I once read somewhere that James Joyce's novel Ulysses was the best book ever written, so a few years ago when I found an old copy for a dollar, I bought it.
Critics are cultural historians of a sort, trying to tie the present to the past. Audiences, however, apparently don't give a rip. Or, at least, the audience that seem to matter most now, people in their 30s or younger.
I used to be the kind of reader who gives short shrift to long novels. I used to take a wan pleasure in telling friends who had returned from a tour o...
Books and movies have gone hand-in-hand since Hollywood's very beginnings. Some of its greatest triumphs--"The Godfather," "Gone With The Wind," "The ...
If you had told me one year ago that the most delightful beach read of 2009 would be written by Thomas Pynchon, I'd have stared back at you in disbelief, raised eyebrows in tow.