Today’s Zimbabwe is filled with a sense of foreboding, though many had hoped that the recent election would enable it to sing again. But the country has a long tradition of writers speaking out – sometimes prophetically – against the excesses of dictators.
Tag: 04.22.07
The Stomach Of Los Angeles
Pulitzer-winning food critic Jonathan Gold writes about restaurants fancy and plain for LAWeekly. “There was a recent L.A. Times exposé on 400 restaurants that had received failing grades from health inspectors. ‘I’d been to 110 of them,’ he says. In how many eateries has he dined, just in L.A.? He can only guess: 5,000? 10,000?”
Next: Harry Potter, The Theme Park?
“Universal Studios is seeking a deal with Rowling to build a $500m Harry Potter mini theme park in Florida. Rowling is believed to have been in negotiations with Universal Studios since 2005 over potential sites and the park’s contents. Earlier talks with Disney, which has a Disneyworld in Orlando, are understood to have fallen through because the giant American leisure corporation wanted total control of the project.”
Now Presiding At Amis & Amis
“Writers’ offspring tend to go into the family business with far less regularity than, say, the children of doctors or lawyers, and it seldom happens that over the long haul, and in the deepening shade, the younger equals or outstrips the elder — the way that Anthony Trollope, to take a famous example, bested his mother, Fanny. The exception these days is the curious writerly firm of Amis & Amis, founded by Kingsley, who died in 1995, and now run by his son Martin.”
Getting Inside Lincoln Kirstein
Remarkably, the co-founder of New York City Ballet has never had a biography. “It’s not easy to draw a portrait of someone who never sat still. It’s especially hard when that person’s genius consisted of laying the groundwork for other geniuses. Acclaimed historian and biographer Martin Duberman succeeds in ‘The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein,’ the first biography of the impresario, because he paints Kirstein’s life as the restless man lived it – great aesthetic ambitions alternating with cruises to waterfront dives.
Forecast For Russian News: 50 Percent Good
Russia’s largest independent radio network has a new mandate for its newscasts: 50 percent of the news must be good. “When we talk of death, violence or poverty, for example, this is not positive,” said one editor at the station who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution. “If the stock market is up, that is positive. The weather can also be positive.”
Chicago Tribune Moves Books To Saturday
The Chicago Tribune is moving its Sunday books section to Saturday. “With the switch to Saturday, we will also usher in a new era of the Tribune’s coverage of books, expanding our coverage of books, ideas and the written word throughout the newspaper and across the week.”
“Producers” Closes After 2,502 Performances
“The show, which won a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards including best musical, was one of the most critically praised stage productions of the last decade. The show, which opened April 19, 2001, was such a hit that the top ticket price was raised the next day from $91 to $100 — a $99 top price plus $1 for theater restoration.”
What Pulitzer Says About State Of American Theatre
“There’s hardly anything surprising about the 2007 Pulitzer going last week to David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole. But the award is yet another sign that this isn’t the most welcoming of times for envelope-pushing drama. Broadway is rife with revivals and British imports. And the big regional theaters, established as an alternative to the commercial system, have had a tough time staying true to their mandate. Risk-averse programming that favors the familiar, preferably with a star lead, slick showmanship and a clobbering marketing campaign, isn’t limited to the Great White Way.”
LACMA’s Once-A-Year Committee Shopping Spree
Once a year the Collectors Committee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art gather for a weekend gala and ponder tough choices of artwork to buy, offered by curators. “Over more than two decades, the committee has donated about $14 million to purchase 150 works of art for the museum. Curators’ selections are based on the availability of appropriate works in the right price range.”