Kay Redfield Jamison has often written and spoken eloquently about her lifelong struggle with manic depression, otherwise known as bipolar illness. In her new book, Nothing Was the Same: A Memoir, she writes with the same honesty and passion about coping with the death of her husband, Richard Wyatt, from cancer. Both were well-known psychiatrists at Johns Hopkins University … [Read more...]
Book review: Grief memoir moving, but oddly unhelpful
By Bill Williams Kay Redfield Jamison has often written and spoken eloquently about her lifelong struggle with manic depression, otherwise known as bipolar illness.In her new book, Nothing Was the Same: A Memoir, she writes with the same honesty and passion about coping with the death of her husband, Richard Wyatt, from cancer. Both were well-known psychiatrists at Johns … [Read more...]
PB Poetry Festival begins somberly, ends in joy
In the dark times, will there also be singing? Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times. -- Bertolt Brecht A somber tone dominated the sixth edition of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, with the distinguished faculty focusing on “poems of witness” and elegies for the dead. Yet by Saturday, the busy last day of the festival, the atmosphere had turned almost … [Read more...]
Arts feature: Poetry festival starts somberly, ends in joy
Poet Marie Howe.By Chauncey MabeIn the dark times, will there also be singing?Yes, there will be singing. About the dark times.-- Bertolt BrechtA somber tone dominated the sixth edition of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, with the distinguished faculty focusing on “poems of witness” and elegies for the dead. Yet by Saturday, the busy last day of the festival, the atmosphere had … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Poetry Festival bigger than ever
Miles Coon did not build the Palm Beach Poetry Festival into one of Florida’s top literary events in five short years by being cautious. After last year’s economically troubled festival, when one workshop had to be canceled for lack of enrollment, he knew prudence dictated a smaller, less ambitious plan for 2010. Instead, Coon chose a bolder path, increasing the … [Read more...]
A monster and a plucky heroine: Compelling novels from indie houses
Most newspapers and magazines posted their lists of the best books of 2009 by the end of November. I was no exception (you can see mine at the Florida Center for the Literary Arts Website). The problem with these early lists, though useful for Christmas shopping, is they risk missing worthwhile books published late in the year, especially from small independent publishing … [Read more...]
Book reviews: A monster and a plucky heroine
By Chauncey Mabe Most newspapers and magazines posted their lists of the best books of 2009 by the end of November. I was no exception (you can see mine at the Florida Center for the Literary Arts Website).The problem with these early lists, though useful for Christmas shopping, is they risk missing worthwhile books published late in the year, especially from small independent … [Read more...]
‘Good Without God’ a well-written case for ethical non-belief
Books by atheist authors have flooded the market in recent years, and some, such as Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, exhibit a stridently anti-religious tone. Now comes a more nuanced and balanced book written by Greg M. Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard University. Good Without God critiques religious belief in a respectful … [Read more...]
Book review: ‘Good Without God’ a well-written case for non-belief
By Bill Williams Books by atheist authors have flooded the market in recent years, and some, such as Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, exhibit a stridently anti-religious tone.Now comes a more nuanced and balanced book written by Greg M. Epstein (at right), the humanist chaplain at Harvard University. Good Without God critiques religious … [Read more...]
‘Invisible’ a masterful chronicle of ambition, mystery and loss
It would be too much to say that Paul Auster’s latest novel constitutes a comeback or even a return to form. His recent work, although sometimes roughed up by critics, has not exactly been inferior, or the product of an imagination grown slack with maturity and success. Yet for all that Auster accomplishes with, say, Man in the Dark (2008), it is a small book. Its effects, … [Read more...]