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Without the artistic and emotional contributions of gay people there would be no gospel music. This is the provocative and convincing claim made by Anthony Heilbut in his majestic new book, "The Fan Who Knew Too Much."
Writing the first draft of my second novel as a new mom living in Nicaragua and Miami Beach, I have no workshop to instill fear, excitement and motivation in me. But I do have one vociferous little mentor: my toddler, AmalÃa.
Oh my dear sweet Jesus I love books so much. I love reading books, I love buying books, I love writing about books and I love talking about books. So with that in mind, I asked you guys what your all-time favourite, desert-island books were. Here's what you had to say.
Allow me please to take you back for a moment to the beginning of 2011. Remember how surprised the world was that, in just 18 days, a leaderless grass-root uprising managed to topple the Mubarak regime that had ruled Egypt with an iron fist for 30 years?
I suspect most great writers are also terrible writers. It all depends what you show people. I think this is the key to beating the empty screen. Because it's the pressure that kills, right? The urge to write the next great novel, or make a boatload of money with scandalous, (un)literary smut, or prove what a deep, deep thinker you are. The pressure is too consistent to ever get anything done. So, yield to mediocrity, accept that the next word you write is likely going to be the wrong word and keep going anyway. The real worst case scenario isn't that you might write something bad. The worst case scenario is that you might write nothing at all.
As we approach Memorial Day, most Americans are conscious of honoring those who have served in the military, so nearly all of us could name the three largest branches -- the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy. Very few, however, would think to include the Merchant Marine.
Thanks to a source close to the case, my co-author had found the only known official photo from the death scene. Here, published for the first time, a look at how Lupe Velez really died.
It's not often I give myself time to dive into great fiction. For many years I had to read so many masterpieces at university that I couldn't handle more fiction for a long time.
For an answer I turned to my friend Erica Wagner, the literary editor of the London Times. She told me that Greene may well be entering the no-man's land between currently fashionable writers, be they alive or dead, and the enduring classic authors such as Hemingway, Wodehouse and Dickens.
I have now spent four years researching both the process of self-publishing and those involved. I emerged with many reasons for admiring self-publishers.
When a show can make Wall-climbing, a middle-aged man learning to read, a bear fight, a painful confession and a farcical wedding all hang together, visually and tonally, it's doing something right.
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The lesson we are quickly learning in the 21st century is that no one owns culture. Some in Hong Kong may gripe about how cherished Southern Chinese fighting secrets are now literally an open book, but they may be surprised to find that Chinese kung fu itself not purely Chinese.
Individually, each marriage is multi-faceted, honest, full of both flaws and beauty -- not unlike a diamond. Collectively, they show us that even when things go badly, even in times of heartbreak and sorrow, people persevere, family bonds endure and love lasts despite all odds
Marilyn's sentiment perfectly carried the magic of summer to me: The feeling that you can do any crazy thing you want.
Much has been written about the tragedy of Vietnam and what often is not discussed is the waste of time and energy that was spent over the war and its advocates and opponents.
How different are the big Wall Street banks circa 2008 from the loan sharks of the 1970s? Not very. Laura Gottesdiener has written a remarkable book that hits hard against the big Wall Street banks.
The moment I saw the photograph--a grave enclosed in an iron cage--I knew there was a book in it for me.
With all the real-life carnage in the world, how painful is it to also read about fictional deaths in literature? Pretty painful, especially if we're fond of the characters whose lives end. But it's hard for readers to avoid expired characters.
People have been trying to understand this business of love and relationships forever, and have tried just about everything - art, poetry, literature, psychology, sociology, biology, you name it.
People always ask me what's the single biggest mistake authors make. I'm not sure it's just one mistake, though the truth is that one mistake can sink your entire book. Often when I tell a group of authors what I'm about to share with you they shake their heads in...
