Most Popular
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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[Weekender] Geeks have never been so chic in Korea
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NewJeans members submit petitions over court injunction in Hybe-Ador conflict
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S. Korea's exports of instant noodles surpass $100m for 1st time in April: data
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[News Focus] Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea
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[Herald Interview] Byun Yo-han's 'unlikable' character is result of calculated acting
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US Air Force blames power loss, weather for F-16 crash in S. Korea in May 2023
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Samsung expected to introduce new Exynos processor in next Galaxy series
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Ex-president Moon recalls in memoir NK leader voiced will not to use nukes
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US expert says N. Korea might ignore Trump if he returns to White House
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‘Big Finish’ keeps tension high
The Big FinishBy James W. Hall (Minotaur)Living in the “shadowy world” has always worked well for Thorn, the taciturn hero making his 14th appearance in James W. Hall’s series. Living in a “primitive cracker house” in Key Largo, scraping out a living by tying bonefish flies, Thorn’s mellow persona is only a veneer for the violence that can rear when he or his friends are threatened.Being “a hard-core loner” has suited him fine, but Thorn has recently discovered he has a grown son and that solita
Dec. 4, 2014
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‘Ralph Peer’: Roots music mogul
Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music By Barry Mazor (Chicago Review Press)Do you love Bruce Springsteen? B.B. King? Garth Brooks? Ruben Blades?No doubt you answered yes to at least one of those, but it’s quite likely you do not know the name of the visionary record-industry mogul who set the stage for those artists to succeed ― and perhaps even to exist at all.That would be Ralph Peer, the Kansas City “A & R man” (artists and repertoire) who in the 1920s virtually invented country an
Dec. 4, 2014
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‘Midnight in Siberia’ eyes Russia today
Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey into the Heart of RussiaBy David Greene (W.W. Norton)As the West nervously watches a newly aggressive Russia, many commentators are trying to figure out what Vladimir Putin is thinking. But “Midnight in Siberia” reminds us of another important question: What are the Russian people thinking?David Greene took a 6,000-mile train journey from Moscow to Vladivostok to find out, and the result is a mesmerizing, confounding, comforting and thought-provoking book. Gr
Dec. 4, 2014
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Gong shares journey of faith
Best-selling novelist Gong Ji-young, who has openly discussed themes including dictatorship, feminism and the labor movement in her works, recently published a new book on faith and her own spiritual journey, which also includes a section on her encounter with the Holy Spirit. “More of the Monastery Travelogue 2” chronicles her visits to 11 monasteries here and abroad, including Waegwan Abbey in North Gyeongsang Province and Monte Cassino Abbey in Italy, over a three-year period. It has been 13
Nov. 27, 2014
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Rise, fall and sale of multiculturalism in U.S.
Jeff Chang remembers the first time he saw the comic strip “Wee Pals” and the jolt it gave his young mind. Right there, on the comics pages that were generally colorless even when they ran in full color, was an Asian-American face looking back at him.“I could relate to it,” he says by phone as he drives to a reading of his new book, “Who We Be: The Colorization of America” (St. Martin’s, $32.99). “I thought, hey, I’m on the funny pages.”“Wee Pals,” Morrie Turner’s strip about the adventures and
Nov. 27, 2014
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‘Blue Avenue’ channels classic noir
Blue AvenueBy Michael Wiley (Severn House)Jacksonville, Florida, author Michael Wiley takes a measured walk on the dark side in his intriguing thriller “Blue Avenue” that channels classic noir author James M. Cain and the Coen Brothers’ debut film, “Blood Simple.”While Wiley’s fourth novel launches his new series about Jacksonville police detective Daniel Turner, “Blue Avenue” belongs to shady businessman William “BB” Byrd, whose obsessions drive the plot. Turner’s role as more of an observer al
Nov. 27, 2014
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‘Family Furnishings’ deep, surprising
The most astonishing aspect of Alice Munro’s “Family Furnishings: Selected Stories, 1995-2014” may be its chronology. The two dozen efforts here come from late in her career, after she had established herself as (perhaps) the preeminent short-fiction writer of her time.Munro’s first book came out in 1968; she had already received pretty much every award possible before winning the Nobel Prize in literature in 2013. Yet rather than fall into any sort of expected pattern, she has, as Jane Smiley n
Nov. 27, 2014
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‘See You in Paradise’ plays with genre
See You in ParadiseBy J. Robert Lennon (Graywolf Press)“Most contemporary literary fiction is terrible: mannered, conservative and obvious,” J. Robert Lennon stated on Salon, responding to another acclaimed writer urging students to read any new fiction they can in the major literary magazines and anthologies.This might be surprising or even hypocritical from Lennon, who is published in elite magazines like Granta and The New Yorker.But Lennon urges his students to read whatever they are natural
Nov. 27, 2014
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‘Revival’ asks if there is life after death
RevivalBy Stephen King (Scribner)A page-turning tug-of-war between reformed rocker Jamie Morton and man of faith Charles Jacobs, “Revival” (King’s second novel this year after spring’s “Mr. Mercedes”) fuses human drama with supernatural horror. As has become King’s wont over the past decade, much of the tale wrestles with the idea of mortality.The 67-year-old author has found the sweetness in aging, although his reflections upon growing older are always tinged with a little sadness and fear.Mort
Nov. 27, 2014
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Rare first Shakespeare edition found in French library
LILLE, France (AFP) ― A copy of William Shakespeare’s First Folio, the first-ever compilation of the Bard’s plays published in 1623, has been discovered in the library of an ancient port town in northern France.One of the world’s most valuable and coveted books, the First Folio was uncovered when librarian Remy Cordonnier dusted off a copy of Shakespeare’s works dating to the 18th century for an exhibition on English literature in the town of Saint-Omer near Calais.“It occurred to me that it cou
Nov. 26, 2014
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Author recounts friendship with late President Roh
Not many people can say that they were close with the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, even though he was known for his folksy disposition and down-to-earth upbringing. Kim Soo-kyung, a 65-year-old woman of many titles including poet, businesswoman and book editor, however, confidently refers to Roh (1946-2009) as one of her friends. They first met at a Korean barbecue restaurant in Mapo-gu, western Seoul, in 1989. They ate together, went to a noraebang (karaoke) with other friends and talked
Nov. 20, 2014
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Phil Klay wins U.S. book award for fiction
NEW YORK (AP) ― Phil Klay’s “Redeployment,” a debut collection of satiric and often agonized stories by an Iraq war veteran, has won the National Book Award for fiction.Klay was chosen Wednesday night over such high-profile finalists as Marilynne Robinson’s “Lila” and Emily St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven.” His book was the first debut release to win in fiction since Julia Glass’ “The Three Junes” in 2002, the first story collection to win since Andrea Barrett’s “Ship Fever” in 1996 and the fi
Nov. 20, 2014
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Shields writes of life with mother
There was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and MeBy Brooke Shields (Dutton)Brooke Shields, the iconic model-actress-Princeton grad, entered the literary scene in 2005 with her memoir about postpartum depression. This time, she sheds light on the relationship she shared with her mother, and it’s a well-crafted and insightful read from beginning to end. It would be a shame to dismiss “There Was a Little Girl” as a celebrity tell-all. Instead, it’s a thoughtful, poignant and provoking sto
Nov. 20, 2014
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‘Woman with a Gun’ feels like movie
Woman with a GunBy Phillip Margolin (Harper)Phillip Margolin takes a lighter approach with “Woman with a Gun,” an entertaining novel that, however, lacks the tight plotting and insight into the law of his legal thrillers.Instead, “Woman with a Gun” is more like a Lifetime movie with pedantic dialogue, a few improbable twists, romance and revenge. Still, some of us like Lifetime movies and, despite its flaws, “Woman with a Gun” makes one want to know what’s behind the photograph of a woman at the
Nov. 20, 2014
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‘Rain Reign’ shows love for ‘special’ kids
Rain ReignBy Ann M. Martin (Feiwel & Friends)If Rose Howard’s family was well off, she’d be a “special” girl who was considered smart and quirky by the teachers at her private school for children who have Asperger’s syndrome.But Rose, the main character and the narrator of “Rain Reign” by Ann Martin, has a dad with a sometimes job in a garage and a career drinking in the nearby bar, so instead Rose is a bit of trouble. She disrupts her fifth-grade class, gets kicked off the school bus and bugs m
Nov. 20, 2014
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Baldacci’s novel tugs at heart strings
The EscapeBy David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing)One of the most compelling characters in David Baldacci’s thrillers is John Puller, a crackerjack investigator of military crimes. In “The Forgotten” and “Zero Day,” readers learned that Puller has an older brother, Robert, who is serving a life sentence for treason. In “The Escape,” Baldacci reveals the reason for Robert’s imprisonment. The story begins on a stormy night in Kansas. There’s a major power failure at Robert’s maximum security p
Nov. 20, 2014
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‘Gutenberg’s Apprentice’ tells story of how printed Bible came to be
The world is about to change.Europe in 1450 is a godly place, and books are sacred and scarce. Each is hand-lettered by a scribe, directed by the hand of the Almighty.In Alix Christie’s telling of how Johann Gutenberg’s revolutionary printed Bible took form, overcoming the idea of a mechanically produced holy book is a serious concern. Peter Schoeffer, a young scribe who is the apprentice of the book’s title, views the idea as the work of the devil.Schoeffer, an actual historical figure who was
Nov. 20, 2014
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Herbie Hancock’s memoir recalls a creative life and all that jazz
Herbie Hancock has had the kind of career that’s unlikely to ever be duplicated. Appearing on landmark recordings with Miles Davis as well as his own band in the 1960s, Hancock memorably scaled to even greater fame while fusing jazz and funk with the Headhunters in the ’70s and becoming the first crossover hip-hop artist in the early ’80s with the Grammy-winning “Rockit.”It’s a life marked by sonic evolution and a restless, even relentless drive toward creative expression that remains undiminish
Nov. 20, 2014
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Yi Yook-sa’s poems published in English
During his short life, Yi Yook-sa (1904-44), a Korean poet and independence activist, composed only about 40 poems. Yet his compelling poems, written during the darkest period of modern Korean history, captured the heroic spirit of the Korean people’s resistance and the nationalist movement against Japanese colonial rule. “The Vertex” is an anthology of 36 of Yi’s poems, in both Korean and English, compiled and translated by Lee Sung-il, a professor emeritus of English literature at Yonsei Unive
Nov. 19, 2014
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Translation award honors Suh Ji-moon
When emeritus professor Suh Ji-moon first began translating Korean literature into English in the 1970s, she used to write by hand or use a typewriter, which required writing and retyping over and over again before submission. Though times have changed, the prominent Korean scholar with a 40-year career in teaching, research and literary translation still admits that translating is difficult, often accompanied by frustration and distress. Yet, it is a fulfilling experience, just like a time-cons
Nov. 18, 2014