Outside the Union Square Barnes & Noble people were huddling in the frigid cold. Dale Peck wore a bomber hat and coordinated with supporters by phone for a book reading -- on the pavement.
Most "Best of" lists tell us more about the list-makers than about anything else. This one is probably no different, but that doesn't mean that it isn't useful in to think about what were the best Jewish books of 2010.
Since I am in the holiday spirit (and, having just consumed a mug of hot toddy, a glass of eggnog and a nip of cheer, the holiday spirits are in me), I have once again decided to follow in that great tradition of boring everyone silly by writing a Christmas letter.
I am never the first to admit when I am wrong, but nor are Bill Clinton, Roger Clemens, or the Pope. I am, however, the first to admit when I...
With Elaine's passing on Friday, memories of the many entertaining nights spent in her place and of her one-liners are coming to mind as quickly as th...
The relationship author Salman Rushdie shares with his sons became the focus of his own literary epiphany.
In order to explain the importance of literary work to the broader project of social justice, international exchange, and democracy, I might need to s...
Last winter, as I was editing my debut novel, The French Revolution, I confronted a thorny section detailing a wild Christmas scene which my editor ha...
There is a two-fold complaint nestled in the plumy thicket of today's screed, good people. And while they (the individual issues of the complaint) are...
What if we only had a month in which to force our young adult offspring to see ten essential movies before they succumbed entirely to short-form digital content? My own personal picks.
Dennis Lehane so rules the neighborhood of Noir ("Nwaaah," as we say in Boston) that he gets street credit for work he didn't write, like "The Departe...
We all hope that the art we view can inspire us, as the audience, to take a different perspective on an age old question; to make the familiar unfamil...
In an article in the latest Atlantic Monthly, I just found out about the "frugal" literature. Until today, I had no idea bookstores were teeming with...
Publishing must find new ways to shed light on talented writers. And often the strongest light can emanate from writers whose stars already shine bright.
One thing that renders me reluctant to begin writing about the "business" of writing and the teaching of writing is the sneaking suspicion that there are things I lack that "real writers" should have in order to teach.
Here are 10 of the most epic adaptation fails in the history of film.
A distinctly New York play finally lands in the city when Knock Me A Kiss, by playwright Charles Smith, begins previews Thursday in its Off-Broadway premiere.
These words are God's punishment for literary success. Requests to "pick your brain" (code for "read my manuscript") come along unceasingly.
A month until Thanksgiving and already I'm brimming with gratitude. Thirty days, $5,000 and 70 backers. The magic and the mania of my Kickstarter cam...
"My Reading Life" (Doubleday, $25), by Pat Conroy: Best-selling novelist Pat Conroy doesn't just love books, he devours them. He doesn't just visit li...
Don Quixote most crucially, is about the eternal struggle between those who believe in the power of the imagination, versus those who believe that looking harsh reality straight in the face is the only true way to live a life.
V. S. Naipaul, in the winter of his long writing life, doesn't disguise his melancholy or his frailty. Still, his inquisitorial eye and his magic with a prose sentence have not abandoned him, nor the organ tones of his mesmerizing voice.
One of the nice things about blogging on Huff Post is not only can you expound on your chosen subject in more than a soundbite, but you may find yours...
This week, as I started to anticipate Jersey Shore withdrawal, it occurred to me that the show isn't just great TV. It's some pretty great storytelling, and it holds some valuable lessons for literary folks like me.
