AltWeeklies Wire
Ta-Nehisi Coates Charts a 'Beautiful Struggle'new
To read this memoir about growing up in black in Baltimore is to catch a glimpse of the profound legacy and letdown of a generation raised to rebel but forced instead to fight disappointment, imprisonment, and despair.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
07-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Fashion: A Philosophy' Tumbles on the Runwaynew
Relying heavily on Immanuel Kant and Walter Benjamin, Svendsen (as translated by John Irons) creates a concise and comprehensive primer on fashion and clothing as it relates to identity. He then stitches on a virtual CliffsNotes of philosophy on fashion, citing Roland Barthes, Charles Baudelaire, and Michel Foucault, and then appliques some hep quotes from Bret Easton Ellis, AbFab, and the Pet Shop Boys.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
07-02-2008 |
Nonfiction
Two New Books Rummage Through the Rubble of No Wave New Yorknew
With its loose aesthetic boundaries, abbreviated timeline, and incestuous collaborations, the No Wave years are ripe for the kind of anthropological studies offered by two recent illustrated histories, Marc Masters' No Wave (Black Dog, 205 pages, $29.95) and Thurston Moore and Byron Coley's No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York 1976-1980 (Abrams Image).
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
MAX GOLDBERG |
06-04-2008 |
Nonfiction
Reading Between the Beats of 'Rollin' with Dre'new
Bruce Williams and Donnell Alexander's book is strange and sinister. What makes it strange is that it's actually about Williams, who worked as a bodyguard, valet, personal manager, and confidante for Dr. Dre.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
04-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
Richard Bruce Nugent's Outlaw Representationnew
Gentleman Jigger sprawls forward.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kandia Crazy Horse |
04-02-2008 |
Fiction
Big Books on Tiny Topicsnew
It seems that one surefire way of selling a nonfiction tome is by focusing on a very specific subject. For evidence, one need only look at recent efforts such as Pierre Laszlo's Citrus: A History, Henry Petroski's The Toothpick: Technology and Culture, and Andrew D. Blechman's Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Johnny Ray Huston |
03-12-2008 |
Books
Yousef Al-Mohaimeed's Storytelling Transcends Bansnew
Wolves of the Crescent Moon was banned in Saudi Arabia by theocratic thought-cops for casting too many spotlights on societal problems that the authorities insist don't exist. Upon being labeled dangerous and sinful, the book gained a large audience throughout the Arabic-speaking world, and has since been translated into French and English.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Todd Lavoie |
03-05-2008 |
Fiction
Roberto Bolano Travels from the Grave to the Futurenew
Nazi Literature presents brief bios and bibliographies for 30 imaginary right-wing writers from North and South America.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Stephen Beachy |
02-28-2008 |
Fiction
To Be, or To Be Autonautsnew
Julio Cortazar and Carol Dunlop parody the travel book and reinvent the road story.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Nicole Gluckstern |
02-13-2008 |
Fiction
You Can Judge This Book by its Covernew
This catalogue of what United Kingdom censors called video nasties proves visually and verbally lively. And for a book bathed in blood and drawn to depressing and despairing expressions of murder such as the infamous Maniac (1980), Nightmare USA is surprisingly and endearingly warmhearted.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Johnny Ray Huston |
01-23-2008 |
Nonfiction
Politics as Cryptographynew
Thom Hartmann cracks the code of what wins over Americans.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
J.B. Powell |
12-28-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Learning from Enriquenew
A journalist joins the immigrant trains to gain perspective on a divisive issue.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
David G. Crockett |
12-19-2007 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Enrique's Journey, Sonia Nazario
Shelf Helpnew
Books to get you through the holidays -- and ready for a new year.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Amanda Davidson |
11-28-2007 |
Books
'The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps' Packs the Big Gunsnew
No false advertising here -- The Big Book is big, roughly the size of the San Francisco yellow pages, and it offers up nothing but the purest in pulp mystery fiction.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
John Marr |
10-31-2007 |
Fiction
Poems From Buchenwald Illuminate a Living Hellnew
Presented here in more than 50 bone-shaking adaptations by poet Fanny Howe, the devastating early works by sisters Henia and Ilona Karmel, survivors of the German concentration camp Buchenwald, are so harrowing I could read only a few at a time.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Ari Messer |
10-31-2007 |
Poetry
