The latest New York Review of Books has an article on Gertrude Bell, the British woman who was appointed as the senior political officer in British-run Basra, Iraq, from 1916 to 1926. Bell was an "Arabist," who threw herself headlong into the Middle East, its peoples and its culture. She's even buried in Baghdad (NPR … Continue reading New Review
A Great Pumpkin
The Dallas Morning News has posted a story about two men's quest to grow a half-ton pumpkin. It's drawn from the new book Backyard Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking, and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever, but also discusses the author's own attempt to grow a prize-sized gourd of her own; hers got to … Continue reading A Great Pumpkin
Without Reservations
Minnesota Public Radio's Midmorning program today rebroadcast last month's Talking Volumes interview with Sherman Alexie. Alexie is the author most recently of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, as well as the earlier books Flight, Smoke Signals, and The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven, all of which deal with presentday Native … Continue reading Without Reservations
