Books Archive |
Istanbul Passage - A brilliant editor told me that the best time to start reporting a big story is after everyone else is finished. The parade of media leaves town, and the people
It Might Have Been What He Said - Isabel Simpson can't say she wasn't warned. John Vance, her close friend and very wise judge of character, told her: James Willoughby was trouble. Yes, James writes well ---
It’s All About the Dress: What I Learned in Forty Years About Men, Women, Sex, and Fashion - A fashion designer writes a memoir. Yes, she’s talented, imaginative, courageous. But she’s AARP-aged, and although she describes herself --- accurately, I believe --- as “the longest-surviving female designer in
Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe - This cannot be. There must be some mistake. We are promised "easy" and it is. They say "simple" and they deliver. What are the hidden flaws? Let's look. Start with the introduction.
Italian Family Dining - Artists are often ahead of their time. In the case of Edward Giobbi, this also included his cooking. Back when no one used imported spaghetti, he swore by Italian brands.
Italianissimo: The Quintessential Guide to What Italians Do Best - I can remember traveling to Italy when the dollar was strong and the lira was downtrodden. Trading dollars for lira was quite the jolly experience --- at the currency exchange
ITHAKA: A Daughter’s Memoir of Being Found - She went to the gym early. Came home to change. Was about to go to work when the phone rang. "Is Sarah Saffian there?" "This is Sarah." "My name is Hannah Morgan. I think
J.D. Salinger - “The greatest mind ever to stay in prep school,” Norman Mailer said of him, and for a lot of people, that's pretty much the line on
Jackie Collins: “The Santangelos” - One of the most unpleasant chores in writing comes at the end, when you beg more famous writers for blurbs. It doesn’t matter that my novel is 7,000 words shorter
Jackpot - Do you know the novels of Jean Rhys? So many don't. And that's criminal --- Rhys was one of the greatest storytellers of the last century. She knew all the
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: An Autobiography in Books - In 1986, I wrote a cover story for New York magazine called “The Working Rich: The Real Slaves of New York." My focus was on Carolyne Roehm, a designer of
Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy - Put yourself in her place. Your husband was murdered --- in public, sitting right next to you --- just four months ago. You want to go off in a corner
Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects - If you've been paying attention --- if not, go to your room and read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food --- it should be abundantly clear that the standard American
James M. Cain: ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’ and ‘Double Indemnity’ - SUPPORTING BUTLER: Since the start of 2023, Amazon seems to have gone on a quiet campaign to rid itself of small sites that, collectively, generate revenue worth noticing — and
James M. Cain: Mildred Pierce - James Cain was the master of a chilly, sexy fiction that raised the hair on the back of the neck of the censors. Of the '30s and '40s crime novelists,
James Salter (1925-2015) - June 19, 2015. I was playing poker with my wife and daughter at midnight in Paris --- we couldn't sleep, and we were using potato chips for chips, and there
James Salter (June 10, 1925 – June 19, 2015) - Acorns do not flourish under great oaks. I was lucky to meet Salter when I had formed my own style and was too old for him to hurt me as
James Salter: “Don’t Save Anything: Uncollected Essays, Articles, and Profiles” - I’ve written more about James Salter than any other writer. My summing up: James Salter (1925-2015) The cult classic: A Sport and a Pastime The acknowledged masterpiece: Light Years The best
James Salter: A Sport and a Pastime - James Salter labored under a curse. He was considered a “writer’s writer” --- that is, too good for the masses to appreciate. There are worse things to be called. Still, to
James Salter: All That Is - "A major literary event." That’s the phrase for any novel by James Salter, and especially “All That Is.” First, because Salter is known in the trade as a “writer’s writer” ---
