This past Monday, the Gotham Chamber Opera, an organization dedicated to staging lesser-known works in intimate settings, held a production of La hija de Rappaccini at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The opera, composed by Daniel Catán and written by Juan Tovar, draws inspiration from a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne and a play by Octavio Paz. It first premiered in […]

If you are one of millions of viewers who have been swept away with the parlor room drama and torrid romances of Downton Abbey, you might be suffering from withdrawal after the dramatic end to last season. Unfortunately, the fourth season will not premiere stateside until January, which leaves fans with six months worth of Sunday nights without the Crawleys. […]

As the city’s temperature begins to hint at the sweltering summer to come, it is necessary for one’s look to follow suit – sandals replace boots and the search for a perfect bag for all those weekend beach jaunts becomes a priority. In order to best enjoy all a New York (and its environs) summer has to offer, it is […]

In the last few years, the luxury pet market has become a very lucrative consumerist niche. Thus, it is not surprising that Jocelyn Kessler’s The Secret Language of Dogs made it to print. The author is a Hollywood-based “dog psychic” who aids humans in better understanding their canine companions, and her book is a compendium of anecdotes and lessons from […]

For most, Augusten Burroughs‘ name is synonymous with his best-selling memoir, Running with Scissors, an account of his troubled and, at times, disturbing adolescence in Western Massachusetts. His most recent work, This is How: Surviving What You Think You Can’t, is quite a different venture; in chapters with titles like, “How to Hold On to Your Dream or Maybe Not,” “How to End Your Life,” […]