Hrag Vartanian

Based loosely on the life of Polish Romany poet Bronislawa Wajs (or Papusza, her Roma name), Colum McCann’s sixth and latest book, Zoli, is a poetic tale of belonging, borders, and the odd joy of being different. Easily roaming between narrators and nations, the delightful book has at its core an artist who refuses [...]

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Terri Jentz’s Strange Piece of Paradise (June 2006)
Synopsis
A harrowing, true tale of how the author narrowly survived an attack by an axe-wielding maniac while camping in 1977. The traumatic event transformed her life and forced her to reflect on the rise of the serial killer that has marked the last quarter of the 20th century.
Review
If [...]

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Orhan Pamuk’s Istanbul (December 2005)
Synopsis
Internationally acclaimed Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk’s loving and vivid memoir about the Istanbul of his childhood, perched precariously at the crossroads of a storied East and an affluent West.
Review
For his latest and most intimate book, Orhan Pamuk pens a chronicle of his early days in the great Turkish metropolis of Istanbul. [...]

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Katherine Graham’s A Personal History (September 2005)
Synopsis
Born into privilege and surrounded by a who’s who of 20th-century American politics, Katherine Graham charts her awakening from D.C. debutante to one of the most powerful women in America.
Review
When Katharine Graham wrote her Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Personal History, she was already an American icon. As the publisher of [...]

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R. Buckminster Fuller & Bruce Mau’s Critical Path & Massive Change (January 2005)
Synopsis
A comparison of Mau’s new Massive Change and Fuller’s seminal Critical Path — two books that take on the challenge of examining the future of information and culture.
Review
When architect-designer-theorist R. Buckminster Fuller published Critical Path in 1982 — a year before his death [...]

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