Joe Litvak is a former member of the Bowdoin English Department who left in 1999 to join Tufts’ English Department. His book revisits the aims and cultural effects of the House Un-American Activities Committee. JL considers the Jewish witness, so often before the committee, and how he came to be the embodiment of an epitomic …
This book is well worth the trek to the 4th floor of Hubbard Hall. Written by the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (another favorite of mine), it is the story of George Hall’s attempt to adjust to life after retirement. All the guy wants to do is listen to …
After visiting the Galapagos Islands this summer, I became curious about the natural history of this fascinating region that is both remote and vibrant. “The Voyage of The Beagle” is a journal written by Charles Darwin on his 5-year voyage aboard a naval survey brig between 1831 and 1836. During his visits to South America …
I would normally never have read a book like this, not only because I would never have cared to seek it out, but also because it seemed to be overly scholarly for leisure reading. However, when your flight is delayed by six hours and you have finished the two books you packed with you, you …
Three Cups of Tea is the true story of Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber who turned his failed attempt at summiting K2 into a life’s mission to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Wandering off a trail, Mortenson found himself in the village of Korphe, where he was drawn to their kindness and moved …
I read a lot of art history and criticism partly because I like it, and partly because art scholars seem able to write simultaneously for the professional and non-professional, something less common among music historians. Part of this, of course, is that the painting sits there while you look at it, and can be more …
Salman Rushdie is, perhaps, the most beloved and controversial author of our time. His works have conjured up feelings of both admiration and anger. In 1989, the religious leader of Iran issued a fatwa against him because of his questionable depiction of the prophet Muhammad in The Satanic Verses. Rushdie, then, is as much a …
Haruki Marukami’s Kafka on the Shore is a story told through two concurrent narratives. The odd-numbered chapters tell the story of Kafka Tamura, a fifteen-year-old boy, who runs away from home to find his long-lost mother and sister and to escape an Oedipal prophecy put on him by his oppressive father. The even-numbered chapters tell …
Enchanting. If I had to use only one word to describe Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, it would be enchanting. Stardust is, of course, more than that. It is a rip-roaring adventure with daring deeds and dastardly villains. It is also a charming and surprisingly bloodthirsty imagining of fairy tales. It is, above all, a love story. …
I imagine there comes a moment in everyone’s life when they think to themselves, “I need to read the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft.” For me, that moment came last April and after a surprisingly difficult time I managed to track down the three volumes of his collected stories, At the Mountains of Madness, Dagon …