Book traces odd journey of Cohen’s song

NEW YORK (AP) ― It’s hard to think of any song that has taken a stranger journey through popular culture than Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”Recorded in 1984, it was on the only Cohen album rejected by his record company. Virtually no one noticed when the song did come out on an independent label. Since then, through dozens of cover versions, high-profile performances and appearances on TV or movie soundtracks, “Hallelujah” has become a modern standard.Author Alan Light reflected upon that while a

Dec. 13, 2012

English books feature Korean sports, fashion

Korea’s Culture Ministry recently published two English-language books, one about Korean sports and the other about local fashion, as the newest additions to its “K-series,” a book series featuring Korean culture.“K-Fashion: Wearing a New Future” and “K-Sports: A New Breed of Rising Champions” are published by Korea Culture and Information Service, an affiliate of the Culture Ministry.Among the two, “K-Fashion” is written by Kim Hong-ki, who works as a fashion curator and a journalist. He has sp

Dec. 13, 2012

Seong delves into theme of love

Korea’s celebrated writer Seong Seok-je recently published the first love-themed novel of his literary career.The 52-year-old has previously written on love and intimacy in his short stories, including the famous coming-of-age tale “First Love,” but this is his first full-length novel delving into the subject.Titled “One and Only,” the book tells the story of Se-gil, a young boy who falls for fellow student Min-hyeon ― whom he runs into during their entrance ceremony to elementary school. From t

Dec. 13, 2012

Stephen King offers writing tips to students

LOWELL, Massachusetts (AP) ― Stephen King loves scaring people, but one student at University of Massachusetts Lowell tried to find out Friday what scares him. “Spiders, snakes ... my mother-in-law,’’ the writer said with a grin.The author of international bestselling books including “Carrie’’ and “The Shining’’ came to the college to talk with writing students. English Department professor Andre Dubus III, another bestselling author and an old friend of King’s, shared the stage for about an hou

Dec. 10, 2012

Book spotlights Salt Lake City

City of SaintsBy Andrew Hunt (Minotaur)Salt Lake City in 1930 was a fast-growing town with big-city concerns, dominated by the large, striking divisions between the wealthy and the middle class, and between those who follow the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those who are not Mormons. The rough-hewn countryside, both beautiful and unforgiving, shrinks as the city limits expand.This Depression-era Utah background proves to be an evocative and mesmerizing setting

Dec. 6, 2012

JK Rowling's novel for adults to be adapted for TV

The first book for "grown-ups" by Harry Potter author JK Rowling is to be adapted into a television series, the BBC announced Monday."The Casual Vacancy", Rowling's darkly comic novel set in a seemingly idyllic English village, was published in September and the TV version is set to air on the BBC's flagship BBC One channel in 2014.The 47-year-old's series about the young wizard was adapted into eight blockbuster movies, but Rowling insisted that television was the best medium for an adaptation

Dec. 4, 2012

Teen detective with Asperger’s, and heart

Colin FischerBy Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz(Razorbill)Every high school student could use a friend like Colin Fischer, the protagonist in a new teen mystery novel called, as it happens, “Colin Fischer.” Not that having Colin for a friend is easy. Quite the opposite.He has a quality unusual in a high school student: He’ll tell you the truth, even when that means telling the girl he’s sweet on not only that her “breasts got bigger” over the summer but that that “is a perfectly normal reac

Nov. 29, 2012

Telling good generals from mediocre

The Generals: American Military Command From World War II to TodayBy Thomas E. Ricks(Penguin Press) Post-Vietnam U.S. military forces have acquired an unrivaled reputation for their ability to swiftly kick enemy butt. The shock and awe factor in the opening days of the past four major U.S. war deployments ― Panama, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq ― sent an unmistakable message to would-be enemies around the world: Don’t mess with us.But a common thread runs through these deployments and their less-

Nov. 29, 2012

‘Leonardo and The Last Supper,’ the times behind Da Vinci

Inventor, painter, designer ― Leonardo Da Vinci was a brilliant man. This undeniable fact is borne out by his drawings, his notebooks, his paintings, and one fresco in particular ― The Last Supper in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy.But, according to Ross King, it wasn’t a job Da Vinci wanted.In “Leonardo and The Last Supper,” King gives you a portrait of the times behind Da Vinci, and the politics and decisions that went into the creation of the painting.Renais

Nov. 29, 2012

Writer’s belief in promise of Kenya flows through memoir

“In the House of the Interpreter,” the new memoir by the celebrated African writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, takes us to the hopeful and turbulent world of 1950s Kenya. And it begins with a startling image.Ngugi is a teenager, returning home from his prestigious boarding school. He’s finished his first term at the top of his class and is still wearing his khaki school uniform and blue tie. Carrying his belongings in a wooden box, he reaches the ridge where his village should come into view. But it’s n

Nov. 29, 2012

Lesson on how fashion affected history

Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and StyleConsultant Editor Susan Brown with the Smithsonian, Institution (DK Publishing, New York)It’s always fun to find a book that is one-stop holiday shopping for both newcomer and expert, especially when the book is full of history and photographs.Susan Brown, a consultant with the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, edited the coffee-table book “Fashion: The Definitive History of Costume and Style.” For anyone with a casual intere

Nov. 22, 2012

Alice Munro explores deep ground

Dear LifeBy Alice Munro (Knopf)She is regularly paired with Chekhov. In 2004, Jonathan Franzen suggested she might be “the best fiction writer now working in North America.” In his introduction to the 2012 edition of “The Best American Short Stories,” Tom Perrotta states that she “looms over this year’s collection” as the “master” who has “expanded our sense of what stories can do.”All true, and all reinforced by the just-published “Dear Life,” Alice Munro’s 13th collection of short stories.But

Nov. 22, 2012

A revisionist history of Michael Jackson

In the exhaustive and at times exhausting new biography “Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson,” journalist Randall Sullivan presents a radical new theory concerning one of the most heavily scrutinized public figures of the last half a century. Namely, that the man revered worldwide as the “King of Pop” could not possibly have been a child molester. The book posits that Jackson resisted sex for all his days and died in 2009 a 50-year-old virgin.To support that tough-t

Nov. 22, 2012

When a Seoulite becomes a tourist in own city

Seoul is developing into a charming destination for foreign visitors, from scenic Bukchon Hanok Village to vibrant Hongdae and Myeong-dong. For those who live in Seoul, however, spending time in the city can be a different experience. A lot of Seoul professionals spend nearly all of their time in offices and apartment complexes. Not many manage to take the time to visit Gyeongbok Palace or experience the joy of trying on hanbok in a hanok. It’s like how many New Yorkers never visit the Statue of

Nov. 22, 2012