With the arrival of summer, seventy-eight-year-old Octavio Rivera “had a feeling that he was about to have the most fantastic dreams of his life.” Each afternoon his dreams are indeed incredible, as a guitar, kissing turtles, winged... Read More

Consider the indignities suffered by Marco Polo: a member of a wealthy family of Venetian traders in fabrics and spices, he traveled the winding Silk Road from the Mediterranean port of Ayas in Lesser Armenia through Iraq, Persia,... Read More

In 2007 and 2008 Robert Plant toured with bluegrass darling Alison Krauss, supporting the Grammy-winning album of duets, Raising Sand. But he used to run with another band who did pretty well for themselves. John Bream, music guru for... Read More

The trouble with happily ever after is that it doesn’t leave much room for a sequel. Jane Austen’s novels give readers the belief that after the months of complications and misunderstandings after the declarations and weddings her... Read More

A culinary tour of the west coast wouldn’t be complete without visiting Chez Panisse in Berkeley. Therein we discover A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes: A Year of Menus For a Table of Friends (Artisan, 978-1-57965-346-0), the newly... Read More

In "Hope and Help for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia" (Cumberland House, 978-1-58182-670-8), a leading specialist explains these mysterious conditions. Pain, fatigue, sleep dysfunction, brain function disturbances, and immune... Read More

Brooklyn-born actress Theresa Saldana appeared in Raging Bull and on the TV series The Commish; she founded the Victims for Victims support organization. Her fiction debut, "The Almost Murder and Other Stories" (Piñata Books,... Read More

This exceptionally haunting collection of nine short stories about people reaching for consolation, meaning, and hope is the first such compilation by McGlynn, who teaches at Lawrence University. There is agony in these... Read More