Perspectives of War
BRITAIN’S WAR: INTO BATTLE, 1937-1941. Daniel Todman. Oxford University Press. GREAT STRATEGIC RIVALRIES: FROM THE CLASSICAL WORLD TO THE COLD WAR. Edited by James Lacy. Oxford University Press. THE ALLURE … Continue reading
American Gods
AMERICAN GODS. STARZ. 8 Episodes. Airing Sundays. In The Guardian, the reviewer who was trying to describe Neil Gaiman’s American Gods was a bit flummoxed. “What genre is this?” he wanted … Continue reading
Jeremy Winograd Reviews Bob Dylan’s Triplicate
TRIPLICATE. BOB DYLAN. COLUMBIA RECORDS/SONY. Even Bob Dylan himself would surely admit that, for all his prodigious and endlessly mythologized talents, he’s not the world’s greatest musical interpreter—even of his … Continue reading
Short Takes On Important Spring Releases From Tor
WITHOUT MERCY. Colonel David Hunt and R.J. Pineiro. TOR. What might happen if ISIS acquires nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them? In this latest action thriller by Colonel … Continue reading
Solomon Hits Home Run With The Murder of Willie Lincoln
THE MURDER OF WILLIE LINCOLN. Burt Solomon. Tor/Forge Books. “Fair play” whodunnits are the most difficult kind of novel to write. The genre, by its nature, requires a highly convoluted … Continue reading
Mary Astor’s Purple Diary
MARY ASTOR’S PURPLE DIARY: THE GREAT AMERICAN SEX SCANDAL OF 1936. Edward Sorel. Norton & Company. By page eleven—which happens to be the first page of the text—the self evident … Continue reading
Remembering Kevin Starr, Catholic Historian 1940-2017
The passing of Kevin Starr, the notable historian of California, is already being observed with predictable political correctness. For his series of popular surveys, beginning with the 1973 volume Americans and … Continue reading
Why Did Bob Dylan Pay A Visit To Birmingham’s WorkPlay On Friday?
Bob Dylan likes WorkPlay. How do we know? He told owner Tom Williams so on Friday, during a video shoot at the venue’s theater. Dylan, 75, one of the most famous names … Continue reading
Agnes Obel’s New Citizen of Glass
CITIZEN OF GLASS. Agnes Obel. PIAS America. When the first notes of “Citizen of Glass” sounded, I thought for a moment that I had started up a Lana del Ray … Continue reading
