Baudolino book by Umberto Eco reviewed by Jennifer Stock
Peter Ibbetson
In a time of disaster one can always revert to storytelling. At least that’s the tradition that Boccaccio hands down to us, and Umberto Eco, ever mindful of the past,…
July 2013
Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia book by Orlando Figes reviewed by Katherine Poltorak
An exhibit at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg is called Dvoe, or “Twosome.” It pairs paintings and sculptures to suggest dualities in Russian art: East vs. West, peasant vs.…
Letter to an Undergraduate from Toni Dorfman
This issue’s contributor, Toni Dorfman, is a playwright and an associate professor of Theater Studies at Yale. Her plays include Family Wolf and Rounding Cassiopiea. Dear Student, Your heart is…
In Short
Mismatch: The Growing Gulf between Women and Men, by Andrew Hacker (Scribner; $25) Inequality in the boardroom and infidelity in the bedroom are complicating relationships between the sexes like never…
Profs’ Picks What’s on the nightstands of Yale’s Professors
Amy Bloom Lecturer, English Department My summer reading ranged from the minor (the Robert Tannenbaum mysteries—with Butch Karp, the DA with the soul of a Jewish mother and his sexy,…
After book by Francine Prose reviewed by David Lau
They say it’s for your protection. First, it’s the increase in metal detectors. Then, the search and seizures. Random drug tests. Censored books. After the tragedy, you hear that it’s…
Any Human Heart: The Intimate Journals of Logan Mounstuart book by Arthur Phillips reviewed by Christopher Grobe
Those familiar with William Boyd’s past antics cannot help but approach his latest work, Any Human Heart, in a lighthearted manner. After all, this latest novel is inextricably linked to…
The Da Vinci Code book by Dan Brown reviewed by Marissa Ain
The latest art history mystery by Dan Brown is a fast-paced book that is hard to put down. With deliciously short chapters that usually end in cliff-hangers, The Da Vinci…
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book by J.K. Rowling reviewed by Emma Pollack-Pelzner
A few weeks ago I mentioned to a group of friends that I was working on a review of the new Harry Potter book. Most of them scoffed and tittered,…
Samaritan book by Richard Price reviewed by Dan Mattingly
Read the first few pages of Samaritan, Richard Price’s latest epistle from the ghetto, and it’s clear Price wants this book to be a serious thriller. It begins with a…