Sunday news and reviews

Posted at 10:34 AM on April 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: News and reviews

Art

Bronze beauties at the MIA
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has mounted a stunning show of Renaissance and Baroque sculptures.
- MARY ABBE , Star Tribune

Books

A free-wheeling conversation with poet Gary Snyder
Activist and poet Gary Snyder continues to take on the big issues.
- CHRIS WELSCH , Star Tribune

How a dog saved Minneapolis writer Martin Kihn's marriage, and maybe his life
Hola was also an undisciplined brat -- one person called her a "monster" -- until she was 5 years old. That's when she saved Kihn's life, and his marriage, by forcing him to stop drinking so she could be taught to behave. Kihn (pronounced like "fine") tells their funny/tender story in his new memoir, "Bad Dog (A Love Story)."
- Mary Ann Grossmann, Pioneer Press

First-rate collection satirizes modern life
He's one of our more political novelists, a three-time winner of the National Book Critics Circle award and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. No one writes social satire quite like E.L. Doctorow.
- JOSEPH PESCHEL, Star Tribune

MEANING IN LOSS
An elderly country woman disappears from a subway station.
- ANTHONY BUKOSKI , Star Tribune

Married to plastic
Susan Freinkel examines how plastic became such an integral part of our lives -- and our garbage dumps.
- SUSAN AGER , Star Tribune

Dyer collection shows off skill, breadth
Wide-ranging criticism and essays from 25 years of work.
- DYLAN HICKS , Star Tribune

St. Paul's own 'Little Rascal'
The madcap escapades and romantic entanglements of Coco Irvine, Minnesota's funniest teenager.
- CHUCK LEDDY, Star Tribune

A murky look at the oil spill
Washington Post reporter Joel Achenbach explores the blowout of BP's Gulf of Mexico offshore well, focusing on the disaster as an engineering problem.
- CHUCK LEDDY, Star Tribune

Dance

'Burning' delivers dance intensity
The piece about the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 is among three debut works from Shapiro & Smith.
- CAROLINE PALMER , Star Tribune

Movies

MSPIFFed up and ready to shine
Organizers put a fresh polish on the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Fest, which starts Thursday with its biggest-ever lineup.
- Colin Covert, Star Tribune

Music

Theater star Greta Oglesby wows Capri crowd in concert
It's high time that Oglesby made concerts a regular part of her repertoire
- Jon Bream, Star Tribune

Who's afraid of classical music?
The boundary-blurring String Theory Music Festival will appeal to pop fans, too.
- ANDREW PENKALSKI, Star Tribune

At 92, he's still bowing strong with the Roseville String Ensemble
Abe Franck may miss some notes, but that hasn't stopped the retired math professor from Richfield from playing violin with the Roseville String Ensemble.
- John Brewer, Pioneer Press