Sunday Books: coverage for March 13, 2011
- 1
This wide-ranging exploration of humanity’s struggle to make sense and maintain order of its ever-growing store of ideas and knowledge is a dense but engaging read.
- 2
The British Egyptologist goes beyond the myths and monuments to look at the world’s first nation-state. Underscored throughout is the contemporary relevance of a ruling system with ancient origins.
- 3
Deb Olin Unferth writes of her own voyage of discovery — a 1987 visit to turbulent Central America.
- 4
Three titles explore Elizabeth Bishop through her poetry and prose and her correspondence with the New Yorker.
- 5
A gifted young girl finds herself in the middle of intrigue amid an Ottoman Empire setting in this enticing debut novel.
- 6
Brandon Mull reinvigorates the quest genre in ‘Beyonders: A World Without Heroes,’ the first book of his new fantasy trilogy, in which an American teen is deposited in the medieval-ish land of Lyria.
- 7
Also reviewed: ‘Day of the Oprichnik’ by Vladimir Sorokin (translated by Jamey Gambrell) and ‘Fair Play’ by Tove Jansson (translated by Thomas Teal).
- 8
This collection of 32 essays about the French city has too much about the authors and not enough about the area and its people.
