Books category, Page 11

“Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir” (Little, Brown) Jann S. Wenner takes us on a long, strange trip with his accessible and entertaining rock ‘n’ roll memoir. As the founder, co-editor and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, Wenner had an unusual back stage pass to the rock ‘n’ roll revolution...

NEW YORK — This fall, Art Spiegelman will receive an honorary National Book Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He feels honored, and a little worried. The unexpected pleasure of being cited by the National Book Foundation comes months after the jarring saga of his Pulitzer Prize-winning “Maus” being...

Horror writer Peter Straub, who cemented his place in the genre with works including “Ghost Story,” “The Talisman” and “A Dark Matter,” has died. He was 79. Straub’s son, Benjamin, told the Los Angeles Times he died “surrounded by love ones” in Manhattan on Sunday from complications due to a...

NEW YORK — On nearly every basketball court around the world —from NBA arenas to elementary school gyms — you’ll see players of all sizes regularly attempting long 3-point shots. There’s one man largely credited with transforming basketball from a must-see above the rim game to box office-long range shooting:...

NEW YORK — Barbara Ehrenreich, the author, activist and self-described “myth buster” who in such notable works as “Nickel and Dimed” and “Bait and Switch” challenged conventional thinking about class, religion and the very idea of an American dream, has died at age 81. Ehrenreich died Thursday morning in Alexandria,...

In 1940, Seattle-based Boeing engineers designed a massive beast of an aircraft. The B-29 Superfortress — composed of 55,000 parts — had a tail three-stories high, enormous propellers and a 5,500-mile range. The aircraft, one of which is on display at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, would play a key role...

“Fox Creek” by William Kent Krueger (Atria) Retired sheriff and part time private detective Cork O’Connor is working the grill in his Aurora, Minnesota, restaurant when a stranger wanders in looking for help finding his wife, Delores, who has run off to have an affair with a Native American named...

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Salman Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran’s leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York. A bloodied Rushdie,...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “We’ll never get outta here alive.” That’s what was running through Kyle Petty’s mind one day at a dirt track in Pender County, N.C. As Kyle remembers it, he was 18 at the time and had just started racing — and being the grandson of racing legend,...

Local historians and government leaders on Monday celebrated the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Pittsburgh native David McCullough and said he played a pivotal role in helping to preserve Southwestern Pennsylvania history. McCullough, who grew up in Point Breeze, died Sunday at 89. Two local history organizations — the...

Jennette McCurdy is well-aware the title of her new book, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” (Simon & Schuster) is attention-grabbing. She also readily admits that she means every word. “It’s something that I mean sincerely, I’m not saying it to be flippant.” McCurdy, who co-starred in Nickelodeon shows “iCarly” with...

“The Last White Man” by Mohsin Hamid (Riverhead) Anders wakes up to find he’s no longer white. After confiding in his friend, Oona, the two discover this is not an isolated case; all over town and beyond, white people are finding their skin suddenly turning dark. “The Last White Man,”...

NEW YORK — Decades after the release of Michael Mann’s “Heat,” the classic crime thriller has endured in the minds of fans, critics, peers and the director himself. He had so much left to say. “There’s always the sense of being shortchanged,” Mann said during a Zoom interview from his...

“Winter Work” by Dan Fesperman; Alfred A. Knopf (352 pages, $28) Many a Berlin-set spy novel comprises a tale of two cities which plays out during the heated tensions of the Cold War. Dan Fesperman’s latest spy thriller, “Winter Work,” offers a refreshing variant on this by immersing its reader...

“The Force of Such Beauty” by Barbara Bourland (Dutton) It’s about time someone took the princess story that’s normalized to girls and autopsy it with absolute precision. “The Force of Such Beauty” opens on the night of Caroline’s second attempt at escaping Lucomo, the small European country in which she...

CHICAGO — The Doomsday Clock was born in 1947 in Chicago, a Cold War baby delivered as the illustration for the first cover of a new magazine, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It was set at 7 minutes to midnight, an indication of how close a team of revered...

In 1984, George Michael released a song called “Freedom” with his pop duo Wham! Six years later, he put out one of his own called “Freedom! ‘90.” And six years after that? A song called “Free” closed his third solo album, “Older.” The specifics of the liberation he’s describing in...

“Hatchet Island” by Paul Doiron (Minotaur) Stacey Stevens’ old college roommate, now working at a bird sanctuary off the Maine coast, is in a panic. Lobstermen who have made a habit of harassing the facility’s staff are growing more aggressive, and now her boss has gone missing. “Can you please...

“The Church of Baseball: The Making of ‘Bull Durham’: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings and a Hit” by Ron Shelton (Knopf) Former minor-league ballplayer Ron Shelton has written and directed a host of sports-themed movies, but it’s doubtful anyone has told him they’ve named their children after...

LOS ANGELES — Ibram X. Kendi has spent years studying racism’s history, and he is intimately familiar with its violence, horrors and brutalities. So when he became a father six years ago, the thought of exposing his daughter to the legacy and realities of racism deeply troubled him. The issue...

“Elsewhere” by Alexis Schaitkin (Celadon Books) Sometimes it’s fun to read something that doesn’t fit in any particular category. “Elsewhere,” the new novel from Alexis Schaitkin (“Saint X,” 2020), is best described as a dark fairy tale, with elements of the supernatural, but with something very real to say about...

“Outside” by Ragnar Jonasson (Minotaur) It’s reunion week in Iceland for Daniel, Armann, Gunnlaugur, and Helena, who were tight in college and like to get together every year or so to drink heavily and catch up. They all have issues. Daniel has been lying about how poorly his acting career...

NEW YORK — James Patterson is apologizing for saying that white male writers are being subjected to “just another of form of racism,” comments the best-selling author had made during an interview with The Sunday Times in London. Facing widespread criticism on social media, Patterson tweeted this week that “I...

PORTLAND, Ore. — A self-published romance novelist who once wrote an online essay called “How to Murder Your Husband” was sentenced Monday to life in prison with the possibility of parole for murdering her husband at his workplace in Portland four years ago. Nancy Crampton Brophy, 71, was convicted of...

NEW YORK — On Valentine’s Day 1972, a musical opened off-Broadway needing a lot of love. It was already $20,000 in debt and the reviews were mixed to poor. A decision had to be made: Keep going or give it the kiss off? The choice to continue was a risky...