1. “The Washington Writers Conference.” The big event happens THIS weekend. Online registration is closed, but walk-ins are welcome!


2. Teddy Duncan Jr.’s review of Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus by Elaine Pagels (Doubleday). “Miracles and Wonder perspicuously identifies points of agreement among experts. For example, in her chapter on the crucifixion, Pagels finds that ‘[n]o one doubts Jesus was crucified; everyone from his devoted followers to their harshest critics agree on this.’ Taking that as a site of scholarly consensus, she subsequently explores the historical question of ‘how it happened’ by comparing the Gospel accounts, ancient Jewish historians’ reports, and modern theological perspectives.”


3. Stephen Case’s review of The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution by Joyce E. Chaplin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). “Harvard history professor Chaplin, a superb scholar, has written in The Franklin Stove a reader-friendly, fact-packed, and meaty book. It addresses numerous intriguing and complex sociopolitical, geopolitical, and scientific factors surrounding Franklin’s thinking and his invention, including climate, deforestation, and slavery. Drawing extensively from the man’s papers, Chaplin also reveals what an amazing and witty polymath he was, despite his flaws.”


4. “An Interview with Samuel Ashworth” by Olivia Katrandjian. “I finished the first draft of this book in November 2020, as the culinary and medical worlds were being heaved up by two things: covid and #MeToo. I knew a book that didn’t acknowledge either would be an irrelevance. I also had to admit that as much as I loved August, he wouldn’t have been blameless. So many ‘great’ chefs built their careers on the shattered dreams of others, and August isn’t exempt from that. I wanted to ask what atonement would really look like for someone like him. How can a man like him make amends?”


5. Nick Havey’s review of Hot Air: A Novel by Marcy Dermansky (Knopf). “Without spoiling too much of this incredibly quick ride of a plot, I can reveal that Dermansky uses her unique premise to explore some relatively weighty topics. Joannie spends much of the time lamenting her position in life and fantasizing about what it’d be like to have the Fosters’ immense wealth. Jonathan gets to play billionaire savior and faux-husband to Joannie. Childless Julia (Jonathan is shooting blanks) enjoys a kid-in-a-box mom-a-thon by virtue of offering Lucy everything she’s ever wanted (a trip to Universal Studios). Johnny, meanwhile, functions as a sex puppet who somehow manages to bore both women.”

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