Most Popular
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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Spain in Our Hearts’ tells the American story of the Spanish civil war
“Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939” By Adam Hochschild Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (464 pages, $30) The Spanish civil war, which ran from 1936 to 1939, is most notable to historians for how it foreshadowed the horrors of World War II. Yet few distant conflicts are so burned into our culture and consciousness. Ernest Hemingway, who covered the war, made it the setting of “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “the best goddamn book” he ever wrote. George Orwell, who fought in i
April 6, 2016
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What’s on the ‘manuscript wishlist’ of literary agents?
The other day, a friend sent me a link to something called “manuscript wishlist” -- a Twitter thread (#MSWL) from literary agents who are looking for that next best-selling blockbuster manuscript by an unknown writer. (Also online at mswishlist.com) It’s fascinating to troll the posts and see what they’re hoping to find. (And poets, I’m sorry, but you can all stop reading right now. They’re not looking for poetry.) One agent wrote: “I’d really love a hot contemporary romance about women (and men
April 6, 2016
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American children’s author wins Astrid Lindgren prize
STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- American children’s author Meg Rosoff on Tuesday won the 2016 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for young people’s literature, the organization announced. “Meg Rosoff’s young adult novels speak to the emotions as well as the intellect. In sparkling prose, she writes about the search for meaning and identity in a peculiar and bizarre world,” the jury said in its statement. Rosoff was born in Boston in 1956, attended Harvard University and later published her first book “How I Liv
April 6, 2016
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Tina Fey talks ‘Bossypants’ and other books, zings Talese
NEW YORK (AP) -- Even for someone as loved as Tina Fey, a reported $6 million advance seemed like a lot of money for a book of essays. But five years after its publication, “Bossypants” has sold 3.75 million copies, according to Little, Brown and Co. And it confirmed a market for smart, funny nonfiction such as Amy Poehler’s “Yes Please” and Mindy Kaling’s “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” In an email interview Tuesday with the Associated Press, Fey discussed “Bossypants” and some books she
April 6, 2016
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Intimate memoir of life in a southern coal town
“Dimestore: A Writer’s Life” By Lee Smith Algonquin Books (202 pages, $24.95) Lee Smith’s parents raised her to leave the Appalachian town of Grundy, Virginia, where they “were closed in entirely, cut off from the outside world by our ring of mountains.” They taught her proper grammar, sent her to school with delicate lunches instead of the cornbread and buttermilk she wanted, packed her off every summer to Birmingham, Alabama, for “lady lessons.” None of this really worked. Smith adored her ho
April 6, 2016
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Dive into ordinary but well-crafted lives in ‘High Dive’
“High Dive” By Jonathan Lee Knopf (336 pages, $25.95) Jonathan Lee’s new novel “High Dive” reimagines the weeks leading up to the Grand Hotel bombing on Oct. 12, 1984. Splitting time between Brighton, England, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lee focuses the attention not on Margaret Thatcher, the intended target of the attack, nor other political figures at the Conservative Party Conference, but on the lives of three individuals. The narrative opens with Dan’s initiation into the Irish Republi
April 6, 2016
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‘The Caped Crusade’ details the cultural history of Batman
“The Caped Crusade” by Glen Weldon Simon & Schuster (325 pages, $26) Batman has been a lot of things during the past 77 years: a gun-toting vigilante, an object of panic at the height of American homophobia, a campy ’60s television icon, a grumbly middle-aged antihero and a mass media star. But through all of these iterations, what has given Batman his longevity? The answer lies in the pages of “The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture” by Glen Weldon, a sharp, deeply knowledgeable
April 6, 2016
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Western tale by a teenage Thurber published
NEW YORK (AP) -- Before becoming one of the great wits of the 20th century, James Thurber was a teenager hooked on Westerns. The Columbus, Ohio, native would remember fondly such “nickel novels” as “Jed, the Trapper” and “The Liberty Boys of '76,” and was so caught up in the gun duel of Owen Wister’s “The Virginian,” he became physically ill. Inevitably, Thurber sketched out a couple of tales himself, including “How Law and Order Came to Aramie,” completed when he was around 18 and unpublished f
April 4, 2016
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Priceless tomes in Italy hold key to European identity
ROME (AFP) - As Europe struggles with an identity crisis, a new exhibition in Rome looks at the birth of European culture through ancient manuscripts and the earliest printed books, including a first edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. While mass migrant arrivals have fuelled xenophobia and threatened to undermine the EU’s core values, the exhibition extols the melting pot of cultures which shaped Europe -- beginning with the 13th century Italian poet, himself a political exile and migrant. “The e
April 4, 2016
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Museum invites visitors into colorful world of Eric Carle
ATLANTA (AP) -- Atlanta's High Museum of Art is inviting visitors into a colorful world populated by playful animals and imaginative children. "I See a Story: The Art of Eric Carle" opened Saturday and features more than 80 collages from 16 books by the author of children’s favorites like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "The Grouchy Ladybug." Carle's bright images explore themes including childhood, nature and journeys. Adults can revel in the nostalgia of books they read as children or read t
April 3, 2016
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Korean novel enthralls Mexican young adults
A Korean young adult novel is gaining popularity in Mexico, with positive reviews spreading via social media, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea said Friday. “Wizard Bakery” by Koo Byung-mo was published by Mexican publisher Nostra Ediciones under the translated title “La Panaderia Encantada” in December last year. Since then, the novel has been receiving positive responses on social media. Readers have posted reviews on over 30 blogs, prompting the publishing house to produce a sho
April 1, 2016
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New study shows gender gap narrowing in book coverage
NEW YORK (AP) -- A new study of literary publications finds that men remain the majority of book reviewers and authors reviewed, but the gap is narrowing. VIDA, otherwise known as Women in Literary Arts, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the New Republic and Harper's were among those showing notable increases in the representation of women in their book coverage. VIDA chair Amy King said the report showed some “upticks worth noting,” but also cautioned against possible backlash that “h
March 31, 2016
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Author writes that rape in her novel came from her life
NEW YORK (AP) -- The author of the best-selling novel "Luckiest Girl Alive" posted an essay online Tuesday saying that the gang rape in high school her character suffered was based on an assault in her own life. Jessica Knoll, writing on a website for young women that's co-managed by Lena Dunham, said that since the book came out last year she has deflected questions about similarities between herself and the protagonist, TifAni. "I’ve been running and I've been ducking and I’ve been dodging be
March 30, 2016
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Haunted Mansion comic book unearths history behind the Disney ride
Early in the first issue of Marvel Comics’ “Haunted Mansion,” a new one-off, five-issue series inspired by the Disneyland staple, readers encounter a ghost. This is expected. After all, as Haunted Mansion lore tells us, there are 999 of them living inside the manor. Only this ghost isn’t of the grim, grinning sort, as described in the attraction’s popular song. This ghost is all bones and menace, with a foreboding cape and a sword flailing wildly. It’s the Haunted Mansion Disney aficionados know
March 30, 2016
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Red Riding Hood packs heat in US gun group’s reinvented fairytale
WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Here is Little Red Riding Hood, rifle slung over her shoulder, confidently striding through the forest. Now we see her granny, taking aim with a shotgun at the Big Bad Wolf. What’s that? You don’t recall your favorite Brothers Grimm characters packing heat? Then you must not have read the versions of classic fairy tales that have been reworked by the National Rifle Association, to help empower children by teaching them that well-armed citizens -- even in the world of storybo
March 30, 2016
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Behind the scenes of CIA briefings
“The President’s Book of Secrets” By David Priess PublicAffairs (384 pages, $29.95) On Aug. 6, 2001, the third day of his August vacation in Texas, President George W. Bush welcomed two visitors into the living room of his ranch house. Steve Biegun, the executive secretary of the National Security Council, was filling in for National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. Michael Morell was a CIA analyst assigned to brief Bush daily on intelligence developments. He handed Bush the President’s Daily
March 30, 2016
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Life in 1930s China made relatable through simple details
“Half a Lifelong Romance” By Eileen Chang Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (400 pages, $12.33) “Half a Lifelong Romance” is broad in its scope and exceptionally moving in its characterizations, painting a picture of life in China in the 1930s. The novel, by Eileen Chang, was originally published in serialized form in Shanghai in 1950, under the name “Eighteen Springs (Shiba chun).” A translated U.S. edition recently was released. “Half a Lifelong Romance” introduces a broad cast of characters a
March 30, 2016
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Popular Korean poet’s works translated into English for the first time
“No Flower Blooms Without Wavering” By Do Jong-hwan, translated by Brother Anthony and Jinna Park Seoul Selection (182 pages, 11,000 won, $18)Do Jong-hwan’s poems have been translated into English for the first time in “No Flower Blooms Without Wavering,” a bilingual compilation of the popular poet’s most recognized work. Overall, the translation stays faithful to the text, never veering too far from the literal definition. The book is divided into four chapters, each containing poems that cente
March 30, 2016
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Marilynne Robinson wins Library of Congress fiction prize
NEW YORK (AP) -- Marilynne Robinson, the acclaimed author of novels such as "Gilead" and "Housekeeping," is this year's winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, a lifetime achievement honor. In a statement released Tuesday, acting Librarian of Congress David S. Mao cited the "depth and resonance" of Robinson’s novels. The 72-year-old Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for "Gilead," the first of a trilogy of Iowa-based novels that also includes "Home" and "Lila." Previou
March 29, 2016
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Harper Lee hated Trump's Taj Mahal resort, letter reveals
LOS ANGELES(AFP) - Harper Lee, one of America's most celebrated novelists who died in February, thought Donald Trump’s infamous Taj Mahal casino was hell on Earth, a stash of her private correspondence revealed Monday. The “To Kill a Mockingbird” author, whose masterpiece about racial injustice was read by millions, slammed the billionaire presidential hopeful's boardwalk resort in New Jersey in a letter to a friend in 1990. “The worst punishment God can devise for this sinner is to make her spi
March 29, 2016