Gordon Lish, for those of you who do not follow literary gossip, was a famous editor in the 1970s and 1980s. Nowadays, he is primarily remembered as Raymond Carver's editor, whose short stories he shaved down to knife-edge minimalism. For no apparent reason at all, Newsweek just profiled Lish. He's a bit of a hater, it turns out.
Some people like Hillary Clinton. Other people dislike Hillary Clinton. However you feel about Hillary Clinton, it is difficult to deny that she is one of the most cold and calculating political figures in all the land.
Fame, in the arena of book-writing, is a curious thing. Being a well-known writer of literary fiction doesn't necessarily translate into bestsellerdom. Almost never does it give you the kind of household name that even a lesser Kardashian achieves.
Ken Silverstein, a veteran of Harper's, the LA Times, and many other places, is one of America's great crusading balls-to-the-wall lefty investigative journalists. His new book explores power, intrigue, and corruption in the global oil industry. He will be answering your questions at 1 p.m. Ask your question now!
Some years ago, journalist Bill Carter found arsenic in his family's garden. It was there because of local copper mines. That prompted him to delve into the hidden dangers of copper—"the metal that runs modern civilization." He will be here to answer your questions, below.
An old story recently resurfaced that Harvard University's library had discovered a trio of books in its collection were bound with human skin, including skin from a man who was flayed alive in the 17th century. But the most famous skin-covered book in the Ivy League isn't what seems, says Harvard's Law Library.
The story goes like this: In 1961, the 23-year-old Michael Rockefeller (son of Nelson), was in the Asmat region of New Guinea, collecting local relics for his father's Museum of Primitive Art. His boat overturned a few miles from shore and he decided to swim back. After doing so for some 20 hours, he was greeted by locals on the shore, who speared and then ate him.
