AltWeeklies Wire
Thom Hartmann's Latests Explains How to Think Like a Republicannew
Cracking the Code explains how the left wing can exploit the techniques of the right. While that sounds like a snoozy topic, Hartmann drops in enough anecdotes and ripped-from-the-headlines (or, from politicians' speeches and campaign ads) examples to keep it lively.
The Portland Mercury |
Amy J. Ruiz |
12-04-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Barf Manifesto' is So Great You'll Wanna Pukenew
Not a rant so much as a pair of roiling bursts of text, Bellamy's book has feminist intent, but ultimately it presents an artistic credo, in the manner of Andre Breton's paeans to Surrealism.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Johnny Ray Huston |
12-04-2008 |
Nonfiction
'The Big Rich' Covers Almost a Century of Texas Oilnew
For those with an interest in contemporary Texas history this is a must-read; indeed, its reach stretches well beyond Texas. The oil rich of Texas loomed large on the national horizon, and there was a time that if they pawed the earth, politicians trembled.
The Texas Observer |
Dave Richards |
12-03-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Guilty' Examines Arab Bashing on the Big Screennew
Six years into a costly war fought on Arab soil, one might expect American media to demonize the enemy, rationalizing the necessity of killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. But perhaps because of popular revulsion at the war, Shaheen finds cause for hope.
The Texas Observer |
Steven G. Kellman |
12-03-2008 |
Nonfiction
'In Search of Bill Clinton' Revisits the Monica Affairnew
Was Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky merely the weakness of an inveterate horndog -- or something else? Psychologist John D. Gartner explains.
Baltimore City Paper |
Violet Glaze |
12-02-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Two Boston Poets Use Their Art for the Good of the Tribenew
What if a poem were a social force? Boston poets Rafael Campo and Franz Wright have laid bare a live wire between poetry and isolation.
Boston Phoenix |
James Parker |
11-26-2008 |
Books
Tim Reid is Still Making Race Relations Funnynew
Partnered with Tom Dreesen, now a veteran standup comic and humanitarian, Reid was half of what had to be America's first interracial comedy team, Tim & Tom. And now, somewhat reluctantly, he's having the last laugh with Dreesen, compiling the memories of that era into a fascinating new book, Tim & Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White.
Metro Times |
Jim McFarlin |
11-25-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Lennard Davis Argues that Obsession is Largely in the Eye of the Beholdernew
Obsession: A History is the UIC professor's study of the rise and bifurcated path of obsessive behavior as both an illness and an ideal in the modern world.
Chicago Reader |
Deanna Isaacs |
11-24-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Once-Respected Physicist Frank Tipler Goes Off the Deep End in Latest Booknew
Tipler's main thesis in The Physics of Christianity is that the tenets of Christianity, from the Virgin Birth to the coming Apocalypse, can all be explained by physics -- no faith required.
NOW Magazine |
Joseph Wilson |
11-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
Laurell K. Hamilton, the Mistress of Horrornew
Nobody writes vampire novels the way the St. Louis author does -- and yes, there's lots of sex.
Riverfront Times |
Aimee Levitt |
11-21-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'The Double Life of a Rebel' Looks at Poet Arthur Rimbaudnew
This handy, brief biography is published by Atlas & Co. in its continuing series of "Eminent Lives."
The Memphis Flyer |
Leonard Gill |
11-21-2008 |
Nonfiction
Small-Press Books: Reading for Real Peoplenew
As the unemployment rate rises and your friends find themselves out of work, why not comfort them with some small-press books this holiday season?
Tucson Weekly |
Jarret Keene |
11-20-2008 |
Books
New Bio Puts Lusty Dusty Springfield in Her Historical Placenew
Annie J. Randall blends scholarly interest with groupie fascination in Dusty! Queen of the Postmods, which goes so far as to suggest that Dusty was not only cool but also postmodern.
New York Press |
Felicia Feaster |
11-20-2008 |
Nonfiction
Remembering Jim Crumley, the Last Good Detective Writernew
When the Texas-born novelist James Crumley died at age 68 on September 17, newspaper obituaries in Los Angeles, Washington, New York, and London all mentioned one of his sentences. The sentence was not the only notable string of words this fine writer composed, but devotees of his work often point to it as a landmark in modern detective fiction.
The Texas Observer |
Dick Holland |
11-19-2008 |
Books
Leslie Carol Roberts Insists We Can All be Antarcticansnew
"I was tired of coffee-table books and BBC documentaries that showed Antarctica as this haunted, blue ice world -- that insisted Antarctica was 'not of this world,'" says Roberts, who teaches at California College of the Arts.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
11-19-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
