rakemag Oliver Tuanis writes, “When Oklahoma reinstated the death penalty after a twenty-five-year moratorium, murders increased.” [“Dead Serious,” March] Doesn’t that statement at least deserve a footnote that the Oklahoma City bombing occurred after the reinstatement? How can we take anyone seriously who omits such a relevant fact? The writer also cites the fact that “108 … Read more
Nearing ninety, Herman Wouk is still churning them out. Well, not exactly. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Caine Mutiny, who went onto write such compulsively readable, middlebrow classics as Marjorie Morningstar, Winds of War, and War and Remembrance, apparently was doing his millennial homework during the ten years it took come up with his … Read more
A mystery writer of too many pen names to count (at least eight), we love Westlake best when he writes under the nom de crime Richard Stark. His series about the amoral and ruthlessly efficient thief named Parker is top of the line. But Westlake’s also a master of lighter stuff, and this month brings … Read more
Prince isn’t alone in taking a certain royal tint to heart. Alice Walker’s first and still most prominent novel, The Color Purple, earned her a well-deserved Pulitzer and a well-meaning film adaptation by Steven Spielberg. Later this year, it’ll debut as a musical in Atlanta before hitting Broadway. Her new novel, Now Is the Time … Read more
Let’s face it. One reason you like Byatt is because she’s so formidably smart, so unafraid to indulge her knowledge (or curiosity), that she makes you feel smart. Well, even if you won’t cop to that, we will. “The Stone Woman,” from her new collection, The Little Black Book of Stories (available April 20) had … Read more
In a world where Dr. Seuss has his own postage stamp and the tales of Lemony Snicket provide some of the best reading for adults, not to mention kids, it only makes sense that the Loft would continue with its Festival of Children’s Literature. The third annual conclave will offer wannabes and already-theres classes and … Read more
Crossing the river on 35W the other day, we were reminded of the beauty of raptors. There, soaring above the traffic, was a bald eagle in all its unmistakable majesty. Alas, we could only enjoy it for a split second as we had to slam on the brakes to avoid another car, whose driver flashed … Read more
One thing’s for sure, this’ll be the bloodiest film so far this year not starring Jesus. It’ll certainly be a lot more fun. Word is that the second half of Quentin Tarantino’s revenge thriller is a little heavier on spaghetti-Western homage than Vol. 1 was, but that’s not to say QT’s sheathed the Hong Kong-style … Read more
Ninety minutes into Lars Von Trier’s three-hour experimental drama, the painfully slow pacing had us so bored we nearly got up and left. That would have been a mistake. Staged with deliberate artificiality and an icy-bleak view of the human condition, Dogville is not easy to watch or to love. But this nightmare parallel to … Read more
As the put-upon boss of the world’s worst detective once observed, “Give me ten men like Clouseau and I could destroy the world.” But of course, there’s only one man like Peter Sellers, despite the painful attempts of Ted Wass, Roberto Benigni, and Alan Arkin to make us forget that. (Prediction: Steve Martin’s upcoming remake … Read more