Amanda Katz : NPR

Amanda Katz Amanda Katz is the deputy editor of the Ideas section of the Boston Globe. She has written about books for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian, among other publications.

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Saturday October 20, 2012

Anxiety Ahoy: Amazon Now Ranks Author Popularity

Toby Talbot/AP

Essays

Anxiety Ahoy: Amazon Now Ranks Author Popularity

October 20, 2012 • Amazon is expanding its top 100 lists to rank writers, not just books. The new list features a funky mix of authors, from big names to children's classics to Ayn Rand. Essayist Amanda Katz wonders whether the list is silly, useful, a play for world domination, or possibly all three?

Wednesday August 8, 2012

You never know, this woman could be reading The Gulag Archipelago. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

Essays

You Call That A Beach Book? Really?

August 8, 2012 • Commentator Amanda Katz muses on some seriously unbeachy beach book choices, from the guy in a Palm Springs pool reading a book on string theory, to the woman curled up on the lounge chair with William Styron's memoir of depression, Darkness Visible.

Thursday June 21, 2012

Will Your Children Inherit Your E-Books?

Corbis

Essays

Will Your Children Inherit Your E-Books?

June 21, 2012 • An old copy of The War of the Worlds, once belonging to rocket scientist Robert Goddard, prompts essayist Amanda Katz to muse on what we lose when we stop reading — and passing along — physical books.

Wednesday May 9, 2012

Who's Afraid Of Sendak's Stories? Adults, Mostly

A baby is snatched away by goblins in Maurice Sendak's Outside Over There. The beloved author and illustrator — who took a darker approach to children's storytelling — died Tuesday at the age of 83. HarperCollins hide caption

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HarperCollins