FiveBooks Newsletter 79

23 Dec 2011 • 3 min read

Links to all our original FiveBooks interviews of the week before, plus a
pick of the best content on The Browser.
[1]FiveBooks weekly newsletter: Links to all our original FiveBooks
interviews of the week before, plus a pick of the best content on The
Browser.
Links:
1. http://thebrowser.com

FiveBooks at The Browser

Dear readers,

This week on FiveBooks, we shed light on the pre-Christian origins and
contested history of Christmas, with the help of religious scholar [5]Bruce
Forbes. We also heard from music journalist [6]Greil Marcus on rock 'n roll,
novelist [7]Mona Simpson on family stories, and FT columnist [8]John Gapper
on financial speculation.
Links:
5. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/bruce-forbes-on-christmas-history
6. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/greil-marcus-on-rock-music
7. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/mona-simpson-on-family-stories
8. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/john-gapper-on-financial-speculation

Today, we begin our Best of FiveBooks series of compilation interviews to
mark the end of the year, with five experts from our archives recommending
[9]children's books for Christmas. Next week, the series continues with
essential reading on everything from memoir to sport, science to philosophy,
and more.
Links:
9. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/children-best-fivebooks

Happy Holidays from The Browser!

FiveBooks News

[10]Best of FiveBooks on Children’s books for Christmas
Links:
10. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/children-best-fivebooks

Friday December 23

In the first of seven compilation interviews, we feature five children’s
books recommended by a range of experts – including Santa himself
[11]Continue reading…
Links:
11. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/children-best-fivebooks

[12]Bruce Forbes on Christmas History
Links:
12. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/bruce-forbes-on-christmas-history

Thursday December 22

Did you know that Santa Claus was a 4th century bishop in what is now
Turkey? That Puritans tried to outlaw Christmas? Or Tiny Tim was originally
Little Fred? We shed light on Christmas’s pagan past and consumerist present
[13]Continue reading…
Links:
13. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/bruce-forbes-on-christmas-history

[14]Mona Simpson on Family Stories
Links:
14. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/mona-simpson-on-family-stories

Wednesday December 21

Family dynamics are changing dramatically in our modern, workaholic age. The
novelist – and sister of Steve Jobs, separated at birth – selects five works
of fiction that illustrate some truths about families in all their variety
[15]Continue reading…
Links:
15. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/mona-simpson-on-family-stories

[16]John Gapper on Financial Speculation
Links:
16. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/john-gapper-on-financial-speculation

Tuesday December 20

We all have a bit of the rogue trader in us. So says the chief business
commentator of the FT, who tells us about the greed, vanity and weakness
that can lead to financial disaster [17]Continue reading…
Links:
17. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/john-gapper-on-financial-speculation

[18]Greil Marcus on Rock Music
Links:
18. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/greil-marcus-on-rock-music

Monday December 19

Time to get out your old CDs and LPs. The music journalist picks five books
from Bob Dylan’s hinterland to confessions of a rock ’n roll groupie, and
explains why good criticism is like writing fiction [19]Continue reading…
Links:
19. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/greil-marcus-on-rock-music

[20]Best Of 2011: The Forever City
Links:
20. http://b.rw/rQUUH3

Robert Hughes | WSJ | 28 October 2011

Art critic recalls first trip to Rome, in 1959. Charming, evocative piece of
travel writing: "In Rome, for the first time in my life, I felt surrounded
by speaking water. What trees are to Paris, fountains are to Rome" [21]More
like this
Links:
21. http://thebrowser.com/best

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