AltWeeklies Wire
'How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamites,' Reviewednew
When the financial tailspin of 2008 forced Alan Greenspan to confess that he was mistaken about the unshakable rationality and self-correcting nature of the economy, it was as if a Roman Catholic cardinal publicly doubted the divinity of Christ.
Shepherd Express |
David Luhrssen |
02-26-2010 |
Nonfiction
‘The Poisoner’s Handbook’: Tracking Murder Through Forensic Sciencenew
The storytelling skills of Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, show no diminishment in The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (Penguin Press).
Shepherd Express |
Roger K. Miller |
02-12-2010 |
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
Animals in Art: Surveying American Wildlifenew
Some people have dismissed wildlife art as sentimental kitsch fit only for hotel lobbies or illustrating bird-watcher's handbooks. David J. Wagner might just change that perception with American Wildlife Art, a magisterial volume lavishly illustrated with more than 300 pictures, most in color.
Shepherd Express |
David Luhrssen |
02-13-2009 |
Nonfiction
Independent Bookshops Chain to Close After 82 Yearsnew
Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, one of the largest and oldest independent chains in Wisconsin, survived the Great Depression but wasn't able to overcome titanic changes in the retail sector, exacerbated by the current economic crisis.
Shepherd Express |
Evan Rytlewski |
01-23-2009 |
Books
'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
Thomas Frank on McCain, the Wall Street Mess, and Voter Fraudnew
"These Republicans have acted for years as though markets work fine unregulated," Frank says. "But what you get is incredible rip-offs."
Shepherd Express |
Roger Bybee |
09-26-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Erik Darling: A Life in Folk Musicnew
A virtuoso banjo and guitar player, Darling also founded and performed with two other leading folk groups, the Tarriers (with Alan Arkin, then just a little-known singer) and the Rooftop Singers.
Shepherd Express |
Martin Jack Rosenblum |
09-19-2008 |
Nonfiction
Scott Ritter Talks Iran, Nukes, and the Next Presidentnew
The former UN weapons inspector talks about the Bush administration's goals in the Middle East and what it means for the next president.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
09-12-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'How to Live Single' Feels Like a 'Sex and the City' Knock Offnew
Liz Tuccillo's "fiction" lacks originality in characters and plot-but also appears to mirror her life. After a disastrous ladies' night out, Julie, who works for a publishing company, pitches the idea of writing a book on how to be single.
Shepherd Express |
Kenya C. Evans |
09-05-2008 |
Fiction
Hightower: 'There's a New Sense of Possibility Among Progressives'new
Jim Hightower talks about the presidential campaign, why Obama is the least important part of the "Obama phenomenon" and the McCain's participation in the Republican "drill team."
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
08-22-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle': Extraordinary Debut By David Wroblewskinew
Debut novels of this quality don't come along often. And while its 562 pages may seem daunting, the book is by no means wearisome, and the story's length is necessary to its telling.
Shepherd Express |
Roger K. Miller |
08-08-2008 |
Fiction
A Look at Who Lead Belly Was and Wasn'tnew
Lead Belly: A Life inPictures is not merely a picture book at all, but is rife with brilliant essays and era-specific memorabilia that portray the complexity of the man who just might be America's finest folksinger – because he sang anything and was no purist.
Shepherd Express |
Martin Jack Rosenblum |
08-01-2008 |
Nonfiction
Milwaukee Zine Fest Gets Suport From Local Bandsnew
The fest runs from Friday, July 18, to Sunday, July 20. It will feature zine vendors, workshops, readings, films, demonstrations and group discussions.
Shepherd Express |
Tea Krulos |
07-18-2008 |
Books
Cokie Roberts Looks Back on the Women Who Shaped Americanew
Without the patriotism of women on the home front, Roberts says, the colonies could well have lost the Revolutionary War.
Shepherd Express |
Rex Rutkoski |
05-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
