Black Lamb

Two months ago in Black Lamb

Volume 6, Number 5 — May 2008

May 1st, 2008

The Black Lamb Review of Books

In our the cover story of our third annual Black Lamb Review of Books, Editor Terry Ross summarizes a rich issue focusing on biography and contends that travel books can often be considered biographical. In A beautiful mind Rebecca Owen appreciates mathematician G.H. Hardy’s elegant little apologia. William Bogert remembers seeing the late William F. Buckley, Jr. in action in An extraordinary man. Gillian Wilce characterizes polymath Alan Bennett’s Untold stories as a Box of delights.

In The Tao of Duh Greg Roberts regrets that singer Willie Nelson ain’t no thinker — or writer. David Maclaine adds Michel de Montaigne to Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Plato as an Indispensable writer. In A dissenting view Cate Garrison avers that she doesn’t like biographies but admits to a wicked taste for C.M. Bowra’s Memories. Toby Tompkins sings the praises of Ken Follett in A guilty pleasure. Dean Suess revisits an old favorite: The Definitive Biography of P.D.Q. Bach. Ed Goldberg holds forth on biographies excellent and beneath contempt in Other people’s lives. Bud Gardner takes on more Neil Young than he needs in Music first. Basketball coach Dan Peterson comments wryly on his own experience writing his autobiography. In Mentor & friend Rosemary McLeish finds a new book on Matisse that she can appreciate. Elizabeth Hart muses on her own Norwegian heritage while reading Ole Rølvaag’s Giants in the Earth. Rod Ferrandino overcomes computer meltdown long enough to sing the praises of a New Yorker anthology. Leslie Russell reflects on the continuity in her family of pie. Our Honorary Black Lambs column offers birthday felicitations to English writers Pat Barker and Alexander Pope. Bridge expert Trixie Barkis offers hints on managing the trump suit. Our monthly lamb recipe features a delicious Hungarian marinated leg of lamb. In the first of two articles, written in 2002, Lane Browning rebukes Oprah Winfrey for discontinuing her book recommendations. A letter from an issue sixteen years ago considers the difficulties of Englishmen understanding the American language. In another article from our archives, Lane Browning answers readers’ questions about word derivations. Advice columnist Millicent Marshall tells how to avoid reading boring biographies. And Avram Kahn proffers another challenging Black Lamb Word Puzzle.

Posted by: The Editors
Category: Month summaries | Link to this Entry