Last fall Hogarth Press published the first in a series of novels by contemporary writers reimagining Shakespeare's plays on the 400th anniversary of his death. So far we’ve had Jeanette Winterson’s “The Gap of Time: The Winter’s Tale Retold” and Howard Jacobson’s “Shylock is My Name,” an interpretation of “The Merchant of Venice.” 　Now Anne Tyler has written a charming and witty adaptation of “The Taming of the Shrew,” moving it to Baltimore, where many of her novels are set, and dialing down S

'No publisher is going to be interested in a book specifically or solely because it was written in Korean,' says Deborah Smith

Award-winning translator Deborah Smith said Wednesday that staying faithful to the spirit of a text was her priority. And the spirit that she tried to preserve in Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” was one of “tenderness and terror at the same time, never too far one way, always this very perfect balance,” said Smith at a press conference held at the Seoul International Book Fair on Wednesday.“The style was so controlled, restrained, without being cold and indifferent, and so those two things were the

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gregory Rabassa, a translator of worldwide influence and esteem who helped introduce Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar and other Latin American authors to millions of English-language readers, has died.A longtime professor at Queens College, Rabassa died Monday at a hospice in Branford, Connecticut. He was 94 and died after a brief illness, according to his daughter, Kate Rabassa Wallen.Rabassa was an essential gateway to the 1960s Latin American “boom,” when such authors a

Andrew Bacevich studied at West Point and Princeton University and served in the U.S. Army for 22 years. He is well qualified to bring the reader a broad, informed perspective on the subject he addresses -- the U.S. military’s role in multiple presidents' largely unsuccessful efforts to bring a widely varied, very different region under American hegemony. “America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History” accomplishes this feat.The American military, apart from a series of self-hagi

The truth is out there, and it may set you free, but can you really handle the truth? And, maybe, just maybe, every turn of events is really a conspiracy in disguise with a bit of truthiness. These and other pop culture axioms that have made their way into the lexicon of common speech are part of the foundation of the 11th novel by international best-seller Brad Meltzer.With “The House of Secrets,” Meltzer launches a new thriller series that will delve heavily into historical conspiracy theories

Theresa Hyun writes poems in Korean and translates them to English, eliminating certain things, creating new meaning along the way

LONDON (AFP) - Irish writer Lisa McInerney was awarded the prestigious Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction in London on Wednesday for her debut novel “The Glorious Heresies.”Margaret Mountford, the chair of the judges, said it was a “superbly original, compassionate novel that delivers insights into the very darkest of lives through humor and skillful storytelling.” The 30,000 pound ($43,500) award, previously known as the Orange prize, is presented each year to the best novel written by a woman

This year’s Seoul International Book Fair, set to take place next week at Coex Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul will highlight French and Italian books, the annual book fair organizers said at a press conference Wednesday.　France, invited as the “Culture Focus” country, will introduce a new generation of French writers, said Anthony Chaumuzeau, director of the French Institute in Seoul. From left: French writer Antoine Laurain (Philippe Matsas/Seoul International Book Fair), French cook a

NEW YORK (AP) -- Another Trump book is in the works -- this time by daughter Ivanka.The publisher Portfolio told the Associated Press on Monday that it had acquired Ivanka Trump’s “Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules of Success.” Financial details weren’t disclosed for the book, scheduled for next spring.According to Portfolio, a business imprint of Penguin Random House, the book will advocate an “inclusive and celebratory” vision for working women and help them “create the lives they want to li

NEW YORK (AP) -- An online resource for literary content is hoping to create the publishing equivalent of Rotten Tomatoes.Literary Hub (lithub.com) announced Tuesday the launch of Book Marks, compiling reviews from more than 70 outlets ranging from the New York Times to the Las Vegas Weekly. Reviews will include links to the original publications, and individual books will be assigned composite letter grades by Lit Hub editors. Any work that has been reviewed three or more times will be listed i

“Ink and Bone” 　By Lisa Unger　Touchstone (352 pages, $24.99)　The Hollows, an idyllic sounding town in upstate New York, keeps calling to author Lisa Unger. This fictional town that attracts those seeing a respite from New York City or want a smaller community to call home also has a dark side that rears its head and takes residents on emotional roller-coasters that test their mettle and moral compass.　Each of Unger’s novels set in The Hollows follows a different set of characters with the town a