A Book A Week (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Popular fiction is a genre that is distinct from literary fiction, though the boundaries are fluid. I like to think of these categories as either ends of a ruler, with most books falling somewhere between the two ends. A lot of the books I read fall right around the middle of the continuum between popular and literary fiction. For example I put authors like Kate Atkinson, Diane Johnson, and Elinor...
Religion Dispatches (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Why is the character of Jesus so powerful? Why is he such a hit? Bestselling writer Mary Gordon re-reads the Gospels, asking these questions, among others, and trying to figure out why fundamentalist readings of scripture, grounded in fear and rage, have come to dominate the understanding of religion in this country.
Miami Herald (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
Fundamentalists hallelujahed The Passion of the Christ, but Mel Gibson's blockbuster reduced the meaning of Jesus' life to the ritualized mayhem of his final hours. In her new book, Mary Gordon observes that the journey from Gethsemane to Golgotha takes up only a fraction of the canonical Gospels. There is more to the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John than the depiction of a Roman-enhanced interrogation...
Happy Catholic (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
You know, it's an odd thing how you can be gone for two weeks with essentially no planned activities, spend a lot of time hanging around doing nothing (such as in hospital rooms) and still never really have any time to read. Such was the condition I encountered on my trip. I did finish Mark Shea's fantastic second Mary, Mother of the Son book and this time was wise enough to take some notes as I went....
MSNBC.com: Newsweek Health (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
Mary Gordon's new book takes a hard look at the old stories.
Open Source (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
Click to listen to the “Matters of Faith” conversation with Harvey Cox, Mary Gordon, Cornel West and Chris Lydon. (43 minutes, 20 mb mp3) This is a book-fair exchange that caught fire around a current version of the old graffiti duel: “God is dead,” signed Nietzsche. Then, “Nietzsche is dead,” signed God. How’s [...]
MediaBistro.com (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
The website wowOwow has launched a new reading project called " Words Move Me ," asking readers and literary celebrities to explain which books inspire them. Editors Note: An earlier version of this post referenced a Sony Reader giveaway that has already ended. If you need inspiration, here are of a few of this GalleyCat editor's favorites. Salon.com senior writer Rebecca Traister confessed...
MediaBistro.com (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
The website wowOwow has launched a new reading project called " Words Move Me ," asking readers and literary celebrities to explain which books inspire them. In addition, the site is also giving away 14 Sony Readers to lucky readers who contribute their own entries. If you need inspiration, here are of a few of this GalleyCat editor's favorites. Salon.com senior writer Rebecca Traister confessed...
Lessons in Curating. Lessons in Culture. (Free subscription) | 10/14/2009
A journalist, a novelist, and a librarian will judge the $20,000 Story Prize this year--awarded to a short story collection written in English and published in the U.S. during the calendar year. Author A.M. Homes, LA Times journalist Carolyn Kellogg, and Ohio's Cuyahoga County Public Library librarian Bill Kelly will judge the 2009 prize. The winner will join a distinguished list that includes Edwidge...
MediaBistro.com (Free subscription) | 10/13/2009
A journalist, a novelist, and a librarian will judge the $20,000 Story Prize this year--awarded to a short story collection written in English and published in the U.S. during the calendar year. Author A.M. Homes , LA Times journalist Carolyn Kellogg , and Ohio's Cuyahoga County Public Library librarian Bill Kelly will judge the 2009 prize. The winner will join a distinguished list that includes Edwidge...
The Daily Swarm - Headlines (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
A lot of you have been coming in looking for the Nobel Prize for Literature betting odds and leaving comments on last year’s competition – so we’ve decided to show you the odds available for the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature. Here are the betting odds available: Amos Oz 3/1 Herta Mu�ller 3/1 Joyce Carol Oates 5/1 Philip Roth 5/1 Thomas Pynchon 7/1 Adonis 9/1 Assia Djebar...
The Business Blog (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
By Alisa Murray Check out some movie reviews below. If you are looking for a movie download site here are some phrases to search. You should try two or three searches, with terms like, "New Movie Downloads", "DVD Rental Movies", and "Music Services". Onionhead: A messy film with Griffith joining the Coast Guard in pre WW2 and becoming a ships chef. The film tries to be...
Slog (Free subscription) | 09/24/2009
The Literary Saloon brings news that online oddsmaker Ladbrokes is taking bets on who will win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Here are the odds: * Amos Oz 4/1 * Assia Djebar 5/1 * Luis Goytisola 6/1 * Joyce Carol Oates 7/1 * Philip Roth 7/1 * Adonis 8/1 * Antoni Tabucchi 9/1 * Claudio Magris 9/1 * Haruki Murakami 9/1 * Thomas Pynchon 9/1 Personally, I think Philip Roth is the Susan Lucci of the Nobel...
The Arts Blog (Free subscription) | 08/20/2009
From left: Harry Groener, Mary Gordon Murray, Matt McGrath, Dan Callaway and Niki Scalera, the cast of SCR’s “Putting It Together.” Photo by Henry DiRocco. Lovers — old and jaded, young and hopeful — populate Stephen Sondheim’s “Putting It Together,” along with one wry observer. South Coast Repertory continues to dip its toes in the waters [...]
New West Network Cities: Idaho Nort (Free subscription) | 06/22/2009
Vanishing by Candida Lawrence 275 pages, $23.95 Candida Lawrence's new Vanishing is a collection of incisive, chronologically arranged personal essays that plunge the reader into vivid moments of her past, beginning in 1942 when Candida is in college at Berkeley and is a reporter for the Daily Cal, and extending into recent times, when she is coping with aging and adjusting to a changed world. Like...
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