Pulitzers are announced
Pulitzer Prize Winners
(announced 4/17/06)
Fiction
Geraldine Brooks
March
General Nonfiction
Caroline Elkins
Imperial Reckoning:
The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya
History
David M.Oshinsky
Polio: An American Story
Poetry
Claudia Emerson
Late Wife
Biography
Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
American Prometheus:
The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
We Recommend…
OPENING FRIDAY, APRIL 21, AT CINEMA VILLAGE IN MANHATTAN…
Long-time Carroll Gardens resident Susannah Ludwig produced
STOLEN, a documentary that brings to light the fascinating story behind the largest museum heist in American history. STOLEN won the audience award at the 2005 Sarasota Film Festival & the best documentary award at the New York Avignon Film Festival. Ms. Ludwig has worked on several other critically acclaimed films, as well as six behind-the-scenes documentaries for American Movie Classics and the Independent Film Channel. She is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Long Island University where she teaches documentary film production.
In 1990, in the early morning hours after St. Patrick’s day, thieves disguised as policemen gained access into Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner museum and successfully executed the largest art heist in modern history. Among the thirteen priceless works stolen was Vermeer’s “The Concert” one of only 35 of the masters surviving works. To date, not a single work has been recovered.
STOLEN is a full exploration of this unusual crime and the fascinating, disparate characters involved: from the 19th century Grand Dame Isabella Gardner to the 17th century Dutch masters to a 21st century terrorist organization with a penchant for stealing Vermeers.
At the heart of the film, is the unlikely hero Harold Smith, the renowned art detective. STOLEN follows Mr. Smith as he pursues the mystery of the stolen works. Despite his lifetime battle with skin cancer, the cunning and witty Smith has made this case his personal obsession, working with what hope remains. With Mr. Smith as a guide STOLEN journeys into the mysterious and surreal world of stolen art and examines the many possibilities as to where the art might be.
Interwoven with Smith’s investigation are noted contemporary authors discussing the power of Vermeer’s work, as well as collector Isabella Stewart Gardner’s turn-of-the-century correspondence (read by Blythe Danner) with her advisor Bernard Berenson (read by Campbell Scott.) These subplots give the film a larger context and help illuminate just what the world has lost.
Directed by Rebecca Dreyfus, produced by Susannah Ludwig.
For more information: www.stolenthefilm.com
To read more about Vermeer & the art world:
Fiction:
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
The Music Lesson by Katherine Weber
Chasing Vermeer & The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett (for middle readers)
Non-fiction:
Rescue Artist by Edward Dolnick
Irish Game by Matthew Hart
Art of the Steal by Christopher Mason
Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Cynthia Saltzman
Vermeer in Bosnia by Lawrence Weschler
The Skin Between Us
***Past Literary Events At BookCourt***
2008
01/16: EVAN FALLENBERG - Light Fell
01/15: EMILY BARTON, DARCEY STEINKE, ALEXANDRA STYRON - Brooklyn Was Mine
2006
08/15: JENNIFER EGAN - The Keep
08/09: SHAHRAM SHIVA - Hush
08/08: JAMI ATTENBERG - Instant Love
08/03: RAE MEADOWS - Calling Out
07/20: SCOTT SNYDER - Voodoo Heart
07/19: ED HALTER - From Sun Tzu to Xbox
07/18: PAULS TOUTONGHI - Red Weather
06/27: GARY SHTEYNGART - Absurdistan
06/26: ROBERT SULLIVAN - Cross Country
06/25: ELEANOR WINTERS - 1-2-3 Calligraphy
06/22: DAPHNE KALOTAY - Calamity & Other Stories
06/21: JUDITH LAMANNA RIVETTE - Chasing Hillary
06/14: AYUN HALLIDAY - Dirty Sugar Cookies
06/13: ANDREAS KILLEN - 1973 Nervous Breakdown
06/11: J.T. PETTY - Clemency Pogue: The Hobgoblin Proxy
06/08: DANIEL EHRENHAFT - Drawing A Blank
06/07: HEATHER BRYANT, SARAH GAMBITO, STACEY LUFTIC, JENNIFER L. SHOTZ - Tied In Knots
06/04: JAY HOPLER - Green Squall / KIMBERLY JOHNSON - Leviathan With A Hook
06/01: LAUREN MECHLING & LAURA MOSER - All Q, No A: More Tales Of A 10th-Grade Social Climber
05/31: SHEILA KOHLER - Cracks
05/24: PAUL MALMONT - The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril
05/23: SEAN WILSEY, MATT WEILAND, BILL FINNEGAN, TOM VANDERBILT - The Thinking Fan’s Guide To The World Cup
05/18: ALYSSA SHAFFER, REBECCA SKLOOT, TRICIA O’BRIEN, ROBIN TROY - Woman’s Best Friend
05/17: SARAH MANGUSO - Siste Viator
05/15: MAUD CASEY - Genealogy / DARCEY STEINKE - Milk
05/11: ELIZABETH STROUT - Abide With Me
05/10: ELLEN DREYER - The Glowstone
05/05: KYM RAGUSA - The Skin Between Us
05/04: TOM NAGORSKI - Miracles On The Water
05/3: JOHN MAILER - The Big Empty
05/02: CATHY BURNS - It Hit Me Like A Ton Of Bricks
04/26: AYUN HALLIDAY, SARA WOSTER, ANDREA RICHESIN - The May Queen
04/25: RACHAEL WEINGARTEN - Hello Gorgeous
04/21: PETER MARESCA (Presentation) - Windsor McCay’s Little Nemo In Slumberland
04/11: ARTHUR BRADFORD & VARIOUS CONTRIBUTORS - Before
04/06: J. EDWARD CHAMBERLIN - Horse
03/30: JANE PARKERTON - Where You Go I Shall
03/22: RICHARD LEVINE - Language Full Of War And Song
03/17: BOB SWACKER & LESLIE JENKINS - Irish New York
03/16: EMILY BARTON - Brookland
03/11: KEVIN KING - All The Stars Came Out That Night
03/09: EVERETTE IASON - Artrage
03/05: TAD HILLS - Duck & Goose
03/03: GESHE KELSANG GYATSO - Mahamudra Tantra
03/02: STEPHEN WRIGHT - Amalgamation Polka
02/22: DAVID SHUCH - The Charm Carver
02/21: ROBERT HERSHON - Calls From The Outside World
02/16: JAY MCINERNEY - The Good Life
02/15: KAREN PROPP & VARIOUS CONTRIBUTORS - Why I’m Still Married
02/14: RONNE HARTFIELD - Another Way Home
02/08: SAMANTHA HUNT - The Seas
02/07: CLIFFORD CONNOR - A People’s History Of Science
02/06: JONATHAN AMES - I Love You More Than You Know
2005
12/29: SIMONE FELICE - Hail Mary Full Of Holes
12/14: KELLY RONCI - Kids Crochet
12/01: ROBERT SULLIVAN - How Not To Get Rich
11/30: PAULA FOX - The Coldest Winter
11/29: JOHN ESPOSITO - Fire In The Grove
11/22: YITZHAK BUXBAUM - The Light & Fire Of The Baal Shem Tov
11/16: PATTY GROSSMAN - Brian In Three Seasons
11/15: HELLA WINSTON - Unchosen
10/27: ANGELA FOUNTAS - Waking Up America
10/25: JONATHAN LETHEM & JOEL AGEE - James Agee’s Brooklyn Is
10/20: STEVE HINDY & TOM POTTER - Beer School
10/19: BENJAMIN KUNKEL - Indecision
10/06: JOANN ECKSTUT - The Color Palette Primer
10/05: PAUL BERMAN - The Power And The Idealists
10/04: VICTORIA VINTON - The Jungle Law
09/30: ROBERT DUNN - Soul Cavalcade
09/28: BRET EASTON ELLIS - Lunar Park
09/22: MARGARET CUSACK - Picture Your World In Applique
09/21: BOB MCGEE - The Greatest Ballpark Ever
09/14: MAGDA SALVESEN - Artists’ Estates
09/08: MARTHA SOUTHGATE - Third Girl From The Left
09/07: MARSHA MEHRAN - Pomegranate Soup
09/06: JIM FUSILLI - Hard Hard City
08/23: LINDA CATEURA - Voices Of American Muslims
08/13: ELIZABETH ROYTE - Garbage Land
08/09: M. CHRIS FABRICANT - Busted
08/04: SEAN WILSEY - Oh The Glory OF It All
08/04: CURTIS SITTENFELD - Prep
08/02: 6X - Nina Malkin
07/27: LISA DAVIS - Belly
07/26: JONATHAN RAYMOND - Half Life
07/25: ADRIENNE SHARP - First Love
07/07: JAMES FREY - My Friend Leonard
07/06: OWEN KING - We’re All In This Together
05/05: YONA ZELDIS MCDONOUGH - In Dahlia’s Wake
05/04: WESLEY STACE - Misfortune
04/28: PETER KAMINSKY - Pig Perfect
04/21: ANNA MOCKLER - Burning Salt
04/13: BETH TEITELL - From Here To Maternity
04/12: RENEE STEINKE - Holy Skirts
04/07: DENNIS NURKSE - Burnt Island
04/06: SAMANTHA HUNT - The Seas
04/05: GARY MEX GLAZNER - How To Make A living As A Poet
03/31: ANTONINO D’AMBROSIO - Let Fury Have The Hour
Death in Belmont
Sebastian Junger’s new book , A Death in Belmont , made me wonder why he didn’t write it before A Perfect Storm. It also brought back to me the haunting time in Boston of the early sixties.
I grew up in the Boston area in the sixties and I remember the fear magnified by the news at the time. A Death in Belmont is about the Junger family and their connection with Albert DeSalvo.
It’s a fascinating exploration into the mind of the serial killer and the nature of upbring on one’s life. Junger’s writing is as seamless as it was in A Perfect Storm and I expect this book to be read by many. It’s due to be published later this month. - Henry
