Author J. Steven Young

Illustration by Albert Robida, for “The End of the Books,” by Octave Uzanne, published in Scribner’s Magazine, vol. 16, no 2, August 1894. Public domain.

Increasingly, people of the book are also people of the cloud. At the Codex Hackathon, a convention whose participants spend a frenetic weekend designing electronic reading tools, I watch developers line up onstage to pitch book-related…

Not long ago, a friend who has been reading literary novels for years recommended one to me – Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami – and gave me the Kindle version.  Murakami is award-winning and well-reviewed, so I launched into the book with considerable hope.

I immediately met a protagonist who didn’t care much about his own life and whose memories were dominated by a love affair with a woman who…

President Donald Trump is attempting to limit which members of his inner circle can testify Tuesday in the House impeachment probe, according to letters ABC News obtained Monday.

In written notices to the House Judiciary Committee, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said that former Trump aides Rob Porter and Rick Dearborn cannot be called to testify in the House probe, which is investigating…

But Does It Tell You When a Melon Is Ripe?

“The Melon” is Amy Goldman’s fifth book, and as with her other titles, it’s a visual stunner and a revelation. It represents nine years of cultivating, studying, tasting and having Victor Schrager on hand to photograph 125 kinds of melons at her farm in Rhinebeck in the Hudson Valley. Who knew there was a Khandalak from Central Asia striped red, green and cream; a heavily seeded Pocket Melon so…

The Gift of Lewis Hyde’s ‘The Gift’

Lewis Hyde photo: Ruben Cox.

Gifts pass from hand to hand: they endure through such transmission, as every time a gift is given it is enlivened and regenerated through the new spiritual life it engenders both in the giver and in the receiver.

And so it is with Lewis Hyde’s classic study of gift giving and its relationship to art. The Gifthas never been out of print; it moves like an underground…

Tulsi Gabbard Says Trump Is Turning The U.S. Into ‘Saudi Arabia’s Bitch’ #TrumperyResistance #ImpeachTrump

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) slammed President Donald Trump for turning the nation into “Saudi Arabia’s bitch” after he assured the kingdom that the U.S. is “locked and loaded” as it waits to hear who may be behind an attack on its oil supply.

“Trump awaits instructions from his Saudi masters,” the Democratic presidential candidate tweeted Sunday. “Having our country act as Saudi Arabia’s…

Trump Says Brett Kavanaugh Is The One ‘Being Assaulted’ Amid New Accusations #TrumperyResistance #ImpeachTrump

President Donald Trump argued that Brett Kavanaugh is really the one “being assaulted” in the wake of new sexual misconduct allegations against the recently appointed Supreme Court justice.

“The one who is actually being assaulted is Justice Kavanaugh,” Trump tweeted Monday morning. “Assaulted by lies and Fake News!”

Two New York Times reporters published an op-edon Saturday detailing new…

NEW YORK (AP) — Elizabeth Warren has released a sweeping anti-government corruption proposal, providing a detailed policy roadmap for a fight she says is at the core of her presidential campaign.

The Democratic senator from Massachusetts is announcing the plan Monday in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, near the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Co., which caught fire in 1911, killing 140-plus…

Nike’s Controversial Colin Kaepernick Ad Wins Emmy For Best Commercial #TrumperyResistance #ImpeachTrump

The controversial Nike commercial featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick won a Creative Arts Emmy for best commercial on Sunday.

The ad, which infuriated President Donald Trump, pays homage to those who “dream crazy,” in an extension of the brand’s admonition to “just do it.” It also features tennis ace Serena Williams, hoop star LeBron James and many other athletes who have…

Fate Versus Free-Will: Using Theme to Leverage Revision

“Everything seems simple until you think about it.”—Audrey Niffenegger, from The Time Traveler’s Wife

I recently finished reading The Time Traveler’s Wife for the first time. I know, I know—it’s about time, right? It only came out sixteen years ago! If only I could go back and read it sooner (heh). The nudge to finally act came from a thread in a writers’ forum, asking which books writers have…

Trump: U.S. ‘Locked And Loaded’ For Response To Attack On Saudi Oil Sites #TrumperyResistance #ImpeachTrump

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A weekend drone attack on Saudi Arabia that cut into global energy supplies and halved the kingdom’s oil production threatened Sunday to fuel a regional crisis, as the U.S. released new evidence to back up its allegation that Iran was responsible for the assault amid heightened tensions over Tehran’s collapsing nuclear deal.

President Donald Trumpsaid the…

Calls for Kavanaugh’s Impeachment Come Amid New Misconduct Allegations

Several Democratic presidential candidates called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh on Sunday after The New York Times published new information about allegations of sexual misconduct against him, while Republican leaders condemned the reporting as irresponsible and defended him.

President Trump on Twitter accused news outlets of trying to pressure the justice into…

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Latest on the tensions in the Persian Gulf a day after Iran-backed Yemeni rebels attacked major oil sites in Saudi Arabia (all times local):

President Donald Trump says he has approved the release of U.S. strategic petroleum reserves “if needed” to stabilize energy markets after a Saturday attack on Saudi Arabian energy facilities.

Trump tweets that the…

Trump’s Immigration Chief: Bahamas ‘Capable Of Taking Care Of Their Own’ #TrumperyResistance #ImpeachTrump

As Bahamians seek to escape the devastation of Hurricane Dorian, acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli is defending the Trump administration’s refusal to grant them temporary protected status, arguing that the archipelago’s residents can fend for themselves.

“The Bahamas is a perfectly legitimate country capable of taking care of their own,” he told CBS’…