Book Buzz

Thirty years ago in John Byrum's soft-centred Heart Beat , John Heard played beat novelist Jack Kerouac with Nick Nolte as the legendary hippie car thief Neal Cassady. Both have minor walk-on roles in this dramatised documentary about the creation of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl", its first performance in a small San Francisco gallery in 1955, and the subsequent 1957 obscenity trial of its publisher, Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights bookshop fame. The movie is framed by an autobiographical monologue culled from numerous interviews with Ginsberg, performed with some conviction by James Franco, who expertly delivers extracts from the poem to the San Francisco audience. Interspersed are courtroom scenes in which Jon Hamm plays the liberal defence attorney, David Strathairn the perplexed, parodically square prosecutor (he anticipates Mervyn Griffith-Jones in the 1960 Old Bailey trial of Penguin Books for Lady Chatterley's Lover ), and Bob Balaban the judge. The poem is ...

This week, Alexandra Jacobs reviews "The Hiliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women", the new memoir by novelist James Ellroy; Julie Bosman has notes from the field; Kaiama Glover discusses "Some Sing, Some Cry", by award-winning writers and real life sisters, Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza; and Jennifer Schuessler has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host. Popout Original audio source (24bookreview.mp3)

Letters from an aspiring writer with big dreams -- and big delusions about his novel By Mike Sacks and Scott Rothman Thomas Pynchon These letters are excerpted from Mike Sacks' new book of comic writing, "Your Wildest Dreams Within Reason" , available on March 1. Dear Mister Thomas Pynchon: Thank you for taking the time to open this envelope and read what is contained herein. I know that you, like me, are a very busy and serious man, so I don't intend to waste our times. I will have you know that while I am a fan of your work, this is the rst instance in which I have attempted to make contact with you. You could say that I was waiting for the exact right moment and, if you did say that, then you would be right. I am a writer named Rhon Penny (silent h), and I am no longer married. I am writing to you today because I have just nished my latest novel, and it would be my great honor for you to blurb it. If you are unaware, a ...

Dan Chiasson Tibor de Nagy Gallery Larry Rivers: Pyrography: Poem and Portrait of John Ashbery II, 76 x 58 inches, 1977 Tibor de Nagy, the iconic midtown gallery, has been celebrating its sixtieth anniversary with a show that doesnt so much trace its history as distill its early essence. Painters & Poets includes drawings, chapbooks, letters and well-known paintings that emerged from the fantastic collaborations between Frank OHara and Larry Rivers, OHara and Joe Brainard, Brainard and John Ashbery, James Schuyler and Grace Hartigan, among many others. The energy of the poets drove those projects, yet often the painters made them sit still and keep their mouths shut, as we see in the many striking portraits in this show of poets reading, writing, sitting there, spacing out, in every phase of dress and undress. Other times, they inspired one another to produce workslike Hartigans series of paintings made in response to OHaras poem Orangesthat drew from their complementary st...

Scholars say Kafkas (pic) correspondence and his friend Max Brods unpublished diaries should give a better insight into the authors life. ebooks.adelaide.edu.au picJERUSALEM, Feb 26 Writings by Franz Kafka and his friend Max Brod which have been hidden away for decades have been brought to light at an Israeli court and could reveal more on the life of one of the 20th centurys greatest authors.The long-awaited inventory, obtained by Reuters, details contents of safes in Tel Aviv and Zurich. It was submitted on Thursday to a family court in Tel Aviv where a legal battle is being waged over ownership of Max Brods estate.Kafkas The Trial, The Castle and Amerika were published after his death when Brod, his close friend and biographer, ignored the writers dying wish to burn all unpublished work.In 1939 Brod fled the Nazis, taking the last train out of Prague with a suitcase of Kafka papers under his arm. After his death, his estate was passed to his secretary Esther Hoffe, who placed some...

HOT, FLAT, AND CROWDED Why We Need a Green Revolution-- and How It Can Renew America BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN ABOUT THE BOOK: T homas L. Friedmans phenomenal number-one bestseller The World Is Flat has helped millions of readers to see the world in a new way. In his brilliant, essential new book, Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: Americas surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. In this groundbreaking account of where we stand now, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked--how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time. Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the worlds middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is hot, flat, and crowded. Already the earth is being affected in ways tha...

I am tickled pink to announce that the next Live Author Chat Night will be with the charming Leslie Carroll ! Please join us on March 1st when Leslie will be here to talk about her latest release ROYAL PAINS: A Rogues' Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds !! And she has graciously offered up a fabulous prize package! One lucky chat night participant will win an autographed copy of ROYAL PAINS and a crown embroidered tote bag with natural leather handles, an inside pocket, and room for all the books (or e-readers) anyone could possibly schlep! How cute is that tote I ask you!? I've already got one on order for myself :) Close up of tote bag (wrapped presents not included!) CHAT NIGHT DETAILS When: Tuesday, March 1st What Time: 7:00 - 8:00 pm EST Where: http://www.passagestothepast.com All corresponding (questions and answers) will take ! place in the comments section of the Chat Night post (not this one). I will start off the Chat Night with a welcome message and...