Books Archive

The Friends of Eddie Coyle - Peter Blauner, who wrote some of the best “Law & Order” episodes and, more recently, a chilling crime novel, says" “I think ‘Eddie Coyle’ is the best crime novel I've

The Garden of Eden - I was talking with a well-known novelist --- female, if you must know --- about Ernest Hemingway. I praised the early books, especially the first one, The Nick Adams Stories. She

The Gardener Says: Quotes, Quips, and Words of Wisdom - The earth turns. The pages fall from the calendar. And the first amusing garden book arrives. This one is a host/hostess gift for the passionate planter in your life. It’s “The

The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft - Guest Butler Jane Chafin is director of the Offramp Gallery in Pasadena, California.  A former painter, she has worked as a registrar at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and written

The Gift of Gifts: A holiday story - O.Henry (William Sydney Porter) wrote The Gift of the Magi for his New York World column in December, 1905. If you know anything about him, you won’t be surprised that

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are - My mother never said, “But what about the extra point questions?” She didn’t have to. School was my way out of our split-level, middle class condition, and that meant fantastic

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are - I'm closing in on THE END of a novel. It's set in the present, but it draws on ancient wisdom. As is my custom, I've read all the classic texts.

The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing - "The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing” was published in 1999. I inhaled it. The characters were people I kind of knew. They spoke the way I wanted my characters

The Glass Key - "The Glass Key," published in 1930, was Dashiell Hammett's favorite book --- quite a statement when you consider that he also wrote "The Thin Man" and "The Maltese Falcon."  “The clues

The Glen Rock Book of the Dead - November 1: “the day of the dead”. In the Mexican/Spanish tradition, it's the day when those who have passed on find an easier passage to visit the

The Good Earth - Once upon a time, Pearl S. Buck's 1931 page-turner of a novel was the one book about China that everyone had to read. It won the Pulitzer Prize. It won

The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve - If you want your child to get into a good pre-school in my city, it’s not just a matter of forking over $15,000. First you have to get an application. And

The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World’s Most Elegant Woman - Fashion Week recently ended. I looked at the clothes and thought what I so often do: Where is the new Coco Chanel? Chanel was a cheerleader for self-sufficiency, in

The Gramercy Tavern Cookbook - A close friend and I gave a Valentine's Day dinner for a VIP guest list: mostly old friends. I cooked a simple meal: braised beef, mashed potatoes, peas. The animating

The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People - They weren’t prosperous to start with, but it suddenly seems that there’s no money to be found and no food they can afford. The government passes legislation to help them.

The Great Pool Jump - Seriously long ago --- in 1970 --- I reviewed Feelgood: A trip in time and out for the Boston Globe. I can’t tell what knocked me out more, this astonishing

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel - GUEST BUTLER: Elise O'Shaughnessy was my editor at Vanity Fair. Ah, those were the days. I'm not crazy about clubs, whether they'd have me as a member or not. And

The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise - In 1974, when Pico Iyer was a teenager, he traveled to India, where his father was meeting with the Dalai Lama. There the boy and the most exalted monk in Buddhism

The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion - Oprah goofed. Yes, Oprah --- everyone's pal Oprah, please-run-for-President Oprah, sure-to-be-beatified Oprah --- has made a boo boo. Doesn't happen often. But when it does...well, this time she's blown an entire summer. All

The Handmaid’s Tale - Washington, D.C.: A judge understood that a cesarean section might kill a seriously ill 27-year-old woman who was 26 weeks pregnant. Still, he ordered that she undergo the procedure. Both