Jill Norgren
Jill Norgren is a biographer, book reviewer, and longtime member (now emerita) of the political science faculty at the City University of New York. Most recently, she wrote Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would be President (New York University Press, 2007) about the first American woman to be admitted to the US Supreme Court bar as well as the first woman to run a full campaign for the presidency (1884).
In 2009 Norgren also published a biography of Lockwood intended for 9-12 year old readers (Belva Lockwood: Equal Rights Pioneer).
A commuting marriage between central Pennsylvania and New York City permits her to see two very different sides of the United States.
CultureWatch Review: The Receptionist: An Education at the New Yorker
Jill Norgren writes: Tell-all autobiography has the ability to be “satisfyingly scandalous,” with remembrances of friends, colleagues, and lovers “somewhere between mash note and carpet-bombing.” In her years with The New Yorker, she went, she saw, she conquered…and was conquered. more »
CultureWatch Reviews: Sybil Exposed
Thanks in large measure to Sybil’s psychiatrist, multiple-personality disorder became an official diagnosis, with important consequences for the medical profession, the insurance industry, and patients. In Sybil Exposed journalist Debbie Nathan is able to argue persuasively that the book was the product of conspiracy and deceit. more »
Book Review, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern and Chef Supreme
Swerve illuminates the fascinating nooks of antiquity, as well as the Renaissance, for the neophyte. This is the sort of book that, during these winter months, will bring the pleasure endorsed by Epicurus and Lucretius. Chef Supreme: Martin Ginsburg creates a paean to good food and its ability to create community; the recipes and tributes are rich, as was his life. more »
Review, New York Met Opera's HD Live Performance of The Enchanted Island: Guile, sorcery, love, and rejection
This operatic pasticcio, drawing upon music composed by Handel, Vivaldi, and Rameau is a harvest basket of delights. Beautiful singing marks the production: DiDonato is outstanding, Domingo defies the years with his seemingly effortless excellence, and de Niese steals the first act with her impish portrayal and fine singing more »
