Sebastian Barry On Canaan’s Side

Eighty-nine years of trans-Atlantic tragedy.

Books Irish writer Sebastian Barry—twice shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, called by Salon “the best prose writer in the English language”—is one of the most ambitious writers today. His new b   More

 

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 MATTHEW KORFHAGE

Neal Stephenson Reamde

Neal Stephenson writes another big black book.

Books Neal Stephenson’s new novel is a departure from the epic science-fiction sagas with which he transformed the genre in the 1990s and 2000s. Like some of his previous books, Reamde (William Morrow,   More

 

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 MATT BUCKINGHAM

Shannon Wheeler Too Much Coffee Man Omnibus

A caffeinated portrait of the cartoonist as a young man.

Books Like other iconic black-and-white comics characters with cult followings—Cerebus, Concrete, Zippy the Pin-head—Too Much Coffee Man is instantly identifiable but incredibly hard to define. In fac   More

 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 CASEY JARMAN

Audrey Braun A Small Fortune

The brainy bodice-ripper that swept the Pacific Northwest off its feet.

Books Never underestimate the number of middle-aged women in the Pacific Northwest who fantasize about going to foreign countries and having sex with Javier Bardem.  Freshman author Audrey Braun co   More

 

Wednesday, September 7, 2011 MATTHEW SINGER

The Write Stuff

Field Notes makes paper fashionable again. Just don’t tell the designer.

Books Most new products are designed to fill a need, create a new market or just make something better. Aaron Draplin’s product is none of these things. It’s three staples, paper and cardboard with a    More

 

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 RUTH BROWN

Michael Dickman Flies

Tell all the truth but tell it slant.

Books Let’s get the obligatory journalism out of the way quickly: Michael Dickman’s biography is interesting. He and his twin brother, Matthew, are both terribly renowned young poets (if poets are ev   More

 

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 MATTHEW KORFHAGE

I Speak for Myself Maria Ebrahimji & Zahra Suratwala

Their lips are moving, but nothin’ is coming out.

Books I can just see it now: There she is with her braces and acne, nervously scanning the lunchroom for a seat at the table—their table. Then it happens: the eye-rolling, the scoffing and the laughter. "
   More

 

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 SHAE HEALEY

Anders Nilsen Big Questions

The bird gods must be crazy.

Books It’s hard to explain Anders Nilsen’s Big Questions (Drawn and Quarterly, $69.95) without confusing people, because Big Questions leaves the reader with so many Little Questions, all of which soun   More

 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 CASEY JARMAN

Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino Chasing Aphrodite

Books In 1984, the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles sold all its stock in Getty Oil and diversified its investment portfolio, almost tripling its original endowment to $2 billion. This made the J. Paul    More

 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 MATT BUCKINGHAM

Robert C. Donnelly Dark Rose

A soft-boiled history of vice rackets and crooked cops in the City of Bridges.

Books Robert C. Donnelly’s history of organized crime and political corruption in Portland in the 1950s could have been as riveting as a James Ellroy   More

 

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 MATT BUCKINGHAM