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Richard Misrach's photographs of post-Katrina New Orleans detail the frustrations and resolve of a surviving city.
For blocks and blocks they appeared — grids, circles, numerals: In post-Katrina New Orleans, those symbols became indelible shorthand, modern hieroglyphics set down in fluorescent paint, runny marker, even chalk embroidered on the sides of what was left of the city's built-architecture — duplexes, shotgun shacks, colonials done in miniature. These markings whispered stories, hash marks that baldly communicated with any passerby the tally of how many bodies remained — humans, pets — and where they might be found inside. Those lines, letters and numbers were a chilling account of disaster. But in the first couple of months after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flood, photographer Richard Misrach began to record a parallel narrative, one that also began to materialize along those walls, fences, husks of rusted automobiles. They were sentences, fragments, warnings and prayers: some dated missives that started then finished weeks later; open letters to the president and, when that didn't work, to God.
For blocks and blocks they appeared — grids, circles, numerals: In post-Katrina New Orleans, those symbols became indelible shorthand, modern hieroglyphics set down in fluorescent paint, runny marker, even chalk embroidered on the sides of what was left of the city's built-architecture — duplexes, shotgun shacks, colonials done in miniature. These markings whispered stories, hash marks that baldly communicated with any passerby the tally of how many bodies remained — humans, pets — and where they might be found inside. Those lines, letters and numbers were a chilling account of disaster. But in the first couple of months after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flood, photographer Richard Misrach began to record a parallel narrative, one that also began to materialize along those walls, fences, husks of rusted automobiles. They were sentences, fragments, warnings and prayers: some dated missives that started then finished weeks later; open letters to the president and, when that didn't work, to God.
Tony Blair covers the Iraq war, George W. Bush, Princess Diana and more in his wide-ranging and frank biography.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair's memoir "A Journey: My Political Life" is a political biography of unusual interest.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair's memoir "A Journey: My Political Life" is a political biography of unusual interest.
Rosecrans Baldwin, a founder of the smart and witty website The Morning News, published his debut novel this week. And while it's smart, "You Lost Me There" has none of the charming sarcasm of the website;
Paretsky's private detective again steps into a hornet's nest as she takes on a new case involving a troubled Iraq war vet, performance art and murder.
I've been following Sara Paretsky's private investigator, V.I. Warshawski, since her first case in 1982 when, in life as well as fiction, female P.I.s were a novelty. Or, I should say, I've been trying to keep up as V.I., known to her friends as Vic, races around Chicago in her little Mustang at all hours of the day and night.
I've been following Sara Paretsky's private investigator, V.I. Warshawski, since her first case in 1982 when, in life as well as fiction, female P.I.s were a novelty. Or, I should say, I've been trying to keep up as V.I., known to her friends as Vic, races around Chicago in her little Mustang at all hours of the day and night.
In intimate and graceful prose, the author taps into the joys of her friendship with writer Caroline Knapp, and the grief that came with her loss.
Decades past high school, Gail Caldwell had the luck to find a true best friend — a woman whose strengths and weaknesses perfectly complemented her own. Then she endured the tragedy of losing her, an ending that she shares at the beginning of her affecting new grief memoir, "Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship."
Decades past high school, Gail Caldwell had the luck to find a true best friend — a woman whose strengths and weaknesses perfectly complemented her own. Then she endured the tragedy of losing her, an ending that she shares at the beginning of her affecting new grief memoir, "Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship."
Wilson's account of her conversion to Islam after moving to Cairo is rich in cultural details but the spiritual ones too often go unsaid.
Religious experience is, by and large, ineffable. This indescribability is, in fact, one of the defining characteristics of mysticism and other forms of spiritual awareness. As listening to a piece of music that moves us to tears may defy our ability to explain those tears, spiritual encounters often resist our desire to describe them.
Religious experience is, by and large, ineffable. This indescribability is, in fact, one of the defining characteristics of mysticism and other forms of spiritual awareness. As listening to a piece of music that moves us to tears may defy our ability to explain those tears, spiritual encounters often resist our desire to describe them.
A woman's superhuman talents are sought by a Pythagorean secret society in its deadly quest for a Mozart manuscript.
A woman's superhuman talents are sought by a Pythagorean secret society in its deadly quest for a Mozart manuscript.
A woman's superhuman talents are sought by a Pythagorean secret society in its deadly quest for a Mozart manuscript.
The author of 'The Book of Salt' follows a North Carolina girl with an unusual auditory disorder through adolescence into adulthood.
In "The Writing Life," Annie Dillard advises would-be writers to find their bone, the thing that drives them to write, and to work as closely to that bone as possible.
In "The Writing Life," Annie Dillard advises would-be writers to find their bone, the thing that drives them to write, and to work as closely to that bone as possible.
The Pulitzer winner brings a strong environmental viewpoint to his new post.
We've been batting our way through W.S. Merwin's yard for a couple hours, swatting mosquitoes in the streambed under the dark wet canopy of towering, philodendron-draped mangoes and looking at some 700 species of palm trees, every one of which he has planted by hand.
We've been batting our way through W.S. Merwin's yard for a couple hours, swatting mosquitoes in the streambed under the dark wet canopy of towering, philodendron-draped mangoes and looking at some 700 species of palm trees, every one of which he has planted by hand.
'Great Gatsby's' Tom Buchanan must travel to Nicaragua in the 1920s on a quest for funds to keep him and wife Daisy in the lifestyle they are accustomed to. The sometimes confusing adventure tale about a Yankee imperialist paints a better picture of Tom that F. Scott Fitzgerald did.
'Great Gatsby's' Tom Buchanan must travel to Nicaragua in the 1920s on a quest for funds to keep him and wife Daisy in the lifestyle they are accustomed to.
'Great Gatsby's' Tom Buchanan must travel to Nicaragua in the 1920s on a quest for funds to keep him and wife Daisy in the lifestyle they are accustomed to.
'Packing for Mars' is her latest humor/science book. So just how does one go potty in zero gravity?
'Packing for Mars' is her latest humor/science book. So just how does one go potty in zero gravity?
'Packing for Mars' is her latest humor/science book. So just how does one go potty in zero gravity?
The author examines the ties between public policies and the troubled economy, and offers some solutions.
The author examines the ties between public policies and the troubled economy, and offers some solutions.
The author examines the ties between public policies and the troubled economy, and offers some solutions.
Yunte Huang's book on Earl Derr Biggers' creation and his real-life counterpart is a provocative work of discovery. It's deeply personal as well.
Yunte Huang's book on Earl Derr Biggers' creation and his real-life counterpart is a provocative work of discovery. It's deeply personal as well.
Yunte Huang's book on Earl Derr Biggers' creation and his real-life counterpart is a provocative work of discovery. It's deeply personal as well.
It's supposed to last all year, "Star Trek 365," a 2.5-inch thick brick of a photo book from Abrams. The publisher has a series of 365 books -- on baseball, roadside America, penguins, punk -- all without any burden of calendaring, just a whole lot of whatever.
Powerful agent Andrew Wylie's plan to sell the e-book backlist of some of his best-known authors -- among them John Updike, Ralph Ellison and Philip Roth -- has come mostly undone.
A biography of American film icon Cecil B. DeMille
You don't have to be much of a film buff to know you're in for a particular treat when you open Scott Eyman's remarkable new biography of the American cinema's iconic director and find a prologue that opens: "On the morning of May 23, 1949, at the Paramount studio on Marathon Street in the heart of Hollywood, Cecil B. DeMille was busily engaged in polishing Billy Wilder's dialogue."
You don't have to be much of a film buff to know you're in for a particular treat when you open Scott Eyman's remarkable new biography of the American cinema's iconic director and find a prologue that opens: "On the morning of May 23, 1949, at the Paramount studio on Marathon Street in the heart of Hollywood, Cecil B. DeMille was busily engaged in polishing Billy Wilder's dialogue."
Suzanne Collins' third installment of her bestselling "Hunger Games" trilogy brings the series to a wrenchingly satisfying conclusion.
Almost two years after Suzanne Collins first burst onto bestseller lists with her dystopian young-adult thriller in which 24 children are dressed up in costumes and forced to compete to the death before a television audience, the final act of the "Hunger Games" trilogy is upon us. One minute after midnight Monday, "Mockingjay" will finally be available to readers, bringing a wrenching conclusion to the tale of a country in chaos and the 17-year-old protagonist who caused it.
Almost two years after Suzanne Collins first burst onto bestseller lists with her dystopian young-adult thriller in which 24 children are dressed up in costumes and forced to compete to the death before a television audience, the final act of the "Hunger Games" trilogy is upon us. One minute after midnight Monday, "Mockingjay" will finally be available to readers, bringing a wrenching conclusion to the tale of a country in chaos and the 17-year-old protagonist who caused it.
Boy meets girl in a sharp-edged novel set during the Vietnam War but stripped of the conventional war-story veneer.
It was a grant that determined the form David Rabe's writing on the Vietnam War would take after he was discharged from the Army in 1967.
It was a grant that determined the form David Rabe's writing on the Vietnam War would take after he was discharged from the Army in 1967.
Charles Yu's 'How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe' offers a vision of time travel that's engaging and unexpectedly spiritual.
Charles Yu's 'How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe' offers a vision of time travel that's engaging and unexpectedly spiritual.
Charles Yu's 'How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe' offers a vision of time travel that's engaging and unexpectedly spiritual.
This moving novel follows an American family as its members navigate the first few years after 9/11 changes the direction and geography of their lives.
Jonathan Franzen begins his fourth novel, "Freedom," with an extended set piece introducing Walter and Patty Berglund, urban homesteaders who, back in the 1980s, moved to the crumbling core of St. Paul, Minn., and became "the young pioneers of Ramsey Hill."
Jonathan Franzen begins his fourth novel, "Freedom," with an extended set piece introducing Walter and Patty Berglund, urban homesteaders who, back in the 1980s, moved to the crumbling core of St. Paul, Minn., and became "the young pioneers of Ramsey Hill."
The volume of previously uncollected writings is a prism offering many looks into the life and mind of the public intellectual.
The volume of previously uncollected writings is a prism offering many looks into the life and mind of the public intellectual.
The volume of previously uncollected writings is a prism offering many looks into the life and mind of the public intellectual.
The scholar concludes his 'The Making of the Nuclear Age' tetralogy with an enlightening and chilling look at recent decades and possibilities for the future.
The concluding volume in the magisterial historical tetralogy Richard Rhodes calls "The Making of the Nuclear Age" bears a weighty subtitle that hints at its somewhat discursive nature.
The concluding volume in the magisterial historical tetralogy Richard Rhodes calls "The Making of the Nuclear Age" bears a weighty subtitle that hints at its somewhat discursive nature.
The iconic protagonist Arkady Renko is back, this time investigating the death of a young woman and the insidious underbelly she represents.
The iconic protagonist Arkady Renko is back, this time investigating the death of a young woman and the insidious underbelly she represents.
The iconic protagonist Arkady Renko is back, this time investigating the death of a young woman and the insidious underbelly she represents.
His new "The Adventures of Ook and Gluk" stars cavemen versions of his books' young protagonists. 'Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future' versions, that is.
His new "The Adventures of Ook and Gluk" stars cavemen versions of his books' young protagonists. 'Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future' versions, that is.
His new "The Adventures of Ook and Gluk" stars cavemen versions of his books' young protagonists. 'Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future' versions, that is.
In a cleverly subtle A-Z style, Michael Largo reveals some of the puzzling beliefs and excesses of religions, cults and spiritual movements.
In a cleverly subtle A-Z style, Michael Largo reveals some of the puzzling beliefs and excesses of religions, cults and spiritual movements.
In a cleverly subtle A-Z style, Michael Largo reveals some of the puzzling beliefs and excesses of religions, cults and spiritual movements.
In 'No Place Like Home: A Memoir in 39 Apartments,' Brooke Berman charts her itinerant lifestyle.
In 'No Place Like Home: A Memoir in 39 Apartments,' Brooke Berman charts her itinerant lifestyle.
In 'No Place Like Home: A Memoir in 39 Apartments,' Brooke Berman charts her itinerant lifestyle.
Albert Cossery explores moral questions through an absurdist filter.
Albert Cossery explores moral questions through an absurdist filter.
Albert Cossery explores moral questions through an absurdist filter.
Ayelet Waldman is a worrier. Because she is the mother of four children, ages 7 to 16, that shouldn't be surprising.
An Irish detective finds himself pursuing a case that has haunted him for two decades.
At the heart of Tana French's third crime novel, "Faithful Place," lies a tragic misunderstanding. For 22 years, Frank Mackey of the Dublin Undercover Squad (who appeared in French's previous novel, "The Likeness") has defined himself by the loss of his first love, Rosie Daly, who ditched him — and was never seen or heard from again — on the night they were to elope to England. One moldy suitcase found behind the fireplace of a derelict house derails a lifetime's assumption. Inside the suitcase: shreds of clothes, two long-expired ferry tickets to London and Rosie's birth certificate.
At the heart of Tana French's third crime novel, "Faithful Place," lies a tragic misunderstanding. For 22 years, Frank Mackey of the Dublin Undercover Squad (who appeared in French's previous novel, "The Likeness") has defined himself by the loss of his first love, Rosie Daly, who ditched him — and was never seen or heard from again — on the night they were to elope to England. One moldy suitcase found behind the fireplace of a derelict house derails a lifetime's assumption. Inside the suitcase: shreds of clothes, two long-expired ferry tickets to London and Rosie's birth certificate.
Elizabeth Gilbert, devastated after her marriage failed, went to Italy, India and Indonesia to recover and to try to rediscover something about herself.
