By Adam Begley 4/15/02 12:00am

A First Novel’s Many Twists, Like a Postmodern Pretzel

Everything Is Illuminated , by Jonathan Safran Foer. Houghton Mifflin, 276 pages, $24.

Jonathan Safran Foer wants to charm you right away. He’s in a hurry because he knows that if he doesn’t make you laugh quickly, he may well lose you. Which would be a shame, because Everything Is Illuminated , his extraordinary first Read More

By Richard Chalfin 12/04/00 12:00am

The Day Harper Lee Came To See Me

My great-grandfather was an itinerant book peddler in Odessa, who sold out of a backpack; my grandfather owned used book stores in Williamsburg and on South Street. These he held mainly to support gambling and drinking habits; his sons managed the businesses and he collected revenues. When my father returned from World War II, he Read More