Summarizer 
Take the Murguia family: Amalia and Alfredo immigrated from a small region in central Mexico to Kansas City, and had seven children, five of whom shared three beds in one of the house’s two bedrooms. Alfred, one of the older children, excelled academically and was the first in his family to enroll in college — … Read more
STATE CHAMP, by Hilary Plum Though the decision to seek an abortion is an inherently private one, walking into an abortion clinic in the United States can be an uncannily public act. A patient may have to dodge protesters trying to block her path to the building, or hide her face as they brandish photos … Read more
FEVER BEACH, by Carl Hiaasen The greater Miami area runs roughly 120 overdeveloped miles from Jupiter down to Homestead, but spans less than 30 at its widest point. This peninsula within a peninsula can claim its share of contemporary novelists, including Karen Russell, Tananarive Due, Jennine Capó Crucet and, for whatever it’s worth, yours truly, … Read more
Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. For more than 20 years, A.O. Scott, who was until recently a co-chief film critic for The New York Times, had a routine. Look at the movies he’d been assigned to review for the week. … Read more
THE EMPEROR OF GLADNESS, by Ocean Vuong We first meet the hero of Ocean Vuong’s second novel, “The Emperor of Gladness,” as we did George Bailey in Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”: on the edge of a bridge, contemplating suicide. Rain pelts him rather than snow. Hai is 19 in September of 2009, “in … Read more
A tale of pollen and prejudice, and more. (Achoo!)
One summer day 10 years ago, Rachel Cockerell gathered with dozens of family members for a cousin’s 80th birthday party in the North London house where her father had grown up. Among the guests were relatives from Israel. Cockerell had always known that alongside her impeccably Anglo ancestors, she had descended from Russian Jews through … Read more
Saxophones, trumpets and drums are everywhere in New Orleans, the city where jazz was born. Musicians perform jazz sets on streets, inside cafes, bars, restaurants and auditoriums. It’s no wonder then that people from across the world visit the Big Easy, a moniker the city has earned for its easy-going lifestyle, to listen to some … Read more
So you can whip together a weekend bag or fit a fortnight’s worth of outfits into a rolling suitcase, but does your status as “packing guru” extend to your phone or tablet? Think of your device as a second carry-on, with its own packing list of apps that are essential for entertainment, getting around, safety … Read more
by Daniel Kehlmann; translated by Ross Benjamin This biographical novel centered on the Austrian filmmaker G.W. Pabst doubles as a study of art in the shadow of totalitarianism. After finding fame with silent films like “Pandora’s Box,” Pabst finds himself stuck in Europe as the Nazis come to power and compelled to make movies for … Read more
