AltWeeklies Wire
Oprah's Book Club is Dumbing Down Readers and Rewarding Mediocrity
Readers who rely on popular hype to choose books often come away disappointed. A few may decide to deep deeper, but most won't. Burned readers become non-readers.
'Don't Stop' Looks at Karaoke's Democratization of Musicnew
Despite his book's limitations, it's hard to disagree with Brian Raftery's basic proposition: Skill is overrated, and the music stars or publishing houses who own the big hits tend to be overpaid.
Seattle Weekly |
Brian Miller |
01-12-2009 |
Nonfiction
What's So Funny About Cancer?new
Breast cancer memoirists all seem to agree that laughter is pretty good medicine.
Chicago Reader |
S.L. Wisenberg |
01-12-2009 |
Books
'Drum of War' Looks at Walt Whitman's Nonreligious Ministry During the Civil Warnew
Whitman recognized something that few writers of that era or after did: the Civil War's true meaning lay in the "valor of suffering -- not of men firing rifles," and certainly not in the fascination with battles and troop movements that has dominated Civil War studies.
Metro Silicon Valley |
Michael S. Gant |
01-09-2009 |
Nonfiction
Surviving Sudan: 'Out of Exile' Chronicles Displaced People's Tragic Talesnew
Exile is the fourth book in Dave Eggers' Voice of Witness series, and it shows that McSweeney's admirable project has improved along the way.
Las Vegas Weekly |
John Freeman |
01-08-2009 |
Nonfiction
What's God Got To Do with It?: Ron Aronson and the Politics of Religionnew
The author of books on Marxism and the French existentialists now turns to the idea of an America that's been cowed by the religious right, but that is not, in fact, so religious as most of us have been led to believe.
Metro Times |
W. Kim Heron and Curt Guyette |
01-07-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'Pathway to the Gods' Brings to Life the World's First Chocolate Obsessionnew
For centuries, it has captivated humans and gods. It's been associated with worship, commerce, romance and comfort. But why has it so completely seduced the world? Just what's so special about chocolate? Meredith L. Dreiss and Sharon Edgar Greenhill travel back in time to Mesoamerica to answer these questions. With recipe for Mayan Hot Chocolate.
Weekly Alibi |
Maren Tarro |
01-06-2009 |
Nonfiction
'Courtroom Cowboy' is a Rich, Rewarding Readnew
Along with the court cases, Cipriano introduces us to Jim Beasely the man, a remarkable, evangelical trial lawyer who flew fighter jets, hunted big game and was so committed to work, he was unable to vacation, despite a love of fishing and owning a huge boat.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Liz Spikol |
01-05-2009 |
Nonfiction
'The Elfish Gene' is One Man's Reflection on Life in Fantasylandnew
Whether or not The Elfish Gene lives up to the cleverness of its title (meh), its self-inflicted cheap shots threaten its charm. Barrowcliffe chooses laughs over homage every time. What would his 12-year-old self think?
New Haven Advocate |
Craig Fehrman |
12-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
Two Photography Books Remember Punk's Growth Spurtsnew
Punk may roll a little in its grave now that it's been mythologized, but if it's going to get the coffee table treatment at least Skins & Punks and Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music offer it respect.
Baltimore City Paper |
Tony Ware |
12-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
Eugene Jarecki Has the 'Big Picture' and a New Book on Warnew
Jareki's print debut supplements his 2006 film, Why We Fight, while the cafe he co-founded in Vermont expresses his "desire to support social betterment."
Seven Days |
Mike Ives |
12-29-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
The Dread Zone: It's the Only Thing We Have to Fearnew
Despite years of religious instruction by well-meaning priests, nuns, and lay ministers, as well as my own family, on that dark night of the soul long ago, it occurred to me that as nice a story as that made, it was a bit far-fetched. I realized that not only was death absolutely real and directly applicable to me, but that death most probably meant, well, death. As in lights out. Game over. It meant you no longer were.
Charleston City Paper |
Jason A. Zwiker |
12-21-2008 |
Books
'Death with Interruptions' Looks at the Cost of Immortalitynew
Descriptions of Jose Saramago's literary voice might sound dull and heavy-handed, and his pages might look more like a chore than a pleasure. Yet when you sit to read Death with Interruptions, you feel you are cutting through all the unnecessary formalities, and getting to the real meat of the story.
Charleston City Paper |
Michael Lucero |
12-21-2008 |
Fiction
The Year in Reading About Foodnew
When I look over at the nightstand, taking quick inventory of what I've been reading over the last few months, the pile is depressingly salted with books on the death and dying of the ocean.
L.A. Weekly |
Jonathan Gold |
12-19-2008 |
Books
Dame Darcy Plays with Her Dolls in 'Gasoline'new
Gasoline is essentially an illustrated novel: Drawings accompany the text, but they're not integral to the story, pushing Dame Darcy's prose into the spotlight in a way that Meatcake does not -- and unfortunately, the writing simply isn't sophisticated enough to take center stage.
The Portland Mercury |
Allison Hallett |
12-19-2008 |
Fiction
