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Early this year, the 1989 fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death, originally issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, was reaffirmed–and it’s not just an idle threat; more than fifty people around the world have been murdered because of connections to Rushdie. Nonetheless, the author occasionally risks a public appearance such as this one, at which he’ll read … Read more

As a child, Galway Kinnell says, he was “shy to the point of being mutinous.” Today such a description might be applied to the adolescent writer of a brilliantly destructive computer virus. But Kinnell was born in 1927, which left him little choice but to become a poet. A highlight of his long career would … Read more

God, we hope so. At least as far as we’re concerned. This sprawling book is a random collection of observations about women and men, women without men, women chasing men, women chased by men, and men who aren’t worth the chase, unless it’s to hunt them down and exterminate them. It’s wonderfully sarcastic, beautifully reported, … Read more

The name, French slang for a fake diamond, implies gaudiness, but this new French restaurant is nothing but elegance. Chef/owner Don Saunders crafts simple dishes with sumptuous details. Even the salads dazzle: Mixed greens are dressed with a light and toasty hazelnut vinaigrette; a steak salad is mobbed by crispy fried shallots. With the inclusion … Read more

Despite all the technological retrofitting, not to mention the recent gutting of hours and slashing of budgets, libraries remain one of our most inspiring institutions. Sometimes they even take the show on the road, as with this festival. For nearly a decade, the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library has brought together an esteemed … Read more

Lucia Watson certainly feeds us well at her Uptown restaurant, but sometimes we just want to eat at home, in our own snug kitchen, wearing mismatched socks. That’s what makes her new bakery and takeout annex so brilliant: The baked goods are treat enough, but she doesn’t scrimp on the takeout menu, either. First-rate sandwiches … Read more

When you think about it, the Universal Press Syndicate does have kind of a sinister ring to its name. Did you know that this outfit, which distributes most of our daily comics, flies deadline-dodging artists to its Kansas City headquarters to work out some strips–under supervision? Indeed, “they are locking me in a room to … Read more

Therapists don’t seem overpaid at all, when you consider the parade of misery that walks through their offices every day. And watching a family squirm wretchedly through a bitter divorce has to be one of the less rewarding professional experiences. Yet, seen through the eyes of Noah Baumbach (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), and … Read more

Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, written in 1879, has a long and storied production history. Fearing audience outrage, directors of some early productions ended the show with Nora peeking her head back inside the drawing room–so as to gaze playfully upon her husband Torvald after defiantly slamming out of the room. Then, in the 1980s, … Read more

The presidential campaign of George McGovern in 1972 marked the high point–and apparently the end point–of humane idealism in American politics, and this documentary details that incredible grassroots campaign. Well, Richard Nixon won the fight, but this film captures a brief moment when people believed America could be a country the whole world could admire. … Read more