Summarizer 
Ian Kumekawa’s new book, “Empty Vessel,” promises in its subtitle to tell “the story of the global economy in one barge.” Along those lines, you could think of our recommended books this week as the story of the global economy in one list: Besides Kumekawa’s book, we suggest fiction and nonfiction set in Mexico, Germany, … Read more
EMPTY VESSEL: The Story of the Global Economy in One Barge, by Ian Kumekawa Container ships are designed to be blandly functional. Gigantic metal platforms, they chug along from port to port and are habitually taken for granted — until, that is, they run aground on the jagged rocks of catastrophe. When the pandemic arrived … Read more
In the 1980s, an assistant at Glamour took her romantic life to the next level with the aid of two lemons and a chicken. At the suggestion of one of the magazine’s editors, who was more or less following a recipe she’d found in an Italian cookbook, the assistant poked the lemons full of holes, … Read more
It was the cooking demo heard round the world. During the Covid-19 lockdown of December 2020, online sleuths stuck at home began digging up past public appearances of Hilaria Baldwin, a yoga instructor and the wife of Alec Baldwin. They were pointing out what they viewed as discrepancies in her Spanish accent and in stories … Read more
Artificial intelligence software has given editing tools a huge boost in power, far beyond the spell-checkers and grammar aids of yore. A.I. can proofread, rewrite, summarize and compose text, making it simple to craft clean, complex documents in a flash — even on a smartphone. If you haven’t dabbled yet, free offerings from Apple and … Read more
For the mom who likes dishy family sagas Vantage Point, by Sara Sligar An unthinkably rich brother and sister — heirs to a steel fortune — are haunted by a family curse and by compromising videotapes (possibly faked) that upend the brother’s Senate campaign. Also consider: “A Reason to See You Again,” by Jami Attenberg; … Read more
In an unusual but not unprecedented move, the prize board chose a fourth option after it couldn’t agree on the three less-heralded finalists.
“Today, he opened to the world,” she added. “To me, he opened 50 years ago.” Ms. von Furstenberg said “we never had to talk about our relationship, we lived our relationship,” including the last five years during which Mr. Diller was writing his memoir. “He’s been private all his life, but not with me,” she … Read more
The Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller is, by any measure, enormously successful. He’s produced (always in collaboration with others) about 10 shows that have, collectively, grossed $4.74 billion, approximately one-third of which was profit for producers, investors and others. You’ve probably heard of several of those shows. His first big hit was “Rent.” His most recent: … Read more
ETERNAL SUMMER, by Franziska Gänsler; translated by Imogen Taylor When Ivan Turgenev left Paris for Baden-Baden, the German spa town famed for its casinos, vineyards and salubrious air, he urged his friend Gustave Flaubert to come visit. “There are trees there such as I’ve seen nowhere else,” he wrote in an 1863 letter. “The atmosphere … Read more
