. Personally we enjoy his folksy manner and dry sense of humor, even if A Prairie Home Companion is at times a bit hokey. Keillor will be at GW's Lisner Auditorium to read from and discuss his latest book Pontoon:... [continue]
October 11, 2007
You'd think that, once the Almighty found himself on the business end of God Is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens' latest broadside, there'd be hell to pay. Instead, Hitchens' book became an international bestseller, racking up laudatory reviews and garnering an even larger audience for his witty contrarianism. Which makes one... [continue]
October 9, 2007
Not just anyone can update "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," one of English literature's oldest works -- originally written in Middle English -- into modern verse. And not just anyone can do that with an eye towards liberating it from scholars and academics to make it accessible to readers... [continue]
October 8, 2007
MONDAY: Atlantic Monthly correspondent Robert D. Kaplan will be at Politics and Prose to discuss his latest book, Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts. According to Kaplan, journalists are too quick to report on the negative aspects of the military. Commence with bickering over the Iraq war ... now. 7 p.m.... [continue]
October 1, 2007
TUESDAY: Tomorrow is a treasure trove for science and sci-fi junkies. Our reviewer raved about The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula. Hear author Eric Nuzum muse on the undead at Wonderland Ballroom, 1101 Kenyon St. NW, which will offer drink specials, while Olsson's will have... [continue]