My grandma thought she was a flapper. She had jazz age black and white vamps surrounding her mirror, and told me that she knew them all. Later, I found out she talked to people who weren't there. She did some time at the Oregon State Mental Hospital in Salem. And for that reason, I feel strangely attracted to this age and place: New York, 1920s.

I certainly appreciate excellence in screenwriting. I even look for some names in the credits before going to see a film or watching a TV show (Lawrence Kasdan--Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body Heat, The Big Chill, et al; or John Patrick Shanley--The January Man, Alive!, Joe Versus the Volcano, Doubt, et al; or David R. Kelly--L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Boston Legal, et al.)

Like most people who love books, however, I'm nearly alw… Continue

He has a few detractors, but I think one of the greatest minds, and authors, of this generation has got to be Jared Diamond. He has a fistful of graduate degrees and professorships in his resume as well as a MacArthur "genius" grant, a Pulitzer, a National Medal of Science and more science and science writing awards than I can list here.
Diamond's first critical and popular success with science books was his look at human evolution a la The Naked Ape, which he called The Third Chimpanz… Continue

I want to see as many genres represented here as possible, fiction and non-, bios, science, philosophy, spirituality and more. No limits. Let's make the criterion not genre-based, but excellence-based. Today's subject: historical fiction. I think the best book in the genre that I have ever read is Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett. The details of day to day life in England around 1,000 AD are amazing. You can practically smell the place.

The plot is kind of unique. too. You don't even… Continue