Oct 16, 2008
Thursday's Notes
The nominees for the National Book Award for 2008 in Nonfiction are:
Drew Gilpin Faust's This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family Jane Mayer's The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals Jim Sheeler's Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives Joan Wickersham's The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order
You can access Mary Beard's Sather Lectures at UC, Berkeley, here. Her theme is ancient Roman humor.
Patricia Fara,"Watchers of the Skies," Literary Review, October, reviews Richard Holmes's The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. Hat tip.
Elizabeth Kolbert,"Place Settings," New Yorker, 20 October, reviews Laura Claridge's Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners. [Emily Post was one formidable looking lady!]
David Hajdu,"Get Back," TNR, 22 October, reviews Philip Norman's John Lennon: The Life.