For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] In one of the many poignant moments of his first inauguration in 2009, Barack Obama autographed the program of Civil Rights icon and longtime Congressman John Lewis with the words, “Because of you, John.” Lewis remained grateful for the encomium for the rest of his life, but he would also be the first to … Read more
[ad_1] Paul Auster’s best novels balance intricate and absorbing stories, with deconstructions of the art of narrative in a manner that rarely detracts from the flow or fun of the narrative itself. Unlike the machinations of many metafiction authors, the games Auster plays with storytelling never seem to get in the way of the stories … Read more
[ad_1] Martin Ritt’s 1976 film The Front delivers a vivid re-creation of the 1950s Red Scare in which many of Hollywood’s most talented writers, actors, and directors found themselves blacklisted and prevented from working in the film and TV industry because of past or present Communist associations and their refusal to name names. In the … Read more
[ad_1] In King: A Life—the first major biography of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. published in decades—Jonathan Eig describes King as “a gravitational force” in the Freedom Movement. From the earliest days of his involvement, Eig writes, King proved capable of “pulling in reporters, financial donors, and young volunteers,” and transforming a social … Read more
[ad_1] From the Kenzie and Gennaro novels that established him as a master of new noir, to the haunting crime thriller Mystic River and his magnum opus of the 1919 Boston Police Strike, The Given Day, Dennis Lehane has captured Boston neighborhoods with more grit, vitality, and unerring precision than any writer in recent memory. … Read more
[ad_1] John Irving has declared that his new book, an irresistible and deeply affecting family saga titled The Last Chairlift, will be the last long novel of his long career. And it is, indeed, the longest. The Last Chairlift teems with the raucous situational humor, memorable and resonant characters, righteous rage, instructive social commentary, and … Read more
[ad_1] Much of Adam Langer’s finely wrought, raucously funny, and startlingly insightful new novel, Cyclorama, occurs within “The Annex,” an insular and endlessly drama-steeped theatrical enclave of a magnet high school just north of Chicago. True to its title, which refers to a 360-degree canvas in a theatrical rotunda, fashioned to provide a changeable visualization … Read more
[ad_1] When the United States rejoined the Bureau of International Expositions in 2017, in support of a since-failed bid to bring a World’s Fair to Minneapolis in 2023, responses ranged from disbelief to indifference. No U.S. city has hosted a major fair since the Louisiana World Exposition of 1984, which publicly declared bankruptcy at mid-run. … Read more
[ad_1] When we speak of the peak years of the Civil Rights Movement, typically we refer to the period beginning with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56—which thrusted Martin Luther King, Jr. onto the national stage. This canonical era concludes with the passage of the Voting Rights … Read more