Campaign for the American Reader

David Crystal is one the world's foremost linguistic experts. His latest book, The Fight for English assesses the debate over rights an...

Philip Kerr has just come out with a new "Bernie Gunther" novel, The One from the Other . Patrick Anderson praises it, Kenneth...

Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is due to hit the bookstores in October. I'm a big fan of Bryson's and ...

Erica Wagner, the literary editor of the Times (London), recently listed her Booker Prize top six . The only one on the list that was not a...

Emma Pearse, an Aussie expat who is on the editorial staff of New York magazine, has written Salon's literary guide to Australia . She ...

Andrew Pierce, a political writer for the Times (London), came up with a list of six books about Westminster insiders. You have to know mor...

Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter is back. Or he will be back this coming Christmas season. (Forget the fava beans and chianti: break...

Who Are You People?: A Personal Journey into the Heart of Fanatical Passion in America digs into associations of Barbie collectors, Andy Gr...

I recently chanced upon Bibliobibuli , a delightful books blog run by Sharon Bakar ("British but have lived in Malaysia for more than 2...

Terry Hartle, a senior vice president with the American Council on Education, reviewed Godfrey Hodgson's Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand...

I'm eagerly looking forward to the October release of Richard Ford's The Lay of the Land . From the publisher : With The Sportswrite...

Celebrity chef Todd English owns 17 restaurants around the country, including " Olives " in Boston, New York, and Washington. His...

Based on her reviews (and not her photo ), I'd already decided to read Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics when I ...

Ward Just, who recently compiled a list of books he admires for their “'autumnal' quality, the sense that spring’s return is no sur...

Janet Fitch is the author of the 1999 best-seller White Oleander . Her second novel, Paint It Black , will be published this week. " P...

Is there a distinctive Brooklyn literary tradition? You could make an argument for it, though the Brooklyn voice has evolved [ writes Diniti...

There is a long interview with Martin Amis in the (London) Times . I'm not sure how intelligible it will be for the reader who does not...

The Pentagon has posted a document at its website titled " Ten Facts about Guantanamo ." Number 8: Entertainment includes Arabic ...

The poetry anthologiser and television producer Daisy Goodwin has suggested that "men...don't figure very largely as writers in th...

I've just posted a new item titled " Jails without judges " over at Spot-on . It summarizes some of the books recommended in t...