- No time to glorify dying for lost causes To the Editor: Barely a week after the violent and deadly attack on our nation’s capital by domestic terrorists, The Smoky Mountain News chose to print Jeff Minick’s book review with the headline “For what would you lay down your life?” Minick’s entire …
- 'Principles of Prediction' book review: The quotidian crashes into the quirky Express News Service In recent years, Indian publishers seemed to have given short story writers the short end of the stick which is why it is lovely that 2020 threw up some beautiful collections by authors at the top of their game such as Nisha Susan. Two …
- 'Ayo Gorkhali: A History of the Gurkhas' book review - Beneath the tough exterior Express News Service Sir Ralph Lilley Turner (1888-1983), Director of the London School of Oriental Studies, had served in World War I in a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army. Later, Turner wrote one of the most famous tributes there has ever been …
- 'The Secret Life of Debbie G' book review: Savage retribution Express News Service So the trope is a time-tested and popular one: young adult (16-year-old, in this case) finds herself once too often at the receiving end of bullying/sneering/scoffing from the self-appointed elite set, and decides to turn …
- Premature Freakouts about Techno-Enhancement For years, I’ve grumbled to myself about an irritating tendency in science punditry. I haven’t written about it before, because it’s subtle, even paradoxical, and I couldn’t think of a catchy phrase to describe it. One I’ve toyed with is “premature ethical …
- Book Review: How I Built This You ever start a lemonade stand as a kid and then wonder how you're supposed to make it in the cuthroat business world with Big Lemonade pulling the strings? Maybe this book will help. How I Built This by Guy Raz is a collection of stories on how …
- The Ethics of Adoption in America Subscribe: iTunes | Google Play Music | How to Listen In “American Baby,” the veteran journalist Gabrielle Glaser tells the story of one mother and child, and also zooms out from there to consider the ethics of adoption in this country. Our reviewer, Lisa …
- Individual Consciousness, Lengthy Biographies and Other Letters to the Editor To the Editor: In her review of Andrea Pitzer’s “Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the Word” (Jan. 10), Rachel Slade concludes by writing: “‘Icebound’ is a reminder that there was once a time when things were unknown. And when their ships bumped up …
- Citizen Revolt: Week of January 21 Roe and Race As we approach the 48th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision called Roe v. Wade, there is more than choice to unpack. Reframing Roe Through a Race Equity Lens "will dive into the intersection of abortion and racial justice …
- Books to look forward to in 2021 Last year, the book gods told me that 2020 was going to be a good year for books. The book gods did not tell me that there was going to be a global pandemic, but that’s OK. Over the past year, I found some good quarantine reads and came to terms with the …