‘Vanessa and Her Sister’ Is Enchanting
Those of us who write only wish for half of author Priya Parmar’s talents, whose writing is a lovely, lilting thing.
Diane Leach
Diane Leach has a Master's Degree in English Literature from Humboldt State University. She writes for PopMatters.com and blogs at Theinsufficientkitchen.com. She can be reached at [email protected].
Beyond Compost: An Interview With Eugenia Bone
Canning is like having an investment or retirement fund in your pantry. You make small deposits over time, and there’s a huge payoff in convenience, in flavor.
‘Bitter’ Is Another Brave Exploration Into the Gustatory Outlands
Jennifer McLagan loves a controversial ingredient. Her cookbooks include works on bones, fat, and the scary bits. Now it's time to get bitter.
Dancing on the Plate: Yotam Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty More’
Here's a man who's creating food that is entirely new, spontaneous, fresh, even wild, yet without any of the difficulty or pretension surrounding that other new food, Modernist Cuisine.
The Characters in ‘The Half Brother’ Are Formulaic, at Times Startlingly So
Charles Spooner Garrett, Harvard English degree in hand, has no particular talents, ambitions, or goals when he lands a teaching position at the Abbott School, in Abbottsford, Massachusetts.
These Protestant Communities Understood Persecution Firsthand, and the Nazi Agenda Horrified Them
The remote mountain villages of le Chambon and the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon were Protestant havens that opened their homes to shelter countless Jewish children during WWII.
Anupy Singla’s ‘Indian for Everyone’ Has Me Asking: What Defines a Good Cookbook?
A relentless sales pitch aimed at Midwestern "moms" grates in this Indian cookbook. Ignore the patter and focus on the recipes.
‘The Transcriptionist’ Is Immersed in Words
For Lena Respass, the last transcriptionist working at New York's daily newspaper, The Record, a brief bus ride beside a blind woman changes everything.
Donald Hall’s ‘Essays After Eighty’ Is an Unsparing Look at Extreme Old Age
To presume to review works of this level is farcical; we can only be overjoyed by their continued existence.
‘How to Be a Good Wife’ Fits the Feminist Legacy of Stories About Misdiagnosed Women
Outwardly, Marta and Hector Bjornstad’s long marriage appears tranquil, harmonious, happy. So why is Marta having visions nobody else sees?
The Grandmother Is Gone: Janna Gur’s ‘Jewish Soul Food’
With Jewish Soul Food Israeli Food Writer Janna Gur tries to create a "greatest hits from our Jewish Grandmothers." Only the grandmothers aren't around to help.
The Heart That Refused to Burn Steadfastly Holds Its Secrets Close: Joan of Arc
Kathryn Harrison's longtime fascination with the Catholic Church finds its ultimate expression, and biggest challenge, in this biography of Joan of Arc.