Gray Pans Pinker

In a recent review in The New Statesman, John Gray dismissed Steven Pinker’s new book Enlightenment Now: the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress in one of the more colorful putdowns of recent times (excuse the pun – grey, pinker and all that). The title of the piece reads “The limits of reason: Steven…

Tucson Festival of Books: Happy 10th Birthday!

And a very happy one it was. Despite some unseasonal rain (what?! In Tucson?! In March?!), the 10th Tucson Festival of Books shone its usual ray of light on everything literary. Old perennial Luis Urrea starred in his tenth Tucson Festival while launching his new novel House of Broken Angels. In cahoots with the inspiring…

“Damnificados” launch in Turkey

A huge thank you to Pearson Turkey for arranging the launch of Damnificados in Istanbul. We used a venue called Kolektiv House, a funky set of rooms for hire, which was clearly frequented by young, artistic types. I felt right out of place. The event was for a select group of around twenty Pearson clients…

Ankara, Turkey: Trash Collectors Salvage Books, Open Library

Trash collectors in Ankara, Turkey, salvaged so many discarded books that they decided to open a library. After years of tossing away perfectly serviceable books, the sanitation workers asked how these books could be re-utilized. They came up with the idea of the library and then found a location – an abandoned brick factory (below)…