Literature and Poetry
Finding the Right Excuse: Committing Words to Paper Because ...
Joan L. Cannon writes: In spite of everything, there's pressure to let something loose that I might know that someone else has still to learn, or something I've noticed that someone else hasn't thought of, and that might tickle the imagination or stimulate the intellect or conjure a useful memory and make someone’s else's day a tiny bit brighter. more »
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies on Masterpiece: Thomas Cromwell, A Wholly Original Man, A Charmer and A Bully
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell both idealist and opportunist, master of deadly intrigue, and implacable in his ambition. more »
CultureWatch: Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste
Jill Norgren Reviews: Luke Barr gives readers a thoughtful contemplation of post-World War II cooking history along with a delicious slice of foodie gossip ... Just below the surface of its telling lurk fundamental social and moral issues well worth contemplating when the last page is read. Who gets to eat? What is the relationship between food and economic status? Why did middle class Americans fall so hard for classic French food in the 1960s? And what makes a cuisine "ethnic? more »
Gemeente Museum in The Hague: Romantic Fashions: Mr. Darcy Meets Eline Vere
Rustling silk, breathtaking embroidery, frills and flounces, vast crinolines... Sharply tailored suits for dandies and elegant ball gowns for ladies… This autumn's 19th-century fashion exhibition at the Gemeente Museum in The Hague features costumes from the time of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Eline Vere and Downton Abbey. more »