Notes From the Bookroom

May 9, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

What’s in My Bookbag: Benny Morris’s just-published 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War (Yale Univ.), in honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary (celebrataed yesterday). To some, it might seem a strange celebration to read a book that relates horrors committed by Israelis as well as Pal-estinians. But for me, this tale embodies. But Israel’s conflicted story is deeply ingrained in me. 

T...Read More

May 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

It goes without saying that I spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a good book re-view. In general, it requires a smooth blend of description and evaluation. But, like most readers, I don’t want a review—especially of fiction—to tell me everything that happens. When I ask what a book is about, even (perhaps especially) a novel, I’m asking not who did what to whom but the meaning of those events. I want to know about the author’s voice, style and worldview.

A good nonfiction review must also assess the author’s information and analysis, the organi-zation and presentation, and whether the author has something new to say. In the case of an oft-told tale, say, a history of the California gold rush, does the author render it in a fresh, ex-citing and stylish narrative that might bring the story to a new audience?

Finall...Read More

April 24, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

The Junot Diazes of 2028 are already honing their literary skills in high schools around New York City. And I might have just read a short essay by one of them.

I’ve had the privilege (and it is a privilege) of serving as a judge in the memoir category of the Random House Inc. Creative Writing Competitioin for NYC Public High School Seniors, meticulously and enthusiastically organized by Random House’s Melanie Fallon-Houska. More than $100,000 in scholarship prizes will be awarded to the winners on June 9. (Above: pictures of last year's winners.)

Reading these brief memoirs opens a window onto a world I have no first-hand knowledge of. Actually, it opens windows onto...Read More

April 18, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (4)

Even normally obscure scholarly books can benefit from a blast of publicity. Witness anthropologist Nadia Abu El-...Read More

April 10, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Our April 21 issue will have a q&a with E. Fuller Torrey about ...Read More