Archive: Nonfiction
Fightin' Words: Five Memorable Revolutionary Books
When the Berlin Wall came down and tiny pieces of it (real or purported) immediately went on sale, I took it as emblematic of our era: the mass, crass commercialization of everything. But I was wrong, at least in thinking that there was anything new about the speed with which...
By Christian Pelusi | July 3, 2008; 09:55 AM ET | Comments (2)
Books That Illuminate the Silver Screen
The feature film is just about a century old, and all those years of history have produced a landslide of books about the medium. These five books, ranging from the glamorous silent era to the cusp of the 1960s renaissance, help bring it all in focus. 1. Silent Stars, (1999),...
By Christian Pelusi | January 3, 2008; 07:25 AM ET | Comments (5)
Travel Books That Will Take You Far
As the days get shorter and colder, vicarious adventure starts looking better than the real thing. Here, chosen in part to reflect the range of the planet's ecosystems, are half-a-dozen great books for the armchair explorer: 1. Arabian Sands (1959), by Wilfred Thesiger. From 1945-50, Thesiger spent as much time...
By Christian Pelusi | November 15, 2007; 07:02 AM ET | Comments (11)
On 'Coming of Age'
When thinking about your own childhood and youth, sometimes it's good to give yourself a frame of reference. What alternatives are out there? What resonates? Who are the role models for the good life -- or not? In whose young life can you find echoes of your own? Memoirs are...
By Christian Pelusi | November 1, 2007; 06:50 AM ET | Comments (16)
