By Janis Fontaine Min Jin Lee has earned her place among today’s outstanding writers with the publication of Pachinko, an epic tear-jerker that follows a poor, hard-working Korean family for most of the last century, beginning in 1910. The book topped dozens of best books lists for 2017, including The New York Times, and was nominated for a National Book Award. Lee’s … [Read more...]
Khizr Khan: The man who fell in love with America
Few people will ever forget the dramatic moment at the 2016 Democratic National Convention when a Muslim-American speaker held up a copy of the U.S. Constitution and challenged Republican Donald Trump to read it. The speaker, Pakistan native Khizr Khan, had lost his son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq when he tried to stop two suicide bombers. He won … [Read more...]
Thorough research enlarges compelling tale of man wrongfully convicted
Willie J. Grimes was a mild-mannered, middle-aged black man who was convicted of first-degree rape and sentenced to life in prison. But Grimes had nothing to do with the crime. The jury relied on flimsy evidence, such as the victim having picked him out of a hazy picture lineup. After Grimes spent 24 years in prison, he was released in 2012 when DNA evidence showed he was … [Read more...]
George Saunders: On Lincoln, writing out of need, and empathy
American writers may have made a poor showing in the Nobel sweepstakes these past few decades, with only the joke award to Bob Dylan last year to show for all their scribbling. Yet since the Man Booker Prize, Britain’s shiniest literary trophy, was opened to Yanks (and anyone else writing in English) in 2013, American writers have shouldered their way to prominence. George … [Read more...]
Arts Preview 2017-18: The season in books
Not so long ago, Palm Beach County readers had no choice, if they wanted to enjoy a book festival, but to drive to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. That’s no longer true. While events like Miami Book Fair International or the Literary Feast in Fort Lauderdale remain powerhouse attractions, Palm Beach County has a pair of well-established book and events right here: the Palm Beach … [Read more...]
Leaning in for grief: Facebook exec Sandberg explores pain of loss in ‘Option B’
When Sheryl Sandberg lost her husband, Dave, to a heart attack two years ago, the story attracted broad interest because of her position as a top executive at Facebook. In this new book, Sandberg describes in poignant detail her consuming sadness. “The fear of forever without Dave was paralyzing,” she writes. When she told their children, ages 7 and 10, that their father … [Read more...]
Young writer’s stories of Florida raise her profile
Recently, Sarah Gerard started a new job at Books Are Magic, a Brooklyn bookstore owned by novelist Emma Straub. That was about the same time Gerard began touring in support of her second book, an acclaimed collection of essays titled Sunshine State. Gerard’s first book, the novel Binary Star, was a success, too, with rapturous reviews in The New York Times, and elsewhere, … [Read more...]
Author tells compelling story of struggle with depression
Daphne Merkin begins this compelling new book with these words, “Lately I’ve been thinking about the allure of suicide again.” Merkin has battled depression since she was a child. She has moved in and out of psychiatric hospitals and therapists’ offices, while gulping down countless bottles of anti-psychotic drugs “just to get through the day.” A voracious … [Read more...]
Historian Meacham optimistic Trump can be more presidential
By Dale King Citizens seem destined to continue protesting, arguing about and fretting over the status of the American presidency and the capacity of newly installed office holder Donald J. Trump to lead the nation. In the midst of this turmoil, an expert in presidential history, Jon Meacham, visited Boca Raton on Monday evening as part of Festival of the Arts Boca’s … [Read more...]
For writers Greene and Egan, time is of the essence
Time weighs heavily on the mind of both theoretical physicist Brian Greene and Pulitzer-prize winning author Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad. Both writers are part of the Author & Ideas Program at this year’s Festival of the Arts Boca, which runs from March 2-12 in Mizner Park. For Greene, author of The Elegant Universe and Icarus at the Edge of … [Read more...]