The 6 Great American Baseball Novels

Posted on by Michael Kahn
“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” Those words–written by American scholar Jacques Barzun—are now engraved on a plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. In his book, God’s Country and Mine: A Declaration of Love Spiced with a Few Harsh Words (1954), Barzun wrote that baseball…
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Top 10 Baseball Walk-Up Songs in Literature

Posted on by Michael Kahn
For the true baseball fans among us, name a favorite player and you can name his walk-up song. Same for your team’s closer (whose walk-up song is known as the “entrance song”). For the uninitiated, a walk-up song is that heavy metal, hip hop, or country tune that blares throughout the stadium as the player…
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All Our Yesterdays: A Salute to the Bard

Posted on by Michael Kahn
We have all heard–over and over and over again–that the greatest writer in the history of English literature is William Shakespeare. And we can all recognize how remarkable it is that plays he wrote more than four centuries ago–dramas and comedies performed for the masses–are still being performed around the world today. And we can…
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My 60 Seconds of Semi-Kinda-Sorta Fame

Posted on by Michael Kahn
If Andy Warhol’s prediction is true, I’ve just used up my first minute. It was quick but fun. Read on: A couple of months ago I wrote about a fun series of interview questions posed to me by the blog Reviewing the Evidence. At the time, I was sworn to secrecy as to my answers….
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In Praise of Cage-Free Characters

Posted on by Michael Kahn
The good folks at the Writers & Authors blog asked for some of my thoughts and advice on writing. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the joys of what I call the cage-free characters. Think of them as the fictional version of free-range chickens. For readers, the cage-free character is the minor character who…
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The Hott Books Interview

Posted on by Michael Kahn
I recently had the honor of sitting for an interview with the great Gina Hott of the Hott Books blog. We talked about the biggest challenge to a writer’s career and the most surprising thing I discovered while writing The Sirena Quest. But perhaps her most daunting question was: “Is there a message in your novel…
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Mystery Novels, Art, and Napoleon’s Penis

Posted on by Michael Kahn
Yes, you read that right. The folks at the Mythical Books Blog–in honor of the missing Greco-Roman statue at the heart of my latest novel, The Sirena Quest–asked me to offer some thoughts on mystery novels that involve works of art. As I mulled it over, I realized that a missing work of art has been…
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A Fun Interview in Bookpleasures

Posted on by Michael Kahn
Earlier this week I was honored to be interviewed by the great Norm Goldman, Publisher and Editor of Bookpleasures.com. It was a fun interview, the best part being the last question, which I had to compose, ask myself, and then answer–a first for me. Here’s a link to interview. I hope you enjoy it.
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