AltWeeklies Wire
Joyce Carol Oates is a Disciplined Scribenew
Speculation about Oates' jaw-dropping productivity swirls around her: She writes in a trance. She's a recluse. She never revises. But, in fact, her recipe is simple: She writes every single day.
San Diego CityBeat |
Barbara Davenport |
11-19-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
McSweeney's Editor Gives Us a Quiz to the White Housenew
This is a multiple-choice review. Mimicking So You Want to Be President?, a book of political humor from John Warner (editor of the literature and humor site McSweeney's Internet Tendency), your knowledge of the presidency will be tried. Even if you fail, you'll still know enough to be vice president.
Weekly Alibi |
Tom Gibbons |
11-18-2008 |
Nonfiction
'The Bible Salesman' is a Rollicking Readnew
Borrowing Scriptural tropes and themes from Southern literature and folklore, Clyde Edgerton weaves a wryly amusing Southern gothic tale about faith, the perils of gullibility and optimism and the ever-present temptation of evil.
NOW Magazine |
David Jager |
11-17-2008 |
Fiction
National Security Agency Expert James Bamford Talks Secrets and Liesnew
The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America presents an account of the drastic and ominous shift in the agency's mission and tactics over the past seven years.
Baltimore City Paper |
Lee Gardner |
11-14-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'The Dart League King' is Surprising and Compellingnew
Keith Lee Morris' second book takes place entirely at a championship darts match on a single night in Idaho, in June of 2007. Surprisingly for such a narrowly focused work, it is as compelling a novel as I've read all year.
The Portland Mercury |
Matt Davis |
11-14-2008 |
Fiction
Howard Zinn Ponders Obama's Positions on Peace and Imperialismnew
The noted historian and activist talks about the war, the end of the Bush era and the future of the American empire.
Montreal Mirror |
Matt Jones |
11-14-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'The Oxford Project' Uses Photography as a Kind of Time Machinenew
Ultimately, The Oxford Project is an homage to Americana, a photographic record of small-town America and the story of intertwined lives. It is about history, personal and collective, and that ubiquitous force: change. This book, like the facets of human features, is so intriguing, it is nearly impossible to put down.
San Antonio Current |
Lyle Rosdahl |
11-13-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Degrees of Latitude' Breaks Laurel Blossom's Pain into Piecesnew
Laurel Blossom's collection transcends self-pity by shattering the image of the author's bad childhood and even worse adulthood. Blossom mixes shards of memory with other shards: overheard conversation, punchlines, newspaper headlines, family expressions, and music.
Charleston City Paper |
John Stoehr |
11-12-2008 |
Poetry
Rose Aguilar Looks for Change on 'Red Highways'new
Red Highways: A Liberal's Journey into the Heartland is the result of Aguilar's six-month road trip through reliably red states to ask people why they identify with one party over another, or vote for certain candidates, or don't vote at all.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Amanda Witherell |
11-12-2008 |
Nonfiction
'The Scramble for Africa' Argues that Western Activists Have Darfur All Wrongnew
Steven Fake and Kevin Funk agree: When it comes to Darfur, even people who share their leftist politics mostly don't get it.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Bill O'Driscoll |
11-11-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Chunklet's Henry Owings Lays Down the Rules in 'The Rock Bible'new
Mere mortals tremble at Owing's caustic humored sensibilities toward pop and culture. So when he came up with a "rock bible" idea for issue 20 and it exploded into a 250-page Word file in two weeks with more than 300 ideas from his contributors and friends, a book was in order.
Philadelphia City Paper |
A.D. Amorosi |
11-11-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Mafiaboy Finally Writes About Being the World's Most Notorious Hackernew
In Mafiaboy: How I Cracked The Internet And Why It's Still Broken, Michael Calce and his writing buddy Craig Silverman have delivered a fun retrospective on the hacking underworld at the dawn of the new millennium.
NOW Magazine |
Howard Goldenthal |
11-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Awaiting the Heavenly Country' Examines the American Death Cultnew
With generous illustrated examples, Professor Mark S. Schantz depicts an America preoccupied with death. In this America, Shakespeare and militaristic Greek classicists like Herodotus were popular reading, and families of the 1830s and 1840s treasured photographic portraits of the freshly dead, including infants and children.
Shepherd Express |
Eric Beaumont |
11-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
Natalie McLennan Discusses Her Life as a High-Priced Hookernew
The former escort to the stars tells all about doing johns, doing drugs and doing time in her book The Price: My Rise and Fall as Natalia.
Montreal Mirror |
Chris Barry |
11-07-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'The Boys in the Trees' Speaks of Small Town Tragedynew
For readers raised on the quick paced, urban true crime rhythm of Law & Order, Swan's book may often feel like a slow, dry read. But this is a short, subtle and ultimately searing book.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
11-07-2008 |
Fiction
