The World Service's expert reporting of Mandela's memorial service showed why its grant shouldn't be cutLive Coverage of the Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela (World Service)| iPlayerBook at Bedtime (R4) iPlayerAlice's Wunderland (R4) | iPlayerThe BBC comes into its own when covering state events, wheeling out the gravitas-packing team of Huw Edwards, Sophie Raworth and all available Dimblebys to comment on precisely which dignitary is arriving when and wearing what kind of hat. But Nelson Mandela's memorial service wasn't the usual BBC thang. It wasn't the usual media thang, to be fair. Print and TV coverage wavered between lofty (don't these colonials/prime ministers know how to behave?) and sycophantic (Mandela was Mother Teresa, only black and a man). If you wanted to know what was really going on, you had to turn to the World Service.Sitting right inside the stadium, presenters Audrey Brown and Ros Atkins were warm and genuine and, crucially, spontaneous guides to the service. Brown, in particular, kept listeners in touch with what was actually happening. "People on Twitter are asking, 'Where is Obama?', but in the stadium there is no sense of that, people are focusing on what is happening here," she said. And: "There was an undercurrent when Zuma came on stage." She conveyed both sympathy towards President Zuma and an understanding of the people's anger towards him. Such easy humanity from a non-Dimbleby!We zoomed in and out of the memorial action, listening to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
Anne Tyler's latest novel, 'The Beginner's Goodbye,' is a classic mix of the author's themes, most especially oddball characters and the turbulent nature of families and marriages.When you pick up a novel by Anne Tyler, you can expect certain things. It will be set in Baltimore. It will follow... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To coincide with its one-year anniversary on April 18, the Los Angeles Review of Books is re-launching its website in a multimedia platform that will include video, drop-down menus, and new feature articles. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (and Hated) Team' makes it personal.A couple of years ago, for Father's Day, my family bought me the interactive video game MLB 2K9 for the Wii. The great thing about the game, and also its enduring frustration, is its verisimilitude —... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A coming-of-age story by former Angels pitcher Abbott is at its best when describing his influence as a role model off the field.Imperfect Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In this spooky, atmospheric debut novel, readers enter a sterile, off-kilter world of horror — sort of — that is more David Lynch than Stephen King.Threats Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A look at AT&T's Bell Labs documents what in its heyday was truly a marvelous innovation machine and focuses on a handful of compelling narratives.For generations of industry research executives, AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories served as an inspiration: a warren of youthful scientists... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lionel Shriver deftly handles terrorism, politics and satire in 'The New Republic.'It takes guts to write a satire about terrorism — and Lionel Shriver has guts. She has already published biting novels about the failings of the U.S. healthcare system ("So Much for That") and a school shooter... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thane Rosenbaum skillfully mixes fantasy and tragedy in 'The Stranger Within Sarah Stein,' whose heroine weathers her parents' divorce with pluck and defiance.Young adult novelists are increasingly tackling darker subjects: kidnappings, drugs, rape. But few have delved into so many dark subjects... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 'These Dreams of You,' Steve Erickson writes incisively and movingly about issues of family and race, but the novel goes off the rails with tangents.Zan Nordhoc's unhappy family is certainly unhappy in its own ways in Steve Erickson's new novel "These Dreams of You." For instance, in a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 'The Escape Artists' by Noam Scheiber and 'Confidence Men' by Ron Suskind, President Obama's economic recovery plan and his advisors are in the spotlight, but the books' analyses are off the mark in places.On Oct. 28 and 29, 1929, when the great crash devastated the stock market, Herbert... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Late New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid writes about insights gained rebuilding the war-ravaged home of his great grandfather in Lebanon in 'House of Stone.'A yearning for home, wherever that may be, is one of many themes that the late New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid so deftly... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This is a brilliant collection of writings on politics, social and cultural engagement and literary life.Reading for My Life Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Controversial political and social issues are examined with an intellectual passion.Thinking the Twentieth Century Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and the How the World Can Finally Overcome It' describes what spread the pandemic and what could rein it in.Tinderbox Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In reckoning with her friend's suicide, the author pulls readers into that empty space where loss and grief reside.The Guardians: An Elegy Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This is a comprehensive biography of the president and an assessment of his leadership qualities on and off the battlefield.Eisenhower in War and Peace Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This collection of short stories includes the fine 'Frankenwittgenstein,' 'Considering the Bittersweet End of Susan Falls' and uneven others.Hot Pink Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The novel takes place across decades and tells overlapping stories as it tries to piece together a fallen world.Gods Without Men Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In the 2011 Man Booker Prize finalist, the author has pitch-perfect voice and her jazz musician characters have rhythmic conversations.Not unlike its counterpart rock 'n' roll, memorable jazz novels occupy a pretty slim shelf at the local bookstore. Though the music has been gracefully spun into... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Web magazine will publish an expanded look at books on the first Saturday of each month, as stand-alone book review sections in newspapers have dwindled. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-03-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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