AltWeeklies Wire
The Problem with the Prosperity Gospelnew
Karen Spears Zacharias' latest book, Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide? ('Cause I need more room for my plasma TV), is chock full of stories, beautifully written thumbnail sketches of lives lost and found. These tales are framed by a critique of the all-too-modern, all-too-American idea of the prosperity gospel.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
04-21-2010 |
Nonfiction
The Dread Zone: It's the Only Thing We Have to Fearnew

Despite years of religious instruction by well-meaning priests, nuns, and lay ministers, as well as my own family, on that dark night of the soul long ago, it occurred to me that as nice a story as that made, it was a bit far-fetched. I realized that not only was death absolutely real and directly applicable to me, but that death most probably meant, well, death. As in lights out. Game over. It meant you no longer were.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
12-21-2008 |
Books
Brainy and Brutal: 'Tell No One' is Classic Noirnew

The film, like the book before, is a thrill ride. The protagonist, knowing himself to be innocent, is nonetheless pursued by police. Running makes him look guilty, but surrendering sacrifices the opportunity to clear his name and at long last learn whether his wife is still alive: classic film noir stuff there.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
09-24-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Guillaume Canet, Tell No One
Documentary of Philippe Petit's Incredible Coup Inspires Human Spiritnew

Watching Man on Wire seven years after the fall of the Twin Towers sends chills down the spine: There is no other way to put it. The artistic coup described in this documentary is awe-inspiring and exhilarating, nothing short of a celebration of human potential and fearlessness.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
09-11-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: James Marsh, Man on Wire
That '70s Essay: Or, Where Did We Think We'd End Up After 30 Years of Denial?new

Conventional wisdom holds that if you lose something important, it's prudent to retrace your steps. And there's a bumper crop of books on the shelves right now examining exactly that: What we lost, as a nation, somewhere between the latter half of the 20th century and today.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
09-03-2008 |
Nonfiction
New Comics and Graphic Novels for Summertime Readingnew
Scorching temperatures and soaring prices at the gas pump may make staying close to home sound like a sweet option this summer. Luckily, a bumper crop of superhero stories and graphic flights of fancy are available this year to entertain you throughout 2008's hottest months.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
06-18-2008 |
Books
Rick Bragg Completes His Family Saganew
In The Prince of Frogtown, the book he wrote to put the ghost of his own father to rest, Bragg concludes the set of family tales he began with All Over But the Shoutin' and expanded on in Ava's Man.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
05-28-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Rick Bragg, The Prince of Frogtown
The Comic Book Industry's Sketchy Futurenew
Though the industry is currently chugging along with a good bit of steam under it, the margins are still precariously thin in places.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
04-23-2008 |
Books
Love in a Time of Mutant STDnew

Harvey Award-winning graphic novelist Charles Burns spent more than a decade crafting Black Hole. It is a profoundly disturbing allegory of adolescence.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
01-16-2008 |
Fiction