Books

"The Genius in All of Us"

Laura Miller — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:01:00 PST

David Shenk's new book, "The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong," is 300 pages long, and more than half of those pages are endnotes. You need to offer up a lot of evidence when your goal is to overturn a concept as commonplace as the idea that genes are the "blueprints" for both our physical bodies and our personalities. Above all, what Shenk wants to communicate is that "the whole concept of genetic giftedness turns out to be wildly off the mark -- tragically kept afloat for decades by a cascade of misunderstandings and misleading metaphors." Instead of acquiescing to the belief that talent is a quality we're either born with or not, he wants us to understand that anyone can aspire to superlative achievement. Hard, persistent and focused work is responsible for greatness, rather than innate ability.

"The Room and the Chair": Tearing apart the Washington press

Jed Lipinski — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:45:00 PST

At the start of Lorraine Adams' new novel, "The Room and the Chair," a mysterious F-16 fighter jet crashes into the Potomac River, causing an explosion heard by guests of the Watergate Hotel. Within minutes, the media has interpreted the event in half a dozen ways. And for the remainder of the book, high-ranking White House officials, with the press's cooperation, will spin it until it blurs, implicating everyone from special operatives in Afghanistan to a teenage prostitute who witnessed the crash.

Palin starts work on her next book

HILLEL ITALIE, Associated Press — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:16:00 PST

Sarah Palin is ready for the next chapter of her publishing career.

"The Art of Choosing": The hidden science of choice

Thomas Rogers — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:02:00 PST

To most Americans the idea of an arranged marriage sounds not only bizarre, but fundamentally wrong. How could you let someone else decide the person you're going to be spending the rest of your life with? But as Sheena Iyengar describes in her new book, "The Art of Choosing," arranged marriage has been the norm in many parts of the world for 5,000 years -- including in the Sikh community in which her parents were married -- and our opposition to the idea says a great deal about the ways in which culture and history have shaped the way Americans think about personal choice.

Book optioned by James Cameron is halted

HILLEL ITALIE, Associated Press — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:49:00 PST

Publication has been halted for a disputed book about the atomic bombing of Japan that "Avatar" director James Cameron had optioned for a possible film, The Associated Press has learned.

Author Barry Hannah dies at 67 in Mississippi

Associated Press — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:53:00 PST

Acclaimed author Barry Hannah has died at his home in Oxford, Miss. He was 67.

"Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History"

Laura Miller — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:01:00 PST

Winter, too, has its dog days, when "crisp" feels more like just plain cold, the streets are lined with grimy crusts of snow, and all the interesting holidays are shrinking in the rearview mirror. It's a time of year that calls out for the occasional binge of frivolous reading every bit as much as summer does. "Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History" by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell, a caper movie in print, complete with European locations and a dash of journalistic scuttlebutt, offers exactly the right blend of diversion and pith. It's a ripping yarn, yes, but a meticulously reported one.

"Imperfect Ending": When Mom wants to die

Nelle Engoron — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:01:00 PST

As a child, Zoe FitzGerald Carter was morbidly fascinated by the question of how it would be best to die: Shot or burned? Drowned or hanged? Dropped from an airplane or left in the desert with no water?

I am a closet Christian

Ada Calhoun — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:22:00 PST

It was Sunday morning in my scruffy Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood, and I was wearing a dress. Walking to the subway, I ran into a friend heading home from yoga class. She wore sweats and carried her mat over her shoulder. "Where are you going so early all dressed up?" she asked, chuckling. "To church?" We shared a laugh at the absurdity of a liberal New Yorker heading off to worship.