AltWeeklies Wire
Sarah Vowell Pops a Ladyboner for Puritans in Her New Booknew
In The Wordy Shipmates, she makes the case that the Puritans were not a congregation of book burning, sexually uptight, overly moral goody-goodies. Working out some schoolgirl crush on folks with buckled shoes, she gushes over the Puritans as a literary bunch who relentlessly penned letters, sermons, books, even kept day-to-to diaries.
New York Press |
Brian Pennington |
10-09-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
People's Historian Howard Zinn Has Hope for America's Futurenew
At the age of 86, Zinn's commentary remains as imperative as ever in understanding up-and-coming social movements through a historical lens.
Boulder Weekly |
Erica Grossman |
10-06-2008 |
Books
Pulp Mag Reprints Find an Audience ... Againnew
A publisher quaintly called Nostalgia Ventures offers us a peek into the national fantasies of the last time America was broke, whipped, and paranoid all at once.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Ron Garmon |
09-26-2008 |
Books
'Obscene in the Extreme' Recalls the Fight to Ban 'Grapes of Wrath'new
Seventy years later, with The Grapes of Wrath canonized in American literature and still a must-read for students across the country, it is almost forgotten how strongly -- and even violently -- publication of Steinbeck's novel was opposed in the heartland of California.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Geoffrey Dunn |
09-26-2008 |
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
Ronald Wright Condemns the Short History of Yankee Progress in 'What Is America?'new
It must be tough being Ronald Wright. As a blisteringly insightful historian with eyes as much on the future as the past, it’s easy to imagine how painful it must be to live here in the early 21st century and watch as the United States leaves a trail of blood across the globe.
Monday Magazine |
John Threlfall |
09-18-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Author of 'Ten-Cent Plague' Explores Outlaw Comicsnew
The '40s and '50s were a time of political persecution for the authors of early alternative comic books -- of congressional hearings, of blacklists and of book burnings only dimly remembered by history. But it's a time worth remembering, if not for its art, then for its lessons, says David Hajdu.
Style Weekly |
Chris Dovi |
09-17-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'Blue Dixie' Explodes Political Myths About the South, Perpetuates Othersnew
Conventional wisdom holds that the South is a solid GOP bloc, lost to Democrats forever, with a single stroke of LBJ's pen. But like most unchallenged "truths," this one is nothing but a media-generated myth that has had dire consequences for the democratic process.
Charleston City Paper |
Dylan Hales |
09-04-2008 |
Nonfiction
Detroit's African-American Writers, Playwrights and Poets Get a Space of Their Ownnew
The development of the African American Literature Special Collection at Wayne State University's Purdy-Kresge Library began in April 2005, when Assistant Dean and Development Director Barton Lessin was approached by Don Vest, co-owner of Broadside Press.
Metro Times |
Norene Cashen |
09-02-2008 |
Books
The Beats Go On in 'Texas Music'new
The History of Texas Music is an anthropological study of Texas as examined through its diverse offering of folk music, offering a historical study of social, ethnic and geographical influence and how they have laid the groundwork for a thriving indie music scene.
The Texas Observer |
Michael Hoinski |
08-27-2008 |
Nonfiction
Police Vets of the 1968 DNC Get Their Say in 'Battleground Chicago'new
First published in 2004 but reissued in paperback last May, in time for this summer’s round-number anniversary, Frank Kusch's Battleground Chicago tells the story of the infamous "police riot" at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. But here's a first: it's told from the cops' point of view.
Chicago Reader |
Barry Wightman |
08-26-2008 |
Nonfiction
Norman Mailer's 1968 War Storiesnew
Mailer wrote his accounts of the 1968 national conventions on assignment for Harper's, and predicted a 40-year war with the emerging neo-cons. Alas, he was right about that.
Boston Phoenix |
Charles Taylor |
08-20-2008 |
Nonfiction
A New Book on Vermont Country Stores Reveals Why They're Here for the Long Haulnew
If you go way back to the foggy beginnings of an average Vermont town, the building blocks of the community stack up something like this: First came the church, and then the town hall, the one-room schoolhouse, the tavern, the harness shop, the blacksmith, the itinerant traders and, last but not least, the general store.
Seven Days |
Kirk Kardashian |
08-08-2008 |
Nonfiction
Repression Illustrated: People's History in a Graphic Formatnew
National Lampoon/Heavy Metal illustrator Rick Geary’s graphic bio of the notorious FBI strongman, J. Edgar Hoover, and American Splendor author Harvey Pekar’s anthology of new-left living-history reminiscences, Students for a Democratic Society are well-drawn histories.
Boston Phoenix |
Clif Garboden |
07-03-2008 |
Nonfiction
Gene Hackman and Daniel Lenihan on 'Escape from Andersonville'new
Hackman and his friend, underwater archaeologist Lenihan, have recently completed their third historical novel. The book centers around Nathan Parker, a captain in the Union army who escapes the hellish Civil War prison.
INDY Week |
Bronwen Dickey |
06-26-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
