By Sharon Geltner In James Patterson by James Patterson, the author gets a disturbing phone call. "Your Jersey Shore house is burning!” What happened? Don’t know. How did the fire start? The author doesn’t say. Was it an electrical short? Nah. Spark from a neighbor’s grill? Yawn. Lightning strike? Maybe. Was it arson? Yes! That’s it! Arson! And the … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Book Festival features Watergate historian Graff, actor Cumming, director Stone
Author, journalist and historian Garret M. Graff wasn’t even born in 1972 when the Watergate scandal unfolded 50 years ago, ending in the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on Aug. 9, 1974. But Graff, 40, has become one of the country’s foremost experts on that scandal and will speak about those events and his latest book, Watergate: A New History, at the eighth … [Read more...]
‘The Prince’ slims down Henry James for the modern age
By Sharon Geltner It took a former book reviewer for the New York Times to cleverly update Henry James’s best and, at 600 pages, longest novel, The Golden Bowl. Dinitia Smith has just launched The Prince, cutting 300 pages and speeding the pace — thereby catapulting the Gilded Age into the modern age. “I don’t write in Henry James’ style!” Smith exclaimed recently, … [Read more...]
Former ’60 Minutes’ producer pulls back the curtain behind that ticking clock
Over the course of his long career – 25 years as producer at 60 Minutes and another 15 years as senior producer of ABC’s Primetime Live and 20/20 – Ira Rosen has won a long list of accolades, including multiple Peabody and duPont awards, 24 Emmys and six Investigative Reporters and Editors awards -- more than Washington Post editor Bob Woodward. But for Rosen, the most … [Read more...]
Dancer’s memoir rips off backstage bandages, entertainingly
So much time has passed since the curtains on stages were drawn closed and the doors of theaters were shut tight. Needless to say, those of us who thrive on the live performances of the local dance seasons have been in a state of dismayed withdrawal. So, how to survive this cavernous gap that we have been enduring since shutdown in early 2020? And how to bridge the … [Read more...]
‘Putting It Together’: How Sondheim and Lapine painted their masterpiece
When encountering a fully satisfying musical, it is hard to imagine the difficulties it endured on its way to Broadway. Think of Fiddler on the Roof or Hello, Dolly! – both a shambles in their out-of-town tryouts – or virtually every show by Stephen Sondheim, the musical theater’s pre-eminent composer-lyricist, notoriously slow in completing each score. Such is certainly … [Read more...]
Florida thriller writer finds past has dark resonance for today
By Sharon Geltner One of the world’s best-selling thriller writers recently moved to Orlando, does most of his research in Jacksonville and has raised money for the Palm Beach County Library System and the Delray Beach City Library, as well as a dozen other in-state libraries. Steve Berry also spoke to Palm Beach donors about Smithsonian Libraries. He ultimately raised … [Read more...]
Magisterial (and literally weighty) bio explores life of playwright Stoppard
One of the most memorable days I ever spent in a theater was when I saw all three parts of Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia at New York’s Lincoln Center, a cumulative 8-1/2 hours of pre-revolution Russian history and philosophy. As the audience left the Beaumont Theatre late that night, ushers were passing out buttons that said, “I survived 'The Coast of Utopia.'” … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Book Festival to be virtual, features Saunders, Loftis, Harmel
The Palm Beach Book Festival, now in its seventh year, returns for the second year as a virtual event later this month. New York Times bestselling authors Larry Loftis, Kristin Harmel and George Saunders are in the lineup for the festival, which is set for March 19 and 20. Added last week was another guest, Keisha N. Blain, co-editor with Ibram X. Kendi of Four Hundred … [Read more...]
Associated Press writer debuts Florida-based mystery caper
By Sharon Geltner It was witnessing 13 executions at Florida State Prison that persuaded Tampa-based Associated Press reporter Tamara Lush to write romances and cozy mysteries in her free time. “At first I considered dark police procedurals, but I get a mental break from daily crime reporting by writing something happy,” she said. Writing as “Tara Lush,” she has launched … [Read more...]