Thursday, May 12 2011
‘The Art of Immersion’ Tells the Story of Storytelling Rather Well
Frank Rose reminds us that stories are culturally significant and that they way we tell them says a great deal about our societies and ourselves.
An Unsolved Mystery in Jed Rubenfeld’s ‘The Death Instinct’
If you're interested in history and enjoy seeing some of the Western World’s greatest figures brought back to life, you may have fun with The Death Instinct.
Wednesday, May 11 2011
Katherine Shonk Attempts to Tackle the Insoluble Problem in ‘Happy Now?’
An original, funny, and tender character study that gives no pat answers or neatly tied ends as Claire wanders and stumbles her way toward a recovery.
‘Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women’ Tries to Tell It All, Literally
Leila Rupp takes her reader on a tour through time and across may cultures, jumping from pre-historical matriarchal societies, Amazons and Ancient Greeks to Medieval Europeans, indigenous Americans and modern-day Indonesians.
Tuesday, May 10 2011
‘Funeral for a Dog’ Is a Decidedly Unmoral Book That Celebrates the Depravity of Human Nature
Funeral for a Dog is a meditative look at male-female relationships that tries to plumb deep, but stays splashing at the surface.
‘Robert Redford: The Biography’ Is a Story of a Storyteller
Instead of passing the torch to a younger generation, Robert Redford continues to provide a bonfire of opportunities that spark creativity in actors or filmmakers of all ages.
The Notion of a Simultaneously Savage and Beautiful Domain in ‘Writing the Irish West’
Since the Aran plays of Synge and the reveries of Yeats, the Irish from somewhere else have entered the West to caricature its unrepentant, unreformed natives.
Monday, May 9 2011
The Poetry of Pathology: ‘An American Demon’
True Sounds of Liberty singer Jack Grisham knocks down the weathered statues of punk lore.
A Spoonful of Humor Makes the Feminism Go Down in Tina Fey’s ‘Bossypants’
Captivating while innocently disorganized, Bossypants makes the most palatable (and hilarious) argument in history that the glass ceiling is starting to crack.
Friday, May 6 2011
Wendy McClure Gives a Power Salute to the Bonnetheads in ‘The Wilder Years’
A bonnethead, if you aren’t one or one who loves one, is a Laura Ingalls Wilder freak. Wendy McClure is a serious bonnethead. Not only did she purchase a real butter churn, which she used, but she baked Long Winter Bread, too. Wow.
Thursday, May 5 2011
‘The Bonds of Debt’ Constitute a Common Good by Binding Us Inextricably to One Another
The so-called credit crisis has seemingly pushed the world to the brink of disaster. But the problem according to Richard Dienst isn't that we owe too much -- but that we don't owe enough.
‘The Band That Played On’, Escorting the Mighty Vessel to Its Doom
The musicians were simply good, God-fearing boys. Especially Hartley, their leader, who made it clear to friends that he felt it would be a bandsman's duty to stand by and help soothe passengers in the event of a crisis.
Wednesday, May 4 2011
‘Woody Guthrie, American Radical’ Looks at How Guthrie’s Lyrics Reflected His Politics
The author of the song children sing in school, "This Land is Your Land", was dedicated to the overthrow of American capitalism. Deal with it.
A Secular Ceremony for Death in ‘The Long Goodbye’
In her search for solace Meghan O'Rourke finds that in 21st century America, grief has become "the last taboo".
Tuesday, May 3 2011
Imagine John Cleese & James Thurber in a Dilbert-esque World: ‘The Internet is a Playground’
This is just so damn funny. As in, ‘Can’t read on the bus lest people in white coats come for the hysterically giggling maniac’ funny.
‘No Regrets’: A Skillful Biography of the Formidable Little Sparrow, Edith Piaf
Edith Piaf was, as Carolyn Burke notes toward the close of this eloquent and enlightening story, "a people's diva whose courage matched her extraordinary gifts, a soul who gave of herself until there was nothing left but her voice and the echo of her laughter."
Monday, May 2 2011
The Baudelairean Angel/Whore Bipolar ‘Nick Cave Sinner Saint’
An unholy and, more pointedly, holy hybrid of Old Testament fury and New Testament redemption, Nick Cave is the Last Crooner, a rare artist who is able to generate something absolutely singular out of multiple disparate elements.
‘The Lost Books of the Odyssey’ A Fleet-Footed and Agile Act of Creation
The lingering sense of displacement felt by Odysseus and the other characters is effectively passed on to the reader, who turns each page and feels more at sea and yet unable to bring the journey to an end.
Friday, April 29 2011
Exploring the Roots of Populism in ‘Common Sense: A Political History’
Sophia Rosenfeld's new history book takes a look at the use of "common sense", and portrays the myriad of ways it has been used by everyone from philosophical conservatives to political radicals.
‘Nerds’ Is More Entertaining than a Book about Bullying, Stereotypes & Teenage Angst Should Be
Chapter titles “The Field Guide to Nerds” and “The Seinfeld Axiom or Why Nerds Know Advanced Calculus but Can’t Get to First Base” seem designed to elicit a smile.