AstrayBy Emma Donoghue(Little, Brown and Co)In her novel “Room,” Emma Donoghue let us see the world from the vantage point of a little boy in an 11-by-11-foot room. In the stories gathered in “Astray,” Donoghue busts loose, returning to her roots in historical fiction by going forth into the wider world.Donoghue’s fellow travelers are voyagers who, between 1639 and 1968, left the world they knew for undiscovered countries from which they never returned. Each of their stories is introduced by a d

PhantomBy Jo Nesbo(Knopf) Jo Nesbo, whose crime thrillers have sold more than 10 million copies in Europe and the United States, has been anointed as the latest king of Scandinavian noir, the heir to the addictive-page-turning throne left vacant by the death of Stieg Larsson.But reading his books in Los Angeles brings to mind a different archetypal noir figure: Michael Connelly’s tortured LAPD detective Harry Bosch.Nesbo’s detective, who is featured in nine of his 16 books, including his latest,

Two years ago the run-up to America’s Iraq invasion was driving Tony Kushner crazy, so he started writing a play in response. In early 2003, The Nation magazine published the first scene of this work in progress, “Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy.” In the scene, a frankly audacious and compelling polemic, First Lady Laura Bush reads “The Brothers Karamazov” to the ghosts of dead Iraqi children.In recent months this scene, along with part of a second one, has been presented at dozen

Medical examiners were not sexy, crime-solving heroes when Patricia Cornwell wrote her first Kay Scarpetta mystery 22 years ago.Today, with the publication of the 20th book featuring the pasta-cooking, sharp-dressing forensic scientist, there is an entire industry of sexy medical examiners on television, and Cornwell accepts the responsibility.“I think you can blame Scarpetta. She opened the gate that made it accessible,” Cornwell said. The Scarpetta books, with their grisly autopsies and violen

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Pop diva Lady Gaga, currently on tour in South America, pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross on Wednesday for victims of superstorm Sandy in her hometown New York.“If it wasn’t for NYC: the Lower Eastside, Harlem, the Bronx and Brooklyn, I would not be the woman or artist that I am today,” she wrote on her Littlemonsters.com website.“Thank you for helping me build my spirit,” she told the metropolis where she was born and raised. “I will now help you rebuild yours,” sh

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies will rename an auditorium after U.S. President Barack Obama to mark his reelection, school officials said.The university will rename Minerva Auditorium where Obama delivered a speech on March 26 the Obama Hall.Park Chul, president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said in a congratulatory message to the White House that all members of the HUFS community, including the 10,000 alumni in the U.S., were deeply moved by his successful reelection.  At Minerv

A British couple who struggled to have a baby for six months were stunned when doctors said their laptop was to blame. Scott Reed, the 30-year-old electrician, was told that using his computer on his lap caused heat damage to his sperm. After he went through an examination from the hospital, he started using his laptop on a table instead and three months later his wife became pregnant with the couple’s daughter. “When the doctors told us it was a real shock. Scott would use his laptop in the eve

The region in the brain that makes romantic decisions has been explored by many scientists around the world, and one of the latest findings is that the decisions depend on whether a person looks similar to oneself, not only if whether she or he has physically attractive features, research showed. When people saw a person who is physically attractive, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex which sits closer to the front of the head was activated. When people saw a face that tripped their trigger but

Creating a persona in the virtual world can influence a person’s actual life, according to a new study by U.S. researchers.Making an avatar in the online world allows an individual to easily try on new appearances and characteristics and may potentially push the person toward a more positive direction, claimed lead researcher Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, assistant professor at the University of Missouri, who specializes in communications. “That alter-ego can then have a positive influence on a perso

Amid growing concerns students are using medications such as Ritalin to boost performance, some British schools say they might consider drug tests before exams.Discussions have been held on how to detect students using drugs that allegedly give them an advantage by helping them remain alert and focused, Cambridge University Professor Barbara Sahakian said.Drugs meant to treat attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder are becoming increasingly popular with healthy people looking for an extra edge,

Following is part of a series on Seoul’s hottest bars and clubs. ― Ed.Club Freebird is one of Hongdae’s oldest havens for indie lovers. Opened in 1995 in Seoul’s epicenter of youth culture, the live venue hosts gigs almost daily. Some 200 special events and 1,000 performances are held annually, including events for female vocalists, a “British Music Day,” “Indie Rock Party” and “Indie Electronic Live Party.” Freemarket and Deli Spice are among the notable bands to have performed here before maki