Boston Public Library

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Slideshow: A year of ''Meet the Mayor''

Term limits? Those are for losers. Here are the 12 Foursquare mayors who hung onto their turf
Before I had the foggiest idea that Foursquare existed, our esteemed managing editor pitched me the idea of interviewing mayors. Following a deeply confusing 20-minute-or-so conversation, I started to understand that she wasn't asking me to interview Menino every week.
By BARRY THOMPSON | September 26, 2011

Photos: PBR Skateboard Pub Crawl

From Cambridge to Downtown Crossing | August 13, 2011
The Pabst Blue Ribbon skateboard pub crawl takes to the streets of Boston on August 13, 2011.
By PAT HOWLEY | August 17, 2011

Skate of the union

Pissed pedaling
The malt angels from Pabst Blue Ribbon were on hand to fuel us up, and to hook up sweat bands that, incidentally, would come in handy to absorb the blood.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 17, 2011

Will Kindles kill libraries?

In this corner: libraries struggling to bring in patrons. In the other: Kindles looking to expand their market. Will it be a bloodbath, or can they hug it out?
This week, OverDrive itself will host its own conference to help libraries deal with a massive onslaught of patrons clamoring to check out books on their Kindles. Can embattled public institutions handle such a drastic change?
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | July 27, 2011

Authors talking: Spring readings in Boston

By ear
America’s best young novelist, Britain’s most popular mystery writer, a bearded indie rocker, and a dead master populate this spring’s mandatory literary events.
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | March 17, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

Thirty-three reasons you can't miss this year's Boston Books Festival

Bound for glory
The Boston Book Festival happens this Saturday, October 16, from 10 am to 9 pm at various locations in Copley Square.
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | October 15, 2010

Fall Books Preview: Getting booked

Readings, festivals, and other seasonal literary events
Two Sedarises, two New Yorker favorites, and a famous neurologist are among the highlights of this fall’s book events.
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | September 14, 2010

Critics' choice?

Jonathan Franzen and the Great American Novel
This month, Jonathan Franzen became the first living American novelist in 10 years to make the cover of Time . His Freedom — out this Tuesday, and his first novel since 2001's National Book Award–winning best seller, The Corrections — has been anointed the latest Great American Novel.
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | August 29, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Role model?

John Waters gets up close and personal
John Waters gets up close and personal
By SHAULA CLARK | June 07, 2010

Moneybags Menino

The mayor cuts services, but sits on a stash of cash.
Inside Boston’s political back rooms, there is a growing suspicion that Mayor Thomas Menino is sitting on millions of dollars — tens of millions, maybe as much as $400 million — that could be used to save vital city services, such as, among many examples, four branch libraries and eight community centers that are slated to be shuttered.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 17, 2010

Library woes

Plus, Arizona declares war on immigrants
In an attempt to save four Boston Public Library branches that are slated to close due to budget shortfalls, some state legislators from Boston have threatened to block all state funding the library receives if it shutters any of its 26 branches.
By EDITORIAL | April 28, 2010

Pardon the interruption

Quartet of Happiness, Jerry Leake, and Jazz Week
Maybe it was when saxophonist Kelly Roberge, instrument in hand, leapt off the Cambridge YMCA Theatre stage in the middle of a performance by the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra and fled the auditorium — as if in extreme gastro-intestinal distress.
By JON GARELICK | April 22, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Battle of the Bulger

Former Mass. Sen. Pres. William Bulger defends James Michael Curley's legacy — and his own
Earlier this fall, with almost no fanfare, Beverly-based Commonwealth Editions published a new biography of Boston's archetypal politician — James Michael Curley: A Short Biography with Personal Reminiscences — written by former Massachusetts Senate president William Bulger.
By ADAM REILLY | December 16, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Hardboiled hub

The city’s gritty, criminal underbelly has redefined the dark, artistic vision known as Boston noir
When I was growing up in Roslindale a few decades back — among tribes of ignorant, second-generation immigrant kids whose favorite words began with “f” and “n” and who liked to torture small animals and beat up small children before they moved on to their future vocations as petty criminals, dead dope users, or real-estate agents.
By PETER KEOUGH | October 21, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Interview: Colin Beavan

It's not easy going green
"In my twenties, I was really concerned with global warming. In my thirties, I was really focused on being a writer."
By TOM MEEK | October 02, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Museum pieces and other pieces

Jazz Week returns, the Jazz Hall of Fame inducts, Ron Gill says bye
It's Jazz Week time again — that time when the Boston jazz community looks to expand its minority-appeal music to a larger public.
By JON GARELICK | April 21, 2009