“The Empress of Art” by Susan Jaques is an art-focused biography of Catherine the Great, Russia’s most famous female ruler. Turns out, Catherine was a boss. Originally a German princess, she was married off to the crappy future Russian Tzar Peter III. When Peter rapidly began running Russia into the ground (he was wildly unpopular…Read More
Nonfiction
What I’m Reading: Execution
You can spot the flaws in humanity with a brief scan of the daily paper. Bombings, deceits, murders, lies, we have some pretty fatal tendencies. But if there was any doubt about our interest in the grotesque, Geoffrey Abbott’s Execution dispels it. The book covers the history of 70 different modes of execution, organized in alphabetical sections. As…Read More
What I’m Reading: King of Poisons
When I was reading The Romanov Sisters there was a lot of talk about medicating with arsenic injections. I knew a little about the drug but I was curious about the use of it in nineteenth century medicine. That led to John Parascandola’s book King of Poisons: A History of Arsenic. The book is a fascinating nonfiction…Read More
What I’m Reading: Seven Days in the Art World
I’ve covered quite a few nonfiction books on Trends & Tolstoy (The Romanov Sisters, Textile and Fashion Arts, Black Mass, etc.) but this one is a very different breed. Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton is a mix of an art review, a narrative nonfiction story, a memoir, and a high society gossip…Read More
What I’m Reading: The Romanov Sisters
My fascination with Russia and Russian literature has been well established, so it’s no surprise that my latest book is a biography of the last imperial family, in particular the often-shafted Romanov sisters. The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport gets five stars on my scale of nonfiction historical works. There’s a lot of lore and…Read More
What I’m Reading: Textile & Fashion Arts
I’ve made my obsession with the MFA Boston pretty clear (here, here, and here) so it’s no surprise that my next nonfiction adventure is one of their publications. The museum puts out a highlight series that shows an overview of a style of art featuring the works in their collection. This is great because then…Read More