Book Reviews
Lady Kaishi’s Quest
SB Author Avia Belle Moon’s New Novel
SB author Avia Belle Moon’s new novel. Read story.
Hot Off the Press
Four Forays into Food
So plentiful are the opportunities for good eating in Santa Barbara that it’s only a matter of time before food becomes critically important to anyone transplanted here. Read story.
Remembering a perfect father
Santa Barbara Author Blake Beltram’s Book Is Perfectly Timed for Father’s Day
Santa Barbara author Blake Beltram’s book is perfectly timed for Father’s Day. Read story.
One for the Gipper
Lou Cannon’s New Book Assesses Bush Jr. Through Reagan’s Legacy
During his 2000 campaign and after his election, George W. Bush and his aides talked of modeling his administration after that of former president Ronald Reagan. The authors of Reagan’s Disciple ask: Did George Bush steam full-speed ahead with the so-called “Reagan Revolution” — or derail it? Read story.
Five Creative Lives
This month in Hot Off the Press, we’ve got a pile of personal stories by and about a set of names you could safely call legendary. Read story.
Reclaiming the Erotic
The Family Therapy Institute of Santa Barbara presents Esther Perel at Victoria Hall, Thursday, May 8.
In our post-feminist era, women have come a long way toward achieving equality with men, especially in the realm of romantic relationships. Read story.
Elizabeth Gilbert
At UCSB’s Campbell Hall, Sunday, March 30.
Elizabeth Gilbert began her appearance last Sunday by admitting that earlier in the day she had somehow lost an hour “looking at the air” at the airport. Read story.
Philip Levine
At the Santa Barbara Writers Conference Weekend Poetry Conference, Sunday, March 30.
When Philip Levine got up to lead the masterclass at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference Poetry Conference last Sunday, he began by telling the audience that writers’ conferences are a bad idea. Read story.
SBCC Professor David Starkey’s Living Blue in the Red States
Deep Inside the Political Divide
“On the evening of the 2004 presidential election, I sat at the computer in my Santa Barbara home and willed the voters in the Cleveland-area precincts to carry Ohio into the blue, Democratic column,” writes David Starkey, introducing his new essay collection, Living Blue in the Red States. Read story.
Pulp Politics
Hot Off the Press
Any political issue that floats into the public consciousness brings with it a trail of journalists, academics, pundits, and cranks, all eager to make their points. They do so by writing books — lots of them — and here at The Independent, they crowd our shelves to the breaking point. For this month’s Hot Off the Press, we’ve taken a sample of the newest crop of high-profile political releases meant to push all sorts of buttons on the day’s big topics: global warming, the Middle East, socialism’s Latin American resurrection, and, of course, Tony Blair. Read story.
Rebecca Solnit’s Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics
Interconnected Landscapes
It’s not just the weather, the beautiful beaches, and the hiking that make Santa Barbara one of the best places in the world to live, although they could be indirectly responsible for one of our other advantages: the great number of luminary authors and thinkers who come to town each year. Santa Barbara is more than a beautiful natural setting — it’s an inspiring cultural landscape. But if this is paradise, we’re about to be taken by storm. Read story.
Hot Off the Press
Santa Barbara may be known worldwide for its sunshine, beaches, and wineries, but those with the inside scoop know it’s the artistic and intellectual environment that really makes our city such a treasure. Among our greatest cultural gems are the many talented writers who live and work here in paradise. For this edition of Hot Off the Press, we have gathered recently published books by a few of the authors who make Santa Barbara such a richly creative community. The Independent contacted each writer for an exclusive interview. Read story.
Arcadia Publishing Releases Carpinteria
A Magical Mishopshno Tour
You’ve seen those T-shirts: “If you’re rich, you live in Santa Barbara; if you’re famous, you live in Montecito; if you’re lucky, you live in Carpinteria.” (If you’re humorless, and not from what the Chumash long ago called Mishopshno, you may even have found them annoying.) Read story.
Carol Burnett, the Humanist Humorist
At UCSB’s Campbell Hall, Friday, June 29.
“Aren’t you a little young to be going to see Carol Burnett?” asked the woman behind me in line. Remembering being asked the same thing when I went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show, I wondered if Carol Burnett’s humor would turn out to be more risqué than I’d been led to believe. Read story.
Ray Bradbury and Gail Tsukiyama at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference
Speaking of Love
I’m almost 40, but until last weekend, I was a Ray Bradbury virgin. I’d never heard him speak, though he is at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference every year. When I heard that he was speaking on love, though, I couldn’t resist. Read story.
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