Leo Tolstoy

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Steve Martin Celebrates Banning of His Book
Steve Martin's
Book Gets Banned,
He Celebrates
in case you missed it

Steve Martin's Book Gets Banned, He Celebrates

'Shopgirl' among more than 300 titles removed from schools in Collier County, Florida

(Newser) - A Florida school district has banned one of Steve Martin's books—and he's "so proud." The actor and writer took to his social media accounts on Monday to celebrate the banning of his bestselling novella Shopgirl by the Collier County School District. "So proud to...

Anna Karenina Is Beautiful, Heartless
 Anna Karenina 
 Is Beautiful, 
 Heartless 
Movie Review

Anna Karenina Is Beautiful, Heartless

Critics agree it's beautiful and daring, but have mixed feelings overall

(Newser) - Looking for something a little more brainy than Twilight this weekend? Well, a new adaptation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is also hitting theaters, directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley, but critics are divided on the result. Everyone agrees it looks great, but many believe it lacks heart....

Russia Ignores Tolstoy Centennial
Russia Ignores
Tolstoy Centennial

Russia Ignores Tolstoy Centennial

Literary giant saddled with controversy 100 years on

(Newser) - On the 100th anniversary of his death, one of the world’s most celebrated authors hardly got a nod from his home country. Leo Tolstoy died Nov. 20, 1910, having been excommunicated a decade earlier by the Russian Orthodox Church. For decades, the Soviets saluted him (ignoring his Pacifism and...

Mirren, Plumber Dazzle as Tolstoy and the Mrs.
 Mirren, Plumber Dazzle 
 as Tolstoy and the Mrs. 
Movie Review: the last station

Mirren, Plumber Dazzle as Tolstoy and the Mrs.

Biopic The Last Station is 'lusty, roaring' tour-de-force

(Newser) - Critics are hopping aboard at The Last Station, a lively drama about Leo Tolstoy's final days starring Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren. Here’s what they’re saying:
  • “The arrival of a movie with as much intelligence and artistry as The Last Station should also be accompanied by the
...

WWII Nazi Opus Ignites Passions (Pro and Con)

Publishers roll dice on shocking French work by Yank Jonathan Littell

(Newser) - A novel about a Nazi officer with a taste for sodomy and incest might not scream “bestseller”—especially at nearly 1,000 pages long and translated from French. Yet Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones topped charts in France and precipitated a bidding war among US publishers. HarperCollins...

Being Vegetarian Doesn't Make You Better in Bed

PETA's banned ad is misleading

(Newser) - The idea makes for one steamy ad campaign, but vegetarians don’t necessarily have better sex, Nina Shen Rastogi writes for Slate. PETA’s claim that meat makes people “fat, sick, and boring in bed” is a little misleading—the research is based on people who ate low-fat, low-cholesterol...

10 Books to Pass Up With Confidence
10 Books to Pass Up
With Confidence

10 Books to Pass Up With Confidence

Richard Wilson saves us all a bunch of time and effort with a not-reading list

(Newser) - Forget the coma-inducing titles that lit lovers keep telling you to read, Richard Wilson writes in his book, Can’t Be Arsed: 101 Things Not to Do Before You Die. He lists the top 10 clunkers in the Daily Telegraph:
  • Ulysses, James Joyce: notoriously hard, so why bother?
  • Lord
...

7 Stories