AltWeeklies Wire
George Saunders's Magazine-Inspired Missionnew
Five years and a few National Magazine Awards later, we have this sparkling new essay collection, The Braindead Megaphone, which sends up a powerful warning flag about what the shouters and screamers of our contemporary mediascape are doing to American culture.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
10-30-2007 |
Nonfiction
Where I'm Fromnew
Jay-Z precipitates a Baltimore rumination in this excerpt from The Message: 100 Life Lessons From Hip-Hop's Greatest Songs.
Baltimore City Paper |
Felicia Pride |
10-30-2007 |
Excerpts
The Key to 'Vibrator' Isn't Scandalnew
The explicitness of the sex and the frankness with which Rei -- the narrator -- expresses her desires and confusions are striking. But it's the skill Mari Akasaka brings to her narration that allows the pain of Rei's existence to be soothed by the journey.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Justin Bauer |
10-30-2007 |
Fiction
'The Oprah Phenomenon': Winfrey or Losersnew
The academic critics in this collection accuse Oprah of not only being a self-help snake oil peddler, but also chief salesman for an unrelentingly conservative view of the American dream.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Staff |
10-29-2007 |
Nonfiction
'Long Story Short' is Willfully Bent & Instinctually Wittynew
Like science experiments, these six high-concept short stories drop their misfit characters into cruelly ironic fantasies or harsh hyper-realities.
The Georgia Straight |
Patty Jones |
10-29-2007 |
Fiction
Turn On the Basement Lightsnew
Rock writer and Dylan freak Sid Griffin attempts to crack one of music's great mysteries.
Cleveland Scene |
Justin F. Farrar |
10-26-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'Friend of the Devil' Banks on Itnew
A fan for years of Canadian crime writer Peter Robinson's sturdy Yorkshire-based mysteries, I couldn't wait for the new Inspector Banks novel to hit the shelves -- and 17 books into the series, Friend Of The Devil is as fresh and compelling as the first.
NOW Magazine |
Lesley M Allister |
10-26-2007 |
Fiction
'The Frozen Thames': Frozen Ghostsnew
If, instead of giving us a full-fledged novel with an emotional narrative arc, Helen Humphreys wants to write a series of flash fictions short-short stories with lush language representing each of the 40 occasions that the Thames River froze over, that should be fine with any of her fans.
NOW Magazine |
Susan G. Cole |
10-26-2007 |
Fiction
Unconventional Faithnew
Nancy Mairs writes about being a practicing Catholic on the outside of the hierarchy looking in.
Tucson Weekly |
Margaret Regan |
10-25-2007 |
Nonfiction
Kelly DiNardo Chronicles the Life of a Burlesque Queennew
You've probably never heard of Lili St. Cyr, a darling of 20th-century burlesque. DiNardo intends to change that.
Washington City Paper |
Amanda Hess |
10-25-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Author Michael Pritchett Gets Lost Between Lewis Past and Presentnew
Pritchett's first novel requires readers to follow a similarly delicate navigation with two pieces of fiction in the same book.
Willamette Week |
Henry Stern |
10-24-2007 |
Fiction
It Takes a (Mexican) Villagenew
Will the new critical biography of Josefina Niggli compel Chicana and Chicano writers to embrace her as their literary madrina?
San Antonio Current |
Pablo Miguel Martinez |
10-24-2007 |
Nonfiction
'American Poetry' Brings in All the Voicesnew
While a full read is a bit much for most, I avidly suggest that everyone read at least some, because what's in this book of old poetry isn't old news. American Poetry makes an unprecedented claim about American literary history -- it tells us that we don't only descend from New England.
Port Folio Weekly |
Leigh Kohnle |
10-24-2007 |
Poetry
Michael Shellenberger on Environmentalism's Futurenew
A rogue environmentalist takes aim at the movement he says has failed.
Willamette Week |
James Pitkin |
10-24-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Like 'The Devil Wears Prada' For Lawyersnew
Chambermaid delivers post-law school ennui without the frayed nerves and student-loan debts endured by lawyers. Better yet, it makes us root for them.
Baltimore City Paper |
Raymond Cummings |
10-23-2007 |
Fiction
