While reading a travel memoir, you of course want an intriguing location for your virtual visit. You also want a knowledgeable writer for your guide—and an engaging voice, because it’s the personality-behind-the-words that actually... Read More

There are certainly reasons to approach this book cautiously. Despite producer Irving Thalberg’s celebrated influence on American film, the trite phrase “Hollywood Dreams” gives one pause. In fact, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to... Read More

Black Jack, one of the best known pop culture characters in Japan, is also, oddly, the Osamu Tezuka creation perhaps most accessible to both Western and non-manga readers generally. And that’s not the only odd thing about the eponymous... Read More