The Korea Herald

Jean Kennedy Smith writes of childhood in famous political family

Nov 3, 2016

“The Nine of Us” By Jean Kennedy Smith Harper (272 pages, $29.99) Jean Kennedy Smith takes comfort in memory in her new book, “The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy.” Now 88, the last of her parents’...
Al Capone bio suffers from acceptance of relatives' stories as fact

Nov 3, 2016

“Capone” By Deirdre Bair Nan A. Talese/Doubleday (395 pages, $30) Go into any souvenir store on a touristy Chicago street and behold the man: Al Capone. His visage will adorn T-shirts, refrigerato...
Accepting award, Murakami warns against excluding outsiders

Nov 1, 2016

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami warned against excluding outsiders and rewriting history as he accepted the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award. Murakami spoke Sunday in Odense, ...
Dylan tells Swedish Academy he accepts Nobel Prize

Oct 30, 2016

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Bob Dylan has accepted the 2016 Nobel Prize for literature, the Swedish Academy said, adding that getting the prestigious award left him “speechless.‘’ The academy's perm...
What happened when Nadia got pregnant?

Oct 26, 2016

“The Mothers” By Brit Bennett Riverhead (278 pages, $26) The Mothers of Upper Room Chapel are worried about the future: “Anyone knows a church is only as good as its women, and when we all passed ...
Memoir of ‘Glamour and Dysfunction’

Oct 26, 2016

“Scream: A Memoir of Glamour and Dysfunction” By Tama Janowitz Dey Street Books (304 pages, $25.99) When author Tama Janowitz was 15 years old, her pothead father suggested she enter a wet T-shirt...
New biography explores real-life Victorian horror behind Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’

Oct 26, 2016

“Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man who Wrote ‘Dracula’” By David J. Skal Liveright (652 pages, $35) Several years ago, I read the book “Dracula” for the first time, ...
MacArthur and Truman face off in H.W. Brands’ new history

Oct 26, 2016

After nearly seven decades, it is easy to forget the fierce, frantic terrors of the early Cold War. Despite victory in World War II, America had lost its nuclear monopoly because of Soviet spies, wa...
Beatty becomes first US author to win Man Booker Prize

Oct 26, 2016

LONDON (AFP) -- Paul Beatty has become the first US author to win the Man Booker Prize for his novel “The Sellout,” which the novelist said should not be read as a “mono-directional” take on race. T...
Oxford says Shakespeare will share credit for Henry VI

Oct 25, 2016

LONDON (AP) - The Bard was not a solo act. Oxford University Press’ new edition of William Shakespeare’s works will credit Christopher Marlowe as co-author of the three Henry VI plays, underscoring ...
Highlands murder tale tipped for Booker Prize win

Oct 24, 2016

EDINBURGH (AFP) -- A tale of murder and class warfare in the Scottish Highlands by a little-known novelist is one of the favorites to win this year's Booker Prize for literature on Tuesday. “His Blo...
Belgian author creates stir with tale of ice-cold revenge

Oct 20, 2016

FRANKFURT (AFP) - She's a literary sensation whose debut novel has sold over 100,000 copies, yet unless you speak Dutch you’ve probably never heard of writer Lize Spit. But all that's about to chang...
Novel looks at life as damaged goods in violent Minnesota

Oct 19, 2016

“The Heavens May Fall” By Allen Eskens Seventh Street Books (300 pages, $15.95) In Allen Eskens’ novels, Minnesota is a dark, violent place. His recurring characters routinely wrestle with loss, l...
French woman smitten by America in ‘Champagne Baby’

Oct 19, 2016

“Champagne Baby” By Laure Dugas Ballantine (316 pages, $26) In many a light memoir or novel, an American moves to Europe and is transformed. “Champagne Baby” upends that theme - and lots of cultur...
Ready to start your fall reading list? 13 suggestions

Oct 19, 2016

There’s something about a crisp fall day that just makes you want to curl up in an armchair and read a good book, right? (Preferably, as is often the case at my house, with a purring cat squeezed in ...