reviews

Friendship and Slime... Author: Elisabeth Tova Bailey Sometimes great art can be the equivalent of a postage stamp.  Whether it’s a Chopin prelude, the Mona Lisa or a Stephen King novella, the audience can take pleasure in a diminutive and finely crafted product.   The same is true for great nature writing.  While topics like Antarctica, great white sharks or the tropical rainforest can fascinate, sometimes a simple snail in a bedroom can be equally captivating.    In The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, writer Elisabeth Tova Bailey proves this thesis in convincing fashion. Struck down by a mysterious illness at [...]

The Last "Pagan" Emperor... Author: Gore Vidal Roman emperors have always been a great source for drama.  From Shakespeare to HBO, their heroic war mongering, decadence and hedonism have proven irresistible for centuries.   But it wasn’t always violence and debauchery.  In Julian, noted historical novelist Gore Vidal tells the story of a different kind of emperor who eschewed sins of the flesh, choosing philosophy and celibacy instead. Known as Julian the Philosopher, he reigned over an empire spanning from Britain to Persia and Africa from 361 to 363 AD.   However, Vidal finds his life worth commemorating due to his other [...]