Josef Sudek: The Window of My Studio, 2007 Czech master photographer Josef Sudek has just become much better known. A major show of his photographs at the Art Gallery of Ontario, on until April 7th, is finding him a new audience in Canada, including me. His photographic prints are small and reward close attention. […]
I brought these library books home this week. Now I finally get to sit down and have a good look at them. I put a hold on this book Shoot: Photography of the Moment without knowing much about it. Let's have a look. We're going to see work by seventeen contemporary photographers who are new to me. […]
When Wikipedia darkened it's site last week to protest the passing of laws that would have placed new restrictions on our use of the internet to share books, music and video, I was very glad to have just finished reading two excellent collections of essays by Cory Doctorow on the issues involved. Cory Doctorow by […]
In 2010 two oversize photography books were published on the same subject. Detroit Disassembled: Photographs by Andrew Moore and The Ruins of Detroit by two French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. Looked at together they provide a much more vivid and comprehensive portrait than either could on its own. Accounts vary, but it seems […]
All of us have at least one brilliant friend with endlessly fascinating ideas and opinions, but few of us do anything about it. Toronto novelist Sheila Heti decided to sit down with her friend Misha Glouberman and write down everything he knew. The result of their collaboration is a lively and very readable self-help book […]
In an earlier post I've praised the international bestselling novels of Andrea Camilleri. I didn't know then that Italian television (RAI) has been producing them for broadcast since 1999. These Italian-language programs are now available on DVD with English subtitles under the name Detective Montalbano. They are great fun and will thrill all lovers of […]
When the New York Times newspaper approached Ruth Reichl about becoming their new restaurant critic, she was already reviewing restaurants for the Los Angeles Times and was in no mood to make a change. Her husband was supportive. "Why on earth would you want to work at the best paper in the world?" The Times […]
Bringing home a stack of books from the library has been a joy for me since I was a child in North Bay, Ontario, fifty years ago. When I moved to Toronto in my twenties I didn't feel I was participating in the life of the city until I had my own library card. I brought this […]
The first volume of Stephen Sondheim's complete lyrics Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes is charming, intimate and extremely entertaining. Highlights include his memories of writing and staging West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, […]
If you saw last Sunday's Aurelio Zen mystery on WNED's Masterpiece Mystery, you might wonder about the novels this new series is based on. Michael Dibdin wrote eleven mystery novels set in Italy, featuring Italian policeman Aurelio Zen (–not Zen as in Buddhism, rather Zen as an old Venetian name). Donna Leon and Ruth Rendel […]