The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City By Scott Peeples (Princeton University Press, 224 pages, $25) The writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) spent his entire life searching for a place that he could call home. Born…
Roald Dahl: Teller of the Unexpected: A Biography By Matthew Dennison (Pegasus Books, 272 pages, $24) The iconic children’s book writer Roald Dahl (1916–1990) concluded his last book, The Minpins (1991) with these poignant words: “And above all, watch with…
Dinner with Joseph Johnson: Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age By Daisy Hay (Princeton University Press, 516 pages, $32) From 1760 to 1809, British bookseller and publisher Joseph Johnson (1738–1809) hosted a weekly dinner at his London home and…
Billy Wilder on Assignment: Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna Edited by Noah Isenberg; translated by Shelley Frisch (Princeton University Press, 224 pages, $19 paperback) How did Billy Wilder (1906-2002) become the Hollywood legend who created such film classics…
The promise of a new year is that we have another chance to start fresh and recommit ourselves to our long- and short-term goals. The new year also means that we may be blessed with pleasant surprises. We may find…
“Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind,” Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) tells the second-grader Susan Walker (Natalie Wood) in the perennial holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Sometimes, we get too caught up in our…
Color Capital of the World: Growing Up With the Legacy of a Crayon Company By John W. Kropf (The University of Akron Press, 146 pages, $25 ) An innovative company led by visionary leaders can transform an industry, create a…
Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers By Emma Smith (Penguin Random House, 352 pages, $28) We are what we read. Such is the central claim of Emma Smith’s new book, Portable Magic: A History of Books and…
Faith Still Moves Mountains: Miraculous Stories of the Healing Power of Prayer By Harris Faulkner (Broadside Books, 288 pages, $29) Faith is a powerful force that enables us to transcend grief, illness, addiction, and depression. This is the central claim…
Arthur Miller: American Witness By John Lahr (Yale University Press, 264 pages, $26) Art imitates life, and that is certainly true in the case of the playwright Arthur Miller (1915–2005), whose personal and professional life defined and added verisimilitude to…