Author of Killers of the Flower Moon discusses his method, his materials, and being an “opessimist” — David Grann has sailed on a small boat in search of giant squid. He has investigated the death of the world’s leading Sherlock Holmes expert. He has profiled John McCain, the Aryan Brotherhood, and baseball great Rickey Henderson. He has explored an Amazon jungle. If you read The New Yorker…

These sites are comprehensive, authoritative, and, best of all, free — Legal information, like medical information, occupies a singular place in the world of research. Many research projects are undertaken for education, amusement, or personal enrichment. These are worthy goals, of course, but if the search falters or the answer isn’t found, there aren’t likely to be serious consequences. Not so…

Sensible or outrageous? You decide — In recent years, the news has been awash in stories of books being challenged, censored, or outright banned in school and public libraries. Of course, book challenges have gone on for hundreds of years. Some make a kind of sense; others are simply outrageous. Here are ten banned books or…

What did I learn from the process? — In a 1981 speech to the Ohio Arts Council, future Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” The marrow of those words became apparent after I had been a law librarian…

I haven’t had a drink in forever — literally — A week ago, when my family gathered to celebrate Christmas, my sister did something odd: she pulled out a bottle of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey (“Tastes Like Heaven, Burns Like Hell”) and offered it around. It was odd to offer it to our parents, as our father is a retired Southern…

(10) Your wife needs a separate closet for all the shoes she has made. They’re all red velvet. (9) At your wedding reception, your wife’s cousins did shots of maple syrup. (8) There is a hot chocolate bar in your basement. In July. (7) Your father-in-law is a fourteenth generation…

Here is what I learned — I knew something was up when I couldn’t breathe. It was a week before Christmas 2020, and I was walking from the library where I work to a nearby Subway for lunch. The walk takes ten minutes. I’ve done it many times. This time, though, my breathing was heavy. Not…

Does that make me a predator too? — Not many people get to start a library from scratch. I did. On June 5, 2006, I became the fourteenth employee, and first librarian, at the nation’s newest law school, the Charlotte School of Law. Things were great for a while. Then they weren’t. My boss resigned after less than…

A tale of love and loss in America’s heartland — That’s my car, above. The one belching flames. Well, I say it’s mine. What I mean is, I am the legal owner. Was the legal owner. I imagine the burned-out hulk is now sitting in some Iowa scrapyard. The car is a 2004 Toyota Corolla, which I bought in 2005…