AltWeeklies Wire
Ole Joe Kennedy's Dirty Hollywoodnew
In Beauchamp's semi-biographic novel of his life, Joe Kennedy is portrayed as having an almost superhuman ability to charm the pants off the ladies and strip the assets from the fellas, greedily seeking and sucking up more money and power under the pretense of "helping" others.
Metro Times |
Christa Buchanan |
08-04-2009 |
Nonfiction
'The East, the West, and Sex': Orientalism Unleashednew
The East, the West, and Sex, which is organized both by time period and by country, examines the idea of masculine Western colonization creating an idealistic portrayal of Asian culture, particularly those aspects dealing with heterosexual eroticism.
Sacramento News & Review |
Kathleen Jercich |
07-30-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Breadline USA' Examines the Reality of Hunger in Americanew
America's No. 1 health problem, the media relentlessly tell us, is obesity. Americans eat too much and we're the fattest people in the world. Except that, according to Sasha Abramsky, many Americans go hungry on a regular basis. And even many of those who aren’t hungry today suffer from what experts have taken to calling "food insecurity."
Sacramento News & Review |
Kel Munger |
07-23-2009 |
Nonfiction
New Book Looks at How Billy Graham Shook Up the Solid Southnew
Billy Graham played a key role in shaping the American political landscape of the second half of the 20th century, as confidante to presidents and adviser on domestic issues (particularly civil rights) and foreign policy (Communism and the Cold War).
INDY Week |
John Sinclair |
07-17-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Catching Fire' Can Be Boldly Essentialist ... Perhaps Too Boldly Essentialistnew
Since the 1950s, scientists have hypothesized that the key factor bringing our ancestors down from the trees was the decision to eat meat. In this persuasively argued book, Richard Wrangham disagrees. Instead, he writes, it was the decision to cook with fire that literally made us human.
The Texas Observer |
James E. McWilliams |
07-15-2009 |
Nonfiction
The 'Outlier' Elephant in the Room is Gender Imbalancenew
Malcolm Gladwell either ignores, dismisses or is utterly blind to the massive gender elephant in the room -- a shocking disregard for the success and failure rates of half the human race.
Pasadena Weekly |
Ellen Snortland |
07-13-2009 |
Nonfiction
Parting the Curtain: 'Devil's Sanctuary' Tells the Story of Mississippi's Racismnew
Magnolia State residents "have a long history of being against whatever the rest of the nation is for," the authors write in Devil’s Sanctuary: an Eyewitness History of Mississippi Hate Crimes. Their self-evident truths did not include equality—not for the slaves imported into the state and not for the Native Americans exported out.
Jackson Free Press |
Ronni Mott |
07-09-2009 |
Nonfiction
The More Tom Waits Creates 'Tom Waits,' the Less Anyone Knows About Himnew
Outside of his showman's persona, Waits is intensely private, banking perhaps on the presumption that his fans possess a happy lack of curiosity about what fuels his greatness. Barney Hoskyns confirmed this trait the hard way while working on Lowside of the Road.
Baltimore City Paper |
Van Smith |
07-07-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Appetite for Self-Destruction' Looks at the Collapse of the Record Industrynew
If you take one jewel of wisdom away from this book, it is this: The reason many crappy musicians have gotten the limelight, the reason most people turned off their radios and stopped watching the Grammys and instead started downloading music from the internet, is money.
Jackson Free Press |
Andi Agnew |
06-26-2009 |
Nonfiction
Elijah Wald Explains How the Uncool Music of Yesteryear Shapes Today's Tunesnew
No one makes music in a vacuum, completely detached from the pop mainstream and his or her potential audience. Wald argues that nobody should be trying to, since how many people music appeals to in its own time is at least as important as how many rock writers it appeals to in 30 years.
Chicago Reader |
Miles Raymer |
06-15-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Columbine' Seeks to Explain the Inexplicablenew
Columbine is a marvel of structure, empathy, and insight, flickering between the run-up to that horrible day in Littleton and its complex, agonizing aftermath.
The Georgia Straight |
Brian Lynch |
06-08-2009 |
Nonfiction
New Barthelme Biography Casts Light on a 'Hiding Man'new
Tracy Daugherty has dug deeply into the work and life of Donald Barthelme, and returned from his excavations with bright nuggets of insight into just how precisely Barthelme's life does illuminate his art.
The Texas Observer |
David Theis |
06-03-2009 |
Nonfiction
For Scholar, Measuring Worth Must Weigh the Value of Caring Worknew
In The Real Wealth of Nations, Riane Eisler picks up where Adam Smith left off. Smith left out the market's REAL operators: the women who produce most of the caring services of our societies.
Pasadena Weekly |
Ellen Snortland |
05-18-2009 |
Nonfiction
Milwaukee Marched for Justicenew
Anyone living in Milwaukee in the '60s and old enough to be aware will recall a time of sharp tension. This story is recounted with lucid scholarship in The Selma of the North: Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee.
Shepherd Express |
David Luhrssen |
05-15-2009 |
Nonfiction
For John Gibler, the Conquest of Mexico Never Ended and Neither Did the Revoltsnew
Part journalistic travelogue, part political manifesto, Mexico Unconquered recounts some of the more bewildering revolts and upheavals that have roiled Southern Mexico from the turn of the 20th century through contemporary times.
The Texas Observer |
Liliana Valenzuela |
05-13-2009 |
Nonfiction
