Arts & Life

Book News: Newly Found Pearl Buck Novel To Be Published This Fall

Annalisa Quinn — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:35:00 +0000

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

A never-before-seen novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl Buck that was discovered in a Texas storage unit will be published in October.

Real Butterscotch: The Beauty Of Sugar And Dairy Transformed

Deena Prichep — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:23:00 +0000

Butterscotch is going through something of a revival. So much so, that two Kitchen Window regular contributors wanted to write about it. Therefore, welcome to the more-than-you-ever-thought-you-needed-to-know-about-butterscotch special coverage. Today is the second in our two-part butterscotch series. Last week's column has more recipes featuring this resurgent flavor.

Poor butterscotch. It seldom gets the love and understanding it deserves.

A Different Kind Of Immigrant Experience In 'Americanah'

Jennifer Reese — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's fourth book, Americanah, is so smart about so many subjects that to call it a novel about being black in the 21st century doesn't even begin to convey its luxurious heft and scope.

'Arrested Development' Leads The Charge For Old Brands In New Media

Neda Ulaby — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:37:00 +0000

Arrested Development returning via Netflix? Just another old-media brand reviving itself on new media.

The TV show, which originally ran on Fox from 2003 to 2006 and unveils new episodes on Netflix next weekend, finds itself in splendid company. Radiohead, Louis C.K., Veronica Mars — all found their audiences with promotion and distribution from big studios and networks. Radiohead was signed to a major music label. Louis C.K. enjoyed HBO specials and TV shows.

China Builds Museums ... But Will The Visitors Come?

Frank Langfitt — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:58:00 +0000

Shanghai did something last fall that few other cities on the planet could have even considered. It opened two massive art museums right across the river from one another on the same day.

The grand openings put an exclamation point on China's staggering museum building boom.

Soderbergh's Liberace, 'Behind The Candelabra'

editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:51:00 +0000

Director Steven Soderbergh had been looking for a way to frame a film about the extravagant entertainer Liberace for years when a friend recommended the book Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace.

The book — a memoir — is by Scott Thorson, who for five years was Liberace's lover, though that wasn't publicly disclosed at the time.

Thorson was 40 years younger than Liberace and still in his teens when they met in 1977.

The Starfleet Divide: The 'Star Trek' Universe Revisits One Of Its Great Debates

editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:47:00 +0000

[Caution: contains pretty abundant spoilers about the Star Trek universe, but only fairly nonspecific ones about the new film.]

Star Trek, director J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot of the ever-optimistic LBJ-era science fiction franchise, somehow walked the flaming tightrope of pleasing Trekkies and civilians alike. Brilliantly recasting the beloved and ancient-or-dead crew of the U.S.S.

Book News: Stephen King's New Bogeyman? Digital Publishing

Annalisa Quinn — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:16:00 +0000

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

Stephen King says his next book, Joyland, will be available only in print.

American Voices On 'The Unwinding' of America's Values

J.P. O'Malley — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Halfway through The Unwinding, George Packer — author of the highly praised The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq (2005) — delineates how quickly political idealism can disappear when one becomes exposed to a world of easy money.

Jeff Connaughton, who served as a legal adviser in the Clinton White House and then cashed in, making millions as a Washington lobbyist, candidly describes how the professional classes changed in the 1980s: "When the benefits exploded on Wall Street and Washington, when it became possible to make millions of dollars in corporate booty ...

Exclusive First Read: 'Big Brother,' By Lionel Shriver

editor — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:03:00 +0000

Lionel Shriver doesn't shy away from hot-button topics. Her breakout novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin, from 2003, was about the mother of a teen who kills seven classmates in a school massacre (it was made into a film with Tilda Swinton). Her 2010 novel, So Much for That, which took aim at the American health care system, was nominated for the National Book Award.