Books Archive |
Monsieur Proust - All writers who have seen their masterpieces rejected by publishers delight in the fact that “Du côté de chez Swann” was rejected by several publishers and that Andre Gide returned
Monsoon Solo: Voices Once Submerged - Norman Mailer said you don’t really know a woman until you’ve met her in court. I say you don’t know a woman until you’ve read her poems. If I had to pick
MOSAIC: War Monument Mystery - War is, by definition, an indictment of a flaw in the character of nations and human intelligence, a tragedy, a defeat no matter who wins. Of America’s post-World War II
Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War - Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers, died on June 16, 2023 at 92. The publisher called it a Young Adult book. It’s better than that: a National Book Award
Mountain: Portraits of High Places - I’ve known Sandy Hill for almost three decades, and every time I’ve heard she’s gone off to climb some mountain or other, I’ve thought the same thing: She’s nuts. I would
Mouthpiece: A Life in — and Sometimes Just Outside — the Law - Do you remember Bonfire of the Vanities, the late-'80s mega-bestseller by Tom Wolfe? In that novel, a Wall Street trader --- a 'Master of the Universe'
Mozart - February 27, 2006: Mozart's 250th birthday. He's looking good for someone his
Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra - "Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra,” is my favorite tell-all. George Jacobs was Sinatra’s live-in valet from 1953 to 1968. He wrote his memoir with the help of veteran
Murphy’s Laws of Songwriting - When I was preparing to write the introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of Paul Simon’s Graceland, I listened to it dozens of times. Most of those listening sessions were
My “lunch” with Nora Ephron, years after her death - Meg Ryan starred in “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail” --- movies written and sometimes directed by Nora Ephron. If you’ve thought of her
My Bad - My Bad Paul Slansky and Arleen Sorkin People make mistakes. When they realize
My Beverly Hills Kitchen: Classic Southern Cooking with a French Twist - My quick way to figure out if a cookbook is worth writing about here is to leave it on my wife’s desk for a few days. Then I count how
My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking - Alice Waters calls Niloufer Ichaporia King “one of the great cooks I know.” It makes Waters crazy that King has steadfastly refused to open a restaurant. But it
My daughter’s summer reading - My daughter and her mother are off to Miami for a week. In Helen’s bag are 4 books. This is a first. Helen doesn’t like to read books. In part because I write
My Father’s Secret War - The greatest thing about The Greatest Generation is how little they burdened their kids. They fought demonic Nazis and maniacal Japanese, and after they won the
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands - One recent evening, as I was trying to justify the purchase of a flat-screen, I stumbled onto Chelsea Handler’s show, “Chelsea Lately.” It’s a nutty format: On the “E!” network,
My Lady of the Bog - The book begins like this: A peat-digger found her, three-and-a half feet deep in the bog, lying on her back, staring up at the heavens; though this was not revealed
My Master Recipes: 165 Recipes to Inspire Confidence in the Kitchen - I own many cookbooks, but only three live in the kitchen. One is Julia Child and Simone Beck’s Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One. Another is just
My Matisse play: a request for your support - SHOPPING ON AMAZON: The business model of this site is Amazon. You start here, buy something there, Butler gets a commission. And not just on the item reviewed. Anything you
My Mother’s Clothes - Caring a lot about clothes is not my thing. Because I’m male, I’m not penalized for this --- unless you think it’s a tragedy to be ignored by the committee
