Blog Archives

Saturday in the LA Times

In Saturday’s LA Times, I reviewed Benjamin Black’s A Death in Summer. My byline also appeared with a print version of this interview with author Patrick deWitt  — whose novel…

Present!

I don’t think I can come up with all the work I’ve done since February. Recently, I’ve reviewed for the LA Times: The Kid by Sapphire, Bright’s Passage by Josh…

Again, Steve Martin talks about art and it doesn’t suck

On Thursday I went to LACMA to see Steve Martin talk about art. Dave Hickey, his interlocutor, had a hard time keeping up — but who can share a stage…

On Damon Galgut’s In a Strange Room

In today’s LA Times, I review Damon Galgut’s In a Strange Room, beginning: The traveler at the center of Damon Galgut’s new novel “In a Strange Room,” a finalist for…

in the Columbia Journalism Review

In the November/December issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, I look at Blur: How to Know What’s True In the Age of Information Overload by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel,…

Patti and John had a really good dad

Patti and John had a really good dad. It’s terribly sad that he’s gone. We spent so much time with their family that no one ever thought to take pictures….

I voted.

My bookish life

Last week The Paris Review posted my Culture Diary on their blog — parts one and two — which proves that as an LA-based bookish reporter I sometimes get up…

prizes prizes prizes

Yesterday I wrote about the National Book Award finalists for the LA Times. The day before that, I wrote about the Man Booker Prize for the LA Times. Now, I’m…