Book Review: 'A Map Of Betrayal'
Alan Cheuse reviews "A Map of Betrayal" by Ha Jin.
Books
P.D. James Believed Mysteries Were Made Of Clues, Not Coincidences
The best-selling author died Thursday. She was 94. In 1987, James told Terry Gross that while the "shock of finding the bodies is important" in her novels, she personally doesn't like "messy lives."
Watch Your Head When Checking Out Murakami's Strange 'Library'
Haruki Murakami's 2008 novella about a young student trapped in an eerie library has just been translated into English. Critic Alan Cheuse calls it awfully weird and utterly down to earth.
Backstage With Janis Joplin: Doubts, Drugs And Compassion
John Byrne Cooke was Janis Joplin's road manager from 1967 until her untimely death in 1970. So he saw a lot of rock history up close — and describes some of the details in a new memoir.
Pope Francis As Reformer, Evangelizer — And Doctrinal Conservative
Austen Ivereigh, author of a new biography of Pope Francis, says the media have misjudged the pope's comments on abortion and homosexuality — but that Francis is a radical in other respects.
Purple Spirit Ninjas And Mohawked Foxes: 'Shutter' Is A New Adventure
The first six issues of Shutter have been released as a trade paperback, and critic Etelka Lehoczky praises the comic's decidedly pointed take on classic exploration and adventure narratives.
If Literature's Great Characters Could Text, They'd Charm Your Pantalets Off
Texts from Jane Eyre imagines a Mr. Rochester who worries over his "attic wife" and a super flirty Scarlett O'Hara: "did you know that pantalets are out this year[?] that's why I'm not wearing any :)"
Mark Strand's Poetry Moved Easily From Common To Sublime
Poet laureate Mark Strand has died at age 80. He spurned conventional form and wrote spare and haunting prose, which won him the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1999.
An Aging Rake, An Ingenue, And A Strapping Young Painter In 'Tristana'
NYRB Classics has just reissued Tristana, an 1892 novel by the great Spanish author Benito Pérez Galdós. Critic Juan Vidal says Tristana's intelligence and emotional richness is comparable to Dickens.
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Mark Strand Dies At 80
The Canadian-born poet was known for his wit and introspection. He also won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and Yale University's Bollingen Prize.