By Heidi Simmons The Coachella Valley has a burgeoning college town in Palm Desert. One of the joys of having these taxpayer-funded institutions in our wider community is the free events they run for the public. At UCR Palm Desert, the low-residency program, MFA (Master of...
Book Review by Heidi Simmons ----- Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead By Sheryl Sandberg Nonfiction ----- If you value your job, take pride in a strong work ethic and desire to make the most of your career, Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In (Knoff, 228 pages)...
By Heidi Simmons ----- The Paris Wife By Paula McLain Fiction ----- In last week’s column, American author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, was the subject and voice of three new novels. She was indeed Scott’s muse, his source of inspiration, and quite possibly...
by Heidi Simmons “Write about what you know” has long been a fundamental directive for authors. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels This Side of Paradise (1920), The Beautiful and Damned (1922), The Great Gatsby (1925) and Tender is the Night (1934) successfully incorporated...
Book Review by Heidi Simmons ----- The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald Novel ----- The great American novel is something everyone wants to read and American authors long to write. It is a narrative which encompasses place, time and attitude that accurately...
Book Review by Heidi Simmons ----- Mom & Me & Mom By Maya Angelou Autobiography ----- We all have mothers. Beyond bringing us into the world, good relationship or not, mothers can profoundly impact our lives and shape who we become. In Maya Angelou’s...
Book Review by Heidi Simmons ----- Adventures of Peter Rabbit By Beatrix Potter Fiction ----- Going through a box of old books, I found a 1938 copy of Beatrix Potter’s Adventures of Peter Rabbit. I’m not sure to whom the book originally belonged, but I instantly...
Book Review by Heidi Simmons ------ Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers, and the Race for the Cannabis Cup By Mark Haskell Smith Nonfiction ------ Grow Girl: How My Life After The Blair Witch Project Went to Pot By Heather...
Book Review by Heidi Simmons ----- Diary By Chuck Palahniuk Fiction ----- For my last column, I reviewed the work of fiction Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. In this current best seller, Flynn uses diary entries from the “gone girl” to help shape the narrative. It...
Book Review by Heidi Simmons ------- Gone Girl By Gillian Flynn Fiction ------- Some marriages are made in heaven, while others can feel like being trapped in hell. In Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl (Crown Publishing, 419 pages), a husband and a wife...
