Shamu in paper and City Lights too

First, let me admit -- both of these people are friends of mine. But really, they are great writers. Okay, I admit –I have not read all of Amy’s book --I had to bring it back to the library. But now that the semester is over and it is out in paperback, I have no reason not to buy it and cart it down to the beach.

Here’s what Paperback Row in the NY Times Book Review says on Sunday:

WHAT SHAMU TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIFE, LOVE, AND MARRIAGE: Lessons for People From Animals and Their Trainers, by Amy Sutherland.

Sutherland’s essay about using animal training techniques on her sloppy husband
appeared in this newspaper’s Sunday Styles section and became the most e-mailed
Times article of 2006. This book — “part self-help guide, part animal psychology
textbook and part memoir,” our reviewer, Lori Leibovich, called it — breezily
explains “progressive training,” which rewards positive behaviors rather than
nagging about negative ones.


Now Dan. I was exposed to early Dan Barry in the ‘80s, then kind of lost track of him during the Providence/City Hall years.

Then he started channeling Joseph Mitchell, except he’s a wise ass from Long Island. So his rich collection of “About New York” columns is out in paperback too: City Lights: Stories about New York

Dan answered question from readers a few months back, many of them on writing.

Here are a few highlights I pulled for students.