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Beyond the Book Articles Archive

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Cubism (c. 1907 - 1921) (07/10)
Asger inherits his love of art from Grandpa Askild, who paints in the Cubist style pioneered by artists like Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris, influenced by Paul Cezanne's later work. Although some art historians now credit the lesser-known Braque with creating the first Cubist paintings, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'...
Aboriginal Land Rights (06/10)
Carpentaria is essentially a novel about the clash of cultures, told from the perspective of the Aboriginal people of Australia. Just as the book illustrates, there is still debate in Australia about who can legitimately claim rights to the land - indigenous Australians, or descendants of the original European settlers. From the ...
Lev Grossman's Worlds (06/10)
Lev Grossman was born in 1969, the son of two English professors, and grew up in Lexington, MA, a placid little suburb of Boston. After obtaining a literature degree from Harvard and working towards a PhD in comparative literature at Yale, he gradually turned himself into a journalist and after a few years as a free-lancer, was hired...
The Anti-Updikeans (06/10)

'I'd like to offer assurances that your reviewer is not one of these spleen-venting, spittle-spattering Updike-haters one encounters among literary readers under 40. The fact is that I am probably classifiable as one of very few actual sub-40 Updike fans.'

This quote comes from an essay by David Foster Wallace, the upstart author of ...
Irish Travellers (06/10)
Among themselves, Travellers refer to themselves as Pavees.  To outsiders they are often referred to as pikeys, knackers or tinkers (the latter two descriptions refer to traditional crafts in which they were employed, rendering animals and tin-smithing; the first two are considered particularly derogatory). In Irish, they are...
Shariar Mandanipour (06/10)
Shariar Mandanipour's varied life began in the city of Shiraz, where he was born in 1956. In the 1970s, he participated in protests against the authoritarian rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi; in the 80s, he volunteered in the Iran-Iraq war; and, since 2009, he has served as the chief editor for Asr-e Pandishanbeh (Thursday Evening), an ...
Lost and Stolen Treasures (06/10)
According to British journalist and art critic Jonathan Jones, 'The most amazing thing is not how many masterpieces go missing or get destroyed but that something so fragile as art survives for any length of time at all.'

Yet the lead character of The Bellini Madonna, Thomas Joseph Lynch, is counting on the fact that the mysterious work ...
Pancho Villa (06/10)
In Far Bright Star, Cavalryman Napoleon Childs is a member of an expedition sent to the Mexican border to apprehend bandit Pancho Villa.

Many details of Villa's life are unknown or in dispute. Scholars believe he was born José Doroteo Arango Arambula in 1877 (some sources indicate 1878 or 1879) in San Juan del Rio, Durango, Mexico....
Burma (06/10)
During the time covered in Burmese Lessons, the military government in Burma was known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). This name has since been changed to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), but the behavior of the government  has not changed. Since 1962, the ruling military regime has severely ...
Hurricanes (06/10)
The term 'hurricane' is believed to originate with the Carib people of the West Indies (after whom the Caribbean was named). Historians believe that the Carib word huracan was probably derived from the Mayan storm god, Hunraken or the K'iche god of thunder and lightning, Hurakan. K'iche (in Spanish Quiché) is a part of the Mayan ...
A Short Lesson in Restaurant Terminology (05/10)
PERSONNEL
Chef: the cook in charge of a restaurant; from the French chef de cuisine, literally the head of the kitchen.
Executive Chef: sometimes called the head cook, he or she is the one responsible for running the food preparation in a kitchen, ordering food and supplies, making staff schedules, dealing with administrative tasks. ...
A Beginner's Guide to Mountaineering (05/10)
Mountain climbing, or mountaineering, is the sport of attaining or attempting to attain high points in mountainous regions, mainly for the pleasure of the climb. Before the 18th century, climbing for sport was rare. Humans did ascend high peaks, but generally only out of necessity or for religious reasons (many ancient religions ...
A Short History of Barcelona (05/10)
Barcelona, Spain's second largest city after Madrid, is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia in the North East of Spain (map) and a major economic center for finance, business, media, arts and international trade.  Its location on the Mediterranean coast brings it mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers.  ...
The Jardin des Plantes and the Changing Landscapes of Botanical Gardens (05/10)
The Jardin des Plantes in Paris was the epicenter of naturalist research in the early 1800s and is currently one of the world's foremost botanical gardens. Built in 1626, it was planted in 1635 as a medicinal herb garden for the King of France. It was opened to the public in 1640, greatly expanded under superintendent G.L.L ...
Baba Yaga (05/10)
In A Long, Long Time Ago…And Essentially True, one of the main characters, Beata, is constantly referred to by the nickname 'Baba Yaga.'

Baba Yaga is a popular figure in Slavic folk tales (Slavic language map). Also known as the 'Old Woman of Autumn,' her origins can be traced back to the ancient Slavic goddesses of birth ...
Ayelet Waldman's Bad Mother (05/10)
Several months before the release of Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs, his wife, writer Ayelet Waldman, published a memoir called Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace, which offers another look at the Chabon/Waldman family.

The book stems partly from Waldman's controversial essay ...
The Burundian Genocide (05/10)
The 1993 Burundian genocide (which preceded the 1994 genocide in Rwanda) traces back to the end of Belgian colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s and the first Berudian genocide of 1972. Burundian history fits, like interlocking puzzle pieces, with that of its northern neighbor, Rwanda (map of Central Africa).

Like in Rwanda, Hutus make ...
John The Revelator, The Person and The Shng (05/10)

The title of Peter Murphy's book is taken from a traditional song about John of Patmos, the name given to the author of the biblical Book of Revelation, who identifies himself as living on the Greek island of Patmos. Scholars date Revelation to between AD 54 and 96 with most believing it to have been written around AD 95.

In the 2nd...
Vory Tattoos - the mark of a Soviet fraternity of criminals (05/10)
The vory developed a complex series of coded tattoos that are still employed by the vory today. The tattoos have a bluish color and are blurred-looking due to the poor quality implements used to create them. Ink inside the prisons is usually created by burning the heel of a shoe and mixing the soot with urine and shampoo. The tattoos ...
Charlie Chaplin & Sunnyside (05/10)
Not a whole lot is said about silent films these days. The Age of the Silver Screen seems to be as antiquated as the subject matter of many of its films: the original Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments, Intolerance, and Birth of a Nation to name a few. The reputed masters of the form could be counted on one hand, and actors and actresses ...
Ivan Mishukov - The boy who lived with a pack of wild dogs (05/10)
I was fascinated to learn that Eva Hornung's novel Dog Boy was inspired by the real-life story of Ivan Mishukov, a four-year-old boy who decided to run away from his mother and her alcoholic boyfriend in 1996 in Moscow, and ended up living with a pack of wild dogs for approximately two years before he was rescued. In the book Savage Girls...
Elise and Otto Hampel (05/10)
Every Man Dies Alone is inspired by Elise and Otto Hampel, a blue collar couple. Elise and Otto eluded the police and the Gestapo from September 1940-42, 'leaving hundreds of postcards calling for civil disobedience and workplace sabotage all over Berlin.'

One of the frequent subjects of the Hampels' postcards was the Winter Relief ...
Horology, the art of time (04/10)
Protagonist George Crosby's love for repairing clocks is a prominent theme in Tinkers, which includes references to a fictional 1783 book called The Reasonable Horologist.

Horology encompasses both the science of measuring time and the art of making time pieces.  Thus, horologists include watchmakers, clockmakers, scholars, ...
Alexis de Tocqueville, author of Democracy in America (04/10)
Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was born in Paris on July 29, 1805. His parents, both of aristocratic background, narrowly avoided the guillotine during the aftermath of the French Revolution, and were exiled to England. They were later able to return to France during the reign of Napoleon. His father supported the Bourbon...
Waardenburg Syndrome (04/10)
Half Italian, half-Scottish forensic expert Enzo Macleod has distinctive good looks: long hair with a streak of white pulled back in a ponytail, and eyes of different colors. This is because Macleod has a genetic syndrome, called Waardenburg Syndrome, affecting hair color, eye pigmentation and sometimes hearing. It's so named for the ...
The Cello - The Little, Big Viola (04/10)
As Mia's source of strength, the cello plays a central role in If I Stay. Playing her instrument is her true passion, her future and the reason for her bond to her first love, Adam.

The first cellos were made in 16th century Italy. Composers sought an instrument with a similar sound to other stringed instruments but a lower tone than the...
India (04/10)
According to the U.S. Department of State, India's population is estimated at more than 1.2 billion and is growing at 1.6% a year. It has the world's 12th largest economy - and the third largest in Asia behind Japan and China - with total GDP in 2008 of around $1.2 trillion (which, to put it in context, is less than the USA's budget ...
The Two Faces of France During WWII (04/10)
What happens when part of a country's population embraces the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity while the rest abandon those principles in favor of work, family, fatherland, and a heavy dose of anti-Semitism? Moreover, what if that ideological split divides not only the country's people, but its leadership as well? If that ...
You Don't Have To Go It Alone - Female Adventurers (04/10)
Not all adventurers seek solitude. In December 2009, seven women from the Commonwealth countries of Cyprus, India, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, skied together over 800 kilometres across Antarctica to the South Pole 'to demonstrate the potential of greater intercultural understanding and exchange, while at ...
Candy Bars, Fascinating Facts (04/10)
Chocolate as a drink was a favorite of Montezuma, Emperor of the Aztecs. Hernando Cortez brought the drink back to Spain in 1529. It remained a favorite of the Spanish royalty for many years before being consumed widely throughout Europe.

It was not until three centuries later in England that chocolate was first used as a non-liquid ...
Preventing Drowning (04/10)
In Bird Lake Moon, the tragic drowning of Spencer's four-year-old brother haunts his family during their return visit to Bird Lake. As we approach the summer months, it is wise to ponder the following tragic statistics presented by the Orange County Fire Authority:

'Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-...
Banned and Challenged Books in America (03/10)
Some of the most memorable and painful moments in Snow Falling in Spring involve the solace of reading and the loss and destruction of books. American readers might be surprised to know that in America books are frequently challenged and even banned.

The American Library Association explains the difference between a challenge ...
The World's Largest Porch Swing and Nurturing Talent (03/10)
The memory of her family's visits to the World's Largest Porch Swing in Hebron, Nebraska, sustains Mibs during the bumpy bus ride to Salina where her seriously injured father is hospitalized.

Wackiness like The World's Largest Porch Swing has a sweetness in Savvy and has nothing to do with kitschiness. Instead, Law is inviting us to ...
The Life & Times of Judah Benjamin, the Secretary of State for the Confederate States of America. (03/10)
All Other Nights incorporates a number of historical characters, but perhaps the most integral to the tale is Judah Benjamin, the Secretary of State for the Confederate States of America.

Judah Benjamin was born in 1811 in the West Indies during the British occupation of the Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands).  He ...
American Labor on the Docks (03/10)
The Miles Archer character in Gores's novel has earned his tough-guy reputation by helping quell labor unrest on the docks of Seattle, in part by outing 'Wobblies.' For the unfamiliar, this plot line may be a bit confusing, but it is historically accurate, and adds welcome color to the novel's setting.

The history of American labor is ...
Bethlem Hospital (03/10)
The Bedlam Hospital that appears in Revelation is no figment of the author’s imagination. It is fashioned after what is perhaps the oldest hospital for the mentally ill in the Western world, Bethlem Hospital in London. Bethlem has also gone by the name Bedlam, the root of the modern English word bedlam, meaning 'uproarious confusion....
Parapsychology vs. Skepticism (03/10)
While the Washburn Library is a purely fictional invention, it does have an analog in the real world: the Rhine Research Center, once known as the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man, and home to the Institute for Parapsychology until 2002. Formerly affiliated with Duke University, the Rhine now operates independently a short ...
Women and Botany (03/10)
Before her husband forbade her from pursuing any hobbies or interests, Mary Eleanor Bowes devoted considerable time to studying botany and overseeing the gardens at her family estates. She even became the patron of Scottish naturalist William Paterson, funding his expedition to South Africa, from where he brought native plant specimens as...
Eating Disorders (03/10)
Lia's anorexia and Cassie's bulimia represent two of the three most common eating disorders identified by the National Mental Health Information Center. Ninety percent of those who have eating disorders are women between the ages of 12 and 25, but they can also manifest in teenage boys, and adult men and women of all ages. It's estimated ...
Ian Sansom on Libraries, Writing, and Flapjacks (03/10)
On his website Ian Sansom speaks about the role libraries have played in his life:

'Libraries are places where you go to invent and reinvent yourself, or maybe just to use the toilet, if they have toilet facilities, and to find out how other people have reinvented themselves, and what they've written on the walls, and the desks, and in the...
Non-Traditional Cancer Therapies (03/10)
Cancer is the term used to describe any malignant growth or tumor caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division.  A cancer is described as Stage 4 when it has spread from the original site to other parts of the body. When we first meet Nicola, she has already undergone surgery and chemotherapy. Below are some of the ...
To Read or Not To Read in Series Order (03/10)
When I was a teenager, my mother gave me some advice which I almost immediately ignored. We were both avid readers who preferred reading to talking and most of our limited conversation was about what we were reading.

She had enjoyed English novelist Norah Lofts's trilogy about the history of a house and the stories of the people ...
King Arthur - history or myth? (03/10)
No one is sure if there was truly a person named Arthur who was a ruler of the Britons. Evidence for his existence is scant at best.

The first complete account of the life of King Arthur appeared in Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), written in 1137 - 1138 CE by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Geoffrey surely ...
Korean Picture Brides (02/10)
Korea became the object of Japan's colonial ambitions in the late nineteenth century, culminating in Japan's annexation of the region in 1910. Koreans, escaping the abuse and heavy taxation imposed by the Japanese, began immigrating to Hawaii. Approximately 6000 migrated to the islands between 1906 and 1910, 90% of whom were male. Most ...
England's Black Country (02/10)
England's Black Country is currently defined as the West Midlands region encompassing Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell, though the specific borders have been previously debated. The name reputedly derives from the thick Staffordshire coal seam and from the area's industrial past. Once home to steel mills, coal mines, glassworks...
The Angel Island Immigration Station (02/10)
In Shanghai Girls, Pearl and May are incarcerated at the Angel Island Immigration Station after fleeing war-torn China. Angel Island was the first stop for most Chinese entering the United States during this period; 175,000 were processed there during its thirty years of operation.

Chinese immigration to the United States began in the ...
A Brief Biography of Copernicus (02/10)
Nicolaus Copernicus was one of the first scientists to remove the Earth (and consequently, humanity) from the center of the universe, countering the theological teachings of his day. As such, his theories are referred to often in You Are Here. He is regarded as one of the central figures of the Scientific Revolution, and is sometimes ...
Acromegaly (02/10)
Truly Plaice, the protagonist of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, is referred to as a 'giant' even as a child. It is not until mid-way through the book that a physician provides the name of the disease that afflicts her: Acromegaly.

Acromegaly comes from the Latin acron, for extremity, and megas, meaning large. It was ...
A Beginner's Guide to Tall Ships (02/10)
The Red Wolf Conspiracy takes place almost entirely aboard an immense sailing ship (aka 'tall ship') with seven decks and five sails, similar, albeit perhaps on a grander scale, to those one might envision in use during the 18th century. Although the book is set in a fantasy world, Redick references familiar ship types and crew ...
Pullman Porters (02/10)
Clarence King presented himself to Ada Copeland as Pullman porter James Todd with good reason; at the turn of the 20th twentieth century, only black men were hired as sleeping car porters. Introducing himself as a man of this profession would leave no doubt of his race, regardless of the color of his skin.

But the Girl begins with the real-life disappearance of Malaysia Airlines ...

  • Book Jacket: Patriot
    Patriot
    by Alexei Navalny
    On the 17th of January, 2024, colleagues of Alexei Navalny posted a message to his Instagram account...
  • Book Jacket: Rental House
    Rental House
    by Weike Wang
    For many of us, vacations offer an escape from the everyday — a chance to explore new places, ...

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    Book Jacket
    The Berry Pickers
    by Amanda Peters
    A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl disappears, leaving a mystery unsolved for fifty years.
    Book Jacket
    In Our Midst
    by Nancy Jensen
    In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
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