Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe's Latest Posts
Between the Lines: Live, Eat, Read
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” This line from Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” appears on coffee mugs and salad bowls, t-shirts and baby bibs, posters and restaurant menus. In what is perhaps a by-product of the “foodie” revolution of the past twenty-some years, more […]
Between the Lines: Zoe means “life” in Greek
“Only in America,” is one of the first things Zoe Ghahremani says to me about the success of her first novel, “Sky of Red Poppies,” when we meet at Bread & Cie. Later she qualifies it to “Only in San Diego,” praising the local writing community that encouraged and promoted her efforts. Through a series […]
Between the Lines : “ Be the heroine of your life, not the victim”
So said Nora Ephron, and if Nora Ephron said it, it’s good enough for me. Nora Ephron passed away in June, and I join the ranks of her abject mourners. She was probably best known for her screenwriting and filmmaking, memorable classics like “Sleepless in Seattle,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and most recently, “Julie and […]
Between the Lines: Searching for her roots, she finds her calling
“I became a full time writer in 1990, because I had discovered a story, a true story that had never been told.” The result of Kathi Diamant’s discovery is “Kafka’s Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant,” a biography published in 2003. Almost twenty years earlier, as a student at the University of Georgia, the […]
Between the Lines: Meet Max and His Maker
Max is almost thirteen. He’s in the eighth grade, smart, a good kid, but he thinks he’s pretty boring and wants to re-invent himself as someone more exciting, more adventurous, more dangerous. And that’s what he sets out to do at summer camp. Max’s exploits, his friends and family, make up the world that Arthur […]
Between the Lines: In Defense of “Chick Lit”
Bright pink covers; gal pals drinking cosmopolitans, buying designer shoes, and searching for Mr. Right; “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Sex and the City”—these are the images that San Diego writer Jennifer Coburn evoked recently in addressing the question, “Is chick lit dead?” Jen Coburn is the author of four successful “chick lit” novels and a […]
Between the Lines: “A Year in Ink”
“A Year in Ink” is an anthology of the creative work of San Diego County writers, published each year by San Diego Writers, Ink (SDWI). SDWI supports local writers with classes, workshops, and other resources at its East Village digs, The Ink Spot. The annual publication represents a sampling of the tangible results of our […]
Between the Lines: Jane Austen Lives
I couldn’t resist it, nor could, I imagine, any Jane Austen fan. “Death Comes to Pemberley” is a mystery by the acclaimed P. D. James, most of whose twenty previous novels have been adapted for television. James skillfully captures the Austen voice and takes readers six years past “Pride and Prejudice” and back into the […]
Between the Lines: Reading Contemporary Americana
I recently read two of last year’s highly praised novels. “The Marriage Plot” by Jeffrey Eugenides is his long-awaited follow-up to the award-winning “Middlesex.” “The Art of Fielding” is Chad Harbach’s first novel, and he hit the jackpot—it was selected as one of the New York Times’ five best works of fiction for 2011. Both […]
Between the Lines
by Alice Lowe Why Burn the Books? In Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” the people called firemen aren’t putting out fires, they’re starting them. They’re the book burners, intent upon ridding the totalitarian society of the threats inherent in having an informed and educated populace. An image from the film is posted on the Occupy […]
