Beth Kopley

The Gathering, by the Irish writer Anne Enright, won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for a writer who is "a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland." Enright's win was a long shot; although she's published plenty, she isn't one of the usual suspects, like Ian McEwen or J.M. Coetzee, who tend to pop up on the Booker shortlist regularly. The Booker Prize can make an...

Following up on my last post, here are five favorites I return to time and time again. All are reliable sources for good eating! Home Cooking and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin The novelist Laurie Colwin wrote playful, funny novels (Goodbye without Leaving is my favorite) about complicated characters, and also wrote straightforwardly about everyday cooking, the kind that sustains body and soul. Home Cooking, the first collection of her pieces from Gourmet and...

Welcome to a two-part review of the year's best cookbooks. In part one, I'll list five new books that inspired me in the kitchen in 2007...part 2 will include five rediscoveries that you might want to add to your shelf. Chocolate & Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier A cookbook by a blogger! (with another book in press!) Inspired by a two-year stay in San Francisco, Dusoulier developed the blog...

One of the most recent additions to the panoply of nightspots in Los Feliz is Sgt Recruiter, located on the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard that I think of as Wacko-Adjacent. Split off from Cobras & Matadors (it was the private room on the left when you entered), also under Steven Arroyo's management, and named in homage to a wine bar in Paris, Sgt Recruiter has room for patrons to sit at 14 comfortable stools lined...

I'm grateful that three years ago when everyone was telling me I ought to suck it up and buy a house, that I resisted - because a year later, when I left my job, no mortgage meant I could take a year off from work, work on a novel, start blogging, and - most importantly - find my inner (and outer) slacker. I'm happy to live in the U.S. of A., even though this...

When a novelist first publishes relatively late in life, one wants to applaud his or her persistence, as well as the fact that the writer retains the stamina to turn out a sustained piece of work. One also hopes for the best, wanting to believe that the publisher recognized quality and not just a curiosity when accepting the manuscript. Of course, with examples like Penelope Fitzgerald and Harriet Doerr to pave the way, one...

Tarfest, the La Brea pits' very own arts fest, launches this year -- its fifth -- next Friday. Created both to celebrate the Miracle Mile and to provide the opportunity for artists and audiences to discover each other, Tarfest is free, unlike certain other Sunset Junctionlike festivals one could name. Find the full schedule here; highlights include: Friday, October 5: Gallery exhibition ( and reception featuring musical performances at the Korean Cultural Center, 5505...

As everyone knows, the New York Times only recognizes a trend when it has a) long ago passed into common knowledge, and thus is no longer a trend and/or b) long ago died a natural death. Today's Times notes that people covet houses, and that those people may even stalk those houses, keeping tabs on how the lucky owners screw up the works with, say, a gaggle of gnomes on the lovely lawn. That's hardly...

Last night's free Zocalo program at the Central Library featured L.A. Weekly food writer Jonathan Gold in conversation with Variety's Monica Corcoran. Her first question: Did winning the Pulitzer Prize (for criticism, this year) blow your cover as an anonymous food critic? And if so, this evening won't help, will it? Gold sheepishly admitted that he can no longer be quite so anonymous. He went on to talk about topics ranging from the opening...

If you've missed all the bright orange book ads and have ducked all the media coverage (New York, The New Yorker, Vogue), you're one of the few readers who hasn't heard of The Manny, alleged to be this summer's Devil Wears Prada: chick-lit for the beach, right-coast division. It's a simple story: Glam Park Avenue working wife juggles her high-powered network news job, her sullen, money-obsessed lawyer husband, and three adorable children. She hires...