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Dan Webster

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News >  Features

‘Into Thin Air’ book selection for December

The closest most of us will ever get to the summit of Mount Everest is in our fantasies. Jon Krakauer is just the kind of writer who fuels such daydreams. Difference is, the kinds of imaginings that Krakauer evokes in his book "Into Thin Air" are less fantastic than nightmarish.
News >  Features

‘To the Last Man’ tells stories of WWI

There's nothing more dramatic than the cataclysm known as war. Yet Jeff Shaara knows that war, in and of itself, isn't the story that intrigues most of us. It's the individuals who do the actual fighting.
A&E >  Entertainment

Cornucopia of films comes to Spokane

Moviegoing should be a rich experience over the next seven days, what with today's openings, two sneak previews on the weekend, a couple of midnight offerings, a special concert film on Tuesday and as many as four possible openings on Wednesday. Here's what movie fans can expect:
News >  Features

Rabbi confronts question of pain

In the weeks and months following the horrific events of Sept. 11, 2001, Rabbi Harold Kushner found himself confronted time and again with the same question: How could God allow such a thing to happen?
A&E >  Entertainment

more scary stuff

Top Seven Scary Movies That You've Likely Never Seen "Ringu" (1998): Didn't like Gore Verbinski's "The Ring"? Go back to Hideo Nakata's original, a film that swept (and scared the hell out of) Japan. Followed by two sequels. (DVD, VHS; 1:36; not rated)
News >  Features

John Dalmas to answer questions online

Every town has its writing treasures. Spokane has several, including two-time Hugo Award winner C.J. Cherryh, young-adult novelists Chris Crutcher and Terry Trueman, acclaimed mystery writer Jess Walter, and poets Nance Van Winckel and Christopher Howell. And then there's John Dalmas ( www.sfwa.org/members/dalmas), whose prolific output of books has come largely in the past 20 years. The author of nearly 30 books, the 78-year-old Dalmas had gone through several occupations, from able seaman to forester, before settling down in the 1980s to write for a living. He's had several science fiction successes, from "The Yngling" to "The Regiment," from "The Lion of Farside" to "The Second Coming."
A&E >  Entertainment

Film focuses on corporate world’s underbelly

One thing's for sure, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn't going to like "The Corporation." This documentary film by Canadian filmmakers Jennifer Abbott and Mark Achbar takes a long, comprehensive, intelligent and pointedly critical look at the business entity of the film's title that has come to dominate life on planet Earth.
A&E >  Entertainment

Flicker Fest an undisputed success

Anyone who watched Los Angeles television in the 1970s remembers George Putnam. Putnam became a media mini-giant when he migrated to L.A. in 1951. Yet, as happens to most legends before their time, he eventually became a parody of himself.
A&E >  Entertainment

Strings attached

Let's see, how do I put this delicately … Oh, yeah, "Team America: World Police," the new film by "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, may just be the most outrageous mainstream movie ever released in America.
News >  Features

Author’s book answers questions about aging parents

Ever since the 1922 silent film "Nanook of the North" played in America, the popular myth has been that Alaskan tribes simply deserted their elderly on the ice. Maybe it wasn't a myth. Some cultures, in time of particular need, did indeed do away with those who were a drag on the tribe. But this is the 21st century. We're above that, aren't we? Sure we are. But that doesn't mean that dealing with the elderly, especially those related to you, is easy. Quite the opposite, in fact. That's why Gail Goeller wrote "Coming of Age With Aging Parents: The Bungles, Battles & Blessings" (Patina Productions, 264 pages, $16).
News >  Features

Sci-fi novel ‘Soldiers’ is October’s club choice

John Dalmas isn't feeling well. The local author of "Soldiers" — the October reading selection of The Spokesman-Review Book Club — neglected to get his pneumonia shot earlier this year, and so he's been coughing and sneezing with what he calls "walking pneumonia."
News >  Features

‘Super Size Me’ writer speaking in Pullman

Morgan Spurlock has become a kind of gastronomic Michael Moore. The man responsible for the documentary "Super Size Me," which follows what happened when Spurlock spent 30 days eating only dishes on the menu at McDonald's, has moved from curiosity to figure of controversy. Spurlock is not only the writer-director of his film — which as of Thursday had grossed nearly $12 million (not bad for an independent documentary) — but he's an author ("Eat This Book" will be published by Grosset & Dunlap in February) and he's become an advocate for better nutrition. He will be on hand to talk about his film when it is shown Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Pullman, at Washington State University's CUB Auditorium. Tickets are $7; call (509) 335-7209.