books
Fishing for memories off Key West
The following is an excerpt from Carl Hiaasen’s “Bad Monkey,” which will be released on Tuesday. Additional excerpts will be published in Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s Tropical Life.
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books
Soman Chainani hits jackpot with novel ‘School for Good and Evil’
The story of Soman Chainani’s first book, The School for Good and Evil, sounds like a kind of modern fairytale: Young writer lands on the bestseller lists with his first novel, which is promptly sold to a major movie studio for an enormous sum. And Chainani, born in Miami and raised in Key Biscayne, sounds like a creative golden boy, a driven, prize-winning student who graduated summa cum laude from Harvard and racked up fellowships and awards.
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Fiction
A dark journey into Rosemary’s past
Karen Joy Fowler’s new novel goes much further than merely exploring the secrets of a dysfunctional family.
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Politics
Obama’s battle
Jonathan Alter explores the presidential debates, Romney’s big gaffe and the president’s technological advantages
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Fiction
Pandora deals with a big problem
This novel about family and obesity is quick-paced, insightful and sad.
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What are you reading now?
“The Ship of Fools. Cristina Peri Rossi reaches back playfully to some imaginary starting point when stories barked and scolded. She strips her narrative of every conventional comfort that has turned the novel into an anodyne; that keeps us as oblivious about our own violence and inhumanity as the inhabitants of that first ship of fools.”
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Fiction
Orphaned by thugs, saved by a hero
This extraordinary tale of a girl, 8, and her neighbor takes place in a war-torn village in Chechnya.
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Fiction
Life on the lane grows dangerous in Ru Freeman’s novel
A tiny piece of a divided Sri Lanka is the setting for this artful and character-filled novel.
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Fiction
Old hostilities take on new slant in Cristina Garcia’s ‘King of Cuba’
Old hostilities take on a modern slant between Cuba and the United States as an exile plots revenge against ‘El Commandante.’
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Science
Five great scientists with flawed vision
Even geniuses make mistakes, says astrophysicist Mario Livio.
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Nonfiction
‘Smart war’ is license to kill from afar
President Obama has expanded the powers of the CIA to strike down ‘combatants’ with little oversight or accountability.
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What are you reading now?
“After reading Ruth Ozeki’s fabulous A Tale for the Time Being, I asked her for a book recommendation. As a result, I’m currently reading Chang-rae Lee’s A Gesture Life. (I have this idea that I can play a sort of game of telephone with my reading; that next I’ll manage somehow to get a recommendation from Lee and so on.) A Gesture Life produces an instantaneous but increasing sense of unease for the reader as it moves from surface to depth, from the performance of a life to the history hidden in that performance. Sometimes I am afraid to keep going, but it is impossible to put down. A beautiful, beautiful book.”
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Biography
He was an unbelievable showman
The life of the well-traveled Robert Ripley was full of adventure, fame and fortune.
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Fiction
Khaled Hosseini examines generations connected by a Kabul villa in ‘And the Mountains Echoed’
Khaled Hosseini writes a meandering, yet complex and compelling novel about generations connected by a Kabul villa
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History
Historian seeks out forgotten people, places in ‘Here is Where’
A historian explores the country, looking for important spots that our nation has mostly forgotten.
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Fiction
Living on the edge of Florida
Debut novel from Laura Lee Smith explores a fractured family living in a fictional small town on the cusp of change.
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Fiction
Shady characters and politics
John le Carré entertains with his lyrical style in his intriguing suspense novel.
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Nonfiction
The constant traveler revisits Africa
A gutsy Paul Theroux endures a solo trip to the place he explored decades ago.
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What are you reading now?
“I just read a first novel by Holly Goddard Jones, The Next Time You See Me and Jamie Quattro’s first short story collection I Want To Show You More. They’re both young writers, and I think both are so fresh. They just have striking voices.”
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In concert
Bryan Adams strips down in concert, shares photographs
South Florida lends itself to people stripping down. Celebs, residents and tourists do it all the time. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams is no exception.
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Essays
Journalist finds quirky tales on Florida’s back roads
A journalist finds quirky people and entertaining tales on the back roads of the Sunshine State
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Fiction
Stephen King’s sons show big talent in new books
Stephen King’s sons offer moving and satisfying novels, one about a cruel world, the other about a thwarted filmmaker.
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Fiction
Jennifer Gilmore turns adoption experiences into novel
Jennifer Gilmore turns her own experiences with the dehumanizing adoption process into a novel.
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What are you reading now?
“The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen. It’s a fun summer read about girlfriends. I’m always drawn to stories about friendship. And I’m looking forward to reading Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings.”
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Fiction
City of Light evolves
Edward Rutherfurd’s latest historical novel tracks families over the years from 1261 to 1968.
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Fiction
Hardship and hope in Jean Thompson's new novel
Economic times are dreadful in Jean Thompson’s new novel, but hope still abounds
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Horror
Our new enemy has fangs
Werewolves stand in for Muslims in Benjamin Percy’s overwritten novel.
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Author! Author!
The snarkeristic Ben Greenman
Have you ever seen a juggler on a moving sidewalk? Ben Greenman, whose latest novel, The Slippage, (Harper Perennial, $14.99 in paper), a wry, wistful tale of marriage, lust and disconnection, ponders this and other wonders of life.
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Memoir
Angelou’s story of loss and reunion
The author chronicles her often-stormy relationship with her mother.
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What are you reading now?
“Since I’m a bit paranoid about unconsciously mimicking another writer, I read nonfiction while I’m writing a book and fiction when I’m not. I just finished the fourth volume of Robert Caro’s brilliant biography of Lyndon Johnson, The Passage of Power, and I’ve started The 9/11 Commission Report, which I’ve been meaning to read since it was published. Caro may write nonfiction, but his grasp of narrative, imagery, metaphor and his dramatic sensibilities rival those of most first-rate novelists.”
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O, Miami Poetry Festival
Readers vote for their 'That's so Miami' favorite poems
What does the idea of “Miami” conjure? Sunshine, South Beach, Cuban coffee?
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Nonfiction
Portrait of a struggling society
Barbara Garson interviews Americans affected by the Recession and draws conclusions.
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Poetry
Poetry project of Honduran schoolchildren attracts Inaugural poet Richard Blanco
The Inaugural poet and an award-winning poet turned priest are getting Honduran schoolchildren to bare their souls — even when they’re shattered
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Books
‘Running With Scissors’ author tackles self-help
After delving into his demons in best-selling memoirs, Augusten Burroughs tackles yours in a self-help book
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Books
Jill McCorkle celebrates life in new novel
If Jill McCorkle had to sum up her new novel, the description would go something like this: “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
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Fiction
Newcomers change an unfulfilled woman
Claire Messud latest character, a disappointed teacher, dazzles and fascinates in this page-turner.
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History
Turning point
Historian Nathaniel Philbrick paints a clear and compelling portrait of the burgeoning American Revolution
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