Latest news with #SadieStein
New York Times
12-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
2 Books for a Hot, Languid Summer
By Sadie Stein Dear readers, During the hot and humid dog days of my childhood, my mother would tell us to dampen our sheets in the bathtub, wring them out and then spread them over ourselves in bed. 'By the time they dry, you'll be asleep!' she would say. Summer makes me blue. I don't know if it's reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder or the feeling of everything slipping by, slipping away, so fast — or is it just that, for a grown-up in the city, it's much like the rest of the year, only hotter? I recommend leaning into the bittersweetness. These books may not qualify as conventional beach reads, but for those of us for whom ambivalence loves company, the following are as complicated and melancholy as a summer's day. —Sadie 'The Go-Between,' by L.P. Hartley Fiction, 1953 Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Celebrating 100 Years of Edward Gorey
You're familiar with Edward Gorey, whether you know it or not. The prolific author and illustrator, who was born 100 years ago this week, was ubiquitous for a time in the 1970s and 1980s, and his elaborate black-and-white line drawings — often depicting delightfully grim neo-Victorian themes and settings — graced everything from book jackets to the opening credits of the PBS show 'Mystery!' to his own eccentric storybooks like 'The Gashlycrumb Tinies,' in which young children come to unfortunate but spectacular ends. On this week's episode, the Book Review's Sadie Stein joins Gilbert Cruz for a celebration of all things Gorey. 'He was so incredibly prolific,' Stein says. 'He was Joyce Carol Oates-like in his output. And it's amazing when you look at the work because the line drawings, as you mentioned, are so intricate. It looks almost like pointillism sometimes, like it would have taken hundreds of hours. But he was either preternaturally disciplined or incredibly fast, and each one that I've ever seen at least is beautiful. And complete in a way.' We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review's podcast in general. You can send them to books@
