Washington Independent Review of Books

2 weeks ago | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | Bob Greene |Tim O’Brien |James Breakwell

Dad’s Maybe Book by Tim O’Brien. “This began as ‘a few short messages in a bottle that my kids might find tucked away in a dusty file cabinet long after my death.’ Tender, funny, and poignant, the book reveals O’Brien as father, magician, Vietnam vet, and reader (especially of Hemingway), as well as O’Brien not so much the war writer, but the anti-war writer.” ~Amanda Holmes DuffyGrowing Up by Russell Baker. “Poverty and love, struggle and success during the Depression.

2 weeks ago | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | John Grady

Although a senior Marine Corps officer, Evans Carlson wanted to be buried just like an enlisted man at Arlington National Cemetery. And he was — with the same simple headstone. The lesson he taught his Marine Raiders in World War II was this: The reason we’re fighting this war is to make a better future in the United States. Yet, in 1947, he died utterly disillusioned. According to historian Stephen R.

3 weeks ago | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | Michael Causey

I figure these two evergreen, can’t-fail subjects will ensure that I move enough inventory to live the lavish life I deserve in my twilight years. (I’m currently accepting pitches from venture capitalists.) And good news! I have an inaugural offering: Ken McNab’s Shake It Up, Baby!: The Rise of Beatlemania and the Mayhem of 1963.

4 weeks ago | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | Salley Shannon

Mama would take the petitioner into the back yard and ask him for a penny. It had to be copper, she would explain, and it had to be one the petitioner had on him, not something contributed by a bystander. She would spit on the penny, rub it on the wart, and then ask the petitioner to close his eyes and throw the coin far into the yard. That was it. “It will disappear soon,” she would say. And almost always, the wart did. Such is the power of the mind.

1 month ago | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | Darrell Delamaide

I am an avowed Oxfordian because it’s impossible for me to believe that an untutored actor like William Shakespeare penned all those magnificent plays. Rather, I’m confident they were authored by Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. Nonetheless, there’s a whole establishment of scholars who oppose this theory and maintain that it was indeed an untutored actor — who died barely able to scrawl his name — who somehow conjured those timeless works. Ultimately, of course, it doesn’t matter.