AltWeeklies Wire
How Michael Wolff Bagged Rupert Murdochnew
How did a controversial media reporter get total access to the most famous newspaper man in the world? He just asked.
Boston Phoenix |
Daniel McCarthy |
12-18-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'Slavery by Another Name' Examines Post-Civil War Convict Labornew
Douglas Blackmon argues -- passionately, forcefully and convincingly -- that by any measure, blacks in the states of the former Confederacy saw their freedom so warped and constrained in the decades after the Civil War that the overwhelming majority were not in any meaningful way free.
The Texas Observer |
Todd Moye |
12-17-2008 |
Nonfiction
Winter Reading: 58 Reasons to Be Anti-socialnew
What we squeeze into Winter Reading each year is not a best-of list, exactly, though we do strive to include those books we want to recommend to friends, parents, anyone with a pair of eyes. It's more of a case for reading, for sharing the wonders of a good story.
Eugene Weekly |
Staff and freelancers |
12-16-2008 |
Books
Lewis Hyde's Classic Manifesto 'The Gift' Gets a Timely Re-Releasenew
What this book conveys more than almost any other book I've read is the sense of abundance artists develop from grounding their sense of self in something other than money or "stuff." At this time, perhaps more than any other, this book will also speak to readers who don't necessarily consider themselves artists.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
12-15-2008 |
Nonfiction
This 'Almanac' is Less a Book, More a Shot Heard 'round the Sportswriting Worldnew
For all of those who absolutely love the sport of basketball, but have grown tired of the tired cliches that weigh the game down, then Macrophenomenal is your new bible -- proof that if there is any justice in this cruel world, sports writing as we know it is about to change for the better.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
12-12-2008 |
Nonfiction
J.K. Rowling Raids the Hogwarts Library with 'Beedle'new
If the phrases "Translated from the ancient runes by Hermione Granger" and "Commentary by Albus Dumbledore" don't get your Hedwig-emblazoned Underoos in a twist, we might as well cut to the chase: The Tales of Beedle the Bard probably isn't for you (and you're also probably a joyless, dour ass, but that's beside the point).
The Portland Mercury |
Erik Henriksen |
12-12-2008 |
Fiction
Gift Books for Every (Perverse) Tastenew
Who knew? We asked for holiday gift books and got Japanese bondage photos, a photo-documentary about phone-sex workers, The Best of Sexology, The Annotated Dracula, a collection of Patricia Highsmith's macabre Ripley novels, and a book about "the best restaurant in the world" that is, let's face it, food porn.
Boston Phoenix |
Staff & Contributors |
12-12-2008 |
Books
'Digging for Dirt' is a Testament to Ol' Dirty Bastard's Whole Beingnew
Pharrell Williams put it best when he said Ol' Dirty Bastard was "insanely genius, geniusly insane." But Jaime Lowe's new biography offers a more complete history of a man spiraling down a rabbit hole of drug addiction and fame.
Charleston City Paper |
Mark Glenn |
12-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
Lush Lit: Five Great Wine Books for the Holidaysnew
A wise person once said that talking about music is like dancing about architecture. The same could perhaps be said in regards to talking about wine, an exercise so absurd it's regularly mocked on novelty napkins. Writing about wine, however, is another thing entirely. Wine is an especially literary liquid; no other nutrient gets its own section in the bookstore.
C-Ville Weekly |
J. Tobias Beard |
12-10-2008 |
Books
'Big Necessity' Looks at Some of the Problems with Poopnew
If we can remember the political dimensions of this most personal act, George suggests, we may one day find our way out of the muck.
New Haven Advocate |
Jason B. Jones |
12-09-2008 |
Nonfiction
Poet Grace Cavalieri Projects Herself Into Her Latest Famous Womannew
In her latest book of poems, Anna Nicole, the poems are delivered from the imagined perspective of Anna Nicole Smith, the tabloid celebrity known for her Playboy spreads, her marriage to a millionaire 63 years her senior, and for her own TV reality show. So it's appropriate that the book's cover is a deliberately garish painting that gives the pin-up model magenta hair and green eyes.
Baltimore City Paper |
Geoffrey Himes |
12-09-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Annie Leibovitz Has Learned to See the Forest for the Treesnew
Annie Leibovitz at Work takes a different route than its shiny coffee-table counterparts, digging deep and dropping knowledge.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Natalie Hope McDonald |
12-09-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Seven False Starts About the Death of David Foster Wallacenew
By now you may have heard. The most influential and innovative fiction stylist of his generation, the smartest, funniest, strangest, most endearing and (let's just say it) the greatest writer under 50 in America, killed himself at his Claremont home on Sept. 12.
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Cornel Bonca |
12-05-2008 |
Books
Malcolm Gladwell Examines the Secret of Success in 'Outliers'new
Gladwell uses birthdays, tight-knit communities and circumstance to show why some make it and others don't.
Montreal Mirror |
Juliet Waters |
12-05-2008 |
Nonfiction
Harmon Leon's Latest Book is an Error-Filled Report from America's Underbellynew
Thanks in no small part to the book's countless textual errors, Leon comes across more as a witless lunkhead than a loveable rapscallion. His complete disinterest in cultural analysis has the quality of a bad show on Comedy Central, and American Dream is ultimately about as entertaining and fulfilling as a couple hours of TV.
The Portland Mercury |
Justin W. Sanders |
12-04-2008 |
Nonfiction
Tags: Harmon Leon, The American Dream
