William P. Barr’s Memoir Is Part Lawyerly Defense, Part Culture-War Diatribe

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In “One Damn Thing After Another,” the former attorney general suggests that Republicans move past Donald Trump and his “madcap rhetoric,” but saves his harshest words for the former president’s critics.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/books/review-william-barr-memoir-one-damn-thing-after-another.html

When Her Husband Said He Wanted to Die, Amy Bloom Listened

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In her memoir, “In Love,” the veteran novelist writes about her marriage, her husband’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and his decision to end his life.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/books/in-love-amy-bloom.html

The Invention of the Index

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Dennis Duncan discusses “Index, a History of the,” and Brendan Slocumb talks about “The Violin Conspiracy.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/25/books/review/the-invention-of-the-index.html

Arctic Explorers, New Jersey Literature and Other Letters to the Editor

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Readers respond to recent issues of the Sunday Book Review.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/25/books/review/arctic-explorers-new-jersey-literature-and-other-letters-to-the-editor.html

Leonard Kessler, Colorful Children’s Book Author, Dies at 101

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He crafted tales of everyday life for early readers. His “Mr. Pine’s Purple House,” first published in 1965, later inspired a new publishing company — and Jeff Bezos.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/books/leonard-kessler-dead.html

8 New Books We Recommend This Week

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Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/books/review/8-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

Marilyn Stafford's Wild and Wid-Ranging Photography Career

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Marilyn Stafford, who photographed the 20th century, finally gets recognition in the 21st.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/style/marilyn-stafford-exhibition-england.html

Twin Brothers on a Quest to Find the Next Dalai Lama

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Quan Barry’s dazzling new novel, “When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East,” is centered on themes of faith, history, language and yearning.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/books/review-quan-barry-when-im-gone-look-for-me-in-east.html

Marilyn Stafford's Wild and Wid-Ranging Photography Career

https://ift.tt/dpFKZGa

Marilyn Stafford, who photographed the 20th century, finally gets recognition in the 21st.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/style/marilyn-stafford-photographer-retrospective.html

Roddy Doyle’s Stories of Life in Lockdown

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“Life Without Children,” Doyle’s latest collection, reflects on a period of isolation and confinement.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/books/review/roddy-doyle-life-without-chilidren.html

Peering Into the Brutal, Beautiful World of Tide Pools

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In “Life Between the Tides,” Adam Nicolson studies the creatures that exist where the ocean meets the land.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/books/review/life-between-the-tides-adam-nicolson.html

How Much Power Does the Federal Reserve Have?

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Christopher Leonard’s “The Lords of Easy Money” examines the role of the Federal Reserve in fostering inequality in America.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/books/review/the-lords-of-easy-money-federal-reserve-christopher-leonard.html

God, Art and Death in the Same (Very Long) Sentence

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Jon Fosse’s “Septology” is an extraordinary series of novels tracking an aging artist’s reckoning with the divine.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/books/review/jon-fosse-septology.html

How a Death-Row Inmate’s Embrace of Conservatism Led to His Release

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In “Scoundrel,” Sarah Weinman examines the right-wing support network that helped free Edgar Smith from prison until he struck again.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/books/review/scoundrel-sarah-weinman.html

In Margaret Atwood’s Essays and Speeches, Some Hazards of the Trade

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“Burning Questions” collects sundry pieces the author has written (and sometimes spoken) since 2004.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/books/review-margaret-atwood-burning-questions-essays.html

‘Watergate: A New History,’ by Garrett M. Graff: An Excerpt

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An excerpt from “Watergate: A New History,” by Garrett M. Graff

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/21/books/review/watergate-a-new-history-by-garrett-m-graff-an-excerpt.html

The Problem With the Pandemic Plot

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Literary novelists are struggling with whether, and how, to incorporate Covid into their fiction.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/books/pandemic-fiction.html

Marc Brown on the End of ‘Arthur’ and His Favorite Fan Theories

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With the beloved PBS children’s show ending after 25 seasons, its 75-year-old creator answered some off-the-wall questions about his 8-year-old aardvark.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/arts/television/marc-brown-arthur-ending.html

Ambitions and Emotions Run Hot in ‘The Founders,’ a History of PayPal

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Jimmy Soni’s book tells the story of how an ensemble of entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, helped the online payment system prevail.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/books/review-founders-paypal-jimmy-soni.html

Literary LPs

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Classic albums reimagined as classic books.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/books/review/literary-lps.html

Valerie Boyd, Biographer of Zora Neale Hurston, Is Dead at 58

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In addition to writing an acclaimed biography, she encouraged a generation of young writers, predominantly women of color, to pursue careers in nonfiction.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/books/valerie-boyd-dead.html

Newly Published, From Cryptocurrency to the Kennedys

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A selection of books published this week.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/books/review/new-this-week.html

‘Animal Farm,’ Bambi and Other Letters to the Editor

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Readers respond to recent issues of the Sunday Book Review.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/books/review/animal-farm-bambi-and-other-letters-to-the-editor.html

A Chance to Own a Rare Batman Comic Book (or a Fraction of It)

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Shares of a copy of Batman No. 1 will be sold by an online collectibles company in mid-March.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/business/media/batman-comic-for-sale.html

Sarah Polley Is OK With Oversharing

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In her new essay collection, “Run Towards the Danger,” the actress and filmmaker examines intensely personal stories she’s still sorting out for herself.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/17/books/sarah-polley-run-towards-the-danger.html

The Best-Seller List Is a Smorgasbord

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This week’s latest top sellers include unexpected treats and old favorites.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/17/books/review/origin-jennifer-raff.html

A Man in a Cafe Asked Julie Otsuka What She Was Reading. They Dated for Two Years.

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“An everyday pickup line, but it worked,” says the novelist, whose new book is “The Swimmers.” “I haven’t been in touch with him since, but I return to ‘The Lover’ every now and again, and never fail to fall under its spell.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/17/books/review/julie-otsuka-by-the-book-interview.html

Johann Hari on How to Reclaim Your Focus

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In his new book, Johann Hari investigates how our brains have been broken by technology — and what we can do to fight back.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/well/mind/focus-johann-hari.html

Review: In ‘Black No More,’ Race Is Skin Deep, but Racism Isn’t

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A new musical imagines the invention of a decolorizing process. Will it save Black Americans from hatred or destroy them?

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/theater/black-no-more-review.html

P.J. O’Rourke, Outspoken Political Satirist, Dies at 74

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In magazine and newspaper articles and best sellers, he was a voice from the right skewering whatever in government or culture he thought needed it.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/books/pj-orourke-dead.html

A Journalist Went Undercover as a Refugee. It Became an Act of Love.

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To better understand the plight of Afghan refugees, the reporter Matthieu Aikins undertook a journey with one. “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water” tells the story.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/books/review/the-naked-dont-fear-the-water-matthieu-aikins.html

‘Heiresses’ Adds Up the Melancholy and Danger of Inherited Wealth

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Ranging from the 17th century to the 21st, Laura Thompson’s book examines the lives of ostensibly fortunate daughters.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/books/review-heiresses-laura-thompson.html

A Rousing Novel Follows a Brigade of Black Soldiers in the Civil War

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In “Black Cloud Rising,” David Wright Faladé tells a classic war story based on a unit of soldiers, including many newly released slaves, that helped to hunt down rebel guerrillas in 1863.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/books/review-black-cloud-rising-david-wright-falade.html

Will We Ever Understand Addiction?

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Carl Erik Fisher’s book, “The Urge,” partly a memoir of his own alcoholism, provides an overview of the many approaches that have been used to treat addictions.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/books/review/the-urge-carl-erik-fisher.html

Sheila Heti Rewrites the Creation of the Universe

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“Pure Colour” is a cosmological origin story, told through the eyes of a dissociative and grieving aesthete.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/books/review/pure-colour-sheila-heti.html

Radicals Used to Make Change. Then Social Media Happened.

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Gal Beckerman’s “The Quiet Before” examines the births of social movements from the 17th century to the present day.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/12/books/review/the-quiet-before-gal-beckerman.html

Reality Stars Are Just Like Us

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In “True Story,” the sociologist Danielle J. Lindemann parses the enduring appeal and effect of the TV genre.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/12/books/review/true-story-danielle-j-lindemann.html

Lars Eighner, Who Wrote Eloquently of Being Homeless, Dies at 73

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His 1993 memoir, “Travels With Lizbeth,” is considered a classic of the genre and brought him fame, but not fortune.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/lars-eighner-dead.html

A Spiritual, Dangerous Quest in the Himalayas

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Harley Rustad talks about “Lost in the Valley of Death,” and Jessamine Chan discusses “The School for Good Mothers.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/review/podcast-harley-rustad-lost-valley-death-jessamine-chan-school-for-good-mothers.html

Vintage Valentine’s Day Wishes

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In 1904, the Book Review examined some of the season’s cards and trinkets — and found much to like.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/review/vintage-valentines.html

Julie Otsuka Dives Into the Underground World of the Community Pool

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In her third novel, “The Swimmers,” a narrating chorus gives way to an aging woman’s memories.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/review/julie-otsuka-the-swimmers.html

New in Paperback: ‘The Vanishing Half’ and ‘Tangled Up in Blue’

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Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/review/new-paperbacks.html

In-Betweens: 2 Middle Grade Novels About the Costs and Benefits of Being 11

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The National Book Award finalists Leslie Connor and Sara Zarr explore that frustrating time between childhood and adolescence.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/books/review/anybody-here-seen-frenchie-leslie-connor-a-song-called-home-sara-zarr.html

Harper Lee Estate Told to Pay $2.5 Million in Dispute Over ‘Mockingbird’ Plays

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The estate is contesting an arbitrator’s ruling that it had been too aggressive in limiting productions of a 1970 adaptation of the novel as Aaron Sorkin’s new staged version came to Broadway.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/theater/harper-lee-to-kill-a-mockingbird.html

9 New Books We Recommend This Week

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Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/books/review/9-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

‘It Was a Crusade’: Karen Brooks Hopkins Revisits Her BAM Tenure

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In a new memoir, the former president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music reflects on some of the organization’s most memorable stagings and artists.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/theater/bam-karen-brooks-hopkins.html

In ‘Anonymous Sex,’ No Strings — and No Bylines

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An anthology of erotic short fiction keeps the award-winning writers a dirty secret.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/books/review/anonymous-sex-book.html

Did the First Americans Arrive via Land Bridge? This Geneticist Says No.

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In “Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas,” Jennifer Raff combines archaeology, genetics, linguistics and more to argue against a longstanding theory.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/review/A-Genetic-History-of-the-Americas-By-Jennifer-Raff.html

Decoding Dickens’s Secret Notes to Himself, One Symbol at a Time

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A letter Charles Dickens wrote in his mystifying style of shorthand had gone unread for over a century. Computer programmers helped scholars decode it.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/charles-dickens-secret-notes.html

‘Love in the Time of Contagion’ Observes Mutations in Domestic Life

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Laura Kipnis’s new book is about how relationships, including her own, have changed during the pandemic.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/review-laura-kipnis-love-in-time-of-contagion.html

Decoding Dickens’s Secret Notes to Himself, One Symbol at a Time

https://ift.tt/HVwpivm

A letter Charles Dickens wrote in his mystifying style of shorthand had gone unread for over a century. Computer programmers helped scholars decode it.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/books/charles-dickens-shorthand.html

Book Review: 'Pure Colour,' by Sheila Heti

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In Sheila Heti’s new novel, a young woman considers the state of civilization and briefly joins her dead father on another plane of existence.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/books/review-pure-colour-sheila-heti.html

A Gamer Learns to Weaponize Sounds in This Genre-Bender

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Our latest science-fiction and fantasy column includes “Battle of the Linguist Mages,” “In the Serpent’s Wake” and “The Violence.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/books/review/scotto-moore-rachel-hartman-delilah-dawson.html

How Yiddish Scholars Are Rescuing Women’s Novels From Obscurity

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Works written decades ago, often by female Jewish immigrants, were dismissed as insignificant or unmarketable. But in the past several years, translators devoted to the literature are making it available to a wider readership.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/books/yiddish-women-novels-fiction.html

‘Very Cold People’ Makes Something Beautiful Out of a Painful Childhood

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The memoirist Sarah Manguso’s first novel is about a young girl’s life in a small, snowy New England town.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/books/review-sarah-manguso-very-cold-people.html

What’s for Dinner? Probably Not London Porker.

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In “Eating to Extinction,” Dan Saladino explores what the loss of local, nutrient-rich agriculture means for the planet.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/books/review/eating-to-extinction-dan-saladino.html

Todd Gitlin, a Voice and Critic of the New Left, Dies at 79

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He earned his stripes in the antiwar movement of the 1960s. In his later years, he was often critical of his erstwhile kindred spirits.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/us/todd-gitlin-dead.html

Esper Memoir of Trump Tenure to Move Ahead After Legal Battle Ends

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The former defense secretary dropped a lawsuit against the Defense Department after it reversed decisions on what parts of his memoir were to be redacted, his lawyer said.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/us/mark-esper-pentagon-memoir.html

Ruta Sepetys Talks About ‘I Must Betray You’

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Sepetys discusses her latest Y.A. historical novel, and Jami Attenberg talks about “I Came All This Way to Meet You.”

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/books/review/podcast-ruta-sepetys-i-must-betray-you-jami-attenberg-i-came-all-this-way-to-meet-you.html

Could ‘White Noise’ Be Even More Ominous? Yes.

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Reading Don DeLillo’s masterpiece while sitting in Los Angeles traffic adds an extra level of frisson.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/books/could-white-noise-be-even-more-ominous-yes.html

Jason Epstein, Editor and Publishing Innovator, Is Dead at 93

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His literary and marketing instincts brought quality paperbacks to American readers and led to the creation of The New York Review of Books.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/books/jason-epstein-dead.html

10 New Books We Recommend This Week

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Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/books/review/10-new-books-we-recommend-this-week.html

This Jack Reacher Is Going to Be Big

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Fans of the Reacher books were underwhelmed when Tom Cruise was picked to play the hulking hero in two movies. A new series, and Alan Ritchson, may remedy that.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/arts/television/jack-reacher-amazon.html

Why Can’t We Pay Attention Anymore?

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Two new books, Johann Hari’s “Stolen Focus” and Jacob Ward’s “The Loop,” examine the ways technology affects our brains.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/books/review/stolen-focus-johann-hari-the-loop-jacob-ward.html

He Suffered Under Romania’s Dictatorship. Then He Was Forced to Spy for It.

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Ruta Sepetys’s latest historical Y.A. novel, “I Must Betray You,” follows the life of a teenager who is blackmailed to become an informer for a repressive Communist regime.

via NYT > Books https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/books/i-must-betray-you-ruta-sepetys-ya.html