The Korea Herald

Anthony Bourdain has no reservations about publishing gig

Sept 30, 2011

Anthony Bourdain rolled up his right sleeve to show off his tattoo ― not of a beating cobra heart or other adventure from his Travel Channel show “No Reservations.” It comes from a book, Sarah Bakewell’s “How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer,” which descr
Russian Orthodox Church slams 2 acclaimed authors

Sept 29, 2011

MOSCOW (AP) ― A senior Russian Orthodox official claimed Wednesday that novels by Vladimir Nabokov and Gabriel Garcia Marquez justify pedophilia and said they should be banned in the nation’s high schools.Father Vsevolod Chaplin’s demand that Russia’s government investigate and limit the use of the
Paju book fest to celebrate literature, history

Sept 28, 2011

Ko Un, Lee O-young, Richard Booth to participate in nine-day eventPaju Book City, home to some 260 Korean publishing companies in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, is throwing a book-themed festival from Oct. 1 to 9, celebrating literature and its history with highly acclaimed participants from home and abro
Alain de Botton examines religion as institution

Sept 27, 2011

Swiss-born writer visits Seoul with new book ‘Religion for Atheists’Philosopher and author Alain de Botton grew up in a Jewish family where religion was thought to be “completely ridiculous,” and it took him a while for him to say he didn’t agree.“Anyone who was religious, to say bluntly, was though
New Books

Sept 23, 2011

The forgotten presidentDestiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a PresidentBy Candice Millard(Doubleday)Author Candice Millard looks back at a forgotten time and president and brings the era and people involved to vivid life in “Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madnes
Choosing between life and art

Sept 23, 2011

A struggling writer and his wife move into a house in Gangnam in southern Seoul after 13 years of living in a smaller property elsewhere. Throughout the years the two managed to live in peace, though he never managed to write anything successful enough to make a living solely from writing. What auth
New novel examines the life of a 19th century celebrity

Sept 23, 2011

On Friday, Feb. 13, 1863, while the Civil War raged on, the Chicago Tribune ran a front-page story on the wedding of Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump to Charles Stratton, better known as General Tom Thumb.Why did their wedding warrant such attention? Why did their guest list include not only members of the
Local readers no longer the only audience: Yi Mun-yeol

Sept 22, 2011

For author Yi Mun-yeol, whose works are published abroad in several languages, using famous sayings only Koreans share or only considering Korean readers is something he can no longer afford to do. “I am now also interested in other readers who will read my books in other languages and who I have ne
New Books

Sept 16, 2011

Heartfelt memoir of Lynch Happy Accidents: A Memoir By Jane Lynch Unlike the conniving, feisty -- and hilarious -- character on megahit “Glee” that has catapulted her to fame, Jane Lynch does have a heart. The deliciously evil Sue Sylvester’s voice is drowned out by Lynch’s heartfelt and hilari
Old Korean folktales on women

Sept 16, 2011

Old Korean folktales on womenVirtuous Women: Three Classic Korean NovelsTranslated by Richard Rutt and Kim Chong-un(Royal Asiatic Society)Meet some of the most famous female characters of Korea’s traditional folktales.Translated by Richard Rutt and Kim Chong-un in the 70s, “Virtuous Women: Three Cla
Missing out on something like Rapture

Sept 16, 2011

The two most moving scenes in Tom Perrotta’s sixth novel, “The Leftovers,” come late in the book. In the first, Kevin Garvey ― abandoned husband, distracted father, mayor of the affluent suburb of Mapleton ― tells a woman he’s been dating that he’s just heard from his college-age son for the first t
New York City’s spots for book lovers

Sept 16, 2011

On the third floor of a big, gray building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, silver-haired docent Julie Chelminski recently stepped up to the middle of a hushed room and faced 15 spellbound tourists.“On the walls of this room there were 9,000 drawers,” Chelminski said. “And in those drawers were 10 m
U.K. campaign seeks to save Roald Dahl writing hut

Sept 14, 2011

LONDON (AP) ― The family of Roald Dahl is trying to raise the funds to preserve a hut in which the late writer wrote tales of big friendly giants, fantastic foxes and magical chocolate factoriesThe family hopes to raise 500,000 pounds ($790,000) to stop the 50-year-old brick and polystyrene shed ― p
New book shows another side to Jackie Kennedy

Sept 13, 2011

Book comes out as part of an ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s first year in officeNEW YORK (AP) ― It’s a side of Jacqueline Kennedy only friends and family knew. Funny and inquisitive, canny and cutting.In “Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life With Joh
New Books

Sept 9, 2011

A savage critique of China’s ‘great rise’Why China Will Never Rule the WorldBy Troy Parfitt(Western Hemisphere Press)The title of “Why China Will Never Rule the World” points to a provocative argument, but few readers will be prepared for just how damning an assessment author Troy Parfitt makes of a