Modern Middle EastTablet & PenEdited by Reza Aslan(W.W. Norton, $35)The West’s perception of the Middle East as mysterious, exotic and savage has changed little since the days of Napoleon more than 200 years ago.The new anthology “Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes From the Modern Middle East,” edited by University of California, Riverside creative writing professor Reza Aslan, aims “to provide a d

The national traumaThe WoundedBy Lee Chung-joonTranslated by Jennifer M. Lee(Jimoondang, 5,000 won)The Korean War (1950-1953) left both physical and psychological wounds to its people. Lee Chung-joon’s “The Wounded” explores the national trauma that continues to haunt individuals who suffer from their memories of the war, and other “hidden” existing traumas that cannot be identified.A spritless ar

This past fall I put out a call to readers: Send me your favorite mysteries set in other countries, written by international (e.g., not American) writers.I’m glad I asked ... I think. Already the most popular literary genre in America, mysteries may be taking over the world. I got more than 70 nominations ― writers and books set in locales from Cuba to China to Iceland to Australia. Wherever crime

At a garage studio in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock, Lisa Pearson is publishing books with the skill of a craftsman, framing the printed word as a work of art.One volume, “Torture of Women,” features a red cloth cover with an embossed title resembling scar tissue. Inside, images of the female body are overlaid with matter-of-fact accounts of women who have suffered torture. “Fascist p

Lotte Hotel JejuThe hotel offers “Private Villa Suite Package” through the end of February. The package includes a one night stay in a luxurious private villa suite, breakfast in room for two persons, a mist from the U.S. spa cosmetics brand EI Solutions (worth 130,000 won), blueberry cheesecake, fruits, four tickets to the ice rink, and two welcome drink vouchers to be enjoyed at the romantic Pun

 GREENVILLE, Illinois ― Throughout their 170 years in Southern Illinois, the Marcoot family has adapted.The original settler, Martin Markut, was a schoolteacher before he made the arduous journey from Switzerland to the heartland of America. Over the years, Martin’s descendants changed the spelling of their name, mechanized, industrialized, moved from the Highland area to Greenville, downsized and

Customers may find the name of one of Garosugil’s latest gastronomic additions misleading. Dubbed Serial Gourmet, this rustic chic restaurant sounds like it specializes in delicate fare served in dainty portions. Nothing could be further from the truth. The newly-minted establishment doles out hearty American classics like Louisiana-style sausage and New England boiled dinners (a beef or ham and v

A man carries a lamb on a motorcycle in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan6, 2011 (AP Photo) 

News reports from many countries, including Korea, recently cover the rapid spread of “super bug,” which produces the NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1).These bacteria are resistant to most potent antibiotics and their resistance can be easily transmitted to other bacteria through the gene transfer. And the bacteria’s worldwide spread is becoming a big threat to public health.Other than th

Just a couple of days after the deaths of 5,000 birds in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve, about 500 birds were found dead in Louisiana on Monday. Thousands of dead red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky in an Arkansas town on New Year’s Eve after massive trauma, tests by Arkansas veterinary officials concluded Monday.Dead birds on a street of Lousiana, US (AP)“The birds suffered from acute physical tr

A 38-year-old businessman surnamed Lee, who declined to give his full name, has done almost everything to slow down his hair loss.Having long used a special shampoo made of natural ingredients, he recently bought an electronic device that emits laser beams and stimulates the scalp. “I heard there is no way to replace the hair that has already gone. I just want to keep my remaining hair,” said Lee,

WASHINGTON — If a crying woman's red nose isn't a big enough turnoff to a man, a surprising experiment found another reason: Tears of sadness may temporarily lower his testosterone level.Those tears send a chemical signal as the man gets close enough to sniff them — even though there's no discernible odor, say researchers from Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science.It's the first such signal to be

LAS VEGAS ― LG Electronics and German-based telecommunications firm T-Mobile on Wednesday (Las Vegas time) unveiled the G Slate, the first tablet PC manufactured by LG.The world’s third-largest handset manufacturer sought to re-enter the smart device race after it lost out in the smartphone battle last year. The G Slate underscores the company’s attempts to get back into the groove, industry watch

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is on a tour to observe military excercises. (Yonhap News)North Korea's military appears to have lowered its alert level for the tense Yellow Sea border with South Korea, a government source here said Friday, after weeks of tension triggered by the North's bombardment of a southern island."The North Korean military recently lifted its order of special alertness for

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest maker of memory chips and liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels, estimated Friday that its operating profit for the October-December period fell below market estimates, as prices of its mainstay memory chips and LCD panels plunged on sluggish demand.    Samsung put its fourth-quarter operating profit at 3 trillion won ($2.67 billion), down 12.8 percent fr