Thursday, 09 September 2010 06:46

World, Aaugust 29, (Pal Telegraph) - "The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings" (Pantheon Books, $26.95), by James Baldwin, edited by Randall Kenan: James Baldwin's passionate hope for a better America, a United States that he can believe in and that believes in a brilliant black person, comes through in each piece of this disparate collection.

Editor Randall Kenan, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, calls the compendium "a collection of snapshots." And the writings are haphazard. But these are snapshots in the best sense: glimpses deep inside a life lived daringly and fervently, if not always with politic attention to Baldwin's colleagues and compatriots.

Thursday, 09 September 2010 06:46

World August 23, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – "The Sonderberg Case" (Alfred A. Knopf, $25), by Elie Wiesel, translated by Catherine Temerson: After more than 60 years, over 50 books and a Nobel Peace Prize, Elie Wiesel is still struggling with what it means to be a Holocaust survivor.

In his new novel, "The Sonderberg Case," Yedidyah is the child of survivors. He is a would-be actor turned theater critic, assigned by his New York newspaper editors to help cover the murder trial of a young German accused of killing his uncle. On the first day of the trial, Yedidyah hears Werner Sonderberg declare himself both guilty and innocent.