Mary Daniels Brown

My mother always insisted that, as soon as I was old enough to sit up, she’d find me in my crib after my nap babbling away, with a Little Golden Book on my lap. I’ve had my nose in a book ever since. I grew up in a small town, with the tiny town library literally in my backyard. As an only child in an unhappy home, I found comfort and companionship in books. As an adult I wanted to be Harry Potter, although I admit I’m more Hermione. My life has been a series of research projects. Reading has taught me that human lives are deliciously messy and that “it’s complicated” isn’t a punchline.

What’s the Funniest Novel Ever?

What’s the Funniest Novel Ever? – Paper Cuts Blog – NYTimes.com: “In Rolling Stone’s new comedy issue, prominent comedians are asked to name the ‘funniest movie ever’ and the ‘funniest TV ever.’ “ And so, asks David Kelly on the New York Times book blog, what’s the funniest novel ever? Here are some of the […]

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Waterston gives insider’s view of L.M. Montgomery

Nova Scotia News – TheChronicleHerald.ca: In Nova Scotia’s The Chronicle Herald, Judith Meyrick reviews Magic Island: The Fictions of L. M. Montgomery by Elizabeth Waterston. Montgomery was the author of Anne of Green Gables and several subsequent best-selling novels. Montgomery kept journals and scrapbooks passionately and meticulously, preserving for us a picture of her daily

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Happy birthday, Robert McCloskey

(Photo © 2006 by Freeman F. Brown) From The Writer’s Almanac: It’s the birthday of Robert McCloskey, . . . the author and illustrator of children’s books, born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1914. He grew up loving music, especially the harmonica. He said, “The musician’s life was the life for me — that is, until

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Newfound Tapes Offer Clues to Agatha Christie’s Life

Newfound Tapes Offer Clues to Agatha Christie’s Life – NYTimes.com: Agatha Christie’s only grandson has discovered a box of audiotapes in one of Christie’s former houses: The tapes — 27 reels running a total of more than 13 hours — are filled with Christie’s painstaking dictation of her life story, rough material recorded in the

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David Foster Wallace, Postmodern Writer, Is Found Dead

David Foster Wallace, Postmodern Writer, Is Found Dead – NYTimes.com: David Foster Wallace, whose darkly ironic novels, essays and short stories garnered him a large following and made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, was found dead in his California home on Friday, after apparently committing suicide, the authorities said. Today’s

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Seattle Public Library celebrates “Libraries For All” in neighborhoods across the city

Local News | Seattle Public Library celebrates “Libraries For All” in neighborhoods across the city | Seattle Times Newspaper: “‘Libraries For All,’ a $196.4 million bond measure passed in 1998, promised a face-lift for Seattle public libraries, including a new Central Library and 26 new or renovated branches. Ten years later, the city boasts a

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Gregory McDonald, author of Fletch novels, has died

PASSINGS – Los Angeles Times: Gregory Mcdonald, 71, a former Boston Globe reporter whose best-selling ‘Fletch’ mystery books also were made into films, died of cancer Sunday at his farm in Pulaski, Tenn., according to his manager, David List.

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Book Review – ‘The Time of Their Lives – The Golden Age of Great American Book Publishers, Their Editors and Authors,’ by Al Silverman

Book Review – ‘The Time of Their Lives – The Golden Age of Great American Book Publishers, Their Editors and Authors,’ by Al Silverman – Review – NYTimes.com: Writer Bruce Jay Friedman reviews a new book about the golden age of publishing, which book author Silverman defines as covering the years between 1946 and the

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Moving Beyond ‘Catcher’ On School Reading Lists : NPR

Moving Beyond ‘Catcher’ On School Reading Lists : NPR: “The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger’s beloved novel, once banned and full of frank four-letter words, will continue to be assigned to high school reading lists this year. But Anne Trubek, a professor of English at Oberlin College, argues that it’s time to update Salinger’s

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Nation & World | Publisher Robert Giroux: the gold standard of literary taste | Seattle Times Newspaper

Nation & World | Publisher Robert Giroux: the gold standard of literary taste | Seattle Times Newspaper: Robert Giroux, an editor who introduced and nurtured some of the major authors of the 20th century and who rose to join one of the nation’s most distinguished publishing houses as a partner, making it Farrar, Straus &

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