Troy Patterson : NPR

Troy Patterson Troy Patterson is the television critic at Slate.com and the film critic at Spin. He also writes about art, entertainment, and culture for publications that include The New York Times Book Review, Men's Vogue, GQ, Wired, and Entertainment Weekly, where he worked as a book critic and staff writer through 2004. He lives in Brooklyn.

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Tuesday November 3, 2009

Searching For Answers? 'Googled' Disappoints

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Review

Book Reviews

Searching For Answers? 'Googled' Disappoints

November 3, 2009 • Ken Auletta's new book, Googled, chronicles the behemoth search engine company from the bottom up. But critic Troy Patterson says that few of the book's points are so penetrating that they couldn't be easily discovered via a quick Google query.

Searching For Answers? 'Googled' Disappoints

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Wednesday July 15, 2009

Review

Three Books...

Radio Reads: Books Capture The Essence Of The Dial

July 15, 2009 • Critic Troy Patterson suggests three books that bring to life the immediacy and excitement of radio. Tune into any of them for keen commentary, muscular storytelling and the fine sound of a distinctive voice.

Radio Reads: Books Capture The Essence Of The Dial

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Wednesday June 24, 2009

Review

Book Reviews

Fast And Loose With Car-Crazy P.J. O'Rourke

June 24, 2009 • P.J. O'Rourke — a son and grandson of Buick dealers — is a car nut. Whether he's racing in Baja, studying "Jeepology" in the Philippines or riding Harleys with mild-bunch suburbanites, his essays celebrate big cars, fast women and open roads.

Monday April 20, 2009

Review

Book Reviews

Humiliation, Gloom And Other Paradoxical Pleasures

April 20, 2009 • With Don't Cry, Mary Gaitskill confirms her status as the sharpest portraitist of our darker nature. In her third story collection, the author again explores the pleasures of doomed romance, emotional degradation and other destructive impulses.

Tuesday April 7, 2009

Review

Book Reviews

Gracefully Gonzo Memoirist Pens Second 'Report'

April 7, 2009 • Gregoire Bouillier projects an offbeat charisma as he broods his way through the second of his eccentric memoirs. Report On Myself recounts anecdotes, revelations and oddities in a frank attempt to capture life's weirder truths.

Thursday January 22, 2009

Review

Book Reviews

Young, Idle And Terribly Jaded In The Jazz Age

January 22, 2009 • Bright Young People tells the story of how the tabloid press in 1920s London conspired with a self-mythologizing circle of gilded partygoers to create the first set of celebrities famous, in our modern sense, for being famous.

Monday December 15, 2008

Best Books of 2008

Best Collections Of Literary Letters 2008

December 15, 2008 • Dear reader, sitting down with a collection of letters — or a vivid reflection on them — affords a singularly intimate encounter with a writer, so please give a look to these exercises in mail bonding.

Tuesday October 28, 2008

Review

Book Reviews

A Spirited Sprint Through A Marathon Movie History

October 28, 2008 • Film critic David Thomson blends eccentricity and common-sensibility in "Have You Seen...?", his insightful (and sometimes scathing) assessment of 1,000 classic films.

Thursday October 2, 2008

Review

Poetry

A Poet Pines, Charms In 'Opal Sunset'

October 2, 2008 • Known as a cultural critic, Clive James is gaining deserved recognition as a poet. Lucid and fun, these poems touch on literary life, mortality, religion — and unrequited love for the stars of women's tennis.

Wednesday September 10, 2008

Review

Book Reviews

Place Names Reveal Our Values, Vanities, Quirks

September 10, 2008 • A compendium of fun facts that reads like an epic prose poem, the 1944 Names on the Land has just been reissued. This absorbing work of scholarship earns its status as a classic.

Thursday August 28, 2008

Review

Book Reviews

Supersleuth Mixes Crime, Comedy

August 28, 2008 • A comic thriller composed with literary refinement and an ear for wordplay, Adam Davies' Mine All Mine bounces through a world of objets d'art and tranquilizer darts.

Monday August 11, 2008

Review

Book Reviews

A Preposterous Man Of Mystery In 'Hotel Crystal'

August 11, 2008 • Equal parts thriller, travelogue and literary puzzle, Hotel Crystal is The Bourne Identity by way of Borges.

Friday July 18, 2008

Review

Book Reviews

'The Man Who Ate The World'? Tasty

July 18, 2008 • British restaurant critic Jay Rayner samples the sushi, the camel, and — to his mother's dismay — the blowfish on his trot around the globe. Critic Troy Patterson took big bites, too, and found Rayner's book flavorful.

Monday June 23, 2008

Review

Book Reviews

'Slumberland' Offers High Ambitions, Low Comedy

June 23, 2008 • There are very few novelists with Paul Beatty's swinging sense of play. His latest novel, Slumberland, is a sui generis piece of heartfelt absurdism. Troy Patterson recommends readers give it a spin.

Monday November 27, 2006

Media

Al-Jazeera Tests Its Reach in English

November 27, 2006 • Pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera launched its international service in English earlier this month. It hasn't found a home on U.S. television -- no U.S. cable company or major satellite provider carries it -- but you can watch it online.

Al-Jazeera Tests Its Reach in English

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