[From the May 2003 issue of THE RAKE] Kurt Andersen seems to be a man of moderation in all things–with the possible exceptions of coffee and work. As we sit in an elegant anteroom of the Minneapolis Club, he is brimming with creative energy, seeing and making connections across vast intellectual territory. One Italian loafer … Read more
Who says the social novel is an endangered species? Well, Jonathan Franzen says it, and even though he’s a smartypants in most other ways, we think he’s a little deluded on this point. Consider Jane Smiley—maybe not the hippest ribbon on the May pole, but certainly an unparalleled novelist and social critic (this is her … Read more
What can you say about Maya Angelou? She’s the sort of person who gets schools named after her. She rose from a childhood marred by poverty, racism, and rape to a status as one of our most distinguished writers, a dignified and sometimes imperious living embodiment of African-American cultural pride. Her life has been one … Read more
If you’re a fan of Robert Stone’s, but always found him a bit too long in the reading, know that his most recent novel, Bay of Souls, is his shortest. That doesn’t mean it’ll be any less dense than, say, A Flag for Sunrise or Damascus Gate. In fact, Stone is one of those writers … Read more
Plenty of our regional authors routinely tackle stories about small-town Great Plains life, and Jonis Agee is no exception there. Less common is her abiding interest in stock-car racing. The Nebraska native (who taught at St. Kate’s here in Minnesota for two decades) has staked a claim as small-press fiction’s correspondent among the blue-collar set … Read more
Now in its 15th year of honoring the best wordsmiths our state has to offer, the Book Awards have expanded to honor publishers, booksellers, and others in the local literary world. The winners will be announced at a free public ceremony at the Fitzgerald, which will also be televised June 1 on TPT-17. (Rumors that … Read more
We’ve known for years about this wonderful little museum on the shores of Lake Calhoun. Founded by the man behind the cardiac pacemaker and Medtronic, it celebrates the many wondrous roles of electricity in medicine and in life. It’s always been a fun place to take the kids—and now they’re really going to foam at … Read more
A weighty drama about the burdens of guilt and redemption seems like an awful stretch for writer and first-time director Ed Solomon. His previous credits are all comedies, including Men In Black, Charlie’s Angels, and the Bill & Ted movies—not terrible films, but ones with absolutely zero gravitas. On the plus side, cinematographer Roger Deakins … Read more
One cannot live on arthouse films alone. The summer tradition of big, booming, brains-optional blockbusters has returned, and the first two out of the gate are ones we’ve been looking forward to, perhaps a little guiltily. We don’t have any grandiose expectations for the return of Marvel Comics’ mutant metaphors for prejudice and teenage angst; … Read more
So much nostalgia TV in one place, you can almost smell the crimebusting. In case you feel like watching the entire run of a 70s cop show from the beginning but you have no idea which one, this collection is, like, a total godsend. Here are the very first episodes—not the pilots, when the cast … Read more