On a recent trip to Detroit, I checked out the Guardian Building, which is also known as The Cathedral of Finance. It was built in 1929 for the Union Trust Company, a bank that claimed 25% of Detroit’s deposit market. It’s absolutely gorgeous, with ceramic brick and Pewabic tiles. The pictures tell the story better… [Read More]
Blog
Category: Rest of the World
Denmark: Mirror, Shoulder, Signal
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors is a coming of middle age story, and maybe the world needs more of these. Sonja lives in Copenhagen and translates Swedish detective stories. She’s feeling stuck. She is also trying to learn to drive (hence the title) while dealing with vertigo and trying to figure out the next… [Read More]
New Zealand: Alps to Ocean Challenge
The two most disturbing movies that I have ever seen were set in New Zealand. Once Were Warriors is a difficult story of a Maori family trying to stay together in a modern era, and Heavenly Creatures is a disturbing true-crime story starring a young Kate Winslet. Babe and What We Do In the Shadows… [Read More]
Iceland: Woman at War
During the pandemic, I continued to work on the Around the World project, although not always alphabetically. Reading books and watching movies are easier than writing up blog posts, so I seem further behind than I am. Anyway, here’s the entry for Iceland, which is a gorgeous country. It almost looks like a cold version… [Read More]
Austria: Chess Story
Chess Story , a 1941 novella by Austrian-Jewish writer Stefan Zweig, is set on board a ship traveling from New York to Buenos Aires during World War II. Several of the passengers are escaping Nazi-occupied territories, as Zweig himself did. One of the travelers is a Czech chess grandmaster. Several others want to see him… [Read More]
