"Six Characters in Search of an Author," the modernist farce by Luigi Pirandello, was one of the first major influences of the Theatre of the Absurd.
While most readers recognize Armistead Maupin as the author of the whimsical San Francisco-based best-selling "Tales of the City" series, Maupin's most recent novel, "The Night Listener," proves his versatility as a thoughtful, modern novelist capable of more serious writing. In 1976, Maupin introduced the colorful residents of 28 Barbary Lane, a cast of eccentric San Francisco residents whose intertwined lives provided an amusing journey through pop-culture history.
Alan Lightman's "The Diagnosis" is diseased. Lightman has produced too many characters, threads and parallels that are not satisfactorily developed.
"Merrick," Anne Rice's latest, is a patchwork of witches, vampires and paranormal investigators.
"The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster." Elizabeth Bishop's poem, which begins Melissa Bank's "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing," seems to echo sounds of pain and one's reconciliation to it.
From "The Hunt for Red October" to "Rainbow Six," Tom Clancy has impressed readers with his strikingly realistic, page-turner plots.
Eleven years since her debut in Japan, Banana Yoshimoto has done it again. The Tokyo resident and contemporary author of such previous works as "Kitchen," "N.P," "Lizard" and "Amrita" has only gotten better over time.
Modern rock these days is stuck in an impasse due to what can only be called Big Brother Syndrome, which in essence is an updated strain of 1995's "My So-Called Life" Disease.
In the corner of Newcomb's third-floor study lounge sit two college students with tousled Saturday-morning hair, blue jeans and button-down shirts.
With its sixth album, "Conspiracy of One," The Offspring's members prove they are more than just old men with guitars.
For Adam Sandler fans, "Little Nicky" is cause for celebration. His most expensive film ever gives him an enormous canvas to work with, and his consistently vulgar antics should please his ardent followers.
"Billy Elliot" isn't a movie about ballet; it's about the pursuit of a dream, and just how liberating that pursuit can be. The release of "Billy" comes hot on the toe shoed-heels of another teen dance dramedy, "Center Stage," but the similarities end there.
The year is 2000. Scientists, realizing that it's too late to save the Earth, begin planning the colonization of Mars.
It's tough to be an electronica artist in America these days. Groups like the Chemical Brothers and the Crystal Method have had some success on the radio waves in recent years, but have failed to make a significant impact on the musical landscape.
The latest album from the Spice Girls puts the "pop" in "lollipop." It is sugary, sticky, too sweet too soon and involves some major sucking. After three years, two babies (both named after American cities), two weddings and two solo albums, the Spice Girls are "right back at ya" with their newest album, "Forever." It's been four and a half years since "Wannabe" ravaged the globe, making the Spice Girls an international pop phenomenon that just wouldn't go away.
From his rumored marriage with then-teenaged Aaliyah to the "Down Low" epic video to his CBA career, it seems no year is complete without a truly weird R.
Want to know where to find "11 studly men strutting around" in white and black striped baseball uniforms?
For a film whose stars would make any teenage girl rush to the box office, Robert Redford's latest effort, "The Legend of Bagger Vance" pays relatively little attention to its actual human characters. "Legend" is neither a lovable romantic comedy nor a nostalgic commentary on racial inequality, despite anything its blockbuster-generating cast may suggest.
Long before TV audiences paid attention to the ever-changing hairstyles and form-fitting attire of Courteney, Jennifer and Lisa, they were transfixed by the gorgeous locks and looks of Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson and Farrah Fawcett-Majors, better remembered as the original "Charlie's Angels." Aaron Spelling's show, a campy jiggle-fest that ended up weighing much closer on the side of exploitation than empowerment, has proven to be a pop-culture gold mine.
The Spice Girls gave it a name: "Girl Power." It's been four or five years now since females successfully crashed the party.
