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The Intelligent Universe

Local science guy takes on Life, the Universe and, well, Everything.

Books Science is changing. Better yet, science is change. If any single trend dominates the discipline, it might well be that our understanding of the world around us is in a constant state of flux. As we s ... More

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 Claire Evans

The Secret of Lost Things

A lost manuscript reveals a fantastical world of books.

Books For any Portlander accustomed to the endless rows of used-book excellence that is Powell's City of Books, the Strand Bookstore—our New York City rival—will not impress. Though comparable i ... More

Wednesday, March 28, 2007 Lisa Hoashi

His Tongue is His Choir

Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky is a real kick in the pants.

Books Robert Pinsky is the former Poet Laureate of the United States (1997-2000). He has translated Dante, written a Biblical biography of King David and created the Favorite Poem Project, which collects vi ... More

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 AARON MESH

Christine Falls

A Booker Prize winner writes a smart, if predictable, crime novel.

Books Benjamin Black is the pseudonym of Man Booker Prize-winning author John Banville. The Booker is a bit of a toff in the world of literary awards, limited to citizens of the British Commonwealth or the ... More

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 MATT BUCKINGHAM

World Leader Pretend

His novel might take place in a made-up world, but Portland's James Bernard Frost is the real deal.

Books World Leader Pretend (St. Martin's Griffin, 336 pages, $13.95) is as addictive as the Realm, the MMORPG (massive multi-player online role-playing game) that enthralls the novel's characters. But this ... More

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 Paige Richmond

Poor People

Ultimate experientialist William T. Vollmann gets into character, again.

Books Before we discuss humanitarian vagabond and literary enfant terrible William T. Vollmann, let's try something. Which, if any, of the following outlandish statements is true of Vollmann's career as a n ... More

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 Claire Evans

A Grey Moon over China

Post-apocalyptic energy crises and robots—what quality SF is made of.

Books A stroll into the science-fiction section of any bookstore often reveals an overwhelming onslaught of visual stimuli: shelves drooping with heavily thumbed paperbacks; titillating, surreal dust-jacket ... More

Wednesday, March 7, 2007 Claire Evans

Small Town Punk

John Sheppard remembers a Lost Generation sprinkled among the Lacoste generation.

Books 1980 was a rotten year to be a teenager. On the plus side, there was no AIDS and no MTV, but since we didn't know about them, it was hard to appreciate their absence. On the minus side was, well, almo ... More

Wednesday, March 7, 2007 Kevin Allman

New and Used

Revealing the secret lives of books and records.

Books The first image on the first page of New and Used (Stiedl, 182 pages, $45), photographer Marc Joseph's lovely and very necessary collection of photos (with short stories and poetry from numerous contr ... More

Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Michael Byrne

Lost City Radio

Daniel Alarcón channels South America, but won't pinpoint it on a map.

Books With Lost City Radio (HarperCollins, 257 pages, $24.95), Daniel Alarcón has written an ambitious, well-crafted first novel that resonates with many situations throughout South America today. Th ... More

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 Lisa Hoashi