The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Sci-Fi Novel with; Appeal for All Readers

Steal Across the Sky. By Nancy Kress. Tor. $25.95. 320 pages. To the best of my knowledge, Nancy Kress does not enter a sterile clean room when she gets down to work. But she is responsible for some of our most creative experiments in genetic engineering.

Winton Manages Fresh Perspective for Old Theme

Breath. By Tim Winton. Picador paperback. $14. 224 pages. The first time I read Australian writer Tim Winton was in 2002 when his seventh novel, "Dirt Music," came out. Within a few pages, I was bowled over, seduced first by his language, the easy way he slung around the vernacular yet laced his sentences with precise images -- the startling elasticity, the beauty of it all.

Life; Lines

Blossoming Villa Visit a little bit of Italy here in Milwaukee when the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, 2220 N. Terrace Ave., opens its Renaissance Garden today. The celebration begins with a Cafe Sopra Mare performance by Mrs. Fun from 10 a.m. till 12:30 p.m. That will be followed by refreshments and opening remarks after which patrons can tour the gardens and the "Marina Bychkova: Enchanted Doll" exhibit, which closes at the end of the day. Admission to this celebration is free.

New York Theater Offering More Than Just Escape

New York -- If the financial and political worlds were turned on their ears during the past 12 months, why should commercial New York theater be immune from the same phenomenon? Conventional wisdom? Throw it out the window.

Indian Music Pairings On Menu

Philip Glass, as a young musician with rent to pay, once got a job notating the improvised Indian classical music of Ravi Shankar on traditional Western staffs and lines. Terry Riley spent years studying with Pran Nath and became an expert performer in North Indian classical style.

2009-'10 Season Present Music Announces Lineup 4 of Season's Concerts Set for Turner Hall

Present Music gave its first concert in the Turner Hall Ballroom last September. Next season, Milwaukee's new-music ensemble will play four of its six concerts in the vintage, fire-damaged, partially restored downtown space. "We've looked forever for the right acoustics and atmosphere and the right location at a price we can afford," said Kevin Stalheim, Present Music's founding artistic director. "Right away last fall, I thought maybe this is it."

Art City Precious Parcel Deserves Discourse

While a plan to place the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences on a signature lakefront spot has wide support among political and business leaders, capturing the popular imagination is going to take more work. This became clear at a recent public hearing on the subject before the Harbor Commission, where the majority of people supported the idea of a school but opposed putting it on the lake where the shuttered Pieces of Eight restaurant now sits. Many suggested t...

Hot for Favorites 'Sunnyside's' Gold, Other Authors Arrive Just in the Nick of Time

Sunnyside. By Glen David Gold. Knopf. $26.95. I grabbed Glen David Gold's first novel, "Carter Beats the Devil," on the lamest of pretexts: My favorite president was in it.