AltWeeklies Wire
'Digging for Dirt' is a Testament to Ol' Dirty Bastard's Whole Beingnew
Pharrell Williams put it best when he said Ol' Dirty Bastard was "insanely genius, geniusly insane." But Jaime Lowe's new biography offers a more complete history of a man spiraling down a rabbit hole of drug addiction and fame.
Charleston City Paper |
Mark Glenn |
12-10-2008 |
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
'The Wasted Vigil' Offers a Hopeful Tragedynew
Wasted Vigil is not a book about Afghanistan, but of love. Author Nadeem Aslam creates a romantic and hopeful tragedy, where the odds more often than not overcome his characters. And yet, no amount of tragedy and suffering can eradicate the hope that continues to persist.
Charleston City Paper |
Augustine Kim |
11-05-2008 |
Fiction
'Scratch Beginnings' is Kind, Compassionate, and Naivenew
Instead of challenging his beliefs, Shepard's descent into poverty only adds to the already vexing verisimilitudes of poverty. Instead of offering insight into what he experienced and what that means to others like him, Shepard offers a book dazed by reality and confused by how to respond to it.
Charleston City Paper |
John Stoehr |
11-05-2008 |
Nonfiction
America's Best Sportswriter Goes Deepnew
Forget the title. Labels are deceiving. Smith is not a sportswriter. He's a storyteller, a translator of human emotions.
Charleston City Paper |
John Strubel |
10-09-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Bill Kauffman Debunks the Myth of America's 'Town Drunk'new
The common thread running through Bill Kauffman's work is his admiration for the local in the face of the monolithic American empire.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
10-09-2008 |
Nonfiction
Nick Harkaway's Debut Novel Shows a World Real Gonenew
There are plenty of scary places in the world. But the human imagination will always conjure up something worse. Nick Harkaway's debut novel, Gone Away World, is that kind of scary place -- where the id's gone mad and nightmares eat you.
Charleston City Paper |
Augustine Kim |
10-09-2008 |
Fiction
Tags: Nick Harkaway, The Gone Away World
Guy Delisle's New Graphic Memoir Recalls Heat and Oppression in Rangoonnew
The Burma Chronicles, Guy Delisle's latest work of graphic memoir/reportage, doesn't necessarily paint a rosier picture of Burma, but it does offer punctuated moments of hope and a neat delineation of life in the third-world country.
Charleston City Paper |
Eric Liebetrau |
09-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
Gary Bass Makes a Convincing Case for Forceful Humanitarianismnew
Unlike most books interested in promoting human rights by force of arms, Bass focuses on the actions of Western nations and not the philosophies of phony intellectuals from beltway think tanks.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
09-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
Poet Elizabeth Spires Answers Big Questions with Small Answersnew
When I found out my 401(k) lost more than a quarter of its value -- about four month's worth of salary dissipating into the ether -- I wasn't in the mood to review Elizabeth Spires' new book of poems, The Wave-Maker.
Charleston City Paper |
John Stoehr |
09-24-2008 |
Poetry
A Tale Told by an Idiot: Corsi's 'Obama Nation' Signifies Nothingnew
I didn't support Kerry in 2004 and I don't support Obama in 2008, but the shameless throw-shit-against-the-wall-and-hope-it-sticks methodology of the so-called Dr. Corsi tempts me to donate my next paycheck to the DNC.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
09-17-2008 |
Nonfiction
Julia Glass Spices Up the Sister Novelnew
Being a sister myself, I can always relate to stories about this special bond, but I had to roll my eyes a little when I read the synopsis. Good thing I also glanced at the list of Glass' literary achievements, which convinced me to at least read the first chapter. That's all it took to pull me into the vivid world of Louisa and Clem Jardine.
Charleston City Paper |
Erica Jackson |
09-17-2008 |
Fiction
Tags: I See You Everywhere, Julia Glass
David Lovelace Didn't Pick His Disease but He Writes About it Wellnew
Diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his late teens, Lovelace initially resisted prescription drugs, wary as he was of the vicious side-effects that plagued his father. In lieu of legally sanctioned treatment, the author embarked on a roller-coaster of self-medication, ingesting large quantities of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and various hallucinogens.
Charleston City Paper |
Eric Liebetrau |
09-17-2008 |
Nonfiction
Hard Contraries Meet in 'God Particles'new
Thomas Lux's God Particles is replete with iron words -- language hardened by hammer and tong, images smoldering with bitterness and irony, a worldview grown misanthropic by the disappointments of human folly.
Charleston City Paper |
John Stoehr |
09-17-2008 |
Poetry
Thomas Frank's Populist Polemic Doesn't Really Understandnew
If attacking the crimes of contemporary conservatism were an Olympic sport, Thomas Frank would be Michael Phelps.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
09-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
