AltWeeklies Wire
Generation X Confronts The Economy In 'Slackonomics'new
Slackonomics looks at the generation that bridged the analog-to-digital gap through its TV, music, movies, books, relationships, marital and parenting choices, where they choose to live, and their economic prospects.
Cleveland Free Times |
Michael Gill |
07-09-2008 |
Nonfiction
Scott Douglas' Memoir is a Love Story to Public Librariansnew
His librarian vignettes are entertaining, scenes of crazy patrons and even crazier co-workers. But while everyone can relate to stories about neighborhood characters and Office Space-esque bureaucracy, Douglas' humor can take them only so far.
Baltimore City Paper |
Tina Plottel |
07-08-2008 |
Nonfiction
Andrew Blechman Checks in on What's Really Going Down in Retirement Communitiesnew
Blechman goes where few under the age of 50 have dared go when he probes at the smelly underbellies of America's age-restricted retirement communities.
Baltimore City Paper |
Adrienne Martini |
07-08-2008 |
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
Is There a Middle Way in the Globalization Debate?new
As Sick Planet: Corporate Food and Medicine, by Stan Cox, and Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out Of Africa, by Robert Paarlberg collectively demonstrate, the globalization debate seems to demand either a stifling of common sense, or a radical reassessment of assumptions.
The Texas Observer |
James E. McWilliams |
07-02-2008 |
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
Sheriff Joe Buffaloes Readers with Bogus Yarns in 'Joe's Law'new
An intensely boring read for all but those who are slavishly attached to the man, Joe's Law repeats many of the myths Arpaio has manufactured about himself over the years. With the assistance of friend and writer Len Sherman, the book regurgitates such cock-and-bull stories as Arpaio's supposed run-in with Elvis, Joe's implausible role in ending the infamous French Connection, and bogus threats on Joe's life.
Phoenix New Times |
Stephen Lemons |
07-01-2008 |
Nonfiction
Porn Star Bobby Blake on Racism and Religionnew
Blake's a puzzle, writing frankly about unsavory aspects in his life, but he's also quite serious, talking about racism in the industry, gay marriage, life on the down-low and the scourge of HIV/AIDS in the black community.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Liz Spikol |
06-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Hiding in Hip Hop' Offers a Glimpse of the Troubles of a Young Black Bisexualnew
Dean laments that the world is not yet ready to face the truth about black gay/lesbian celebrities’ sexuality.
NOW Magazine |
Addi Stewart |
06-30-2008 |
Nonfiction
'The James Brown Reader' Shares a Warts-and-all View of the Godfather of Soulnew
Co-editors Nelson George and Alan Leeds both contribute fine overtures to the volume, but it's hard not to wish they'd included a note about their compiling methodology, though it doesn't take long to figure out the pair elected to leave in original typos, misspellings, falsities, and myths.
Baltimore City Paper |
Michaelangelo Matos |
06-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Potential' Serves Teen Angst, Straight Upnew
Ariel Schrag didn't survive the Holocaust or flee the Ayatollah, but her comics find meaning all the same.
Chicago Reader |
Noah Berlatsky |
06-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
Lauri Lebo Tackles Intelligent Design, Evolution, and the Medianew
After reading this book and thinking of the millions of dollars and thousands of hours squandered, the hatred, the vitriol, and the disbelief that we're still fighting this age-old battle, I just feel tired and sad. This isn't the end of the story. We'll see it again, fight the battle once more, spend the money, fire up the troops, spar with the same theory in a different cloak, attract the international media, meet at a different courthouse, pass judgment on a different school district.
The Texas Observer |
Ruth Pennebaker |
06-18-2008 |
Nonfiction
Sonic Youth Bio Could Use a Little Spicenew
Author David Browne quickly torpedoes our hopes for sordid tales of Sonic Youth's backstage bacchanals and unbridled substance abuse, writing early on, "Do not expect any sex, drugs and rock and roll."
NOW Magazine |
Jason Keller |
06-16-2008 |
Nonfiction
Carly Simon in the Same Breath as Carole King and Joni Mitchell?new
Vogue and Vanity Fair journalist Sheila Weller's thorough and well-written triple biography is less an attempt to put these singer/songwriters on the same artistic plane than it is to connect them to key moments in contemporary women’s history.
NOW Magazine |
Susan G. Cole |
06-16-2008 |
Nonfiction
Postcard to the Futurenew
Litvin reviews "African Americans in Jackson," a 125-page pictorial history of Jackson's African American community as part of the "Images of America" series.
Jackson Free Press |
Sarah Litvin |
06-16-2008 |
Nonfiction
