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What fools these mortals be
Column by Robert WeibezahlMight the gods of antiquity live among us still? John Banville, who won the Man Booker Prize for his last novel, The Sea, considers that possibility in his entrancing new book, The Infinities. In a narrative of almost discomfiting lushness and awe-inspiring powers of observation, Banville constructs a glimmering…
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A small town touched by magic
Review by Karen Ann CullottaIn The Girl Who Chased the Moon, an elderly giant visits his clothes dryer for messages from beyond, moody wallpaper switches patterns and the town’s most privileged family declines to leave their house after dark. Welcome to Mullaby, North Carolina, a magical, mythical town where the ever-present scent of hickory-smoked barbecue hangs in the air, and where novelist Sarah… -
Evangelicals’ true confessions
Review by Sarah E. WhiteEvangelical Christians are a growing force in America, to the frustration—and sometimes fear—of nonbelievers like Gina Welch. Raised a secular Jew by a single mom in Berkeley, California, Welch moved to Virginia in 2002 to complete her master’s degree and became fascinated by the hardcore Christians that surrounded her. To learn more about these people, what drives them and why… -
Planning a vacation?
Feature by Deanna LarsonTravel guides have come a long way from Baedeker. Packed with GPS information, interactive features and online updates, the new breed of guidebook is more essential than ever, whether for a quick getaway or the trip of a lifetime.
Picture perfect
Helping travelers get the most out of every dollar—and turning every traveler into a “temporary local”—is… -
A son’s quest for the truth
Review by Dean SchneiderLiving in upstate New York with a name like Mohammed Sami Sabiri, Sami has always felt like an outsider—the school nerd, a member of his school’s “leper colony” and the subject of constant taunting. His father fled Iran as a young man because of the secret police and has worked hard to fit into his community, where the Sabiris have become a respected family: original members of the…
Featured ReviewA waking nightmare in the jungleDuring the years they were held hostage by leftist guerrillas in the Colombian jungle, American military contractors Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell would talk about selling the rights to their story to moviemaker Oliver Stone if they ever got out alive. But the chronicle of their captivity has more the feel of a John Huston movie, with its mix of tragedy, intrigue, black comedy and, ultimately, heroism.
The three men were employees of a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, assigned to flights over the jungle to spot cocaine laboratories. Their plane crashed in early 2003, and they were quickly captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s (FARC) guerrilla army. In Law of the Jungle, longtime Latin America newspaper correspondent…
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View the results from the 2010 BOOKPAGE READER SURVEY
Spring readingOne isn’t always the loneliest numberA prime number is a number divisible only by one and by itself. As numbers grow larger, the frequency of primes decreases, and these mathematical islands become more and more distant from each other. “Among prime numbers, there are some that are even more special,” writes Paolo Giordano in The Solitude of Prime Numbers. “Mathematicians call them twin primes:…
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Web exclusives!The pioneer spirit, at any costWeb exclusiveImagine what it would feel like to travel with a wagon train of pioneers, joining the great march to America’s western frontier in 1846. Why would you take such a risk, and how would you cope if the worst happened? Author Gabrielle Burton explores these questions and others in her richly imagined, harrowing tale of death—and survival. Read More… |
Tops for teensBleak days on Rikers IslandMartin Stokes is a 17-year-old black high school student. Arrested on his own front stoop for “steering” an undercover cop to a drug dealer, he’s spent five months in jail at Rikers Island when this story begins. By turns bleak and funny, Rikers High follows Martin’s struggles with his overworked legal-aid attorney, the bullying of his fellow… Read More… |
For the homeLifestyles: Start small, reap bigMarch is an ideal time to dream about the garden. In my area, we’ve been pummeled by more snow and ice and bitter rain than we’ve seen in many a year, so cultivating a little plot of ground sounds delectable, in every sense of the word. |
