Jason Lewis’s account of the first leg of his human-powered trip around the world, from London to Pueblo, Colorado, is filled with mishaps and faulty planning. On one pre-excursion photo-op—to show off the pedal-powered boat that... Read More

In “Would I Be Able to Stand,” the first poem of Laura Cronk’s collection, a woman tests the boundaries, real and imagined, of herself. “Would I be able to stand / a horse charging past?” she asks, and suddenly horse hooves... Read More

From the 1950s up through the 1968 election, American toy maker Louis Marx produced a semi-educational series of presidential figurines. From Washington to Nixon, the presidents, each standing on a small base, were reduced to two and... Read More

“Green way before it became the new black,” author, hospice nurse, and mother Kenna Lee always felt she was one step ahead of recycling, reducing, and reusing until the birth of her third child. Suddenly plagued with guilt for... Read More

Portugal is Europe’s poorest nation as well as its least well known. This galls the author, who spent twenty years as an AP foreign correspondent in Lisbon, and this book, a mixture of history, tour guide, and national character... Read More

“The real problem is that we live in a society where the male is both the opponent and, at the same time, the referee.” So observes Safia, a smart and funny young Egyptian woman living in Rome with her devout Muslim husband. He... Read More

Schoolteacher Molly Culpepper has placed her faith in the basic goodness of her Georgia hometown. Widowed at forty with two sons, church, school and family are what keep her grounded and on track. When a colleague writes a racial slur on... Read More

Ogden Walker—biracial, former Marine, sheriff’s deputy, main character in Percival Everett’s latest novel, "Assumption": a man who prefers fly fishing to firearms and violence. Or so we assume. Everett’s prose is stark, so plain... Read More