Margaret Atwood has always been one step ahead. The recent to-do over the use of the word “vagina” on the Michigan state House floor, for instance, would fit right in with the world she imagined in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which was published back in 1985.So maybe other adult novelists should take note of Atwood’s latest move: She’s jumped into the frenetic teen writing site Wattpad (www.wattpad.com). “I look forward to exploring the ways Wattpad connects people to reading and writing, and may hel

July 13, 2012

The public intellectual has become a rare creature in America, but Kurt Andersen has helped keep it from going extinct. He co-founded Spy magazine, was editor of New York magazine and now writes pieces like Time’s 2011 person of the year story, the Protester. These days, though, he mostly splits his time between hosting “Studio 360,” broadcast weekly to 160 NPR stations, and writing the occasional bestselling novel. His newest book, “True Believers” (Random House: 447 pages, $27), came out Tuesd

July 13, 2012

A famous American child prodigy has published a book exclusively in Korean to share his study skills with the public. Sho Timothy Yano, who last month became the youngest person to graduate with an M.D., from the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago at the age of 21, said in his autobiography that it is important for one to have a purpose when studying. “What I would hope to tell students with my book is to think about why they are studying,” Yano said during a press conferen

July 11, 2012

Irish scholar shares his view on the leading philosopher of late Joseon Love your people, and serve their interest -- not yours.The message of Dasan (1762-1836), one of the greatest thinkers in the late Joseon period, transcends time and cultural boundaries. It certainly was the case for Irish scholar Kevin N. Cawley when he read one of Dasan’s texts a number of years ago. Cawley, who grew up Catholic, saw striking similarities between teachings of Catholicism and the Joseon scholar’s writing.“W

July 11, 2012

Election and Civil SocietyJung Young-tae et al. (Korea Democracy Foundation)Civil society has played a pivotal role in achieving political freedom and a fairer election culture in Korea. “Election and Civil Society” describes in chronological order the major election movements initiated by civic groups in the context of Korea’s modern political history. It is the first of a series of books on Korea’s democratization movement published by the Korea Democracy Foundation.The book offers valuable in

July 6, 2012

American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across AmericaBy Michelle Obama (Crown)Michelle Obama can recall a time when she “had no idea that tomatoes didn’t come in green plastic trays, covered by cellophane and that they could be any color other than pale red.”She’s come a long way, and now she is working to bring the rest of us with her. Her efforts to garden on the White House lawn and to involve people all over the country in growing food are the subject of her

July 6, 2012

Korean DanceBy Kim MalborgTranslated by Lee Jean-young (Ewha Womans University Press)Although local ballet troupes have developed their original Korean repertoires ― such as “Shim Chung” and “Prince Hodong”― and received enthusiastic reviews overseas, little is known about traditional Korean dance in the international dance scene.For those who are interested in exploring the world of Korea’s traditional dance, local scholar Kim Malborg’s English-translated book, “Korean Dance” is a useful guide.

July 6, 2012

The Rock Bottom Remainders played their last gig recently, and the guy on bass guitar knew it would be a heartbreaker. Still, Ridley Pearson was typically upbeat.“We spent 20 years having a great time and raising $2 million for charity. It was such a labor of love.”When talking about work, family, friends ― even his adopted city of St. Louis ― most everything seems to be a labor of love for Pearson.His default mode is optimistic, says his friend Jim Bogart, development manager for the St. Louis

July 6, 2012

Beautiful RuinsBy Jess Walter (Harper)Embraced by everyone from Anthony Trollope to Tom Wolfe, the social satire remains enduringly popular. For good reason; readers get to peer, not just into the hearts of the novel’s characters, but into the soul of the culture itself. It’s a high-wire act for the novelist ― how to retain empathy for his characters, even as he shreds the pretensions, the evasions and the hypocrisies of the times his characters live in.Acclaimed author Jess Walter takes on such

June 29, 2012

Seating ArrangementsBy Maggie Shipstead (Knopf)If you are deeply entrenched in the upper-crust of society, complete with summer houses, college clubs and country clubs, “Seating Arrangements” might hit a bit too close to home.Then again, even those readers likely will find Maggie Shipstead’s sharp debut novel a witty and spot-on satire that looks at the world of Winn and Biddy Van Meter and their uptight New England existence.“Seating Arrangements” covers just three days in the family’s life as

June 29, 2012

Not every home in Douglas Frey’s book, “Marietta, the Gem City of Georgia,” is a splendor of architecture that immediately stirs images of its period the way antebellum evokes the Civil War and Victorian conjures street cars and suffragettes.Some homes are just working stiffs. And that’s the way it should be, said Frey, 46, who became an accidental historian and author after he and wife Rachel Bowen bought a rundown, 111-year-old Queen Anne on Trammell Street in Marietta in 1998 and he started r

June 29, 2012

Categorize him as a classic Southern writer. Call him a keen observer of life in Georgia. But don’t confuse Ferrol Sams with writers who revel in the “moonlight and magnolias” of the Old South.“When my first book was published, a lady wrote to tell me she was so glad that there was finally something between ‘Tobacco Road’ and ‘Gone With the Wind,’” said Sams, whose three novels, short story collections and personal reminiscences draw deeply on the roots of his youth, growing up on a cotton farm

June 29, 2012

Newly named UNICEF Korea’s goodwill ambassador, best-selling writer ‘grateful’ for her new missionAfter the sensational success of her novel “Please Look after Mom” overseas, author Shin Kyung-sook is taking on a new role as an ambassador for children.“I am grateful for this opportunity to serve for children in need,” the author said after being appointed as the new goodwill ambassador of UNICEF Korea on Wednesday.Shin is the second writer to serve in the position, after late author Park Wan-suh

June 28, 2012

 Dennis Maloney of White Pine Press speaks on Korean literature, advises on ways to promote it betterIt’s been 19 years since American publisher White Pine Press released its first book of Korean literature, “The Snowy Road and Other Stories,” in 1993. After publishing 16 books of Korean lit, mostly collections of poems, White Pine Press’ founding editor and poet Dennis Maloney says he is now interested in writers and translators from Korea’s younger generation.“We have done several books of Kor

June 24, 2012

The World Without You By Joshua Henkin(Pantheon)A family assembles at its country house for a memorial to a lost son. In the course of the long weekend, old and new tensions ― between husbands and wives, between parents and children, and among siblings ― bubble to the surface.It could be the plot of a Chekhov play or a Woody Allen movie. But on this classic narrative scaffolding, Joshua Henkin develops a painfully contemporary situation. The youngest child and only son of the Frankel family, Leo

June 22, 2012

The ChaperoneBy Laura Moriarty(Riverhead Books)There’s a picture of 1920s movie star Louise Brooks on the cover of “The Chaperone” ― her hair bobbed, her painted lips in the slightest of pouts ― but hers is not the story the book tells. Rather, the novel imagines the life of the woman from Wichita, Kan., who accompanied Brooks to New York City as her chaperone in the summer of 1922.Cora Carlisle is the wife of a prominent lawyer, the mother of two college-age sons, involved in Wichita society ―

June 22, 2012

Escape from Camp 14By Blaine Harden(Viking)A number of rallies and hunger strikes have been taking place in front of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul since February, after it was revealed that the Chinese authorities planned to repatriate about 30 North Korean refugees to the North -- where they face harsh punishment and possibly execution.Amid the public criticism of Beijing in Seoul, former New York Times and the Washington Post writer Blaine Harden in March published “Escape from Camp 14,” a book

June 22, 2012