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 December 5, 2008Books Update |
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Holiday Books The Book Review picks outstanding works from the last year. Book News & More Reviews »ADVERTISEMENT  Also in This Week's Book Review A roundup of cooking titles, from an appreciation of fat to traditional holiday fare. This year’s offerings seem more to do with thinking about gardens than with the act of gardening.  Forget planes, trains and gas-powered automobiles. This season’s travel writers seem driven not only by wanderlust but by a passion for unusual conveyances.  From hand-colored photographs of the holy land to paintings of outer space commissioned by NASA.  A biography of Le Corbusier and a sprawling scrapbook expanding on his works and vision. One movie critic’s choices of a lifetime.  Elvis from A to Z, and then some. A biography of Casanova points out there was much more to the man’s life than sex. (But let’s not forget the sex.) An oral-history celebration of a classic band of punk rockers.  Over a feverish six weeks in 1843, Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” and, this book argues, reinvented the holiday itself.  A big, fat book, stuffed with pictures portraying the rise of Warner Brothers as “the working-class studio.” A history of skiing, from prehistory to the present, thickly studded with trivia.  Humorous holiday essays from David Sedaris. Once-forgotten poems by a young Bob Dylan respond to photographs of Hollywood.  An Australian cooks Christmas dinner for his French family.  The author of “Marley & Me” recounts his upbringing, religious vicissitudes and filial piety. a sampler of writings on dancers and dance, edited by Robert Gottlieb.  Photographs and memorabilia of legendary Nashville stars, most of whom have passed on. Seven day-in-the-life chapters, each focusing on a different facet of the contemporary art world and its globe-trotting Prada-clad tribe. | Books FeaturesThe Book Review picks the best works from the last year.
 Eight exceptional books published in the last year. Choice offerings from the year’s mystery novels. Essay In praise of George Herter — mail-order genius, rustic self-help poet, All-American crank.  Biographies of Roman Polanski, Alfred Hitchcock and Sammy Davis Jr.; a memoir by George Hamilton; and the life of the producer Irving Thalberg in photographs. Children's Books “Snow” is a little essay written as a poem; “The Snow Show” would rather joke than evoke. In the NewsRandom House announced a sweeping reorganization aimed at trimming costs, while Simon & Schuster said it was cutting 35 jobs. Best Sellers
Web FeaturesRecently in the Book Review’s blog: Questions for Thomas Lynch; the Book Review’s Holiday Book Number from 1908; when languages die. This week: Caroline Weber on portraits from Vanity Fair magazine; Motoko Rich with Notes From the Field; Charles McGrath on newly-discovered verse by Bob Dylan; and bestseller news from Jennifer Schuessler. Sam Tanenhaus is the host. Editor’s NoteThanks for taking the time to read this e-mail. Feel free to send feedback; I enjoy hearing your opinions and will do my best to respond. Blake Wilson |
Slide Show: Visual Books
What were your favorite books of the last year?
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