Being a restaurant junkie when it's affordable, I read Steven Shaw's Turning the Tables: Restaurants From the Inside Out in one sitting, with two beers. It's a delicious guide on how to get the most from restaurants; I loved its sections on how to
I have a problem with solo female pop singers with terrific voices--I cannot get enough, never, no way. Rebecca Gates, Feist, Brandy, Beth Orton, Alison Krauss, all have kept me company in the last couple years, and now I find Maria Taylor, who sounds a bit like Jenny Lewis
I've probably bought more copies of Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai than any other novel, because I give them away constantly and need to replenish my stock. What a book! Crammed with smarts and adventure and a very full heart--and nothing to do with that
For a long time readers have asked for a TMN newsletter to keep them apprised of our publishing schedule. They say, “I love TMN, but sometimes I forget to check in! Couldn’t you alert me once a week as to what’s been published? And couldn’t you promise
For fans of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell or Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale--big-boned, richly imagined fantasies set in familiar places--there is John Crowley's overlooked masterpiece Little, Big, a juicy account of magic, frightening mansions, and love affairs gone odd. Perfect summer
You and your strapping Caucasian friends are looking forward to a pleasant vacation on the shore, perhaps hooking up with equally comely and tall teenagers, and then romping on a farm collective--that's right, it's one Hot Summer! Part Grease, part unintentional stoner epic, this utterly
Marilynne Robinson's recent book Gilead wears its acclaim and awards like a hairshirt, but it's her earlier novel Housekeeping that mesmerized me. The story of two girls and a nearby lake that seems to swallow everyone they love is a rich show-stopper of style and
Love Sherlock Holmes? Love The Alienest series? Caleb Carr was commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate to write a new Holmes mystery, and so bore The Italian Secretary, a faithful period romp where Holmes and Watson go traipsing off to Scotland to help the queen, with all their antiquated phrasing
Life would be nicer if health care was free, cigars cured cancer, and the Atlantic Monthly published weekly. But let's be honest--it takes me three weeks to finish an issue, mostly because I savor the read. The July/August book is a great example of the magazine&
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we pick up where Paul Simon left off and offers a multitude of ways--45, actually--to leave your lover in the dust.
