Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Recovery hits the road
The Revised Fundamentals of CaregivingBy Jonathan Evison (Algonquin Books)Who among us wouldn’t like to put the car in reverse, hurtling back past some long-vanished stretch where we somehow swerved from the road, forever changing life’s scenery through all the miles to come?Benjamin Benjamin, the 39-year-old narrator of Jonathan Evison’s “The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving,” knows the feeling. As Evison’s novel opens, Ben has endured two rocky years reliving an accident ― which may have bee
Aug. 30, 2012
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When you learn you are dying
One Last Thing Before I GoBy Jonathan Tropper (Dutton)Drew Silver is one of modern literature’s more pathetic losers. And that’s before he discovers an aortic dissection is about to kill him.The good news for Silver ― which is what everyone, even his daughter, calls him ― is that surgery can save his life. There’s a bit of bad news, and part of it is that the procedure would be performed by Silver’s ex-wife’s fiance. The other is that Silver, who is 44, doesn’t want the surgery.The sad-sack hero
Aug. 30, 2012
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Posnanski’s ‘Paterno’ complicates Penn State story
Joe Posnanski moved to State College, Pa., to write a much different book.Posnanski, a former Kansas City Star sports columnist, imagined his biography of Penn State University’s heralded head football coach Joe Paterno would be about the man who, as Posnanski noted in a USA Today column last week, “always said ... that winning ... wasn’t what mattered. And yet, he won more games than anyone.” The book he was writing was based, after all, on full access to the coach and his records.And then ever
Aug. 30, 2012
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Kim Ran-do’s new collection of essays lacks depth, thoughtfulness
SNU professor back with another advice book for youthIt seems like Seoul National University Professor Kim Ran-do still has a lot of advice to give to young people, even after the success of his first collection of essays, “You are Young, Because You are Suffering.”The consumer science professor recently published another advice book, which is also written for 20-somethings in the country. While his former best-selling book specifically targeted university students, the new one, titled “You Beco
Aug. 30, 2012
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Beijing book fair to open with S. Korea as country of honor
The Beijing International Book Fair will open Tuesday with South Korea invited as the country of honor in celebration of 20 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Some 2,010 publishers from 75 countries around the world, including South Korea, will participate in the Beijing fair, one of the four largest book fairs in the world.During the 19th fair set to last till Sunday, 72 South Korean publishers and copyright agencies will seek ways to broaden their exports while displaying sele
Aug. 28, 2012
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Fluff with right amount of starch
Shadow of NightBy Deborah Harkness (Viking)Deborah Harkness’ “Shadow of Night,” a sequel to her best-selling “A Discovery of Witches,” pretty much defines excellence in the literary subgenre of fluff.The term fluff, as devotees recognize, need not connote bad, as “Shadow” irresistibly proves. Under Harkness’ assured, witty hand, it remains feather-light over the course of nearly 600 pages, with plenty of suspense and a romance for the ages. Literally, as it happens.Spoiler alert: To discuss this
Aug. 23, 2012
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Novel lacks humanity
Kill DecisionBy Daniel Suarez (Dutton)The most interesting characters in Daniel Suarez’s new techno-thriller, “Kill Decision,” are a trained pair of ravens who hover over the good guys as guardian angels.That’s unfortunate.There are a lot of big ideas in this novel, which warns against a future where machines make even the ultimate decision ― to kill ― without human intervention.And I’m sure Suarez’s book will find many fans among tech heads and futurists. But his audience would be much larger,
Aug. 23, 2012
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Self-publishing or vanity press? The answer may surprise you
If author Tina Folsom let big publishing stand in her way, she never would have become a millionaire.In 2010, after more than 30 literary agents and publishers rejected “Samson’s Lovely Mortal,” the first in her series about lusty vampires, the San Francisco romance writer decided to self-publish her book on Amazon.com.Today, Folsom, 46, has made it e-big. She has generated at least $33,000 a month since December 2010 selling her full-length books, novellas and short stories online. In November
Aug. 23, 2012
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Jogye Order publishes bilingual series on Korean Buddhism
Late Ven. Jigwan’s ambitious project comes together seven months after his deathJogye Order, the nation’s largest Buddhist sect, has published an English and ancient Chinese bilingual book series on the teachings of Korean Buddhism, it announced this week.The 13-volume series, titled “Collected Works of Korean Buddhism,” contains teachings of celebrated monks throughout Korean history, including Wonhyo (617-686), Jinul (1158-1210) and Hyujeong (1520-1604). The series’ Korean edition, translated
Aug. 23, 2012
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Nobel laureates to celebrate literature in Gyeongju
The 78th PEN International Congress to feature North Korean writers, human rights issuesThree Nobel Prize winners in literature will be in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, next month to discuss human rights, literature and media at the upcoming 78th PEN International Congress. Orhan Pamuk, Wole Soyinka, and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio will give lectures about their literary works along with renowned local poet Ko Un, PEN International Korean Center announced on Wednesday. No previous editio
Aug. 22, 2012
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Book offers deliciously ironic moments
Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia ChildBy Bob Spitz(Alfred A. Knopf)In a characteristically chatty letter from Paris to her sister-in-law, Freddie, Julia Child expresses curiosity about a “newfangled sensation” called television. “How much do you really use it? . . . How do you like the programs? . . . My heavens, I am beginning to feel very out-of-date indeed.” It was 1952. Television was a novelty, and Child was debating the wisdom of collaborating with her new friend Simone Beck on the coo
Aug. 16, 2012
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Tricks play in new Burke novel
Creole BelleBy James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster)If all crime novelists were as thoughtful and nuanced as James Lee Burke, we could finally put to rest those groundless prejudices against genre fiction. The marks of the thriller ― violence, greed, unspeakable secrets ― are always present in Burke’s stellar Dave Robicheaux series (as well as his fine Hackberry Holland series). But the books are works of dark art. At their unflinching best, they examine the cost of violence, even when it’s perform
Aug. 16, 2012
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Author Tayari Jones on her favorites
Just as William Faulkner tilled a fictional patch called Yoknapatawpha County for his many tales, Tayari Jones works the more urban setting of Atlanta for her novels.Her debut, “Leaving Atlanta” (2002), was a story of three children coming of age during the Atlanta child murders of 1979-’81, when Jones herself was a child. “The Untelling” (2005), with its family sorrows, secrets and a mythological touch, is a novel Faulkner himself might have enjoyed reading.“The Silver Sparrow” (Algonquin 2011,
Aug. 16, 2012
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Science fiction satirist Harry Harrison dies
LONDON (AP) ― American author Harry Harrison, whose space-age spoofs delighted generations of science fiction fans, has died, a friend said Wednesday. He was 87.Irish sci-fi writer Michael Carroll said in a telephone interview that he learned of Harrison’s passing from the author’s daughter, Moira, earlier in the day. He said Harrison died in southern England, but didn’t have much further detail.Harrison was a prolific writer whose works ranged from tongue-in-cheek inter-galactic action romps to
Aug. 16, 2012
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Choosing story over medium
Sandi Tan’s past is teeming with ghosts. The Pasadena, California-based filmmaker-turned-novelist isn’t a seer herself ― she’s a self-described scaredy-cat and doesn’t particularly enjoy supernatural books and movies ― but her childhood in Singapore in the 1980s was populated with ghost stories and family members who saw spirits. Even her elementary school, a dank World War II-era military hospital, was said to be haunted.“It’s such a big part of people’s lives in that part of the world,” says T
Aug. 16, 2012
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Tough desert life wins Bedouin teen fairy tale award
WADI ABU HINDI, Palestinian Territories (AFP) ― It was the trauma of seeing Israeli troops raze homes in the Bedouin community where she lives that inspired 14-year-old Salha Hamadin to write an award-winning fairy tale.Earlier this year, Salha, who comes from an impoverished Palestinian Bedouin community near Jerusalem, was crowned winner of the teenage category of the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale Bay competition, which saw 1,200 entries from around the world by youngsters aged 11 to 16.T
Aug. 16, 2012
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‘50 Shades of Grey’ marketing fad goes mainstream
NEW YORK (AP) ― You’ve bought rope for that special someone, picked up a few sex toys and read those “Fifty Shades of Grey’’ books a time or three. You know who you are.Well, no need to skulk about at naughty shops or the hardware store as Fifty Shades of Consumption makes it further into the mainstream.Stuart Weitzman and Marc New York have Grey-struck campaigns in the fat September issues of fashion magazines, the former touting black stilettos and high, Anastasia Steele-worthy boots called “F
Aug. 16, 2012
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Former Culture Minister Kim returns to TV screen
Former Culture Minister and actor Kim Myeong-gon will return to the small screen for the first time in four years with KBS’ TV drama “Gaksital,” according to reports.Kim, who served in the government post from 2006-2007, will play Yang Baek, an independence activist and spiritual leader of the Joseon people.“I accepted the offer because the role was based on the story of Kim Koo. There has been no drama like ‘Gaksital’ so far that seriously tells the story of the anti-Japanese movement,” Kim was
Aug. 16, 2012
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‘Coldest War’ heats up alternative history
The Coldest WarBy Ian Tregillis (Tor)With “The Coldest War,” Ian Tregillis continues an impressive fantasy/alternative-history trilogy he began with “Bitter Seeds.” The first novel, set in Britain’s darkest hours of World War II, pitted British warlocks, calling on dark otherworldly forces, against young Nazi Ubermenschen, whose X-men-like superpowers (invisibility, flamethrowing) are fueled by battery power fed directly into their brains.Now it’s 1963. The Russians rule everything east of Paris
Aug. 10, 2012
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Passion for theater shaped Dickens
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the WorldBy Simon Callow (Vintage)In 1831, the 19-year-old Charles Dickens ― having long dreamed of a career on stage ― secured an audition at Covent Garden. But he came down with a cold on the appointed day, forcing him to request a postponement until the following season. By then, Dickens was a cub reporter, taking his first steps toward becoming the greatest English novelist.As actor Simon Callow points out in his splendid “Charles Dickens and the Grea
Aug. 10, 2012