Books

Latest Articles

Interview: John Hodgman

One man's operating system
Long before John Hodgman became universally recognized as the systems-challenged PC in Apple’s ads, he was writing fake trivia for such publications as McSweeney’s and the New York TImes Magazine.
By CLEA SIMON | October 08, 2008

Genre bender

Joe Hill’s scary stories reflect our worst fears
At a time when real-life events seem both horrifying and surreal, 20th Century Ghosts raises the question: Who needs monsters, when we have our messed-up minds, to contend with?
By DEIRDRE FULTON | October 02, 2008

Interview: Dennis Lehane

Mystic River author's new The Given Day gets down and dirty in the North End circa WWI
Dennis Lehane’s big new book, The Given Day , is full of bloodshed, mayhem, power, corruption, and lies.
By JIM SULLIVAN | September 25, 2008

More different than alike

Searching for national identity in State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
In 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) as part of the New Deal’s Works Projects Administration (WPA).
By MIKE MILIARD | September 24, 2008

Water wars

Bottlemania puts a local story on the national stage
Elizabeth Royte’s new book, Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It , is a frank reminder of just how ubiquitous bottled water has become.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | September 10, 2008

Reading roundup

Autumn’s authors about town
This fall’s regional literary scene will see abstinence and desire, ghosts and dykes, convicts and Christians, toxic water bottles and yummy food.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | September 10, 2008

The nature of the beast

Kevin Hooyman’s ‘Dark Walk’ at Proof, ‘The Exquisite Line’ at BU, ‘Material Meditation’ at The New Art Center
In the world of graphic novelist Kevin Hooyman, whose show opens at Proof Gallery on September 13, packed line drawings take you deep into strange and fantastical scenes.
By RANDI HOPKINS | September 10, 2008

Winners and sinners

Barth, Bolaño, Roth, Morrison, and more
Ah, fall, when Nobel Prize winners are announced — and, now, when past winners turn up with more good reading.
By BARBARA HOFFERT | September 11, 2008

Terror 'toonist

Dept. of gallows humor
Earlier this month, syndicated cartoonist Matt Bors found a new fan in none other than Salim Hamdan, the man tried and convicted for once having been Osama Bin Laden’s driver.
By CLIF GARBODEN | August 20, 2008

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Lovely, anime charm with a jarring third act
The novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui in 1965 had been adapted some eight times before this, but never quite so adorably .
By JASON O'BRYAN | August 20, 2008

Mound wisdom

Cartoons of pitchers and catchers talking are a New Yorker staple. What is so funny about rubbers?
The first pitcher/catcher cartoon in the New Yorker was also the simplest.
By MIKE MILIARD | August 19, 2008

Funny fundraiser

Hip cash for Kansas rep
The term “Internet famous” brings a few things to mind.
By JONATHAN SEITZ | August 13, 2008

Murder, she wrote

Interview: Tana French's deep crime novels
"It’s always more fun to write people who are really messed up or really vicious."
By CLEA SIMON | August 05, 2008

Off the beaten path

William Walsh’s work spans from the porn business to Calvin Trillin
William Walsh first wrote Without Wax: A Documentary Novel as a short story about a young man caught up in the world of triple-X adult films.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | August 05, 2008

Rural libertarians

Disorganized crime, rendered elegantly, in Arkansas
For something so full of personal quirks and whimsical detail, John Brandon's first novel, Arkansas, is a sober, even dignified, read.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | July 30, 2008

Parody flunks out

Political humor is no longer welcome in Academia as administrators choke the life out of parody
Artist Barry Blitt’s brilliant illustration — which sought to satirize the naysayers who portray Obama as a flag-burning, unpatriotic Muslim and his wife as a black-power radical — cut to the core of today’s political paradox.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | July 30, 2008

Yaddo and MacDowell: Works in Progress

Alone again, artistically: A glimpse of what it’s like to be present at the creation
This article originally appeared in the July 18, 1978 issue of the Boston Phoenix.
By D.C. DENISON | July 24, 2008

Where has all the Gonzo gone?

In the first presidential election since the death of Hunter S. Thompson, we finally realize what we've lost
On top of everything else they’ve blighted over their awful eight-year reign, the Bushies did this: they killed Hunter S. Thompson.
By MIKE MILIARD | July 28, 2008

Local colors

Mysterious doings in Providence
Two and a half years after publication of the well-received debut novel, Carom Shot , fans of the Providence-set mystery novel are finally seeing a series get underway.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | July 16, 2008

Parlor salon

Spreading the words in Salem

By NINA MACLAUGHLIN | July 16, 2008

HOT TOPICS

Barack Obama , John McCain , Sarah Palin , National Football League , George W. Bush , Denver Broncos , AFC East Division , AFC South Division , AFC West Division , American Football Conference

Books

Harry Potter

Media

Barack Obama

Entertainment

Poetry

Sports

Baseball

James Frey

Boston Red Sox

AL East Division