AltWeeklies Wire
Controversy Becomes Conventional in 'Save the Males'new
Such books undoubtedly have a preconditioned choir to preach to, but offer little new to long time observers of the culture wars.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
08-27-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Stop Me If You've Heard This' Is as Valuable as You'd Thinknew
I once took a class in which the professor believed the point in studying Shakespeare's comedies was not amusement so much as profitable scholarship. The Bard's comedies, in his view, were his most serious work. To see this, though, students had to assume that funny and serious weren't at odds.
I hoped similar reasoning informed Jim Holt’s new book, Stop Me If You've Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes.
I was wrong.
Charleston City Paper |
John Stoehr |
08-13-2008 |
Nonfiction
David Sedaris Continues with Un-Fiction in 'Flames'new
Sedaris, in addition to the previous charge of not being a journalist, is now also found guilty of being entertaining.
Charleston City Paper |
Jon Santiago |
07-23-2008 |
Nonfiction
David Hajdu Examines the Beginnings of Comic Booksnew
In The Ten Cent Plague, Hajdu does a fair job of balancing the story of the infamous Kefauver hearings, Seduction of the Innocent, and the subsequent "Approved by the Comics Code Authority" self-policing of the comic book industry.
Charleston City Paper |
Jsaon A. Zwiker |
04-09-2008 |
Nonfiction
'My First Movie: Take Two' Disappointsnew
In theory, this book should be a wet dream for would-be filmmakers.
Charleston City Paper |
Nick Smith |
04-09-2008 |
Nonfiction
Ira Glass' Kings Underscores Need for Good Writingnew
The book contains pieces as diverse as can be contained in one volume, from the economics of raising a cow in Michael Pollan's "Power Steer," to the group mentality of soccer hooligans in an excerpt from Bill Buford's book Among the Thugs.
Charleston City Paper |
John Edward Royall |
01-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
Making Noise: The Composer's Cultural Predicament in the 20th Centurynew
New Yorker critic Alex Ross' book is a corrective for classical music history.
Charleston City Paper |
John Stoehr |
01-02-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Force of Nature' Captures the Difficuluty of Installation Artnew
The 144-page hardcover book about the groundbreaking exhibit of the same name, Force of Nature chronicles the exuberance of the 10 Japanese artists who visited the Carolinas last year to make site installations.
Charleston City Paper |
Nick Smith |
10-10-2007 |
Nonfiction
Examining Charleston Jazz: Jack McCray's new book traces the rootsnew
S.C. writer Jack McCray digs deep into his hometown's musical background in his new 127-page collection. Essays and images explain and reassemble many of the stories and accounts from the last 100 years.
Charleston City Paper |
T. Ballard Lesemann |
07-03-2007 |
Nonfiction
