Booy

The Waugh novel is a useful bellwether: Readers who think it's nothing but overripe nostalgia can steer clear of Mr. Van Booy; readers who think, as I do, that it's an operatic masterpiece have a good chance of being captivated by "Everything Beautiful Began After."

In Brief: Fiction Sam Sacks 2011

The exploration of grief also draws from Attic tragedy, with its naked emotionality and poetic declamations: "You must also learn to accept that death is the most sophisticated form of beauty," Mr. Van Booy writes from the oracular second-person point of view used to narrate this half of the novel.

In Brief: Fiction Sam Sacks 2011

Booy claims the bug can be passed to children through “normal family cuddles and kisses”, and one in 10 children who go on to develop the rare meningococcal disease will die from it, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Smoker’s Kiss Can Be Deadly! | Impact Lab 2010

Booy pointed to recent University of Sydney research, which showed almost 92% of New South Wales residents aged over 16 report they live in a house that is smoke-free.

Smoker’s Kiss Can Be Deadly! | Impact Lab 2010

Mr. Van Booy flits through the characters' perspectives, rendering their feelings in what often seems like verse snatched from ancient choral odes: "The love of a man is like a drop of color into something clear."

In Brief: Fiction Sam Sacks 2011

Midway through, Mr. Van Booy introduces a deus ex machina—an earthquake—that overturns the fortunes of the characters and changes the novel from one about discovering love to one about coping with its loss.

In Brief: Fiction Sam Sacks 2011

"Athens has long been a place where lonely people go," Simon Van Booy writes in his lushly sentimental novel set in modern Greece, where I suspect that the statement no longer holds true.

In Brief: Fiction Sam Sacks 2011

"They come to us traumatized, stigmatized, some of them experienced signs of post-traumatic stress," says Booy.

Craig and Marc Kielburger: Rehabilitating Child Soldiers 2009

"We conduct them in a very public way with the community members in order to reestablish the kids and reintegrate them," says Booy.

Craig and Marc Kielburger: Rehabilitating Child Soldiers 2009

Booy explains the first step is to address the immediate needs - food, shelter and medical attention.

Craig and Marc Kielburger: Rehabilitating Child Soldiers 2009