Harper Lee hated Trump's Taj Mahal resort, letter reveals

LOS ANGELES(AFP) - Harper Lee, one of America's most celebrated novelists who died in February, thought Donald Trump’s infamous Taj Mahal casino was hell on Earth, a stash of her private correspondence revealed Monday.　The “To Kill a Mockingbird” author, whose masterpiece about racial injustice was read by millions, slammed the billionaire presidential hopeful's boardwalk resort in New Jersey in a letter to a friend in 1990.　“The worst punishment God can devise for this sinner is to make her spi

March 29, 2016

Discover contemporary Asian culture in Eastern Trends

Multilingual international lifestyle magazine Eastern Trends is emerging as the go-to source for in-depth, culture-related reporting on major cities in Asia. In its April edition, the magazine features perspectives on Korean television programs and their dynamic production process.The cover of the Eastern Trends April edition, featuring Korean actor Hong Jong-hyun (Eastern Trends)　Titled “Television, A Spectacular Frame,” the cover story peers behind the scenes of Korean TV production, with anec

March 27, 2016

French writers’ existential woe as their incomes dive

PARIS (AFP) -- It is nothing short of an existential crisis, as crippling as the ones that had Left Bank intellectuals like Albert Camus or Jean-Paul Sartre staring gloomily into their coffee.　French writers have never felt more badly paid, undervalued or under pressure, with a new survey showing more than half of established authors earn less than the minimum wage.　Many are so depressed by the state of the book industry that they are considering giving up altogether, according to a new report.

March 23, 2016

New author hopes her novel ‘The Nest’ lives up to its buzz

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney was on her way to meet her family for brunch in New York when she had an idea for the opening scene of her debut novel, “The Nest.”　Sweeney imagined family members “all needing to meet but all needing a drink before they met and all getting their drink in proximity to each other without knowing that they were all doing the same thing,” she said in a recent phone interview from her home in Los Angeles.　She was intrigued by why they needed to drink before s

March 23, 2016

A stirring tale of Thomas Francis Meagher, ‘The Immortal Irishman’

“The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero” 　By Timothy Egan　Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (384 pages, $28)　Green beer aside, the most appropriate way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day would be to learn more about one of Ireland’s greatest exports, Thomas Francis Meagher.　And there’s no better way to do that than by reading this stirring and magnificent biography by Timothy Egan, “The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero.”　Few people ha

March 23, 2016

How CJ Group came to dominate the culture industry

“Creative Journey”　By Ko Seong-yeon 　Yolimwon Publishing Group (280 pages, 13,800 won, $11.90)“Creative Journey” offers a case study into how a small sugar company grew to become CJ Group, a global lifestyle company and the nation’s largest cultural contents provider. 　Locally, the letters CJ have now come to represent Korea’s popular culture, from films, music, and TV programs to food, and the worldwide hallyu phenomena, writes author Ko Seong-yeon. Ko, a journalist with expertise in creative c

March 23, 2016

Ambition and poverty in lives of rural Indian fishermen

“The Dance of the Sea”　By Soosaiya Anthreas　Gatekeeper Press (447 pages, $11.95)　A long-winded tale of people battling for life in a slum fishing town in southern India, “The Dance of the Sea” spans the life of Sebastian, who seeks to escape his squalid hometown of belligerent, mostly uneducated fisherman. After successfully becoming an engineer under the pressure of his parents, he goes on to desert his lover and turn his back on his poverty-stricken sister. A tsunami wave later strikes his hom

March 23, 2016

Famed publisher opens Paris’ first on-demand only bookshop

PARIS (AP) -- To many Parisians, the letters PUF have always been associated with the intellectual heart of the French capital.　So when the 95-year-old venerable publishing house specializing in human and social sciences was forced to close its historic bookstore on the Place de La Sorbonne in 1999, it left a big void in the heart of many students and researchers.　But Les Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) is back in town, just a stone’s throw from their previous location in the Quartier Lat

March 21, 2016

[Herald Interview] Defining and redefining Sohn Jie-ae

Sohn Jie-ae, who has spent 30 years in the English-language media, has written a memoir chronicling her journey. 　Published last month, “Sohn Jie-ae. CNN. Seoul” resembles its writer: It is ambitious and expansive, touching on everything from career advice to journalism, government work, North Korea, feminism and family life.　“So many people seem to think to themselves, ‘This is it for me. This is the end of my capacity,’” Sohn told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul on Tuesday. 　“I hope

March 17, 2016

2016 Paris book fair opens with Korea as guest of honor

PARIS (Yonhap) -- An international book fair kicked off in Paris on Wednesday, highlighting Korean books and authors.　Launched in 1981, the Paris Book Fair is considered one of the biggest publishing trade fairs in Europe. More than 250,000 publishers, booksellers, authors, literary agents, librarians, and media and industry suppliers attended the fair last year. 　Korea is taking part in the event as the guest of honor for the first time as it celebrates the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties

March 17, 2016

‘Holy grail’ set of Shakespeare folios for sale

LONDON (AP) -- William Shakespeare died 400 years ago, but his stock has never been higher.　To coincide with the anniversary of the Bard’s death, Christie’s is selling copies of the first four editions of his plays -- a collection the auctioneer’s head of books, Margaret Ford, calls “the holy grail of publishing.”　The four folios are going on display in New York April 1-8 and London April 20-28 before being sold in London on May 25.  A Christie`s staff displays an unrecorded copy of the First Fo

March 17, 2016

Fans use Lovecraft‘s fame to promote Providence’s weird side

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Fans of H.P. Lovecraft's writings are trying to use the growing fame of the early 20th century fantasy-horror writer to promote Providence’s weird side.　Lovecraft so identified with Rhode Island's capital city that he wrote "I am Providence" in a letter. His headstone bears the phrase. Some of Lovecraft’s best-known works are set in Providence. 　Tuesday marked the 79th anniversary of his death. A light rain fell as about 20 people gathered where Lovecraft's childhood hou

March 17, 2016

Hot-button issues in suspenseful ‘Off the Grid’

　Best-seller C.J. Box’s series about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is known for showing how environmental issues not only affect ecology, but also people, jobs and lifestyles. 　In “Off the Grid,” Box goes a bit off the grid himself by tackling the hot-button issue of terrorists and government interference, delivering an even-handed look that illustrates the perception of a situation isn't always reality. 　　“Off the Grid” isn't so much Joe’s story as it is his friend's Nate Romanowski, a war ve

March 17, 2016

Rise of the unmarried American woman

“All The Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation” 　By Rebecca Traister　Simon and Schuster (339 pages, $27)Employing the tools of social history and narrative journalism, “All The Single Ladies” paints an upbeat portrait of the unmarried life, concluding with a call for policy changes to support “the epoch of single women that's upon us.”　Rebecca Traister traces the trend of happy singlehood back through American history to its pre-Colonial roots in England. In 1563,

March 17, 2016

What America taught Hitler about eugenics

Writing in 1927 for an 8-1 Supreme Court majority in Buck vs. Bell, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes upheld a Virginia law authorizing sterilization of the “feebleminded.” 　In “Imbeciles,” Adam Cohen outlines the collision course between Carrie Buck -- a woman who was poor and unfortunate but no imbecile -- and a scion of one of Boston’s oldest families who was wrongly reputed to be liberal.　Cohen's chapters on Holmes make clear that Buck was no anomaly; Holmes was a longtime eugenicist who’d previ

March 17, 2016

Surviving Shakespeare script urges empathy for foreigners

LONDON (AFP) - The only surviving play script including William Shakespeare's handwriting, and containing a passionate speech against xenophobia, is being put online to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death, the British Library announced Tuesday.　The script is a section from a controversial play that revolves around how statesman Sir Thomas More quelled a 1517 anti-foreigner uprising in London by asking the rioters to imagine themselves being banished to live abroad.　The 164-line scene

March 16, 2016

Han Kang on list for Man Booker International Prize

Novelist Han Kang, 46, has become the first Korean writer to be on the long list for the Man Booker International Prize.　　The prestigious award body announced Thursday on its website 13 contenders for the 2016 prize, including Han’s 2004 novel “The Vegetarian,” translated by Deborah Smith.　　“The Vegetarian” was published in the U.K. in January 2015 and in the U.S. last month to both critical and popular acclaim.  　Novelist Han Kang (Literature Translation Institute of Korea)　Nobel laureate Orhan

March 10, 2016