AltWeeklies Wire
'Shyness' Shows How Shy Became Sicknew
A Northwestern Victorian lit prof investigates the psychiatric-industrial complex.
Chicago Reader |
Deanna Isaacs |
02-19-2008 |
Nonfiction
Tyrant of the Screennew
Foster Hirsch uses personal background only as determining antecedents in the context of Otto Preminger's role as a director, giving the reader juicy insights where it matters most -- his relationships with his actors and the fascinating skirmishes on-set.
Shepherd Express |
Steve Spice |
02-15-2008 |
Nonfiction
Liar's Professionnew
"Unauthorized" rock biographers offer the illicit, illegitimate, sniggering-behind-your-hand versions of famous lives.
Boston Phoenix |
James Parker |
02-14-2008 |
Books
Dirty Wordsnew
Lusty busboys, plushies and Dick Cheney. Our book report on five new sex anthologies: Sex for America, The Eaten Heart: Unlikely Tales of Love, Do Me: Tales of Sex and Love from Tin House, SMUT Vol. 1, and My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead.
Willamette Week |
Melissa Lion |
02-13-2008 |
Books
Tags: Sex for America, Stephen Elliott
Invasion of The Body Watchersnew
Aine Collier's The Humble Little Condom: A History and Jamye Waxman's Getting Off: A Woman's Guide to Masturbation examine the historical prohibitions of so-called sex without procreation.
Baltimore City Paper |
Heather Harris |
02-12-2008 |
Nonfiction
James Dawes on the Worst News in the Worldnew
Anyone concerned with human rights will come away from That The World May Know troubled and well informed.
The Texas Observer |
Thomas Palaima |
02-11-2008 |
Nonfiction
Memoirist David Roche Faces His Disfigurementnew
David Roche, a noted public speaker who counts Anne Lamott among his avid fans, writes with disarming frankness of his relationships, his political activism, his surgeries, his work as a massage therapist for the terminally ill, and his rides through San Francisco on public transit. During all of these, the focus is always, inescapably, on his face.
East Bay Express |
Anneli Rufus |
02-06-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Michael Pollan's Manifestonew
Post-Omnivore's Dilemma, the doomsday prophet of the U.S. diet lets us know what we can eat.
Willamette Week |
Ben Waterhouse |
02-06-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'The Delivery Man': Balls-out Scarynew
Joe McGinniss Jr.'s characters live in the epitome of a moral morass—Las Vegas—but these twentysomething desert rats are searching for a way out. Their efforts make for a fast-paced read, full of scares, gross-outs, and waste.
The Portland Mercury |
Courtney Ferguson |
02-01-2008 |
Fiction
Ira Glass' Kings Underscores Need for Good Writingnew
The book contains pieces as diverse as can be contained in one volume, from the economics of raising a cow in Michael Pollan's "Power Steer," to the group mentality of soccer hooligans in an excerpt from Bill Buford's book Among the Thugs.
Charleston City Paper |
John Edward Royall |
01-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
The Long Viewnew
Long-time Boston jazz critic Bob Blumenthal avoids the relay-race theory of music history. The artists, he says, never passed the baton -- they just kept running.
Boston Phoenix |
Jon Garelick |
01-30-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Rick Perlstein's Conservative Americanew
The progressive scribe made his reputation finding the good in conservatives. Then they really started screwing up the country.
Chicago Reader |
Harold Henderson |
01-28-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Before the Nazis, a Germany on the Brinknew
More so than previous works, Weitz's ably written and thoroughly researched book examines the politics of Weimar and explains how the republic segued into Nazi tyranny.
Shepherd Express |
Roger K. Miller |
01-25-2008 |
Nonfiction
Ninjas! Robots! Feminism!new
This week, the acclaimed comic book Y: The Last Man comes to an end.
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
01-24-2008 |
Books
Tags: Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man
How Does an Upstart Poetry Publisher Pass the Bullshit Test?new
Technological advancements like print on demand make it easier for poets to move from unrecognized bards to small-time publishing-house bosses -- but these upstarts encounter other hurdles: establishing a reputation, figuring out which poets to pluck from obscurity, and hanging on in a low-profit industry.
Washington City Paper |
Amanda Hess |
01-24-2008 |
Books
