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Richard Ford finds his place in 'Canada'

By David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times Book Critic — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 PDT

The author's newest novel finds him returning to a theme of adolescents adrift but acknowledges geography in a way he hasn't until now embraced.

It's tempting to call Richard Ford a writer of place. Beginning with his first novel, 1976's "A Piece of My Heart," the 68-year-old author has tended toward the border among landscape, language and character, using setting to help drive his narratives. Think of Frank Bascombe, who in "The Sportswriter," "Independence Day" and "The Lay of the Land" drifts across the bland surfaces of New Jersey, seeking not stimulation but a stasis similar to that of the suburbs where he resides. Or the people of Ford's Montana books, "Rock Springs" and "Wildlife": etched by the stark environment in which they find themselves, staring down the elements of their lives.

Poem: Stanley Plumly's 'Cancer'

Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 PDT

In recent years, poet Stanley Plumly gave readers "Posthumous Keats," a gorgeous, award-winning prose meditation on the great English Romantic poet's life and death. With "Orphan Hours: Poems" (W.W. Norton: $25.95), the Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, ruminates again on the topic of mortality, though this time the subject is much closer to home. Surely there's a struggle ahead for anyone with a serious illness, but in the poem "Cancer," he offers a respite from the horror by addressing the disease from a startling, cosmic perspective.

Review: Edward O. Wilson tackles 'The Social Conquest of Earth'

By Thomas H. Maugh II, Special to the Los Angeles Times — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 PDT

The scientist dissects the origins of the human condition in his latest work.

The Social Conquest of Earth

'The Other America' takes the veil off American poverty

By Scott Martelle, Special to the Los Angeles Times — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 PDT

Fifty years on, Michael Harrington's book resonates in its impassioned look at one of the country's 'greatest scandals.'

Michael Harrington's "The Other America: Poverty in the United States" had been in print for about 20 years when I first read it in the early 1980s. I was a young journalist then, and I had found a musty paperback edition in a basement-level used bookstore around the corner from my apartment near the heart of Jamestown, N.Y., where my entry-level newspaper wages were so low that, after rent and student loan payments, I couldn't afford a car.

San Francisco literary figure Kathi Kamen Goldmark has died

By Carolyn Kellogg — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:31:00 PDT

Kathi Kamen Goldmark, a beloved figure in the San Francisco literary scene, died Thursday.

Not Just for Kids: In Alyson Noel's 'Fated,' teen embraces her shaman legacy

By Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 PDT

A kickoff to a new, four-part paranormal romance series called Soul Seekers, 'Fated' by Alyson Noel is about a teen girl who finds she descends from a line of shamans.

Fated

Clarice Lispector: Four novels form a picture of Brazil novelist

By Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:00:00 PDT

New translations of Clarice Lispector novels include the posthumous assemblage 'A Breath of Life,' 'Near to the Wild Heart,' 'Agua Viva.'

For a handful of people, Clarice Lispector's "A Breath of Life" being published in English for the first time is very good news. Sadly, that handful is fairly small.

Carol Burnett to publish memoir about her daughter

By Carolyn Kellogg — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:49:00 PDT

"Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story," about Burnett and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton, will come to shelves in April 2013.

"Carrie and Me: A Mother-Daughter Love Story," about Burnett and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton, will come to shelves in April 2013.

Authors in L.A. this week: Eli Broad, John Sandford, Sherlock Holmes tribute

By Nick Owchar — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:44:00 PDT

Eli Broad's 'The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking' doesn't just advertise being unconventional in the title. The book itself is unconventional too.

'Curious George' publisher Houghton Mifflin files for bankruptcy

By Tiffany Hsu — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:49:00 PDT

Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday but expects to emerge from restructuring by the end of June.

Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday but expects to emerge from restructuring by the end of June.