Archive for September, 2009

Sam Tanenhaus, The Death of Conservatism (New York: Random House, 2009)

September 29, 2009
By Kevin R. Kosar
Sam Tanenhaus, The Death of Conservatism (New York: Random House, 2009)

A Thoughtful Take on the Travails of Modern Conservatism, by Kevin R. Kosar, October 29, 2009 A cacophony of voices have taken up the topic of “what’s wrong with the right?”  Sam Tanenhaus, editor of the New York Times Book Review, has written an engaging book on the subject. Tanenhaus’s stated interest is in...
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Margaret Halsey, With Malice Towards Some (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1938)

September 22, 2009
By Kevin R. Kosar
Margaret Halsey, With Malice Towards Some (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1938)

A Best Seller in 1938 That Remains a Fun Read, by Kevin R. Kosar, September 22, 2009 Margaret Halsey was all of 27 years of age when she published With Malice Toward Some.  It sold 800,000 copies.  Not a bad way to start a writing career, for sure. The book’s birth was the product...
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Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (New York: Vintage 2004)

September 17, 2009
By Kevin R. Kosar
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (New York: Vintage 2004)

“A Peculiar, Amusing, and Impressive Story,” by Kevin R. Kosar, September 17, 2009 Christopher John Francis Boone has Asperger Syndrome, a disease a bit like autism that leaves its victims with very limited abilities to empathize or interact with other human beings.  This is his story.  As told by him. Before you say, “Oh,...
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Mark Spragg, The Fruit of Stone (New York: Riverhead, 2002)

September 16, 2009
By Kevin R. Kosar
Mark Spragg, The Fruit of Stone (New York: Riverhead, 2002)

There is Fiction, and There Is Literature, by Kevin R. Kosar, September 16, 2009 Fiction fiends are well aware of the squabble that broke out some years back that featured John Irving, John Updike, and Norman Mailer pounding on Tom Wolfe, and Wolfe lashing back.  Updike wrote of Wolfe’s then latest novel, A Man...
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Andrew F. Smith, Hamburger: A Global History (London: Reaktion Books, 2008)

September 7, 2009
By Kevin R. Kosar
Andrew F. Smith, Hamburger: A Global History (London: Reaktion Books, 2008)

Mmmmm, Burgers…., by Kevin R. Kosar, September 7, 2009 I met Andy Smith about a decade ago.  At the time, he was working full-time at an educational not-for-profit organization, and cranking out books on food history at the same time.  I remember being astonished by his work ethic; he got up every day hideously...
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My New Book

My Education Politics Book

Recent Reads

Fiction: John Grisham, The Associate (2009).

Non-Fiction: Todd Kliman, The Wild Vine: A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine (2010).

Non-Fiction: Kathryn A. Jacob, King of the Lobby: The Life and Times of Sam Ward, Man-About-Washington in the Gilded Age (2010).

Non-Fiction: Philip Terzian, Architects of Power: Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and the American Century (2010).

Fiction: David Lodge, Thinks (2001)

Non-Fiction: Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Service, 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition (2010)

Non-Fiction: Christopher Buckley, Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir (2009)

Non-Fiction: Alice Cooper, Alice Cooper, Golf Monster (2007)

Fiction: John Le Carre A Most Wanted Man (2008)

Fiction: John Le Carre Our Game (1995)

Fiction: John Le Carre The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)

Fiction: Peter DeVries Into Your Tent I'll Creep (1971)

Fiction: Peter DeVries Peckham's Marbles (1986)

Fiction: Georges Simenon Three Beds in Manhattan (1964)

Fiction: Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day (1988)