Madeleine Albright on Moral Complexity

Madeleine Albright’s Prague Winter is an exploration of the moral complexities faced by her parents and their generation during WWII. That literary structure—which puts the personal within an historical context and demonstrates how each influences the other—makes the book a fascinating read.

Anne Lamott and the Secret to Life

Anne Lamott has been through a lot—alcohol and drug abuse, financial problems, serious family illnesses, and the challenges of single parenthood—and come out on the other side, sober and spiritually alive. Speaking at St. Andrew church in Marin City, she shared what she’s learned, including the secret to life.

Barbara Kingsolver on the Power of Literature

In Flight Behavior Kingsolver does, once again, what she does best. She looks at an issue from multiple points of view, empathizing with characters who disagree with each other, turning a question over and over like a pebble in a tumbler until the hard edges are worn away and the result is something you want to carry around in your pocket,

When a body reading in Indonesia just isn’t enough

There had been many times in my travels when stepping outside my comfort zone had made me feel younger, but this was the first time that I looked it, too. Here’s a link to the San Francisco Chronicle article in which I inadvertently entertain the neighborhood in...

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Literary Cookbook

Love Elizabeth Gilbert? Read on to discover the recipe you can prepare using a piece of Daddy’s discarded shirt, the old-fashioned secret to making orange marmalade, and what Gilbert is working on now.

Magical Beans

The world’s most expensive coffee is made from coffee beans that have been eaten, partially digested, and excreted by a small Southeast Asian creature called the luwak. Come along as I explore Bali, track down the paradoxical creature that produces Indonesian Kopi Luwak, and learn its secrets.