Search results for

Thomas Bernhard's novel is willfully oppressive and agonizing to read, hilarious and awful by turns, says author Claire Messud. An unflinching, ranting monologue, it couldn't care less about the reader — but it contains bitter truths.

Although thousands have died in recent years in India in violence involving Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, an amazing open-mindedness exists about other people's religions. And there is a willingness to draw on other faiths. Buddhists and Christians worship at Hindu shrines and vice versa.

Vera Wang, the high-end fashion designer, is launching a low-end line of clothing for the retailer Kohl's early next month. She's following in the footsteps of dozens of other luxury makers.

John Burdett's Bangkok is far more than the bizarre murders, corrupt cops and big-hearted bar girls of his novels. It's also the city as a living breathing, thing.

David Steinberg was big on the stand-up circuit back in the 1960s and '70s; he appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson more than a hundred times. Now he's host of TV Land's Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg, on which he interviews other comedians. His new memoir is called The Book of David.

To detective novelist Donna Leon, there are two Venices. One is the real Venice inhabited by ordinary Venetians, who know each other's secrets. The other is filled with loud tour guides and attracts up to 20 million visitors a year.

William Morgan was not your typical Cuban Revolutionary. Not only was he an American, but he was also anti-communist. Aran Shetterly, author of The Americano, discusses how and why Morgan's life became entwined with Castro's.

Pakistan, a key U.S. ally, is marking the 60th anniversary of its creation. The celebrations have come in the midst of a political crisis in that country that could bring down President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Dalia Sofer has published a first novel — set in Tehran, two years after the overthrow of the monarchy there. It's called The Septembers of Shiraz.

Pakistan, celebrating its 60th anniversary this week, is a country of contradictions, two Pakistani-born novelists say. On the one hand, there are signs of optimism about the emergence of democracy. On the other, Pakistan is seen as the focus of the war on terrorism.