Maxine Hong Kingston first became aware of the importance of language when she went to kindergarten in Stockton, Calif., where she grew up the child of Chinese immigrants. “I spoke Chinese only until I started school,” Kingston says by phone from her home in Oakland, Calif. “I couldn’t understand what anyone was saying. I couldn’t communicate.” That first experience of … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2012-13: South Florida hard to beat for book festivals
South Florida, believe it or not, has now been a leading literary region for nearly 30 years. Yes, publishing remains centered in New York, and Los Angeles may have its charms for authors and their fans. But we boast four of the best book festivals in the nation, beginning with the biggest, Miami Book Fair International in November, and ending with perhaps the most original, … [Read more...]
In new edition of ‘Farewell,’ a look at Hemingway’s creative process
Ernest Hemingway’s reputation as a master of 20th century American literature is based in part on A Farewell to Arms, his searing story of war and love, first published in 1929. This new edition of the esteemed novel adds 40 pages of jottings and drafts, including dozens of alternative endings, which show how much Hemingway struggled to get it right. Although the book is … [Read more...]
Journalist Wright tells Miami hit man’s story on Byliner site
Even though he uncovered the story, journalist Evan Wright never expected to write a full account of the drug cartel hit man from Miami who ― allegedly, as they say ― became a top CIA officer and a leading figure in the clandestine war against terror. On the contrary, Wright thought this story, which resembles The Departed, but on a bigger, more important stage, would be … [Read more...]
‘Wild’ a gripping story of self-discovery
Cheryl Strayed grabs the reader on the first page of this absorbing book when she describes an unfortunate incident during her 1995 trek along West Coast mountain ranges. Strayed had removed her hiking boots to rest when suddenly one of the boots slipped over the edge of a cliff. Realizing that the other boot was now worthless, she tossed it off the side of the mountain, … [Read more...]
‘Camp 14’ a horrifying picture of the North Korean gulag
The horrors described in Escape from Camp 14 are so extreme that one might assume this is a work of fiction. But the sad reality is that this is a spellbinding true account of life inside a North Korean prison camp, told from the viewpoint of Shin Dong-hyuk, who was born in Camp 14 and fled to the West after a dramatic escape that defies the imagination. In spare prose … [Read more...]
Case of jailed handyman exposes many failings of justice system
Thirty years ago, a 76-year-old white widow was brutally murdered in her South Carolina home. Police arrested a 23-year-old African-American handyman who had recently cleaned the woman’s windows and gutters. He was quickly tried and sentenced to death. Appellate courts twice overturned the conviction. Each time, Edward Lee Elmore was reconvicted and sentenced to death again. … [Read more...]
Reporter exhaustively uncovers chronicle of Indian misery
Katherine Boo spent more than three years observing life in a wretched slum in Mumbai, one of India’s largest cities. She tells the story in this absorbing new book, filled with shocking details about wasted lives, gruesome deaths and widespread corruption. Known as Annawadi, the slum was founded in 1991 by workers trucked in to repair a runway at the city’s international … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Poetry Festival again inspires versifiers from all over
Outside the Crest Theatre in Delray Beach’s Old School Square, Cara Nusinov posed for a photograph by the sculpture she designed to pay homage to poetry. “Art makes poetry touchable,” she said as she stood by the Polka Dot Poetry Peacock, which she created for an art-in-public-spaces project in Coconut Grove. “I imagine people enjoying the poems affixed to the peacock and … [Read more...]
An even-handed account of the Civil War’s meteor
Although some people viewed John Brown as a madman, his daring 1859 raid on the U.S. military arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va., helped galvanize anti-slavery sentiment in the North. In Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, Tony Horwitz has written an engrossing account of Brown’s life and singular devotion to the abolition cause. With hindsight, … [Read more...]