Chains of Gold, Nancy Springer, Tor Books, 1986
Lady Cerilla is to wed Arlen, the Summerking. On their wedding night, after their marriage is consummated, Arlen is to be ritually sacrificed, a process which involves being tied to a tree, and being castrated, flayed alive, and having his eyeballs removed. This is done by the Gwyneda, a group of blessed, cloistered women whom Cerilla is obligated to join once her and Arlen's son is born. Having fallen for each other at first sight, neither of them care much for this arrangement.
Lonn, Arlen's childhood friend, volunteers to die in his place so that he and Cerilla can run far away and attempt to start a life of their own. Having lived sheltered lives, the two get lots of help in living on their own from Lonn's spirit, who tags along. Months later, after a healthy son enters the world, Lonn takes over the baby's body, and tells Cerilla, in no uncertain terms, that when he is old enough, Cerilla will be his bride.
One expects certain things in a fantasy story: romance/sex, a little blood, well-done characters, supernatural beings, a level of writing that puts the writer right in the middle of the story, etc. This book more than delivers. Springer shows here that she really knows her way around a fantasy novel.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
RePlacing Citizenship: AIDS Activism and Radical Democracy
RePlacing Citizenship: AIDS Activism and Radical Democracy, Michael P. Brown, Guilford Press, 1997
While not a perfect place to live for gays and lesbians, Vancouver was known as a pretty tolerant sort of place, attracting people from all over Canada. This book looks at the city's reaction to the AIDS epidemic in the early 90s, from the point of view of exploring new forms of citizenship, somewhere between the state and the individual.
At that time, British Columbia was run by a very right-wing government, so the public attitude was one of Gays Are Evil. Privately, money found its way from the provincial government to the AIDS organizations in the city. The book also explores how the agencies handled the various aspects of AIDS, from lobbying to financial help to people with AIDS, leaving ACT UP kind of out in the cold, a group in search of their niche.
With many quotes from the people involved, Brown looks at the concept of buddying to people with AIDS, from the point of view of radical democracy and new types of citizenship.
This book isn't for everyone, but it's on a subject that matters to everyone. It's kind of on the scholarly side, but this book is very interesting.
While not a perfect place to live for gays and lesbians, Vancouver was known as a pretty tolerant sort of place, attracting people from all over Canada. This book looks at the city's reaction to the AIDS epidemic in the early 90s, from the point of view of exploring new forms of citizenship, somewhere between the state and the individual.
At that time, British Columbia was run by a very right-wing government, so the public attitude was one of Gays Are Evil. Privately, money found its way from the provincial government to the AIDS organizations in the city. The book also explores how the agencies handled the various aspects of AIDS, from lobbying to financial help to people with AIDS, leaving ACT UP kind of out in the cold, a group in search of their niche.
With many quotes from the people involved, Brown looks at the concept of buddying to people with AIDS, from the point of view of radical democracy and new types of citizenship.
This book isn't for everyone, but it's on a subject that matters to everyone. It's kind of on the scholarly side, but this book is very interesting.
The Hero and the Crown
The Hero and The Crown, Robin McKinley, Ace Books, 1984
This is the fantasy story of Aerin, daughter of a king, whose mother, who died in childbirth, was said to be a witch from the feared North.
Aerin grows up, fulfilling everyone's lack of expectations of her. One day, while nursing back to health the king's injured war horse, she finds an ancient book of dragon lore. After much trial and error, she recreates an old recipe for an ointment that repels dragonfire, and after teaching herself fighting on horseback, she takes care of some small dragons harassing a nearby village (without telling her father).
She gets quite a reputation as a dragon killer, also killing the Dragon of Dragons, an adventure that nearly kills her.
Recovering at the castle, one night Aerin rides off to find this man who speaks to her in her dreams. She becomes not exactly mortal, and brings back the Great Crown, lost for generations, just in time to prevent the destruction of the castle by the Northerners.
This is an engrossing, well-done story. It's a great book to introduce young people to fantasy, and even for veteran readers, it's recommended.
This is the fantasy story of Aerin, daughter of a king, whose mother, who died in childbirth, was said to be a witch from the feared North.
Aerin grows up, fulfilling everyone's lack of expectations of her. One day, while nursing back to health the king's injured war horse, she finds an ancient book of dragon lore. After much trial and error, she recreates an old recipe for an ointment that repels dragonfire, and after teaching herself fighting on horseback, she takes care of some small dragons harassing a nearby village (without telling her father).
She gets quite a reputation as a dragon killer, also killing the Dragon of Dragons, an adventure that nearly kills her.
Recovering at the castle, one night Aerin rides off to find this man who speaks to her in her dreams. She becomes not exactly mortal, and brings back the Great Crown, lost for generations, just in time to prevent the destruction of the castle by the Northerners.
This is an engrossing, well-done story. It's a great book to introduce young people to fantasy, and even for veteran readers, it's recommended.
The Future Ain't What It Used to Be
The Future Ain't What it Used to Be, Iconoculture, Riverhead Books, 1997
Iconoculture is a three-person trend watching firm from Minneapolis that spends its time ingesting everything that makes up popular culture. This is their look at the major trends that will shape the future of America.
Among the trends explored in this book are the following: magazines for young girls that cover more than just fashion and makeup; the rise of the voluntary simplicity movement; where the 80s was a time of accumulating possessions, the 90s and beyond is the time of accumulating experiences (from eco-tourism to extreme sports); the spread of AIDS leading to other, less physical, forms of expression; the graying of America will lead to a huge rise in the need for doctors specializing in geriatrics; many people are returning to a religion/philosophy that goes under the general name of Gaia (neoagrarianism, Native American spirituality, etc); the themeparking of America; a huge rise in the popularity of alternative (and lifetime) education, and alternative medicine.
This book is written in clear and easy to understand language. It isn't just a good book for big and small businesses looking to position themselves for the future. It's also a very good book for everyday people who simply want an idea of what the future holds.
Iconoculture is a three-person trend watching firm from Minneapolis that spends its time ingesting everything that makes up popular culture. This is their look at the major trends that will shape the future of America.
Among the trends explored in this book are the following: magazines for young girls that cover more than just fashion and makeup; the rise of the voluntary simplicity movement; where the 80s was a time of accumulating possessions, the 90s and beyond is the time of accumulating experiences (from eco-tourism to extreme sports); the spread of AIDS leading to other, less physical, forms of expression; the graying of America will lead to a huge rise in the need for doctors specializing in geriatrics; many people are returning to a religion/philosophy that goes under the general name of Gaia (neoagrarianism, Native American spirituality, etc); the themeparking of America; a huge rise in the popularity of alternative (and lifetime) education, and alternative medicine.
This book is written in clear and easy to understand language. It isn't just a good book for big and small businesses looking to position themselves for the future. It's also a very good book for everyday people who simply want an idea of what the future holds.
Disappearing Moon Cafe
Disappearing Moon Cafe, SKY Lee, Seal Press, 1990
Set in Vancouver, this is a multi-generational tale of the Wong family. Part of it revolves around Lee Mui Lan, the no-nonsense family matriarch, who runs the Disappearing Moon Cafe, the biggest Chinese restaurant in 1920's Vancouver. Her son, Choy Fuk, has been married for the last 5 years to Fong Mei, a young woman newly emigrated from China who works at the restaurant. She has been unable to bear him a son, a constant source of conflict between the women and between Fong Mei and her husband. Mui Lan sends him to one of the waitresses at the restaurant, a woman who lives alone in a tarpaper shack, and who bears him a son, whom she raises. Shoy Fuk and Fong Mei do have several children of their own, including a daughter. Years later, when Fong Mei has become the family matriarch, the daughter and the son of the waitress plan to marry, until they learn the truth.
This isn't a very quick read, but it is very much worth it. Here is a pasionate and moving story about being somewhere in the middle between two cultures, and is a worthy addition to the fiction world.
Set in Vancouver, this is a multi-generational tale of the Wong family. Part of it revolves around Lee Mui Lan, the no-nonsense family matriarch, who runs the Disappearing Moon Cafe, the biggest Chinese restaurant in 1920's Vancouver. Her son, Choy Fuk, has been married for the last 5 years to Fong Mei, a young woman newly emigrated from China who works at the restaurant. She has been unable to bear him a son, a constant source of conflict between the women and between Fong Mei and her husband. Mui Lan sends him to one of the waitresses at the restaurant, a woman who lives alone in a tarpaper shack, and who bears him a son, whom she raises. Shoy Fuk and Fong Mei do have several children of their own, including a daughter. Years later, when Fong Mei has become the family matriarch, the daughter and the son of the waitress plan to marry, until they learn the truth.
This isn't a very quick read, but it is very much worth it. Here is a pasionate and moving story about being somewhere in the middle between two cultures, and is a worthy addition to the fiction world.
The Elephant
The Elephant, Slawomir Mrozek, Grove Press, 1984
This is an anthology of very short stories satirizing 1960's Polish communism.
A few examples: A lion refuses to take part in eating some Christians because it knows that one day, the Christians will be in power, and they will remember who was, and was not, nice to them. Another story is about a boy who asks his uncle what a giraffe looks like. The uncle, whose only reading material is on subjects like the subjective idealism of the world, looks in various Marxist books. Finding that they say nothing about giraffes, he tells his nephew that giraffes don't exist. An old man is assigned as night watchman over a swan in a lake. To help pass the long, cold nights, he takes the swan with him to a nearby pub where they both get drunk. The title story is about a suburban zoo that is allocated an elephant by the central government. In an attempt to save the government some money, the town officials decide to blow up a giant balloon in the shape of an elephant and tell the patrons that the elephant is very sluggish and hardly ever moves. This works for a while, until a gust of wind blows the elephant away.
These stories have been, accurately, compared to Franz Kafka with humor. They are very different, and very good.
This is an anthology of very short stories satirizing 1960's Polish communism.
A few examples: A lion refuses to take part in eating some Christians because it knows that one day, the Christians will be in power, and they will remember who was, and was not, nice to them. Another story is about a boy who asks his uncle what a giraffe looks like. The uncle, whose only reading material is on subjects like the subjective idealism of the world, looks in various Marxist books. Finding that they say nothing about giraffes, he tells his nephew that giraffes don't exist. An old man is assigned as night watchman over a swan in a lake. To help pass the long, cold nights, he takes the swan with him to a nearby pub where they both get drunk. The title story is about a suburban zoo that is allocated an elephant by the central government. In an attempt to save the government some money, the town officials decide to blow up a giant balloon in the shape of an elephant and tell the patrons that the elephant is very sluggish and hardly ever moves. This works for a while, until a gust of wind blows the elephant away.
These stories have been, accurately, compared to Franz Kafka with humor. They are very different, and very good.
Sensible Justice
Sensible Justice, David C. Anderson, The New Press, 1998
Alternatives to prison, for small-time and first-time criminals, are explored in this book. Amidst an exploding prison population, some cities and states, including so-called law and order states, are trying other programs in place of jail. Among the "alternative sanctions" considered are: restitution programs, military-style boot camps, electronic monitoring, drug treatment, coomunity service, sex offender treatment, and day reporting.
Anderson points out that no program has a perfect success rate, and the money saved or crimes prevented may be small because only those who are thought to have the best chance of success are let into the programs. On the other hand, many judges, at sentencing time, appreciate an alternative to prison. An important determinant of a program's success is careful planning in advance, and the right people in charge, something that doesn't happen all the time.
This is an important and concise book that should be read by everyone, no just those in the criminal justice system and the state legislature when faced with calls for more prisons.
Alternatives to prison, for small-time and first-time criminals, are explored in this book. Amidst an exploding prison population, some cities and states, including so-called law and order states, are trying other programs in place of jail. Among the "alternative sanctions" considered are: restitution programs, military-style boot camps, electronic monitoring, drug treatment, coomunity service, sex offender treatment, and day reporting.
Anderson points out that no program has a perfect success rate, and the money saved or crimes prevented may be small because only those who are thought to have the best chance of success are let into the programs. On the other hand, many judges, at sentencing time, appreciate an alternative to prison. An important determinant of a program's success is careful planning in advance, and the right people in charge, something that doesn't happen all the time.
This is an important and concise book that should be read by everyone, no just those in the criminal justice system and the state legislature when faced with calls for more prisons.
The Earth War
The Earth War, Mack Reynolds, Pyramid Books, 1963
In the middle of the next century, America has become a very caste- and occupation-conscious society. To keep the Cold War, now institutionalized as the Frigid Fracas, from destroying all of humanity, all weapons developed after 1900 are banned. Fracases, all of which are now televised, are now restricted to battles between unions and corporations. The fracases, along with large supplies of tranquilizers, are intended as the newest version of bread and circuses; everyone gets a lifetime pension from the date of birth, so something is needed to keep them occupied and quiet.
This is the story of Major Joe Mauser, a rising star in Category Military, about the only category where caste-jumping is possible. Joe feels his star isn't rising fast enough, so Freddy Solingen, from Category Communications, shows Joe how to get his name and face before the public. Joe has fallen for an Upper caste woman named Nadine Haer, so a more equal caste status is needed.
The future social speculation is by far the best part of this book. This is a short, easy to read story that actually has a few things to say.
In the middle of the next century, America has become a very caste- and occupation-conscious society. To keep the Cold War, now institutionalized as the Frigid Fracas, from destroying all of humanity, all weapons developed after 1900 are banned. Fracases, all of which are now televised, are now restricted to battles between unions and corporations. The fracases, along with large supplies of tranquilizers, are intended as the newest version of bread and circuses; everyone gets a lifetime pension from the date of birth, so something is needed to keep them occupied and quiet.
This is the story of Major Joe Mauser, a rising star in Category Military, about the only category where caste-jumping is possible. Joe feels his star isn't rising fast enough, so Freddy Solingen, from Category Communications, shows Joe how to get his name and face before the public. Joe has fallen for an Upper caste woman named Nadine Haer, so a more equal caste status is needed.
The future social speculation is by far the best part of this book. This is a short, easy to read story that actually has a few things to say.
Wisdom's Maw
Wisdom's Maw, Todd Brendan Fahey, Far Gone Books, 1996
Think of the 1960's as CIA mind control experiment. Part of this novel is about a man named Franklin, noticed by the government as a future student leader, who is kept supplied with LSD and other drugs by his girlfriend, an undercover FBI agent. Among the guests at his commune/hippie pad are Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Hunter Thompson, also well supplied with drugs. The book also looks inside Project MK-ULTRA, a government project to spread drugs throughout America; various military and government officials occasionally sample the wares. Along the way, a high-class black prostitute is filmed by the FBI for possible future blackmail against her customers, like the Supreme Court Chief Justice. President Kennedy also makes an appearance in this novel, having a late-night rendezvous outside the White House.
This is a really good, and really strange, first novel. It's a fine one for people who like their fiction a little weird, but still grounded in plausible reality.
Think of the 1960's as CIA mind control experiment. Part of this novel is about a man named Franklin, noticed by the government as a future student leader, who is kept supplied with LSD and other drugs by his girlfriend, an undercover FBI agent. Among the guests at his commune/hippie pad are Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Hunter Thompson, also well supplied with drugs. The book also looks inside Project MK-ULTRA, a government project to spread drugs throughout America; various military and government officials occasionally sample the wares. Along the way, a high-class black prostitute is filmed by the FBI for possible future blackmail against her customers, like the Supreme Court Chief Justice. President Kennedy also makes an appearance in this novel, having a late-night rendezvous outside the White House.
This is a really good, and really strange, first novel. It's a fine one for people who like their fiction a little weird, but still grounded in plausible reality.
Conspiracies, Cover-Ups and Crimes
Conspiracies, Cover-Ups and Crimes, Jonathan Vankin, IllumiNet Press, 1996
This is a survey of some of the major events and figures in the early 1990's world of political conspiracies. All the people and events one would expect to see in such a book are here, among them: the Illuminati, the World Anti-Communist League, Skull and Bones, Kerry Thornley, Silverado Savings and Loan, Henry Kissinger, secret societies, CIA, P2 Lodge, David Rockefeller, October Surprise/Iran-Contra, neo-Nazis, the John Birch Society, the Knights of Malta, the Jonestown massacre, the Trilateral Commission, MK-ULTRA, UFOs, George Bush, BCCI, and the central linchpin of all modern conspiracy theories, the Kennedy Assassination.
Vankin also makes the point that not all conspiracy nuts are automatically nuts; some people want to find out for themselves, especially if the "official" version doesn't add up.
To those who may be unfamiliar with the above list of people and events, this is a great example of "one-stop shopping" in the conspiracy field. To veterans, this provides a very good overvew of the conspiracy world.
This is a survey of some of the major events and figures in the early 1990's world of political conspiracies. All the people and events one would expect to see in such a book are here, among them: the Illuminati, the World Anti-Communist League, Skull and Bones, Kerry Thornley, Silverado Savings and Loan, Henry Kissinger, secret societies, CIA, P2 Lodge, David Rockefeller, October Surprise/Iran-Contra, neo-Nazis, the John Birch Society, the Knights of Malta, the Jonestown massacre, the Trilateral Commission, MK-ULTRA, UFOs, George Bush, BCCI, and the central linchpin of all modern conspiracy theories, the Kennedy Assassination.
Vankin also makes the point that not all conspiracy nuts are automatically nuts; some people want to find out for themselves, especially if the "official" version doesn't add up.
To those who may be unfamiliar with the above list of people and events, this is a great example of "one-stop shopping" in the conspiracy field. To veterans, this provides a very good overvew of the conspiracy world.
No Fat Chicks
No Fat Chicks, Terry Poulton, Birch Lane Press, 1997
Here is the story of how women are told every day, not just that thin is in, but that if they don't look a certain way (which usually resembles a famine victim) they are automatically fat, worthless and should go into hiding. Knowing that only a few percent of women have any chance of actually reaching this "ideal" body type, the antifat industry has coerced women into creating a $50 billion industry in the quest to be thin.
Long term, diets have a more than 90 percent failure rate, over 11 million women suffer from eating disorders, and more than three-quarters of all women think they are too fat. Poulton also looks at the ridicule and discrimination suffered by fat people, another way the antifat industry has of guaranteeing that women will do anything, including surgery and taking up smoking, to avoid being one of Them.
This is a Wow of a book. Poulton has done an excellent job chronicling the treadmill that women are on, willingly, dieting, exercising and spending to achieve something that for most women is unachievable.
Here is the story of how women are told every day, not just that thin is in, but that if they don't look a certain way (which usually resembles a famine victim) they are automatically fat, worthless and should go into hiding. Knowing that only a few percent of women have any chance of actually reaching this "ideal" body type, the antifat industry has coerced women into creating a $50 billion industry in the quest to be thin.
Long term, diets have a more than 90 percent failure rate, over 11 million women suffer from eating disorders, and more than three-quarters of all women think they are too fat. Poulton also looks at the ridicule and discrimination suffered by fat people, another way the antifat industry has of guaranteeing that women will do anything, including surgery and taking up smoking, to avoid being one of Them.
This is a Wow of a book. Poulton has done an excellent job chronicling the treadmill that women are on, willingly, dieting, exercising and spending to achieve something that for most women is unachievable.
The Celibacy Club
The Celibacy Club, Janice Eidus, City Lights Books, 1997
This is a group of short stories that look at life in the 90's, at our culture, and our present-day obsessions.
Among the stories are: Elvis living in the Bronx and dressed as a Hasidic Jew; a woman falls madly in love with a Nautilus exercise machine; Barbie goes to group therapy because her publicist says so; a young girl makes friends with a mermaid; what happens to a teen actor after his show gets cancelled; an adult writing student has a sexual relationship with his female teacher; one night, in bed, she suddenly dies because of a weak heart; a male screenwriter starts fooling around, only to find out, purely by accident, that his wife is also fooling around. The title story is about a club/therapy group for people who choose celibacy.
I really enjoyed this book. The stroies are very easy to read, and they're the sort of situations that could happen to anyone. The author does a good job at putting the reader right in the middle of the story.
This is a group of short stories that look at life in the 90's, at our culture, and our present-day obsessions.
Among the stories are: Elvis living in the Bronx and dressed as a Hasidic Jew; a woman falls madly in love with a Nautilus exercise machine; Barbie goes to group therapy because her publicist says so; a young girl makes friends with a mermaid; what happens to a teen actor after his show gets cancelled; an adult writing student has a sexual relationship with his female teacher; one night, in bed, she suddenly dies because of a weak heart; a male screenwriter starts fooling around, only to find out, purely by accident, that his wife is also fooling around. The title story is about a club/therapy group for people who choose celibacy.
I really enjoyed this book. The stroies are very easy to read, and they're the sort of situations that could happen to anyone. The author does a good job at putting the reader right in the middle of the story.
Diary of the War of the Pig
Diary of The War of The Pig, Adolfo Bioy Casares, E.P. Dutton, 1972
Set in present-day Argentina, this is a first-person novel about an old man caught up in a wave of disappearances and street terror by the young against the old. Published about 10 years before the "dirty war" ravaged Argentina for real, this tale of islands of human normalcy in an ocean of insanity stands for many of the darker parts of contemporary Latin American society. The story portrays Isidro Vidal, his buddies from the corner cafe, and the women, young and old, who offer a respite from terror and fear.
This is a very quiet sort of story; the violence is more implied than actual. It's intended more to show people's reactions to violence than the actual violence. I can give this book a rating of only pretty good.
Set in present-day Argentina, this is a first-person novel about an old man caught up in a wave of disappearances and street terror by the young against the old. Published about 10 years before the "dirty war" ravaged Argentina for real, this tale of islands of human normalcy in an ocean of insanity stands for many of the darker parts of contemporary Latin American society. The story portrays Isidro Vidal, his buddies from the corner cafe, and the women, young and old, who offer a respite from terror and fear.
This is a very quiet sort of story; the violence is more implied than actual. It's intended more to show people's reactions to violence than the actual violence. I can give this book a rating of only pretty good.
What We Do For Love
What We Do For Love, Ilene Beckerman, Algonquin Books, 1997
Here is the true story of one person's search for that elusive thing called love. Beckerman talks of things familiar to many women. She talks of sneaking out of the house to go necking with her high-school boyfriend. Her first marriage, while in college, was to one of her college professors, a marriage that he ended. She checked herself into a psycho ward, and got a divorce in mexico on her twenty-third birthday. She met what was to be Husband #2 at the ad agency where she worked. That marriage produced several children before divorce, but unofficially ended when their second child, an eighteen-month old named David, died unexpectedly. She also deals with the death of her father, who walked out on the family when Beckerman was little. She has an affair with a rather plain man named Stanley; he becomes Husband #3 when he gets a divorce, and she and Al (Husband #2) finally stop what actually stopped a long time previously.
This memoir is humorous and poignant, touching and original and very much worth reading.
Here is the true story of one person's search for that elusive thing called love. Beckerman talks of things familiar to many women. She talks of sneaking out of the house to go necking with her high-school boyfriend. Her first marriage, while in college, was to one of her college professors, a marriage that he ended. She checked herself into a psycho ward, and got a divorce in mexico on her twenty-third birthday. She met what was to be Husband #2 at the ad agency where she worked. That marriage produced several children before divorce, but unofficially ended when their second child, an eighteen-month old named David, died unexpectedly. She also deals with the death of her father, who walked out on the family when Beckerman was little. She has an affair with a rather plain man named Stanley; he becomes Husband #3 when he gets a divorce, and she and Al (Husband #2) finally stop what actually stopped a long time previously.
This memoir is humorous and poignant, touching and original and very much worth reading.
The Journey of Ibn Fattouma
The Journey of Ibn Fattouma, Naguib Mahfouz, Doubleday, 1992
This fable takes place somewhere in the Middle East. It's about a man, Ibn Fattouma, who learns from his childhood tutor that travel is the way to find the true meaning of life. As an adult, he joins a caravan with his ultimate destination being the land of Gebel, a mythical place that no one has ever seen and described.
In his travels, he sees many things, some of which, he is forced to admit, may be superior to his Islamic upbringing. In one land, he marries a non-Muslim and fathers several children. A clash with a city official and the threat of war force him to leave. In another land, which is the source of the war threat, he gets in trouble with the state and spends the next 20 years in jail, gaining his freedom only due to a civil war. Ibn Fattouma decides to continue his journey, always nearing, but never finding, the great intangible.
I thought this story was really good. It's short, easy to read, and the author makes some points about assuming that one's own society is the best, then finding out that it may not always be true. Well worth the readers' time.
This fable takes place somewhere in the Middle East. It's about a man, Ibn Fattouma, who learns from his childhood tutor that travel is the way to find the true meaning of life. As an adult, he joins a caravan with his ultimate destination being the land of Gebel, a mythical place that no one has ever seen and described.
In his travels, he sees many things, some of which, he is forced to admit, may be superior to his Islamic upbringing. In one land, he marries a non-Muslim and fathers several children. A clash with a city official and the threat of war force him to leave. In another land, which is the source of the war threat, he gets in trouble with the state and spends the next 20 years in jail, gaining his freedom only due to a civil war. Ibn Fattouma decides to continue his journey, always nearing, but never finding, the great intangible.
I thought this story was really good. It's short, easy to read, and the author makes some points about assuming that one's own society is the best, then finding out that it may not always be true. Well worth the readers' time.
Bone Truth
Bone Truth, Anne Finger, Coffee House Press, 1994
Elizabeth is an artist managing to eke out a living in present-day San Francisco. She also happens to be disabled, having been born in the 1950's just before the introduction of the polio vaccine. Part of the novel concerns Elizabeth, and Matt, her boyfriend, as they come to terms with her pregnancy.
Most of the novel is about her relationship with Jake, her father. When he was little, he witnessed an industrial accident during the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. The death of a dozen men galvanized him into lifelong membership in the American Communist Party. Elizabeth remembers late night meetings attended by one or both parents, being careful what they said around others, how her father was forced, at times, to become a door-to-door salesman instead of his chosen profession of engineering professor. Elizabeth also remembers being physically abused by her father, which leads to difficult scenes with her mother as Jake lies dying in the hospital.
This is a wonderful first novel. Not only does it get to the heart of being disabled in America, it also does a good job at showing what the McCarthy Era was like for the average American family. Bone Truth is a journey well worth undertaking.
Elizabeth is an artist managing to eke out a living in present-day San Francisco. She also happens to be disabled, having been born in the 1950's just before the introduction of the polio vaccine. Part of the novel concerns Elizabeth, and Matt, her boyfriend, as they come to terms with her pregnancy.
Most of the novel is about her relationship with Jake, her father. When he was little, he witnessed an industrial accident during the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. The death of a dozen men galvanized him into lifelong membership in the American Communist Party. Elizabeth remembers late night meetings attended by one or both parents, being careful what they said around others, how her father was forced, at times, to become a door-to-door salesman instead of his chosen profession of engineering professor. Elizabeth also remembers being physically abused by her father, which leads to difficult scenes with her mother as Jake lies dying in the hospital.
This is a wonderful first novel. Not only does it get to the heart of being disabled in America, it also does a good job at showing what the McCarthy Era was like for the average American family. Bone Truth is a journey well worth undertaking.
Arabs and Israel for Beginners
Arabs and Israel for Beginners, Ron David, Writers and Readers Publishing, 1993
The author does a wonderful job at taking a complicated, emotional subject like the Middle East conflict, and explaining it in clear terms that anyone can understand. There were no preconceived notions beforehand; the author let the research lead him to a conclusion.
This book starts in ancient times, and is full of facts that will be eye-openers to most Americans. For example, the PLO offered Israel a full peace treaty, including renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel, in the late 1970's; Israel rejected it. In 1954, the Israeli Air Force hijacked a Syrian airliner to get hostages to exchange for Israeli soldiers, 20 years before the PLO started hijacking planes. During World War II, the US government passed laws to make it harder for European Jews to emigrate to the US, under pressure from Zionists. If European Jews got the idea that they could go to America, few would willingly go to Israel.
This book is incredible. As mentioned, it is full of easy to understand facts that never made it into the US media, like 17 years of Arab peace offers. If I could, I would give this book three thumbs up.
The author does a wonderful job at taking a complicated, emotional subject like the Middle East conflict, and explaining it in clear terms that anyone can understand. There were no preconceived notions beforehand; the author let the research lead him to a conclusion.
This book starts in ancient times, and is full of facts that will be eye-openers to most Americans. For example, the PLO offered Israel a full peace treaty, including renunciation of violence and recognition of Israel, in the late 1970's; Israel rejected it. In 1954, the Israeli Air Force hijacked a Syrian airliner to get hostages to exchange for Israeli soldiers, 20 years before the PLO started hijacking planes. During World War II, the US government passed laws to make it harder for European Jews to emigrate to the US, under pressure from Zionists. If European Jews got the idea that they could go to America, few would willingly go to Israel.
This book is incredible. As mentioned, it is full of easy to understand facts that never made it into the US media, like 17 years of Arab peace offers. If I could, I would give this book three thumbs up.
The Futures of Women
The Futures of Women, Pamela McCorduck and Nancy Ramsey, Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1996
This book presents four different scenarios for women in the 21st century. "Backlash" concerns the banning of abortion and Western women adopting the Muslim chador due to fears for personal safety. "A Golden Age of Equality" combines Western ideas on individual rights with the belief that war is an irrational waste of resources, not an act of patriotism. Because of a sluggish, depressed world economy, women are forced to spend their time defending basic rights like nutrition and protection from domestic violence, so that little other progress is possible, a scenario called "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back." The fourth scenario, "Separate-And Doing Fine, Thanks!" comes about when governments, including those in the West, realign the individual/society balance more in society's favor. Women are generally pushed aside, so they form their own banks, businesses, and NGO's, and live among themselves.
This book is beyond excellent. Each scenario is equally plausible. Whatever the future actually holds, one of these scenarios, or something else entirely, depends on everyone, men and women. Here is a more than must read.
This book presents four different scenarios for women in the 21st century. "Backlash" concerns the banning of abortion and Western women adopting the Muslim chador due to fears for personal safety. "A Golden Age of Equality" combines Western ideas on individual rights with the belief that war is an irrational waste of resources, not an act of patriotism. Because of a sluggish, depressed world economy, women are forced to spend their time defending basic rights like nutrition and protection from domestic violence, so that little other progress is possible, a scenario called "Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back." The fourth scenario, "Separate-And Doing Fine, Thanks!" comes about when governments, including those in the West, realign the individual/society balance more in society's favor. Women are generally pushed aside, so they form their own banks, businesses, and NGO's, and live among themselves.
This book is beyond excellent. Each scenario is equally plausible. Whatever the future actually holds, one of these scenarios, or something else entirely, depends on everyone, men and women. Here is a more than must read.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
The Zinn Reader
The Zinn Reader, Howard Zinn, Seven Stories Press, 1997
Howard Zinn is a political science professor at Boston University who grew up in the immigrant slums of Brooklyn. Author of the famous "People's History of the United States," Zinn has spent his life looking at things from the point of view of those on the bottom. Here is a collection of his writings over the past generation.
His eyewitness accounts of the sit-ins and marches of the Civil Rights days as someone on the inside is, by itself, worth the price of the book. Zinn then goes on to mention that during World War II, which he spent as a bombardier in France, the US government knew about Hitler's plans for the Jews, and did nothing. During the Vietnam War, there was a shift in opinion among juries picked to hear anti-war civil disobedience cases. In the early days, a guilty verdict was practically assured; as people got a better idea of what was really happening in Vietnam, more and more not guilty verdicts were returned. Zinn also contributes several essays about prison in America, having seen it from the inside as an anti-war protester.
This book is beyond excellent. It's been a long time since I could call a book an eye-opener; this is an eye-opener. Along with People's History of the United States, this book belongs in every high school and college history class in America.
Howard Zinn is a political science professor at Boston University who grew up in the immigrant slums of Brooklyn. Author of the famous "People's History of the United States," Zinn has spent his life looking at things from the point of view of those on the bottom. Here is a collection of his writings over the past generation.
His eyewitness accounts of the sit-ins and marches of the Civil Rights days as someone on the inside is, by itself, worth the price of the book. Zinn then goes on to mention that during World War II, which he spent as a bombardier in France, the US government knew about Hitler's plans for the Jews, and did nothing. During the Vietnam War, there was a shift in opinion among juries picked to hear anti-war civil disobedience cases. In the early days, a guilty verdict was practically assured; as people got a better idea of what was really happening in Vietnam, more and more not guilty verdicts were returned. Zinn also contributes several essays about prison in America, having seen it from the inside as an anti-war protester.
This book is beyond excellent. It's been a long time since I could call a book an eye-opener; this is an eye-opener. Along with People's History of the United States, this book belongs in every high school and college history class in America.
Jews Without Money
Jews Without Money, Michael Gold, Bard Books, 1958
This is a partly autobiographical novel of life in the tenements of New York's Lower East Side in the early part of this century. It's a day-in-the-life tale of thieves, gangsters, and honest folks just trying to get by in a new country. Gold's father, whose desire to run his own business is greater than his ability to actually run the business, is injured at work and confined to bed for a year. Different ethnic groups congregate on different city blocks; finding someone from a different block on "your" street is taken very seriously by the children and adolescents. Feeling that their worship isn't complete without a rabbi from the old country, the neighborhood Orthodox Jews, very poor themselves, pay the sea passage for a young rabbi to come to America. He turns out to be a jerk, and, at the first opportunity, splits for a larger congregation.
Gold does a wonderful job at putting the reader right in the middle of the sights, smells and sounds of people who may be materially poor, but very rich emotionally. This has been called the urban version of John Steinbeck's great agricultural protest novel, he Grapes of Wrath. This book is that good. It's a very passionate piece of writing, and is highly recommended.
This is a partly autobiographical novel of life in the tenements of New York's Lower East Side in the early part of this century. It's a day-in-the-life tale of thieves, gangsters, and honest folks just trying to get by in a new country. Gold's father, whose desire to run his own business is greater than his ability to actually run the business, is injured at work and confined to bed for a year. Different ethnic groups congregate on different city blocks; finding someone from a different block on "your" street is taken very seriously by the children and adolescents. Feeling that their worship isn't complete without a rabbi from the old country, the neighborhood Orthodox Jews, very poor themselves, pay the sea passage for a young rabbi to come to America. He turns out to be a jerk, and, at the first opportunity, splits for a larger congregation.
Gold does a wonderful job at putting the reader right in the middle of the sights, smells and sounds of people who may be materially poor, but very rich emotionally. This has been called the urban version of John Steinbeck's great agricultural protest novel, he Grapes of Wrath. This book is that good. It's a very passionate piece of writing, and is highly recommended.
Jitterbug
Jitterbug, Mike McQuay, Bantam Books, 1984
This science fiction story takes place in 2155, on an earth run by an Arab dictator with the power of life and death over everyone. He rules by terror, with the help of a very contagious and fatal disease called Jitterbug, which has been used before and has rendered 90 percent of the earth uninhabitable. New Orleans, one of the few pockets of survivors left, is where this novel takes place.
It's the story of Olson, a drifter from the Southwest, who enters the city assuming the identity of a Junex (junior Executive) transferring from Dallas. Earth has become a place where amoral executives battle for what power is left, while everyone else battles to survive. Olson is accompanied by Gret, a sort of genetically engineered human sex machine who knows her way around the corridors of power.
Together they battle for control of the local branch of the Light of the World (LOW) Corporation, the instrument through which the world is controlled, when their protector, the current head of LOW New Orleans, dies under mysterious circumstances.
This one is surprisingly good. Given the year it was published, it is very plausible. The social speculation is right on target, the characters are real people, and it's an all around interesting read.<p>
This science fiction story takes place in 2155, on an earth run by an Arab dictator with the power of life and death over everyone. He rules by terror, with the help of a very contagious and fatal disease called Jitterbug, which has been used before and has rendered 90 percent of the earth uninhabitable. New Orleans, one of the few pockets of survivors left, is where this novel takes place.
It's the story of Olson, a drifter from the Southwest, who enters the city assuming the identity of a Junex (junior Executive) transferring from Dallas. Earth has become a place where amoral executives battle for what power is left, while everyone else battles to survive. Olson is accompanied by Gret, a sort of genetically engineered human sex machine who knows her way around the corridors of power.
Together they battle for control of the local branch of the Light of the World (LOW) Corporation, the instrument through which the world is controlled, when their protector, the current head of LOW New Orleans, dies under mysterious circumstances.
This one is surprisingly good. Given the year it was published, it is very plausible. The social speculation is right on target, the characters are real people, and it's an all around interesting read.<p>
Dirty Truths
Dirty Truths, Michael Parenti, City Lights Books, 1996
Here is a group of essays on various aspects of political life from a long-time author, lecturer, and college professor.
Among the subjects covered in this book: term limits for politicians sounds like a great idea, but it would leave Congress totally (instead of mostly, as at present) in the hands of corporate lobbyists who are not under any sort of term limits. Conservatives have created a myth that the media is full of liberals to force the owners to move their media outlets more and more to the conservative side. The American people don't know about the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, for example, because the news media intentionally doesn't report it. Freedom of speech in theory, and freedom of speech in reality, especially for progressives, are two very different things.
Parenti also includes a couple of essays on his personal life, including dealings with the news media that come very close to censorship, and being branded an academic troublemaker because, as a visiting professor at one school, he took part in some anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.
This is a first-class gem of a book. It's thought provoking, easy to read, and is strongly recommended.
Here is a group of essays on various aspects of political life from a long-time author, lecturer, and college professor.
Among the subjects covered in this book: term limits for politicians sounds like a great idea, but it would leave Congress totally (instead of mostly, as at present) in the hands of corporate lobbyists who are not under any sort of term limits. Conservatives have created a myth that the media is full of liberals to force the owners to move their media outlets more and more to the conservative side. The American people don't know about the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, for example, because the news media intentionally doesn't report it. Freedom of speech in theory, and freedom of speech in reality, especially for progressives, are two very different things.
Parenti also includes a couple of essays on his personal life, including dealings with the news media that come very close to censorship, and being branded an academic troublemaker because, as a visiting professor at one school, he took part in some anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.
This is a first-class gem of a book. It's thought provoking, easy to read, and is strongly recommended.
They Forged the Signature of God
They Forged the Signature of God,Viriato Sencion, Curbstone Press, 1995
This book takes place mostly at a seminary in the Dominican Republic. It's about three seminary students suffering from church-state oppression, who, quietly, find themselves part of the active political opposition. It's also about the president of the country, Dr. Ramos, who remains in power through tyranny and manipulation, and who, purely on grounds of mental capacity, should have stepped down several years ago. It is also the story of an ex-seminarian who makes himself indispensable to Dr. Ramos with the intention of bringing him down.
To American readers, raised on sex, violence, and car chases, this book might seem pretty tame and boring. It does take some work on the part of the reader, but it's actually much better than that.
When first published in the Dominican Republic, the country's president went on national TV to publicly denounce the book. It then went on to become the best-selling book in the history of the Dominican Republic. It's that good, that realistic, and that much worth reading.
This book takes place mostly at a seminary in the Dominican Republic. It's about three seminary students suffering from church-state oppression, who, quietly, find themselves part of the active political opposition. It's also about the president of the country, Dr. Ramos, who remains in power through tyranny and manipulation, and who, purely on grounds of mental capacity, should have stepped down several years ago. It is also the story of an ex-seminarian who makes himself indispensable to Dr. Ramos with the intention of bringing him down.
To American readers, raised on sex, violence, and car chases, this book might seem pretty tame and boring. It does take some work on the part of the reader, but it's actually much better than that.
When first published in the Dominican Republic, the country's president went on national TV to publicly denounce the book. It then went on to become the best-selling book in the history of the Dominican Republic. It's that good, that realistic, and that much worth reading.
Crapped Out: How Gambling Ruins the Economy and Destroys Lives
Crapped Out: How Gambling Ruins the Economy and Destroys Lives, Jennifer Vogel (ed.), Common Courage Press, 1997
"Gambling is bad" is an easy thing to say; this book goes into lots of detail as to why gambling is bad, not just for the individual, but for society in general.
It usually starts with the state legislature. Any untapped source of revenue is looked at with great anticipation in these days of economic belt-tightening. Revenue from lotteries or casinos is usually intended, in the beginning, for a worthy cause like education or the environment. The money isn't an extra windfall for that department, it's money that the legislature can take from that department and use elsewhere. Usually, the money is quietly redirected, after a couple of years into the state's general fund.
In economically depressed areas, casinos and riverboat gambling promise jobs and tourists and growth in the local economy. For every successful casino like Foxwoods in Connecticut, there is a riverboat casino somewhere in the Midwest where the only thing that has grown up around it is a parking lot, assuming that it is still open.
Studies have shown that lotteries are simply another way of redistributing money from the poor to the rich; those in lower-class areas play the lottery more than those in upper-class areas.
Anyone who has ever bet at a casino or played Lotto needs to read this book.
"Gambling is bad" is an easy thing to say; this book goes into lots of detail as to why gambling is bad, not just for the individual, but for society in general.
It usually starts with the state legislature. Any untapped source of revenue is looked at with great anticipation in these days of economic belt-tightening. Revenue from lotteries or casinos is usually intended, in the beginning, for a worthy cause like education or the environment. The money isn't an extra windfall for that department, it's money that the legislature can take from that department and use elsewhere. Usually, the money is quietly redirected, after a couple of years into the state's general fund.
In economically depressed areas, casinos and riverboat gambling promise jobs and tourists and growth in the local economy. For every successful casino like Foxwoods in Connecticut, there is a riverboat casino somewhere in the Midwest where the only thing that has grown up around it is a parking lot, assuming that it is still open.
Studies have shown that lotteries are simply another way of redistributing money from the poor to the rich; those in lower-class areas play the lottery more than those in upper-class areas.
Anyone who has ever bet at a casino or played Lotto needs to read this book.
Carlucci's Heart
Carlucci's Heart, Richard Paul Russo, Ace Books, 1997
This is a science fiction story set in a near-future San Francisco divided into separate walled-off sections, some of which even the police ignore. Lt. Frank Carlucci looks into the disappearance of a friend of his daughter, he soon runs into this mysterious organization called Cancer Cell. It does cutting edge medical research and gives terminally ill patients a chance at whatever treatments are available for their disease, as long as they agree to be guinea pigs for any other drugs that need testing.
Carlucci also meets Cage, a doctor at a storefront clinic that specializes in treating the poor and destitute. Cage begins to see signs of a new, very contagious disease coming out of the Core, a part of the city for which the term "no man's land" was coined. It starts off looking like the flu, but after a couple of weeks, it turns virulent, and has a 100% fatality rate. This leads to a not-very-successful federal quarantine of the Core, in the hope that the disease will burn itself out without spreading elsewhere.
This is a tough, down and dirty story that will appeal to fans of police novels as well as science fiction fans. It's an excellent piece of writing, and I really enjoyed it.
This is a science fiction story set in a near-future San Francisco divided into separate walled-off sections, some of which even the police ignore. Lt. Frank Carlucci looks into the disappearance of a friend of his daughter, he soon runs into this mysterious organization called Cancer Cell. It does cutting edge medical research and gives terminally ill patients a chance at whatever treatments are available for their disease, as long as they agree to be guinea pigs for any other drugs that need testing.
Carlucci also meets Cage, a doctor at a storefront clinic that specializes in treating the poor and destitute. Cage begins to see signs of a new, very contagious disease coming out of the Core, a part of the city for which the term "no man's land" was coined. It starts off looking like the flu, but after a couple of weeks, it turns virulent, and has a 100% fatality rate. This leads to a not-very-successful federal quarantine of the Core, in the hope that the disease will burn itself out without spreading elsewhere.
This is a tough, down and dirty story that will appeal to fans of police novels as well as science fiction fans. It's an excellent piece of writing, and I really enjoyed it.
Acid Plaid
Acid Plaid, Harry Ritchie (ed.), Arcade Publishing, 1996
This is a collection of contemporary fiction and poetry from the country of Scotland.
Perhaps the most familiar name, to American readers, on the contents page, is Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting. He contributes a story, written in actual Scottish dialect, about a man who wants nothing more than to stay home and watch the weekend football match on TV. His wife is pestering him to take her and their children out to lunch at a local pub. While there, she overindulges with the alcohol; on their way back, they pass the local train station. She decides to take a walk on the track, with the train coming. She is struck, and grievously injured, by the train, losing both legs. An ambulance comes, and gets them all to the local hospital, where the biggest concern of the husband, the narrator of the story, is the location of the nearest TV so he can watch the weekend football match.
Other stories are about a very strange job interview and burning an effigy of Elvis Presley.
This is a really enjoyable anthology from the new literary hot spot. It's full of gritty, beer-soaked writing, and is well worth reading.
This is a collection of contemporary fiction and poetry from the country of Scotland.
Perhaps the most familiar name, to American readers, on the contents page, is Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting. He contributes a story, written in actual Scottish dialect, about a man who wants nothing more than to stay home and watch the weekend football match on TV. His wife is pestering him to take her and their children out to lunch at a local pub. While there, she overindulges with the alcohol; on their way back, they pass the local train station. She decides to take a walk on the track, with the train coming. She is struck, and grievously injured, by the train, losing both legs. An ambulance comes, and gets them all to the local hospital, where the biggest concern of the husband, the narrator of the story, is the location of the nearest TV so he can watch the weekend football match.
Other stories are about a very strange job interview and burning an effigy of Elvis Presley.
This is a really enjoyable anthology from the new literary hot spot. It's full of gritty, beer-soaked writing, and is well worth reading.
Signal to Noise
Signal to Noise, Carla Sinclair, Harper Edge, 1997
Set in present-day San Francisco, this is the story of Jim Knight, stressed-out features editor at Signal, the extremely hip multimedia magazine. One night, baecause his car is in the shop, he gets a ride home from a bunch of interns at a zine in the same building as Signal. One of them, Kat Astura, accidentally finds a gambling web site on Jim's system called El Tropical. Thinking that it's not for real, she racks up what she thinks is a $200,000 virtual debt. Little do either of them know, but the debt is real, and the mob, the owners of the web site, come around looking for the money now.
The two are kidnapped and taken to El Tropical's headquarters, a trailer park outside of Reno, by a rather motley group of gangsters. Meantime, plans are made to get the money from Jim and Kat, money which neither of them has, by any means necessary.
This is a really good novel of contemporary San Francisco multimedia culture written by someone who has been there; it's a pretty good suspense novel, too.
Set in present-day San Francisco, this is the story of Jim Knight, stressed-out features editor at Signal, the extremely hip multimedia magazine. One night, baecause his car is in the shop, he gets a ride home from a bunch of interns at a zine in the same building as Signal. One of them, Kat Astura, accidentally finds a gambling web site on Jim's system called El Tropical. Thinking that it's not for real, she racks up what she thinks is a $200,000 virtual debt. Little do either of them know, but the debt is real, and the mob, the owners of the web site, come around looking for the money now.
The two are kidnapped and taken to El Tropical's headquarters, a trailer park outside of Reno, by a rather motley group of gangsters. Meantime, plans are made to get the money from Jim and Kat, money which neither of them has, by any means necessary.
This is a really good novel of contemporary San Francisco multimedia culture written by someone who has been there; it's a pretty good suspense novel, too.
Ancient Shores
Ancient Shores, Jack McDevitt, Harper Prism, 1996
This is the science fiction story of a North Dakota wheat farmer, who, one day, finds a triangular piece of metal sticking out of the ground. He kepps digging, and digging, and finds a 45-foot yacht buried in his wheat field. It's in good enough condition to look like it was buried last week, but has actually been there a lot longer, and is made of materials unknown to human science.
The area quickly becomes a full-fledged media spectacle. After further digging, a large roundhouse, that glows at night, is unearthed. Inside are portals to several other worlds, one of which is christened Eden. By this time, the area, which is on Indian land, has become a magnet for religious fundamentalists, thrill seekers, legitimate scientists, and UFO believers. Several unsuccessful attempts are made by private companies to buy the site. Meantime, in the rest of the world, financial markets are in free fall, fearing new technologies from the site that will give new meaning to the words "lifetime guarantee". At the end is an attempt by the government to unilaterally seize the site, intending to limit, or deny, all further access.
This is a really interesting and easy to read story that works from start to finish. It's very much grounded in reality, and is an all around great story.
This is the science fiction story of a North Dakota wheat farmer, who, one day, finds a triangular piece of metal sticking out of the ground. He kepps digging, and digging, and finds a 45-foot yacht buried in his wheat field. It's in good enough condition to look like it was buried last week, but has actually been there a lot longer, and is made of materials unknown to human science.
The area quickly becomes a full-fledged media spectacle. After further digging, a large roundhouse, that glows at night, is unearthed. Inside are portals to several other worlds, one of which is christened Eden. By this time, the area, which is on Indian land, has become a magnet for religious fundamentalists, thrill seekers, legitimate scientists, and UFO believers. Several unsuccessful attempts are made by private companies to buy the site. Meantime, in the rest of the world, financial markets are in free fall, fearing new technologies from the site that will give new meaning to the words "lifetime guarantee". At the end is an attempt by the government to unilaterally seize the site, intending to limit, or deny, all further access.
This is a really interesting and easy to read story that works from start to finish. It's very much grounded in reality, and is an all around great story.
Commodify Your Dissent
Commodify Your Dissent, Thomas Frank and Matt Weiland (ed.), W.W. Norton, 1997
This is a group of essays from an irregularly published magazine called "The Baffler."
These aren't your average, everyday discussions of what it means to be "hip" or a "rebel". In fact, these are just the opposite. This is a book of scathing criticism of the encroachment of business into nearly every facet of everyday life. Among the subjects covered are: Details and Wired magazines making hip rebel consumers into heroes; corporate fads like reengineering; what Really happens to bands that signs with major labels; packaging a twenty-something first-time author as a serious literary artiste; labeling consumers in their 20s so that marketers will know how to target them for clothes, music, etc; the supposed death of the city as institution due to the cyber-revolution; edge cities, towns just outside major cities that are not yet cities themselves, but are more than suburbs; and Orange County, California, the wealthy, high-class myth and the fiscally bankrupt reality.
I really loved this book. It's easy to read, it pulls no punches, and it should give marketers and admen all over America some sleepless nights. When you can find it on the newsstand, "The Baffler," the magazine, is equally highly recommended.
This is a group of essays from an irregularly published magazine called "The Baffler."
These aren't your average, everyday discussions of what it means to be "hip" or a "rebel". In fact, these are just the opposite. This is a book of scathing criticism of the encroachment of business into nearly every facet of everyday life. Among the subjects covered are: Details and Wired magazines making hip rebel consumers into heroes; corporate fads like reengineering; what Really happens to bands that signs with major labels; packaging a twenty-something first-time author as a serious literary artiste; labeling consumers in their 20s so that marketers will know how to target them for clothes, music, etc; the supposed death of the city as institution due to the cyber-revolution; edge cities, towns just outside major cities that are not yet cities themselves, but are more than suburbs; and Orange County, California, the wealthy, high-class myth and the fiscally bankrupt reality.
I really loved this book. It's easy to read, it pulls no punches, and it should give marketers and admen all over America some sleepless nights. When you can find it on the newsstand, "The Baffler," the magazine, is equally highly recommended.
Black Helicopters II: The Endgame Strategy
Black Helicopters II: The Endgame Strategy, Jim Keith, IllumiNet Press, 1997
Remenber President Bush's New World Order? According to this book, it's alive and well and coming soon to America. Keith says that since the 1960's, all-black helicopters with no markings have been flying over civilian areas at low altitudes, spraying unknown chemicals on the population as part of biowarfare experiments. Also seen all over America are all-white military vehicles, part of a future UN takeover of America. It will lead to a one-world government with mass detention of opponents. Another assertion is that reports of UFO abductions are a coverup for mind control experiments carried out by the intelligence community. Included is the story of FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, intended to assist in the prosecution of financial crimes. Instead, it is busy gathering lifetime financial histories on all American citizens, and has a plan in place to track the monetary transactions in all US bank and credit card accounts.
Believing, or not believing, any of this is very much up to the individual reader. Be that as it may, this is a fascinating and easy to read book that Keith makes hard to dismiss as just the rantings of some paranoid strange person.
Remenber President Bush's New World Order? According to this book, it's alive and well and coming soon to America. Keith says that since the 1960's, all-black helicopters with no markings have been flying over civilian areas at low altitudes, spraying unknown chemicals on the population as part of biowarfare experiments. Also seen all over America are all-white military vehicles, part of a future UN takeover of America. It will lead to a one-world government with mass detention of opponents. Another assertion is that reports of UFO abductions are a coverup for mind control experiments carried out by the intelligence community. Included is the story of FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, intended to assist in the prosecution of financial crimes. Instead, it is busy gathering lifetime financial histories on all American citizens, and has a plan in place to track the monetary transactions in all US bank and credit card accounts.
Believing, or not believing, any of this is very much up to the individual reader. Be that as it may, this is a fascinating and easy to read book that Keith makes hard to dismiss as just the rantings of some paranoid strange person.
The Celestine Prophecy
The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield, Warner Books, 1993
For those who have been in a cave for the last couple of years, this book, packaged as a novel, is about an ancient manuscript found in present-day Peru. It describes nine Insights into life itself, ranging from the realization that certain "coincidences" actually happen for a reason, to being able to see and access the energy that is present in everything. It is said that acceptance of these Insights will lead to a spiritual culture on Earth.
The Peruvian government and the Catholic hierarchy, fearing the effects if the Insights become widely known, work to suppress the Manuscript and confiscate all copies. At the same time, some sympathetic priests and, mostly American, scientists work to get the Insights out of the country and in circulation around the world.
My problem with this book isn't so much with the book itself, aside from it being very overwritten and filled with cardboard characters, as it is with books of this type. As something of a New Age skeptic, I have a hard time with any book, no matter how it's packaged, that claims to have The Secret to Spiritual Happiness. If this book has helped some people get through life, that's wonderful. I got this book for fifty cents at a library book sale; personally, that's what it's worth.
For those who have been in a cave for the last couple of years, this book, packaged as a novel, is about an ancient manuscript found in present-day Peru. It describes nine Insights into life itself, ranging from the realization that certain "coincidences" actually happen for a reason, to being able to see and access the energy that is present in everything. It is said that acceptance of these Insights will lead to a spiritual culture on Earth.
The Peruvian government and the Catholic hierarchy, fearing the effects if the Insights become widely known, work to suppress the Manuscript and confiscate all copies. At the same time, some sympathetic priests and, mostly American, scientists work to get the Insights out of the country and in circulation around the world.
My problem with this book isn't so much with the book itself, aside from it being very overwritten and filled with cardboard characters, as it is with books of this type. As something of a New Age skeptic, I have a hard time with any book, no matter how it's packaged, that claims to have The Secret to Spiritual Happiness. If this book has helped some people get through life, that's wonderful. I got this book for fifty cents at a library book sale; personally, that's what it's worth.
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!, Bill Friday, Bantam Books, 1968
This novelization of the Peter Sellers-Leigh Taylor Young film is the story of Harry Fine, uptight, stressed-out attorney, whose girlfriend, Joyce, really wants to get married. One day he goes to look for his brother, Herbie, who has taken another path through life and is living with a group of local hippies, and meets Nancy, a free-spirited flower child. She doesn't happen to have a place to sleep that night, so Harry reluctantly brings her to his place. He gets really nervous having her around, thinking that if he makes one wrong move, Nancy, Joyce and/or his parents will accuse him of you know what. The next day, while Harry is at work, Nancy bakes him a batch of "magic" brownies. That night, Harry, Joyce and his parents work on wedding preparations at his place, at which time the brownies are sampled. Everyone gets un-uptight real fast.
Wedding day comes, and Harry, having sampled the free-spirited life, leaves Joyce at the altar. He becomes a hippie, with the hair and the clothes, and finds that his house is the new hippie "hangout". Meantime, Joyce and his parents beg him to return to the "real" world.
This is a light, enjoyable sort of story. There are no deep meanings here, but if you have some free time, you could do worse than this book.
This novelization of the Peter Sellers-Leigh Taylor Young film is the story of Harry Fine, uptight, stressed-out attorney, whose girlfriend, Joyce, really wants to get married. One day he goes to look for his brother, Herbie, who has taken another path through life and is living with a group of local hippies, and meets Nancy, a free-spirited flower child. She doesn't happen to have a place to sleep that night, so Harry reluctantly brings her to his place. He gets really nervous having her around, thinking that if he makes one wrong move, Nancy, Joyce and/or his parents will accuse him of you know what. The next day, while Harry is at work, Nancy bakes him a batch of "magic" brownies. That night, Harry, Joyce and his parents work on wedding preparations at his place, at which time the brownies are sampled. Everyone gets un-uptight real fast.
Wedding day comes, and Harry, having sampled the free-spirited life, leaves Joyce at the altar. He becomes a hippie, with the hair and the clothes, and finds that his house is the new hippie "hangout". Meantime, Joyce and his parents beg him to return to the "real" world.
This is a light, enjoyable sort of story. There are no deep meanings here, but if you have some free time, you could do worse than this book.
Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen here?
Mad Cow USA: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?, John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Common Courage Press, 1997
Mad Cow Disease is the informal name for a fatal cow disease called Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE. It is transmissible to other cows through the factory farming practice of rendering, or feeding the ground up remains of dead cows, to other cows. People get the disease by eating tainted meat. BSE takes a long time to become noticeable in a cow, so by the time a cow is ready for slaughter, it could be BSE positive and no one would know it. The human version of BSE, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD, kills by creating millions of tiny, spongy holes in a person's brain. It is 100% fatal.
Stauber and Rampton have written a fascinating and very detailed book about the BSE epidemic in England, which killed about a dozen people and forced the killing of thousands and thousands of cows. They also go into detail on the history, looking at a sheep version of BSE called scrapie, and a variant of BSE called kuru, which was decimating a tribe in New Guinea until the practice of cannibalism was stopped.
The authors also have things to say about an American meat industry seemingly more interested in public relations and suppressing critics (like the Oprah Winfrey trial in Texas) than in cutting back on, or stopping, the potentially deadly practice of grinding up dead animals and feeding them to other animals.
To get the undiluted facts instead of diluted nonsense on this urgent issue, this is a Must Read of a book.
Mad Cow Disease is the informal name for a fatal cow disease called Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE. It is transmissible to other cows through the factory farming practice of rendering, or feeding the ground up remains of dead cows, to other cows. People get the disease by eating tainted meat. BSE takes a long time to become noticeable in a cow, so by the time a cow is ready for slaughter, it could be BSE positive and no one would know it. The human version of BSE, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, or CJD, kills by creating millions of tiny, spongy holes in a person's brain. It is 100% fatal.
Stauber and Rampton have written a fascinating and very detailed book about the BSE epidemic in England, which killed about a dozen people and forced the killing of thousands and thousands of cows. They also go into detail on the history, looking at a sheep version of BSE called scrapie, and a variant of BSE called kuru, which was decimating a tribe in New Guinea until the practice of cannibalism was stopped.
The authors also have things to say about an American meat industry seemingly more interested in public relations and suppressing critics (like the Oprah Winfrey trial in Texas) than in cutting back on, or stopping, the potentially deadly practice of grinding up dead animals and feeding them to other animals.
To get the undiluted facts instead of diluted nonsense on this urgent issue, this is a Must Read of a book.
A Wild Sheep Chase
A Wild Sheep Chase, Haruki Murakami, Kodansha International, 1989
Set in present day Japan, this is the story of an average man, part of a small publishing/translating business, who meets, and falls for, a woman with absolutely perfect ears, the sort of ears that make people stop and stare. One day, he is visited by a man with beautiful hands, an aide to a shadowy right-wing politician dying from a golf-ball sized cyst in his brain. With only the help of a 50-year-old photo, the narrator's assignment is to find one particular sheep, a sheep with the shape of a star on its back and very clear eyes. The narrator, never identified by name, doesn't have a choice; find the sheep, or be blacklisted for the rest of his life. The narrator and his girlfriend, the one with the perfect ears, set off from Tokyo and end up in the mountains of Hokkaido, with winter coming.
This is a really interesting, and easy to read, novel that gets increasingly strange as it progresses. By the end, the reader certainly learns a lot about sheep in Japan. For those who like their fiction with a touch of weird, Haruki Murakami is highly recommended, and this book is no exception.
Set in present day Japan, this is the story of an average man, part of a small publishing/translating business, who meets, and falls for, a woman with absolutely perfect ears, the sort of ears that make people stop and stare. One day, he is visited by a man with beautiful hands, an aide to a shadowy right-wing politician dying from a golf-ball sized cyst in his brain. With only the help of a 50-year-old photo, the narrator's assignment is to find one particular sheep, a sheep with the shape of a star on its back and very clear eyes. The narrator, never identified by name, doesn't have a choice; find the sheep, or be blacklisted for the rest of his life. The narrator and his girlfriend, the one with the perfect ears, set off from Tokyo and end up in the mountains of Hokkaido, with winter coming.
This is a really interesting, and easy to read, novel that gets increasingly strange as it progresses. By the end, the reader certainly learns a lot about sheep in Japan. For those who like their fiction with a touch of weird, Haruki Murakami is highly recommended, and this book is no exception.
Chomsky For Beginners
Chomsky for Beginners, David Cogswell, Writers and Readers Publishers, Inc, 1996
This is an introduction to the life and work of "arguably the most important intellectual alive" (New York Times). Noam Chomsky's "day job" is as a linguistics professor at MIT, but he is known worldwide as a political gadlfly and author of more than 30 books. Covering various aspects of politics, history and foreign policy, they explore perspectives rarely, if ever, found in the major media. Chomsky's central message is quite simple: Huge corporations run the world, our country, major media, and both political parties.
Among other assertions in this book: Those who own the country feel that they should run it; mass media is little more than a public relations industry for the rich and powerful; to combat this, people should practice thinking critically and asking questions.
Cogswell does a wonderful job explaining Chomsky in clear language that anyone can understand. Those who have never read Noam Chomsky might be wondering if there's a best place to start; here is an excellent place to start. You won't be disappointed.
This is an introduction to the life and work of "arguably the most important intellectual alive" (New York Times). Noam Chomsky's "day job" is as a linguistics professor at MIT, but he is known worldwide as a political gadlfly and author of more than 30 books. Covering various aspects of politics, history and foreign policy, they explore perspectives rarely, if ever, found in the major media. Chomsky's central message is quite simple: Huge corporations run the world, our country, major media, and both political parties.
Among other assertions in this book: Those who own the country feel that they should run it; mass media is little more than a public relations industry for the rich and powerful; to combat this, people should practice thinking critically and asking questions.
Cogswell does a wonderful job explaining Chomsky in clear language that anyone can understand. Those who have never read Noam Chomsky might be wondering if there's a best place to start; here is an excellent place to start. You won't be disappointed.
Shame
Shame, Taslima Nasrin, Prometheus Books, 1997
In 1992, Hindu fundamentalists in India destroyed a 450-year-old Muslim mosque at Ayodhya, saying that it was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple. The incident sparked religious rioting in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which is where this novel takes place. This book tells the story of the Dutta family, part of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. Muslim fundamentalists use the Ayodhya mosque destruction as an excuse to go on the rampage, including looting of Hindu homes and shops, destruction of Hindu temples, rapes, and disappearances, with the intention of forcing the Hindus to leave Bangladesh permanently. The anti-Hindu violence, intending to turn Bangladesh from mostly Muslim to totally Muslim, is carried out frequently with the connivance, even active participation, of the police and government.
The book was first published in India, then found its way to Bangladesh, the author's homeland, where the people and government got extremely upset. What ensued were three days of bloody rioting, a nationwide general strike, and the government putting a price on the author's head (like Salman Rushdie)-because of this book. What was more unacceptable for the government was that Nasrin, a medical doctor now living in exile in Sweden, was a Muslim saying sympathetic things about Hindus.
To put it mildly, this book is highly recommended.
In 1992, Hindu fundamentalists in India destroyed a 450-year-old Muslim mosque at Ayodhya, saying that it was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple. The incident sparked religious rioting in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which is where this novel takes place. This book tells the story of the Dutta family, part of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. Muslim fundamentalists use the Ayodhya mosque destruction as an excuse to go on the rampage, including looting of Hindu homes and shops, destruction of Hindu temples, rapes, and disappearances, with the intention of forcing the Hindus to leave Bangladesh permanently. The anti-Hindu violence, intending to turn Bangladesh from mostly Muslim to totally Muslim, is carried out frequently with the connivance, even active participation, of the police and government.
The book was first published in India, then found its way to Bangladesh, the author's homeland, where the people and government got extremely upset. What ensued were three days of bloody rioting, a nationwide general strike, and the government putting a price on the author's head (like Salman Rushdie)-because of this book. What was more unacceptable for the government was that Nasrin, a medical doctor now living in exile in Sweden, was a Muslim saying sympathetic things about Hindus.
To put it mildly, this book is highly recommended.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Moths to the Flame
Moths to the Flame: The Seductions of Computer Technology, Gregory J.E. Rawlings, The MIT Press, 1997
Simply put, this is a survey of the world brought about by modern technology. The first half of the book looks at areas like privacy, virtual reality and publishing. Rawlings explores how it is easier and cheaper for the military to train soldiers on a new weapon with VR simulators than with the actual weapon. Some form of electronic book is coming, with great changes in the concept of copyright protection. What happens to the concept of paying for a book? Who gets paid, and how?
The rest of the book looks at subjects like jobs, warfare and computer disasters. Warfare is already highly computerized. When will war become so split-second that it gets completely taken out of human hands? One of the requirements of a working missile defense system (like SDI) is totally perfect software, all the time. To quote from the book on that subject, "Mistakes are inevitable."
To some people, this may seem like Nothing New. It's really an engaging and interesting look at the world of computer technology written in language accessible to everyone. Well worth the reader's time.
Simply put, this is a survey of the world brought about by modern technology. The first half of the book looks at areas like privacy, virtual reality and publishing. Rawlings explores how it is easier and cheaper for the military to train soldiers on a new weapon with VR simulators than with the actual weapon. Some form of electronic book is coming, with great changes in the concept of copyright protection. What happens to the concept of paying for a book? Who gets paid, and how?
The rest of the book looks at subjects like jobs, warfare and computer disasters. Warfare is already highly computerized. When will war become so split-second that it gets completely taken out of human hands? One of the requirements of a working missile defense system (like SDI) is totally perfect software, all the time. To quote from the book on that subject, "Mistakes are inevitable."
To some people, this may seem like Nothing New. It's really an engaging and interesting look at the world of computer technology written in language accessible to everyone. Well worth the reader's time.
Pretending the Bed Is a Raft
Pretending The Bed is a Raft, Nanci Kincaid, Algonquin Books, 1997
This is a group of stories about women and their (occasionally difficult) relationships with men. The one exception is about a male Thoreau scholar reluctant to leave the uncomfortable comfort of his wife for one of his female students. Another story is about the education and character-strengthening of the wife of a losing small-town football coach. Also included is the story of Norma June, a cosmetics addict who is aching to be noticed by the male next-door neighbor fooling around with her daughter. Another story is about a trio of women driving through a Colorado winter to pick up the ashes of the husband of one of the women who died in an auto accident.
All of these stories are moving, well done, and full of characters who could easily be a neighbor or relative anywhere. The title story, about a young wife and mother with terminal cancer who works through a list of Things To Do Before Death, actually reaches the rarefied atmosphere of Wow.
This is a group of stories about women and their (occasionally difficult) relationships with men. The one exception is about a male Thoreau scholar reluctant to leave the uncomfortable comfort of his wife for one of his female students. Another story is about the education and character-strengthening of the wife of a losing small-town football coach. Also included is the story of Norma June, a cosmetics addict who is aching to be noticed by the male next-door neighbor fooling around with her daughter. Another story is about a trio of women driving through a Colorado winter to pick up the ashes of the husband of one of the women who died in an auto accident.
All of these stories are moving, well done, and full of characters who could easily be a neighbor or relative anywhere. The title story, about a young wife and mother with terminal cancer who works through a list of Things To Do Before Death, actually reaches the rarefied atmosphere of Wow.
Promised Land
Promised Land, Karel Schoeman, Summit Books, 1978
Set in the indeterminate present, this takes place in a South Africa where whites have totally lost control of the country, leading to the undefined "troubles", forcing all whites who could leave permanently to do so. Those that remain are increasingly bitter and suspicious of strangers, and still have no idea how they lost the country.
George, member of a family who did leave, returns to South Africa because his grandmother has died, and he must dispose of the abandoned family estate. He runs into some neighbors, who, when they realize he is a relative, practically force him to spend his visit with them. At the same time, they are suspicious of George for asking too many questions and resentful because his family could leave while they couldn't, and also so happy for the arrival of an outsider that his visit is treated as a major stop-the-presses Event. Several parties are planned in George's honor so that all the aunts and cousins and neighbors in the area can meet him.
I can easily understand why Schoeman didn't get into just what caused the whites to flee, in what has been called a South African "1984", otherwise the book would never have been published in his homeland of South Africa. On the other hand, I was waiting for the story to get interesting, to make me want to keep reading. Up until the last few pages, I was still waiting.
Set in the indeterminate present, this takes place in a South Africa where whites have totally lost control of the country, leading to the undefined "troubles", forcing all whites who could leave permanently to do so. Those that remain are increasingly bitter and suspicious of strangers, and still have no idea how they lost the country.
George, member of a family who did leave, returns to South Africa because his grandmother has died, and he must dispose of the abandoned family estate. He runs into some neighbors, who, when they realize he is a relative, practically force him to spend his visit with them. At the same time, they are suspicious of George for asking too many questions and resentful because his family could leave while they couldn't, and also so happy for the arrival of an outsider that his visit is treated as a major stop-the-presses Event. Several parties are planned in George's honor so that all the aunts and cousins and neighbors in the area can meet him.
I can easily understand why Schoeman didn't get into just what caused the whites to flee, in what has been called a South African "1984", otherwise the book would never have been published in his homeland of South Africa. On the other hand, I was waiting for the story to get interesting, to make me want to keep reading. Up until the last few pages, I was still waiting.
Capitalism vs. Capitalism
Capitalism vs Capitalism: How America's Obsession With Individual Achievement and Short-Term Profit Has Led It To The Brink of Collapse, Michel Albert, Four Walls Eight Windows Press, 1993
The subtitle gives the main idea behind this book. Albert,a high-level French businessman, looked at post-Reagan America and found huge deficits, high unemployment, a banking system that can best be described as very ill, a country where the focus is on individual achievement and where long-term business planning is next quarter. Albert then looked at Europe (minus England) and Japan and found societies much more focused on group achievement and collective consensus. In these countries, there is more emphasis on making use of all members of society, whether or not they go to college, and of making sure no one gets left behind.
A person would think that the European "Rhine model" system would be on the rise and the American "supply side" system would be less popular around the world. Just the opposite is true.
One doesn't have to be an economist to "get" this book. It's very easy to read and is another voice saying that supply side economics is not necessarily all its cracked up to be.
The subtitle gives the main idea behind this book. Albert,a high-level French businessman, looked at post-Reagan America and found huge deficits, high unemployment, a banking system that can best be described as very ill, a country where the focus is on individual achievement and where long-term business planning is next quarter. Albert then looked at Europe (minus England) and Japan and found societies much more focused on group achievement and collective consensus. In these countries, there is more emphasis on making use of all members of society, whether or not they go to college, and of making sure no one gets left behind.
A person would think that the European "Rhine model" system would be on the rise and the American "supply side" system would be less popular around the world. Just the opposite is true.
One doesn't have to be an economist to "get" this book. It's very easy to read and is another voice saying that supply side economics is not necessarily all its cracked up to be.
A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World
A Girl's Guide to Taking Over The World: Writings From The Girl Zine Revolution, Karen Green and Tristan Taormino (ed.), St. Martin's Griffin, 1997
This is another book looking at the "zine revolution," recently discovered by the mainstream media. Green and Taormino concentrate less on the graphics and more on the writing; as well they should, because this bok is full of honest, forthright, even painful, writing by girls and young women from all social classes and all parts of the country. To quote from one zine called Girl Power,"Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you."
Included are excerpts from over 100 different zines (with addresses in the back of the book) on subjects from friends to body image to politics to parents and family to gossip to sex.
Even if this was packaged as an average anthology of girl writing, with all zine references removed, it would still be highly recommended; the writing is that good. It's especially recommended for any girl or young woman who thinks that nobody can understand what she's thinking or felling; someone in this book has been there.
This is another book looking at the "zine revolution," recently discovered by the mainstream media. Green and Taormino concentrate less on the graphics and more on the writing; as well they should, because this bok is full of honest, forthright, even painful, writing by girls and young women from all social classes and all parts of the country. To quote from one zine called Girl Power,"Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you."
Included are excerpts from over 100 different zines (with addresses in the back of the book) on subjects from friends to body image to politics to parents and family to gossip to sex.
Even if this was packaged as an average anthology of girl writing, with all zine references removed, it would still be highly recommended; the writing is that good. It's especially recommended for any girl or young woman who thinks that nobody can understand what she's thinking or felling; someone in this book has been there.
The Trinity Vector
The Trinity Vector, Steve Perry, Ace Books, 1996
This is a science fiction novel that spends most of its time as a very good near future suspense thriller.
Miranda Moon, pagan priestess, comes into possession of a featureless talking silver brick. It truthfully answers nearly any question put to it, except where it comes from, questions like What are tomorrow's Lotto numbers? to Does Heaven really exist? Miranda calls on Huey Long, ex-military and professional courier, to deliver it to her faith's central temple, and let them worry about it. Several people who Really Want the brick get in his way, including henchmen for a shadwoy government intelligence type who plans to use it for his own ends, and a Baptist preacher working with the Jesuits, who plans to bury it permanently (its answer to the question on Heaven was negative).
Long, Moon and her two teenage daughters take the brick's advice and go on the run. Meantime, two other equal parts of the brick appear, one landing each in the hands of the intelligence operative and the preacher. Each piece of the brick tells its owner the exact location of the other pieces, leading to the final confrontation.
Looking at the elements of a good suspense novel, like intrigue, violence, blood, a bit of sex, and wondering who of the main characters won't be around at the end, this book really delivers. It's worth reading.
This is a science fiction novel that spends most of its time as a very good near future suspense thriller.
Miranda Moon, pagan priestess, comes into possession of a featureless talking silver brick. It truthfully answers nearly any question put to it, except where it comes from, questions like What are tomorrow's Lotto numbers? to Does Heaven really exist? Miranda calls on Huey Long, ex-military and professional courier, to deliver it to her faith's central temple, and let them worry about it. Several people who Really Want the brick get in his way, including henchmen for a shadwoy government intelligence type who plans to use it for his own ends, and a Baptist preacher working with the Jesuits, who plans to bury it permanently (its answer to the question on Heaven was negative).
Long, Moon and her two teenage daughters take the brick's advice and go on the run. Meantime, two other equal parts of the brick appear, one landing each in the hands of the intelligence operative and the preacher. Each piece of the brick tells its owner the exact location of the other pieces, leading to the final confrontation.
Looking at the elements of a good suspense novel, like intrigue, violence, blood, a bit of sex, and wondering who of the main characters won't be around at the end, this book really delivers. It's worth reading.
Chicks in Chainmail
Chicks in Chainmail, Esther Friesner (ed.), Baen Books, 1995
This is a group of fantasy stories about women who don't dress or act like male wish-fulfillment fantasies and who can take care of themselves quite nicely without men around. Among the stories are: an attempt to tax bronze bras because they aren't a "necessity", the wives of a king are trained to be a pretty good palace guard, a present day "road rage" story, a female warrior captures the kidnappers of the king's son, with some unintended shapechanging along the way, a woman whose daughter is in a contemporary elementary school gets corralled into taking a bunch of fourth graders on a field trip to her workplace, a medieval world where mathematics has magical powers, and the story of Hillary Clinton in Valhalla.
Get past the sexist-sounding title, which the editor admits is her fault, and this is a group of really good stories about women who don't have to wear chain-mail bikinis or be sorceresses to get some respect. Well worth the reader's time.
This is a group of fantasy stories about women who don't dress or act like male wish-fulfillment fantasies and who can take care of themselves quite nicely without men around. Among the stories are: an attempt to tax bronze bras because they aren't a "necessity", the wives of a king are trained to be a pretty good palace guard, a present day "road rage" story, a female warrior captures the kidnappers of the king's son, with some unintended shapechanging along the way, a woman whose daughter is in a contemporary elementary school gets corralled into taking a bunch of fourth graders on a field trip to her workplace, a medieval world where mathematics has magical powers, and the story of Hillary Clinton in Valhalla.
Get past the sexist-sounding title, which the editor admits is her fault, and this is a group of really good stories about women who don't have to wear chain-mail bikinis or be sorceresses to get some respect. Well worth the reader's time.
In Dubious Battle
In Dubious Battle, John Steinbeck, Bantam Books, 1936
It's picking time in a valley of apple orchards in depression-era California. The migrant workers who are there have been told by the growers that their per-basket wages are to undergo a 25 percent cut. The generalized discontent is helped along into a full-fledged strike by a pair of Communist Party labor activists, Mac, a veteran organizer, and Jim, a new member who has been stepped on one too many times by the system and wants to fight back. The valley is tightly controlled by the apple growers, but the strikers do get help from a smaller grower and his son, who pay dearly for their help. The authorities keep an extremely close eye on the strikers, ready to break up the strike at the slightest excuse.
Is "classic" too strong a word? Not in this case. Steinbeck does an excellent job at putting the reader among common people who are simply trying to earn enough to stay alive, and ask little more than to be treated with respect. Even though this is fiction, it's a very good choice for history classes because of the way it shows that the right to strike in theory and in practice are two very different things.
It's picking time in a valley of apple orchards in depression-era California. The migrant workers who are there have been told by the growers that their per-basket wages are to undergo a 25 percent cut. The generalized discontent is helped along into a full-fledged strike by a pair of Communist Party labor activists, Mac, a veteran organizer, and Jim, a new member who has been stepped on one too many times by the system and wants to fight back. The valley is tightly controlled by the apple growers, but the strikers do get help from a smaller grower and his son, who pay dearly for their help. The authorities keep an extremely close eye on the strikers, ready to break up the strike at the slightest excuse.
Is "classic" too strong a word? Not in this case. Steinbeck does an excellent job at putting the reader among common people who are simply trying to earn enough to stay alive, and ask little more than to be treated with respect. Even though this is fiction, it's a very good choice for history classes because of the way it shows that the right to strike in theory and in practice are two very different things.
Portrait of the Walrus by a Young Artist
Portrait of the Walrus by a Young Artist, Laurie Foos, Coffee House Press, 1997
This is the story of Frances, the teenage daughter of a famous eccentric sculptor who does all his work sealed away in the basement of their Connecticut home wearing only torn briefs. One day he is found dead of dehydration.
Just before her eighteenth birthday, Frances' mother marries a man who owns three bowling alleys in Florida, a man Frances calls "the Kingpin". She tries to lure Frances into the safety of middle class life of pizza and bowling, and away from art and the dementia that took her husband.
Frances is not happy. One day, she and Bessie, their black housekeeper, visit an aquarium where they watch two walruses copulating. Frances can not stop thinking about them. She sees them everywhere, including in her bedroom. Increasingly afraid, the two women take to the open road to escape the walruses, but they are close behind, and gaining.
This book gets increasingly strange as it progresses. It's also fresh, comic, original, and really good.
This is the story of Frances, the teenage daughter of a famous eccentric sculptor who does all his work sealed away in the basement of their Connecticut home wearing only torn briefs. One day he is found dead of dehydration.
Just before her eighteenth birthday, Frances' mother marries a man who owns three bowling alleys in Florida, a man Frances calls "the Kingpin". She tries to lure Frances into the safety of middle class life of pizza and bowling, and away from art and the dementia that took her husband.
Frances is not happy. One day, she and Bessie, their black housekeeper, visit an aquarium where they watch two walruses copulating. Frances can not stop thinking about them. She sees them everywhere, including in her bedroom. Increasingly afraid, the two women take to the open road to escape the walruses, but they are close behind, and gaining.
This book gets increasingly strange as it progresses. It's also fresh, comic, original, and really good.
Am I Thin Enough Yet?
Am I Thin Enough Yet?:The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity, Sharlene Hesse-Biber, Oxford University Press, 1996
This book is about the lengths to which many young women, from all parts of society, will go in an effort to be thin. Everyday, women are given the message that the shape of their bodies is more important than the person inside, and that their only worth as a person is their ability to catch a man.
Skipping the usual psychological explanations for eating disorders, the author points the finger directly at the social, cultural and political forces profiting from women's disastisfaction with their bodies. It ranges from the assertion that the more time women spend worrying about their looks, the less time they'll spend on political activism or getting involved in their child's education to women's magazines full of models that resemble famine victims. Check out the infomercials on weekend cable TV; the vast majority advertise diet plans or exercise machines.
This is a powerful, first-rate piece of writing. It's very readable, and includes a section on what women can do to get away from the Cult of Thinness.
This book is about the lengths to which many young women, from all parts of society, will go in an effort to be thin. Everyday, women are given the message that the shape of their bodies is more important than the person inside, and that their only worth as a person is their ability to catch a man.
Skipping the usual psychological explanations for eating disorders, the author points the finger directly at the social, cultural and political forces profiting from women's disastisfaction with their bodies. It ranges from the assertion that the more time women spend worrying about their looks, the less time they'll spend on political activism or getting involved in their child's education to women's magazines full of models that resemble famine victims. Check out the infomercials on weekend cable TV; the vast majority advertise diet plans or exercise machines.
This is a powerful, first-rate piece of writing. It's very readable, and includes a section on what women can do to get away from the Cult of Thinness.
Minstrels
Minstrels, Michael Hemmingson, Permeable Press, 1997
Albert, an American, has flown to Paris to declare his love for Veronique, whom he met in the US the year before. He gets involved with a terrorist group, and kills one of its members under less than clear circumstances. Albert says it was self-defense; Veronique doesn't agree.
The authorities offer Albert a choice; the elctric chair for murder, or get a miniature TV camera implanted in his left eye (which he lost in the fight). From the outside, it looks like a normal eye; the intention is to get the terrorists, once and for all, and to satisfy the ever-growing hunger among European TV watchers for Reality TV. Veronique is not told about this.
It turns into a tale of hackers, assassins, illicit sex, terrorists, and Veronique joining a goth-synth rock band. While the members play a simple melody in the background, Veronique, the lead singer, makes up the words as she goes along.
This is a really good, very easy to read avant-pop story that's just 90's enough and just weird enough to appeal to most anyone.
Albert, an American, has flown to Paris to declare his love for Veronique, whom he met in the US the year before. He gets involved with a terrorist group, and kills one of its members under less than clear circumstances. Albert says it was self-defense; Veronique doesn't agree.
The authorities offer Albert a choice; the elctric chair for murder, or get a miniature TV camera implanted in his left eye (which he lost in the fight). From the outside, it looks like a normal eye; the intention is to get the terrorists, once and for all, and to satisfy the ever-growing hunger among European TV watchers for Reality TV. Veronique is not told about this.
It turns into a tale of hackers, assassins, illicit sex, terrorists, and Veronique joining a goth-synth rock band. While the members play a simple melody in the background, Veronique, the lead singer, makes up the words as she goes along.
This is a really good, very easy to read avant-pop story that's just 90's enough and just weird enough to appeal to most anyone.
Mathemagics
Mathemagics, Margaret Ball, Baen Books, 1996
This is the fantasy story of Riva Konneva, a woman from the hills of a sword-and-sorcery world called Dazau, who wants to give her daughter a good education. She commutes between there and the Planet of the Paper Pushers (present-day Austin, Texas) where her daughter, Salla, is in sixth grade in a local elementary school.
First, Riva is told that Salla is to be taken out of the school's gifted program and put in the emotionally disturbed class because she shows too much initiative. Salla's father, a wizard, shows up from Dazau with regaining custody on his mind, and ingratiates himself with a local fundamentalist preacher. He causes, using some Dazau magic, a large number of science fiction and romance books (which the preacher considers filth) to disappear from a local bookstore. The books don't just disappear; they travel to Dazau and their main characters come to life.
Salla and a couple of friends travel to Dazau, where math has magical powers, and get into big trouble, requiring rescue by Riva and Dennis, a math teacher at Salla's school, with whom Riva and Salla are living.
Personally, some of the characters were drawn a little too extreme, and it's full of science fiction "in" jokes, where a little goes a long way. This book is in that large gray area of just pretty good.
This is the fantasy story of Riva Konneva, a woman from the hills of a sword-and-sorcery world called Dazau, who wants to give her daughter a good education. She commutes between there and the Planet of the Paper Pushers (present-day Austin, Texas) where her daughter, Salla, is in sixth grade in a local elementary school.
First, Riva is told that Salla is to be taken out of the school's gifted program and put in the emotionally disturbed class because she shows too much initiative. Salla's father, a wizard, shows up from Dazau with regaining custody on his mind, and ingratiates himself with a local fundamentalist preacher. He causes, using some Dazau magic, a large number of science fiction and romance books (which the preacher considers filth) to disappear from a local bookstore. The books don't just disappear; they travel to Dazau and their main characters come to life.
Salla and a couple of friends travel to Dazau, where math has magical powers, and get into big trouble, requiring rescue by Riva and Dennis, a math teacher at Salla's school, with whom Riva and Salla are living.
Personally, some of the characters were drawn a little too extreme, and it's full of science fiction "in" jokes, where a little goes a long way. This book is in that large gray area of just pretty good.
Memoirs of a Spacewoman
Memoirs of a Spacewoman, Naomi Mitchison, Berkley Books, 1962
These are the memoirs of a woman who becomes an intergalactic explorer and communicator with alien species in the far future. It's an exciting profession, but a major drawback is that the distances involved require the crew to be in stasis while in transit. It leads to what's called time blackout, where the subjective period of time for the explorer is much less than the time elapsed back on earth.
Between expeditions, Mary, the woman, has children by several different males. Before going on the next expedition, mothers are expected to stay on earth for at least a year of what's called "stabilization."
Mary meets some interesting beings while exploring. She mediates between a race of innocent caterpillars being telepathically bullied with feelings of shame and unworthiness by a race of butterflies. Among her fellow explorers are Martians who can become either sex, and communicate using sex organs. One of Mary's children comes about through such "communication."
This is a case of a story with some interesting pieces being covered up by very dry, unemotional writing (as, I guess, is customary in memoirs).
These are the memoirs of a woman who becomes an intergalactic explorer and communicator with alien species in the far future. It's an exciting profession, but a major drawback is that the distances involved require the crew to be in stasis while in transit. It leads to what's called time blackout, where the subjective period of time for the explorer is much less than the time elapsed back on earth.
Between expeditions, Mary, the woman, has children by several different males. Before going on the next expedition, mothers are expected to stay on earth for at least a year of what's called "stabilization."
Mary meets some interesting beings while exploring. She mediates between a race of innocent caterpillars being telepathically bullied with feelings of shame and unworthiness by a race of butterflies. Among her fellow explorers are Martians who can become either sex, and communicate using sex organs. One of Mary's children comes about through such "communication."
This is a case of a story with some interesting pieces being covered up by very dry, unemotional writing (as, I guess, is customary in memoirs).
Allergic to the Twentieth Century
Allergic to the Twentieth Century, Peter Radetsky, Little, Brown and Co, 1997
Are you allergic to more than just dust, pollen or animal fur? Do perfumes or common cleaning solvents make you ill? Radetsky has compiled many case histories of people from all over the country who suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or MCS. While the media tends to focus on the extreme cases, those who live in foil-lined trailers, Radetsky looks at those who are forced to make radical changes in their lives. He also explores the various theories as to the cause of MCS, and visits those few doctors willing to treat it, and not dismiss it as unimportant.
MCS sufferers are up against a lot of opposition, according to Radetsky. It ranges from a medical establishment less than convinced that it is real, to a chemical industry using its influence to muddy the waters in Washington, to a veterans Administration who doesn't want to spend the money necessary to actually treat the thousands of sufferers of Gulf War Syndrome.
To those who suffer from MCS, or know someone who does, this book is a Must Read (it also has many addresses in the back of the book). It is also a Must Read for those who are skeptical on the matter; it may just change some minds.
Are you allergic to more than just dust, pollen or animal fur? Do perfumes or common cleaning solvents make you ill? Radetsky has compiled many case histories of people from all over the country who suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, or MCS. While the media tends to focus on the extreme cases, those who live in foil-lined trailers, Radetsky looks at those who are forced to make radical changes in their lives. He also explores the various theories as to the cause of MCS, and visits those few doctors willing to treat it, and not dismiss it as unimportant.
MCS sufferers are up against a lot of opposition, according to Radetsky. It ranges from a medical establishment less than convinced that it is real, to a chemical industry using its influence to muddy the waters in Washington, to a veterans Administration who doesn't want to spend the money necessary to actually treat the thousands of sufferers of Gulf War Syndrome.
To those who suffer from MCS, or know someone who does, this book is a Must Read (it also has many addresses in the back of the book). It is also a Must Read for those who are skeptical on the matter; it may just change some minds.
Camelot 30K
Camelot 30K, Robert L. Forward, Tor Books, 1993
This is a science fiction story about an international manned mission sent to the Oort Cloud (an immense cloud of comets surrounding our solar system, but far beyond Pluto) to investigate signs of life found by earlier unmanned probes. They find an intelligent civilization, with cities, of beings who look like prawns, called keracks. The question for the humans is to find the power source for the civilization, with the only natural light being ambient starlight. The 30K in the title refers to degrees Kelvin, a measure of temperature. Water freezes at 273K.
The humans learn a lot of interesting things about the keracks with the help of Merlene, a kerack wizard from the city of Camalor, including the fact that the city is sitting on a self-created time bomb.
For those who like lots of science with their fiction, Robert Forward is one of the best in the field, and this book is no exception. For everyone else, this book can be skipped.
This is a science fiction story about an international manned mission sent to the Oort Cloud (an immense cloud of comets surrounding our solar system, but far beyond Pluto) to investigate signs of life found by earlier unmanned probes. They find an intelligent civilization, with cities, of beings who look like prawns, called keracks. The question for the humans is to find the power source for the civilization, with the only natural light being ambient starlight. The 30K in the title refers to degrees Kelvin, a measure of temperature. Water freezes at 273K.
The humans learn a lot of interesting things about the keracks with the help of Merlene, a kerack wizard from the city of Camalor, including the fact that the city is sitting on a self-created time bomb.
For those who like lots of science with their fiction, Robert Forward is one of the best in the field, and this book is no exception. For everyone else, this book can be skipped.
Conglomerates and the Media
Conglomerates and The Media, Erik Barnouw (ed.), The New Press, 1997
This is a group of essays on the effects of mergers and conglomerates on the dissemination of news and information. The main point is that the push for corporate profits has become so great that all of contemporary culture, from TV news to newspapers to movies to book publishing, has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, and beyond. Ratings points, and not offending large advertisers, are more important than journalistic integrity.
The Person of the Week segment Friday nights on ABC News is nothing more than a ratings gimmick, because consultants found a ratings drop at that time as people got ready for the weekend. In the publishing industry, which seems to publish only mega best-sellers, weight loss books, or, again, lowest common denominator books, some serious non-fiction books that are getting published are without footnotes or indexes; supposedly, readers are afraid of them.
For those who feel that popular media are not serving their wants and needs, this book gives the details. Rare are the books that deserve a round of applause; this book deserves a round of applause.
This is a group of essays on the effects of mergers and conglomerates on the dissemination of news and information. The main point is that the push for corporate profits has become so great that all of contemporary culture, from TV news to newspapers to movies to book publishing, has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, and beyond. Ratings points, and not offending large advertisers, are more important than journalistic integrity.
The Person of the Week segment Friday nights on ABC News is nothing more than a ratings gimmick, because consultants found a ratings drop at that time as people got ready for the weekend. In the publishing industry, which seems to publish only mega best-sellers, weight loss books, or, again, lowest common denominator books, some serious non-fiction books that are getting published are without footnotes or indexes; supposedly, readers are afraid of them.
For those who feel that popular media are not serving their wants and needs, this book gives the details. Rare are the books that deserve a round of applause; this book deserves a round of applause.
Wizards of Media Oz
Wizards of Media Oz: Behind the Curtain of Mainstream News, Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen, Common Courage Press, 1997
The conservative Heritage Foundation is the most widely quoted think tank in the US media, not because they do such good work, but because they are masters at giving the press what it wants. To bolster claims of a "liberal media", conservatives usually point to a slight Democratic leaning on the part of reporters' personal preferences. But, if a reporter consistently quotes from conservatives in their stories, isn't that more important than their personal choices? Politicians go on and on about how big government is destroying America; big media and big corporations, on the other hand, seem to be good and lead to more choices for the public.
Each subject in this book is given only a couple of pages, so there isn't much chance for details. As an introduction to these issues, however, this book is first-rate and is highly recommended.Here is another collection of syndicated newspaper columns from Solomon and Cohen, both associated with the media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). In it, they explore a whole host of contemporary political and media issues.
The conservative Heritage Foundation is the most widely quoted think tank in the US media, not because they do such good work, but because they are masters at giving the press what it wants. To bolster claims of a "liberal media", conservatives usually point to a slight Democratic leaning on the part of reporters' personal preferences. But, if a reporter consistently quotes from conservatives in their stories, isn't that more important than their personal choices? Politicians go on and on about how big government is destroying America; big media and big corporations, on the other hand, seem to be good and lead to more choices for the public.
Each subject in this book is given only a couple of pages, so there isn't much chance for details. As an introduction to these issues, however, this book is first-rate and is highly recommended.Here is another collection of syndicated newspaper columns from Solomon and Cohen, both associated with the media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). In it, they explore a whole host of contemporary political and media issues.
Dharma Girl
Dharma Girl, Chelsea Cain, Seal Press, 1996
This is the true story of an average young woman living in Oregon with her mother, who, spurred by her mother's cancer diagnosis, embarks on a journey of self-discovery. They drive cross-country to Iowa, looking for the house where they lived in a commune, and where the author was born twenty years previously. The book is half present-day travelogue and half reminiscence, by Cain and her mother, of life in early 70's America; a life of living on odd jobs whenever possible, getting caught by the FBI as a draft dodger and being sentenced to community service; and a frequently changing cast of housemates. Cain and her mother reach the town and find people still living there that they knew back then. Her mother returns to Oregon and Cain stays behind in Iowa, reconnecting with herself.
I wasn't just pleasantly surprised by this book, I was pleasantly shocked. This book is excellent. It's not just an eloquent and moving portrayal of one person's childhood, it also explores two of the most talked about generations in American history.
This is the true story of an average young woman living in Oregon with her mother, who, spurred by her mother's cancer diagnosis, embarks on a journey of self-discovery. They drive cross-country to Iowa, looking for the house where they lived in a commune, and where the author was born twenty years previously. The book is half present-day travelogue and half reminiscence, by Cain and her mother, of life in early 70's America; a life of living on odd jobs whenever possible, getting caught by the FBI as a draft dodger and being sentenced to community service; and a frequently changing cast of housemates. Cain and her mother reach the town and find people still living there that they knew back then. Her mother returns to Oregon and Cain stays behind in Iowa, reconnecting with herself.
I wasn't just pleasantly surprised by this book, I was pleasantly shocked. This book is excellent. It's not just an eloquent and moving portrayal of one person's childhood, it also explores two of the most talked about generations in American history.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Real Majority, Media Minority
Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting, Laura Flanders, Common Courage Press, 1997
Laura Flanders is an associate of the media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting); she writes for their magazine Extra! and hosts their nationally syndicated radio show, Counterspin. This first-rate book collects ten years of articles and interviews on the treatment of women by the mainstream media. While, numerically, there may be more women reporters, and while some women have risen to the top of the media world, like Diane Sawyer and Cokie Roberts, her assertion is that there has been little or no improvement in the treatment of average women by the mainstream media.
Flanders gives plenty of examples. A pundit spectrum that ranges from far right to almost center; the corporate PR campaign against women suffering from breast implant side effects; a welfare debate that shows great concern for children about to be thrown into poverty, but says nothing about women about to be forced into poverty; the Cairo conference on population, which turned into a battle between the Vatican and the Clinton Administration, with women excluded; the almost total lack of coverage of anti-gay and anti-abortion violence.
Flanders does an excellent job at documenting the shoddy treatment women have received by the national media. The writing is clear and eloquent, and leaves no room for misinterpretation. Highly recommended.
Laura Flanders is an associate of the media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting); she writes for their magazine Extra! and hosts their nationally syndicated radio show, Counterspin. This first-rate book collects ten years of articles and interviews on the treatment of women by the mainstream media. While, numerically, there may be more women reporters, and while some women have risen to the top of the media world, like Diane Sawyer and Cokie Roberts, her assertion is that there has been little or no improvement in the treatment of average women by the mainstream media.
Flanders gives plenty of examples. A pundit spectrum that ranges from far right to almost center; the corporate PR campaign against women suffering from breast implant side effects; a welfare debate that shows great concern for children about to be thrown into poverty, but says nothing about women about to be forced into poverty; the Cairo conference on population, which turned into a battle between the Vatican and the Clinton Administration, with women excluded; the almost total lack of coverage of anti-gay and anti-abortion violence.
Flanders does an excellent job at documenting the shoddy treatment women have received by the national media. The writing is clear and eloquent, and leaves no room for misinterpretation. Highly recommended.
City Lights Review #5
City Lights Review #5: War After War, Nancy J. Peters (ed.), City Lights Books, 1992
This is a group of short essays that have an alternative look at the Gulf War as their starting point but travel all over the landscape from there. With contributors like Noam Chomsky, Allan Ginsberg, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Winona LaDuke, the topics in this better-than-excellent anthology include: the slaughter of Iraqi civilians; America searching for a new enemy to replace Communism; a nearly total ignorance of Islam and Arab affairs on the part of Americans; the Patriot missile was not exactly the technical marvel it was said to be (the number of Scud missiles it actually destroyed was closer to zero); a Palestinian perspective on Israeli closures of Gaza and the West Bank written by an American Jew living in the West Bank; and story after story of media manipulation by the US authorities.
This book does a very good job of blowing holes in the story of a grand international coalition coming together under American leadership to defeat this terrible person threatening our way of life. Read the official histories of the Gulf War and the biographies of the major players, then read War After War. It's a real eye-opener.
This is a group of short essays that have an alternative look at the Gulf War as their starting point but travel all over the landscape from there. With contributors like Noam Chomsky, Allan Ginsberg, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Winona LaDuke, the topics in this better-than-excellent anthology include: the slaughter of Iraqi civilians; America searching for a new enemy to replace Communism; a nearly total ignorance of Islam and Arab affairs on the part of Americans; the Patriot missile was not exactly the technical marvel it was said to be (the number of Scud missiles it actually destroyed was closer to zero); a Palestinian perspective on Israeli closures of Gaza and the West Bank written by an American Jew living in the West Bank; and story after story of media manipulation by the US authorities.
This book does a very good job of blowing holes in the story of a grand international coalition coming together under American leadership to defeat this terrible person threatening our way of life. Read the official histories of the Gulf War and the biographies of the major players, then read War After War. It's a real eye-opener.
Ben and Jerry's Double Dip
Ben and Jerry's Double Dip, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Simon and Schuster, 1997
Ben and Jerry, the ice cream guys, explainin this book how they, and anyone, can run a business led by personal values (presumably meaning more than just profit, profit, profit). From the time they opened their first ice cream shop in 1978, one of Cohen and Greenfield's major principles has been to buy from, and give back to, the community as much as possible. This has ranged from buying milk from local dairy farmers to staffing a New York City scoopshop with homeless and ex-homeless people to limiting their first stock offering to Vermont residents as a way of saying thanks. They're also not afraid to talk about those areas of internal operations where they haven't known what they're doing.
What's even better about this book is that Ben and Jerry explain how anyone can bring their values to the forefront in the workplace. It doesn't have to involve a major restructuring to create another Ben and Jerry's, but there are things that anyone can do (start a recycling program at work, buy chlorine-free paper, or buy from an organic coop instead of a corporate food distributor).
I really enjoyed this book. It's easy to read, and has lots of good points that can apply to nearly any business. Well worth reading for progressive activists and hard-nosed business owners.
Ben and Jerry, the ice cream guys, explainin this book how they, and anyone, can run a business led by personal values (presumably meaning more than just profit, profit, profit). From the time they opened their first ice cream shop in 1978, one of Cohen and Greenfield's major principles has been to buy from, and give back to, the community as much as possible. This has ranged from buying milk from local dairy farmers to staffing a New York City scoopshop with homeless and ex-homeless people to limiting their first stock offering to Vermont residents as a way of saying thanks. They're also not afraid to talk about those areas of internal operations where they haven't known what they're doing.
What's even better about this book is that Ben and Jerry explain how anyone can bring their values to the forefront in the workplace. It doesn't have to involve a major restructuring to create another Ben and Jerry's, but there are things that anyone can do (start a recycling program at work, buy chlorine-free paper, or buy from an organic coop instead of a corporate food distributor).
I really enjoyed this book. It's easy to read, and has lots of good points that can apply to nearly any business. Well worth reading for progressive activists and hard-nosed business owners.
Beneath the Wheel
Beneath the Wheel, Hermann Hesse, Bantam Books, 1968
Hans Giebenrath is a very gifted young boy and the pride of his small German town. For many months, he spends hours a day after school cramming for a state-wide academic competition to win a place at Maulbronn Academy, one of the few higher education opportunities available (something like contemporary Japanese college entrance exams).
Hans wins the competition, and at Maulbronn, he meets up with a poetic soul named Heilner who doesn't take all the work, work, work so seriously. They become friends, and Hans begins to see that studying Latin and Greek and math are not all there is to life. Hans's grades and his whole mental and emotional condition don't just sink, they plummet. He barely survives the school year, and doesn't return for a second year.
He becomes apprentice to a local metalsmith (it's either that, or become a clerk somewhere in the state bureaucracy). Hans quickly learns what his life has become; work in a hot, sweaty, repetitive job for six days a week, and get extremely drunk with some co-workers on the seventh day. The book comes to a a sad and abrupt ending.
Said to be a spiritual autobiography, this book is recommended not just because it's an interesting and well-written story, but because it makes some good points about how the educational system feels that ambition and intellect are more important than things like soul and emotion.
Hans Giebenrath is a very gifted young boy and the pride of his small German town. For many months, he spends hours a day after school cramming for a state-wide academic competition to win a place at Maulbronn Academy, one of the few higher education opportunities available (something like contemporary Japanese college entrance exams).
Hans wins the competition, and at Maulbronn, he meets up with a poetic soul named Heilner who doesn't take all the work, work, work so seriously. They become friends, and Hans begins to see that studying Latin and Greek and math are not all there is to life. Hans's grades and his whole mental and emotional condition don't just sink, they plummet. He barely survives the school year, and doesn't return for a second year.
He becomes apprentice to a local metalsmith (it's either that, or become a clerk somewhere in the state bureaucracy). Hans quickly learns what his life has become; work in a hot, sweaty, repetitive job for six days a week, and get extremely drunk with some co-workers on the seventh day. The book comes to a a sad and abrupt ending.
Said to be a spiritual autobiography, this book is recommended not just because it's an interesting and well-written story, but because it makes some good points about how the educational system feels that ambition and intellect are more important than things like soul and emotion.
Reap the Whirlwind
Reap the Whirlwind, C.J. Cherryh and Mercedes Lackey, Baen Books, 1989
Part of a barbarian fantasy series that takes place sometime after the fall of the Roman Empire, it's about the adherents of a religion called the Church of Knowledge. Keeping to themselves in a world of cannons and magic, they keep an uneasy peace with their neighbors.
One day, a group of nomads called the Vredai show up in the area. The first thought is that they are marauders planning to wipe this branch of the Church of Knowledge right off the map. Actually, the Vredai are fleeing a group of real marauders called the Talchai who nearly wiped them off the map.
The two leaders get together, and, realizing that they have a lot to learn from each other, form an alliance and get ready for the coming of the Talchai. But, there are those in both camps who are not happy with the new arrangements, and aim to do something about it.
It's kind of an old concept, and, as I mentioned, it's part of a series, so there isn't an absolute conclusion at the end. But in this particular case, in the hands of two people who know their way around a fantasy novel like Cherryh and Lackey, it works really well.
Part of a barbarian fantasy series that takes place sometime after the fall of the Roman Empire, it's about the adherents of a religion called the Church of Knowledge. Keeping to themselves in a world of cannons and magic, they keep an uneasy peace with their neighbors.
One day, a group of nomads called the Vredai show up in the area. The first thought is that they are marauders planning to wipe this branch of the Church of Knowledge right off the map. Actually, the Vredai are fleeing a group of real marauders called the Talchai who nearly wiped them off the map.
The two leaders get together, and, realizing that they have a lot to learn from each other, form an alliance and get ready for the coming of the Talchai. But, there are those in both camps who are not happy with the new arrangements, and aim to do something about it.
It's kind of an old concept, and, as I mentioned, it's part of a series, so there isn't an absolute conclusion at the end. But in this particular case, in the hands of two people who know their way around a fantasy novel like Cherryh and Lackey, it works really well.
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner, Scott Cunningham, Llewellyn Publications, 1988
Knowing absolutely nothing about Wicca before I started this book, I had no idea what to expect. Cunningham does an admirable job at taking the reader through Wicca, starting with the basics.
Wicca has a simple idea of morality: do what you want, as long as you harm none. Wicca is centered around reverence for nature and acknowledges a supreme power from which the universe sprang, personified into two basic beings: the Goddess and the God. There isn't one holy book which is the same for everyone, just as there isn't a "right" way to worship in Wicca. Everyone is encouraged to find their own path.
Cunningham also includes many rituals to copy or adapt, ranging from simple rituals to be performed at sunrise or sunset each day, to more involved rituals to be performed on certain days of the year.
To those who want to practice Wicca, but don't know where to start, or think that it can only be done as part of a group, this is the book. To those who simply want to learn about another way of looking at the world around them, this is the book.
Knowing absolutely nothing about Wicca before I started this book, I had no idea what to expect. Cunningham does an admirable job at taking the reader through Wicca, starting with the basics.
Wicca has a simple idea of morality: do what you want, as long as you harm none. Wicca is centered around reverence for nature and acknowledges a supreme power from which the universe sprang, personified into two basic beings: the Goddess and the God. There isn't one holy book which is the same for everyone, just as there isn't a "right" way to worship in Wicca. Everyone is encouraged to find their own path.
Cunningham also includes many rituals to copy or adapt, ranging from simple rituals to be performed at sunrise or sunset each day, to more involved rituals to be performed on certain days of the year.
To those who want to practice Wicca, but don't know where to start, or think that it can only be done as part of a group, this is the book. To those who simply want to learn about another way of looking at the world around them, this is the book.
America: Who Stole the Dream?
America: Who Stole the Dream?, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Andrews and McMeel, 1996
Starting life as a multi part series in the Philadelphia Inquirer, this book looks at contemporary America from a neglected perspective: that of middle-class Americans who have been watching their fortunes shrink across the board over the last few years.
The authors, both Pulitzer Prize winners, give many examples of how things have gotten worse for the majority of Americans. There is a government program which allows companies and individuals to hire foreign workers, circumventing the regular immigration process, if it is certified, by the company or individual, that no properly qualified American is available to fill the job. Whether or not a diligent search for a qualified American has actually been undertaken is entirely another matter.
The US is the only country in the world to have a policy of totally free trade and open market access. For the last 20 years, America has had a nearly continuous trade deficit with all the major industrial countries (not combined, but individually) including a trade deficit in computers, supposedly America's economic savior, with China. Most federal job retraining programs, assuming one can get into them, are about at the level of a joke. The chance of getting a job in a new field at anything like one's old wage is slim at best.
For those who are experiencing firsthand the "global economy", and want the details, this is the book. Along with the other two books in this series, America: What Went Wrong? and America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? (both equally recommended), this book forms a devastating chronicle of what has become an America of the rich, by the lobbyists, and for the corporations.
Starting life as a multi part series in the Philadelphia Inquirer, this book looks at contemporary America from a neglected perspective: that of middle-class Americans who have been watching their fortunes shrink across the board over the last few years.
The authors, both Pulitzer Prize winners, give many examples of how things have gotten worse for the majority of Americans. There is a government program which allows companies and individuals to hire foreign workers, circumventing the regular immigration process, if it is certified, by the company or individual, that no properly qualified American is available to fill the job. Whether or not a diligent search for a qualified American has actually been undertaken is entirely another matter.
The US is the only country in the world to have a policy of totally free trade and open market access. For the last 20 years, America has had a nearly continuous trade deficit with all the major industrial countries (not combined, but individually) including a trade deficit in computers, supposedly America's economic savior, with China. Most federal job retraining programs, assuming one can get into them, are about at the level of a joke. The chance of getting a job in a new field at anything like one's old wage is slim at best.
For those who are experiencing firsthand the "global economy", and want the details, this is the book. Along with the other two books in this series, America: What Went Wrong? and America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? (both equally recommended), this book forms a devastating chronicle of what has become an America of the rich, by the lobbyists, and for the corporations.
The Old Gringo
The Old Gringo, Carlos Fuentes, Perennial Library (Harper & Row), 1985
Set during the Mexican Revolution, this is the story of an anonymous American civil war veteran, with something of a death wish, who joins a group of revolutionaries planning to meet up with Pancho Villa. Headed by Tomas Arroyo, the band has recently burned to the ground a hacienda where Arroyo grew up (as one of the workers). The two have a less than happy relationship. Into the mix comes Harriet Winslow, a younger American woman who has come to teach English to the children of the hacienda owner, now gone. The result is a love triangle with tragic consequences all around.
Fuentes does a wonderful job from start to finish with this story. In a world where fiction writing seems to consider sex, violence and car chases more important than characters and storytelling, this novel is a welcome alternative.
Set during the Mexican Revolution, this is the story of an anonymous American civil war veteran, with something of a death wish, who joins a group of revolutionaries planning to meet up with Pancho Villa. Headed by Tomas Arroyo, the band has recently burned to the ground a hacienda where Arroyo grew up (as one of the workers). The two have a less than happy relationship. Into the mix comes Harriet Winslow, a younger American woman who has come to teach English to the children of the hacienda owner, now gone. The result is a love triangle with tragic consequences all around.
Fuentes does a wonderful job from start to finish with this story. In a world where fiction writing seems to consider sex, violence and car chases more important than characters and storytelling, this novel is a welcome alternative.
Go Now
Go Now, Richard Hell, Scribner's (Simon and Schuster), 1996
Billy, a junkie punk musician in New York City, and Chrissa, his sometime girlfriend, are commissioned by a record producer friend to fly to Los Angeles and drive back cross-country in the producer's flame orange '57 DeSoto. The intention is that Billy should do the writing, and Chrissa take pictures of their experiences along the way and turn it into a book (all expenses paid, by the way). This is something which Billy attributes to his never-ending ability to attract good luck.
Billy looks at the world through a filter of drugs, sex, self-hatred and the desire to change his ways. The trip is an emotional roller coaster for both of them. It is never completed, ending sadly and abruptly near Billy's hometown of Lexington, Kentucky.
You know how some books are really good, but they just take a while to get interesting, to get "going"? This book was going from the first page, and didn't stop until the end. I give it a double thumbs-up.
Billy, a junkie punk musician in New York City, and Chrissa, his sometime girlfriend, are commissioned by a record producer friend to fly to Los Angeles and drive back cross-country in the producer's flame orange '57 DeSoto. The intention is that Billy should do the writing, and Chrissa take pictures of their experiences along the way and turn it into a book (all expenses paid, by the way). This is something which Billy attributes to his never-ending ability to attract good luck.
Billy looks at the world through a filter of drugs, sex, self-hatred and the desire to change his ways. The trip is an emotional roller coaster for both of them. It is never completed, ending sadly and abruptly near Billy's hometown of Lexington, Kentucky.
You know how some books are really good, but they just take a while to get interesting, to get "going"? This book was going from the first page, and didn't stop until the end. I give it a double thumbs-up.
Time Dollars
Time Dollars, Edgar Cahn and Jonathan Rowe, Rodale Press, 1992
Time Dollars is a concept that is reviving the spirit of volunteering in America.
Here's an example of how it works. Mary, an elderly person doesn't get around very well, but every day she has a list of other elderly people that she calls on the phone. She calls mostly to gab, but also to make sure that the other person is eating and taking their medicine, and to let them know they haven't been forgotten. Mary reports her hours to the "office" where everyone's hours are tracked on computer. For each call, Mary gets a Time Dollar, to use when she needs help. Each week, Bill drives Mary to the grocery store. Mary uses a Time Dollar and Bill gains one, to be used to get his lawn mowed or his walk shoveled. On and on and on it goes.
The program exists statewide in Michigan and Missouri, and in cities including Ithaca, New York and Miami. The original intent was as a help-the-elderly program, but it doesn't have to stay that way. It can be townwide, and include local stores willing to accept partial payment in Time Dollars, or it can be reduced in scale to just a senior citizens center or condo complex.
This book does a really good job at answering all the questions proponents or opponents might have about Time Dollars. Here is an inspiring look at how to use a vast untapped resource in this society.
Time Dollars is a concept that is reviving the spirit of volunteering in America.
Here's an example of how it works. Mary, an elderly person doesn't get around very well, but every day she has a list of other elderly people that she calls on the phone. She calls mostly to gab, but also to make sure that the other person is eating and taking their medicine, and to let them know they haven't been forgotten. Mary reports her hours to the "office" where everyone's hours are tracked on computer. For each call, Mary gets a Time Dollar, to use when she needs help. Each week, Bill drives Mary to the grocery store. Mary uses a Time Dollar and Bill gains one, to be used to get his lawn mowed or his walk shoveled. On and on and on it goes.
The program exists statewide in Michigan and Missouri, and in cities including Ithaca, New York and Miami. The original intent was as a help-the-elderly program, but it doesn't have to stay that way. It can be townwide, and include local stores willing to accept partial payment in Time Dollars, or it can be reduced in scale to just a senior citizens center or condo complex.
This book does a really good job at answering all the questions proponents or opponents might have about Time Dollars. Here is an inspiring look at how to use a vast untapped resource in this society.
Close-Ups
Close-Ups, Sandra Thompson, Plume Books (New American Library), 1984
This is a group of short stories about the ups and downs of being an '80s independent woman, These are tales of first sex, of having an affair with a man with hypoglycemia, of a woman inviting herself across the country to visit an ex-boyfriend, tales of Hollywood parties, child rearing, a woman wanting to take her dying mother to the beauty parlor, tales that move back and forth over the last 30 years.
With a minimum of hipness and trendiness, Thompson has written a vivid and realistic account of a woman's life. It's a short collection, but eloquent and very much worth reading.
This is a group of short stories about the ups and downs of being an '80s independent woman, These are tales of first sex, of having an affair with a man with hypoglycemia, of a woman inviting herself across the country to visit an ex-boyfriend, tales of Hollywood parties, child rearing, a woman wanting to take her dying mother to the beauty parlor, tales that move back and forth over the last 30 years.
With a minimum of hipness and trendiness, Thompson has written a vivid and realistic account of a woman's life. It's a short collection, but eloquent and very much worth reading.
Breaking the News
Breaking the News: How The Media Undermine American Democracy, James Fallows, Pantheon Books, 1996
To many people, including James Fallows, the problems with the mainstream media are numerous.
The recent huge growth in TV journalist shows like The McLaughlin Group and The Capital Gang have led to more opportunities for reporters to sound like they know something about all the contemporary issues. Much of their knowledge could have been gained from a couple of quick phone calls to someone who actually knows the subject, and could be no bigger than a soundbite. A permanent spot on such shows can lead to seemingly the ultimate journalistic perk--big lecture fees.
President Clinton's Americorps plan for an extra $10,000 for college was received enthusiastically by the public, but was ridiculed by the press, people who think nothing of spending $4000 per year for their child's kindergarten. The press is less interested in explaining how the latest budget proposal, for instance, will affect ordinary Americans than it is in speculating how it will help Congressional Republicans or hurt the Administration. During campaigns, the media spends more time on which candidate is ahead according to the latest polls than looking at what the candidates are actually saying.
All is not doom and gloom, according to Fallows. Some medium-sized newspapers and TV stations have begun to ask the public what kind of stories they would like, and have responded accordingly. The only complaints to this public-service journalism have come from the media old guard.
This is a very interesting and detailed book on a subject that, like it or not, affects all of us. Well worth reading.
To many people, including James Fallows, the problems with the mainstream media are numerous.
The recent huge growth in TV journalist shows like The McLaughlin Group and The Capital Gang have led to more opportunities for reporters to sound like they know something about all the contemporary issues. Much of their knowledge could have been gained from a couple of quick phone calls to someone who actually knows the subject, and could be no bigger than a soundbite. A permanent spot on such shows can lead to seemingly the ultimate journalistic perk--big lecture fees.
President Clinton's Americorps plan for an extra $10,000 for college was received enthusiastically by the public, but was ridiculed by the press, people who think nothing of spending $4000 per year for their child's kindergarten. The press is less interested in explaining how the latest budget proposal, for instance, will affect ordinary Americans than it is in speculating how it will help Congressional Republicans or hurt the Administration. During campaigns, the media spends more time on which candidate is ahead according to the latest polls than looking at what the candidates are actually saying.
All is not doom and gloom, according to Fallows. Some medium-sized newspapers and TV stations have begun to ask the public what kind of stories they would like, and have responded accordingly. The only complaints to this public-service journalism have come from the media old guard.
This is a very interesting and detailed book on a subject that, like it or not, affects all of us. Well worth reading.
Domestic Violence for Beginners
Domestic Violence for Beginners, Alisa del Tufo, Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc, 1995
One would think that domestic violence is not appropriate for what is almost a comic book, but del Tufo does an incredible job with this book. With 15 years of experience helping battered women in New York City, she asserts that there is plenty of social and historical blame to go around. It ranges from a system that places the burden of proof, and the burden to fix the relationship, on the woman, to the theories of Sigmund Freud which say that women have an innate need to be controlled and dominated to religion's desire to keep the family together, sometimes at all costs (to anyone with access to a Bible, read the Book of Judges Chapter 19).
Did you know that the term "rule of thumb" comes from original English law and said that it was legal for a man to beat his wife with a stick as long as that stick was no thicker than his thumb?
Ask a batterer and it's always her fault-she drove him to beat her.
To say that multiple copies of this book belong in every police station, church, therapist's office, synogague and Department of Family Services in America (and that's only for starters) may be the understatement of the year.
One would think that domestic violence is not appropriate for what is almost a comic book, but del Tufo does an incredible job with this book. With 15 years of experience helping battered women in New York City, she asserts that there is plenty of social and historical blame to go around. It ranges from a system that places the burden of proof, and the burden to fix the relationship, on the woman, to the theories of Sigmund Freud which say that women have an innate need to be controlled and dominated to religion's desire to keep the family together, sometimes at all costs (to anyone with access to a Bible, read the Book of Judges Chapter 19).
Did you know that the term "rule of thumb" comes from original English law and said that it was legal for a man to beat his wife with a stick as long as that stick was no thicker than his thumb?
Ask a batterer and it's always her fault-she drove him to beat her.
To say that multiple copies of this book belong in every police station, church, therapist's office, synogague and Department of Family Services in America (and that's only for starters) may be the understatement of the year.
Slippage
Slippage, Harlan Ellison, Mark Ziesing Books, 1997
This is a group of new speculative, or imaginative, fiction stories from Harlan Ellison. Winner of many fiction awards, including lifetime achievement awards from The World Fantasy and World Horror Conventions, and several science fiction Hugo and Nebula awards, Ellison has put together some stories that are not specifically science fiction, fantasy, or horror stories, but a combination of all three, like Twilight Zone stories.
Included are two teleplays, including one that was shown on the '80s Twilight Zone. The other one, which almost made it to TV, is about a male social worker who taunts a couple of inner city children with tales of an anti-Santa Claus named Nackles who will take children away forever. The social worker then gets to meet Nackles in person.
Among the other stories in this book are the story of an ex-Nazi war criminal who is caught alone in a forest and punished, not by a Jew, but by a dryad, a member of the forest people. A black telepath is sent to a southern maximum-security prison to see if a convicted mass murderer is really guilty. A miniature dragon falls in love with its owner; a computer feeds on human blood.
If the $75.00 price tag on this limited edition is a little steep, Houghton Mifflin has published a less expensive edition of this Must Purchase of a book, which I really loved. The stories are fascinating and well done from beginning to end, with that extra little bit of weird. This is one of those books for which the description "first-rate" isn't good enough.
This is a group of new speculative, or imaginative, fiction stories from Harlan Ellison. Winner of many fiction awards, including lifetime achievement awards from The World Fantasy and World Horror Conventions, and several science fiction Hugo and Nebula awards, Ellison has put together some stories that are not specifically science fiction, fantasy, or horror stories, but a combination of all three, like Twilight Zone stories.
Included are two teleplays, including one that was shown on the '80s Twilight Zone. The other one, which almost made it to TV, is about a male social worker who taunts a couple of inner city children with tales of an anti-Santa Claus named Nackles who will take children away forever. The social worker then gets to meet Nackles in person.
Among the other stories in this book are the story of an ex-Nazi war criminal who is caught alone in a forest and punished, not by a Jew, but by a dryad, a member of the forest people. A black telepath is sent to a southern maximum-security prison to see if a convicted mass murderer is really guilty. A miniature dragon falls in love with its owner; a computer feeds on human blood.
If the $75.00 price tag on this limited edition is a little steep, Houghton Mifflin has published a less expensive edition of this Must Purchase of a book, which I really loved. The stories are fascinating and well done from beginning to end, with that extra little bit of weird. This is one of those books for which the description "first-rate" isn't good enough.
The Shattered World
The Shattered World, Michael Reaves, Timescape Books, 1984
This is a fantasy novel that takes place a millenium after the world has been torn apart by an evil sorcerer called the Necromancer. Each of the fragments, measuring a few miles across, retains gravity and atmosphere, and relatively stable orbits around each other, by magic.
Beorn, a master thief, is subject to a werespell that occasionally turns him into a bear. With promises of a cure, he is coerced into stealing a certain Runestone, a fragment's magical power source, by the enchantress Ardatha to be used against her enemy, the sorcerer Pandrogas. The theft goes awry, and it turns into a chase from fragment to fragment before the final end of everything (the only transportation between fragments is by sailing ships made from the bones, skin and tendons of dragons).
This is an interesting book which gets better in the last third of the book, but, ultimately, it isn't enough. This is an above average novel, but just barely above average.
This is a fantasy novel that takes place a millenium after the world has been torn apart by an evil sorcerer called the Necromancer. Each of the fragments, measuring a few miles across, retains gravity and atmosphere, and relatively stable orbits around each other, by magic.
Beorn, a master thief, is subject to a werespell that occasionally turns him into a bear. With promises of a cure, he is coerced into stealing a certain Runestone, a fragment's magical power source, by the enchantress Ardatha to be used against her enemy, the sorcerer Pandrogas. The theft goes awry, and it turns into a chase from fragment to fragment before the final end of everything (the only transportation between fragments is by sailing ships made from the bones, skin and tendons of dragons).
This is an interesting book which gets better in the last third of the book, but, ultimately, it isn't enough. This is an above average novel, but just barely above average.
Bad Girl
Bad Girl, Leslie Hall, Capra Press, 1996
This is a group of what might be called contemporary, life-in-the-90s stories. These are tales of the things that can happen to people living normal, but troubled lives.
Here are a few examples. A woman living alone in an apartment has her clothes stolen out of one of the building's washing machines by the resident strange person, something he has done before. A divorced woman moves to a new city, intending to start over. She stumbles into a relationship with a married man; he says he loves her. He promises to take her on a weekend trip, then, suddenly, no phone calls, no letters from him, nothing. She constantly calls him, wanting to know what's going on. She is the one who gets the police visit with the message, stay away from him or go to jail. A young Hispanic mother does her best to stay away from the baby's father, a member of a local gang. A young juvenile delinquent, feared by most everyone in the neighborhood, becomes a hero when he stops a man who has been exposing himself to schoolgirls waiting at bus stops.
The characters in these stories could live down the street, they could be a relative, they could be anyone; these stories could happen anywhere. This is a really interesting, and eye-opening, bunch of tales, and gets a strong thumbs-up.
This is a group of what might be called contemporary, life-in-the-90s stories. These are tales of the things that can happen to people living normal, but troubled lives.
Here are a few examples. A woman living alone in an apartment has her clothes stolen out of one of the building's washing machines by the resident strange person, something he has done before. A divorced woman moves to a new city, intending to start over. She stumbles into a relationship with a married man; he says he loves her. He promises to take her on a weekend trip, then, suddenly, no phone calls, no letters from him, nothing. She constantly calls him, wanting to know what's going on. She is the one who gets the police visit with the message, stay away from him or go to jail. A young Hispanic mother does her best to stay away from the baby's father, a member of a local gang. A young juvenile delinquent, feared by most everyone in the neighborhood, becomes a hero when he stops a man who has been exposing himself to schoolgirls waiting at bus stops.
The characters in these stories could live down the street, they could be a relative, they could be anyone; these stories could happen anywhere. This is a really interesting, and eye-opening, bunch of tales, and gets a strong thumbs-up.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Not Fade Away
Not Fade Away, Jim Dodge, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987
This is the flashback story of George, a man who grew up as the son of a long-haul trucker and became one himself. After several years, he became convinced to look for another line of work after he lost his driver's license in several states.
George became a tow-truck driver in Beat Generation San Francisco. On the side, he worked for a local criminal named Scumball in an insurance fraud scheme. One day, his assignment is to steal and total a mint condition, white, '59 Cadillac Eldorado. The original owner had died, and her son had lots of gambling debts. In the glove compartment, George finds a letter in which the woman was planning to ship the car to Texas as a gift to J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper).
George sets off on a cross-country quest to deliver the car to Richardson's grave, and there set it on fire as an offering to the spirits of love and music. Scumball is not happy.
He meets many interesting people along the way, including an ex-con street preacher planning to start his own church, and a traveling salesman who buys and sells souls.
When he almost reaches Richardson's grave in Texas, George gets a sudden inspiration. Instead of delivering the car to Texas, he takes a sharp left turn and heads for Clear Lake, Iowa, where Richardson, Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens were killed in a 1959 plane crash.
This is a Great Novel. It is an excellent tale of cars, rock and roll, and life. Dodge has a real way with language and people. Here is one of those rare books that starts off excellent, and goes up from there. I really loved it.
This is the flashback story of George, a man who grew up as the son of a long-haul trucker and became one himself. After several years, he became convinced to look for another line of work after he lost his driver's license in several states.
George became a tow-truck driver in Beat Generation San Francisco. On the side, he worked for a local criminal named Scumball in an insurance fraud scheme. One day, his assignment is to steal and total a mint condition, white, '59 Cadillac Eldorado. The original owner had died, and her son had lots of gambling debts. In the glove compartment, George finds a letter in which the woman was planning to ship the car to Texas as a gift to J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper).
George sets off on a cross-country quest to deliver the car to Richardson's grave, and there set it on fire as an offering to the spirits of love and music. Scumball is not happy.
He meets many interesting people along the way, including an ex-con street preacher planning to start his own church, and a traveling salesman who buys and sells souls.
When he almost reaches Richardson's grave in Texas, George gets a sudden inspiration. Instead of delivering the car to Texas, he takes a sharp left turn and heads for Clear Lake, Iowa, where Richardson, Buddy Holly, and Richie Valens were killed in a 1959 plane crash.
This is a Great Novel. It is an excellent tale of cars, rock and roll, and life. Dodge has a real way with language and people. Here is one of those rare books that starts off excellent, and goes up from there. I really loved it.
Trouble and Her Friends
Trouble and Her Friends, Melissa Scott, Tor Books, 1994
Trouble and Cerise are two of the best cyberspace hackers in the business. When the government cracks down on such activities, Trouble takes off permanently, neglecting to tell Cerise. A few years later, after both have gone legit, someone suddenly appears on the nets, boasting about their (now very illegal) criminal hacking, and using Trouble's name. The authorities get really interested, and turn up the heat on Trouble. She and Cerise get back together, a bit reluctantly, and go searching for the impostor, in the real world, and in cyberspace.
This is a first-rate novel. The cyberspace parts will keep any cyberpunk happy. There is an interesting story in the real world, too, along with excellent characters, especially Trouble and Cerise. You won't go wrong on this one.
Trouble and Cerise are two of the best cyberspace hackers in the business. When the government cracks down on such activities, Trouble takes off permanently, neglecting to tell Cerise. A few years later, after both have gone legit, someone suddenly appears on the nets, boasting about their (now very illegal) criminal hacking, and using Trouble's name. The authorities get really interested, and turn up the heat on Trouble. She and Cerise get back together, a bit reluctantly, and go searching for the impostor, in the real world, and in cyberspace.
This is a first-rate novel. The cyberspace parts will keep any cyberpunk happy. There is an interesting story in the real world, too, along with excellent characters, especially Trouble and Cerise. You won't go wrong on this one.
The Balkan Express
The Balkan Express, Slavenka Drakulic, HarperPerennial, 1993
This is a group of essays about the Yugoslav civil war of the early '90s. While much of the world was hearing about the destruction of Vukovar, the siege of Sarajevo, or ethnic cleansing, Drakulic, a Croatian journalist living in Zagreb, was writing about things like neighbors suddenly turning on each other because they belong to different ethnic groups.
One essay is about her father, a veteran of Tito's partisan army during World War II, who was emotionally changed by the war and never told her about it. Another essay is the story of how it feels to be a refugee, occupying an apartment in Ljubljana of a friend who has fled to France. There is more than one essay about death close up; seeing a report about a shell destroying a house and wondering what the people inside were doing at that moment; seeing a photo of a man with half his head blown away.
If there is such a thing as a list of must-read "reference" books on the effects of modern war away from the front lines, this book should be included on that list. It is filled with passionate and eloquent writing on the tiny ways that war seeps into a person's soul until they are consumed by it.
This is a group of essays about the Yugoslav civil war of the early '90s. While much of the world was hearing about the destruction of Vukovar, the siege of Sarajevo, or ethnic cleansing, Drakulic, a Croatian journalist living in Zagreb, was writing about things like neighbors suddenly turning on each other because they belong to different ethnic groups.
One essay is about her father, a veteran of Tito's partisan army during World War II, who was emotionally changed by the war and never told her about it. Another essay is the story of how it feels to be a refugee, occupying an apartment in Ljubljana of a friend who has fled to France. There is more than one essay about death close up; seeing a report about a shell destroying a house and wondering what the people inside were doing at that moment; seeing a photo of a man with half his head blown away.
If there is such a thing as a list of must-read "reference" books on the effects of modern war away from the front lines, this book should be included on that list. It is filled with passionate and eloquent writing on the tiny ways that war seeps into a person's soul until they are consumed by it.
April Morning
April Morning, Howard Fast, Bantam Books, 1961
This is the story of one day in the life of 15-year-old Adam Cooper, having the usual difficult son/father relationship with his father, Moses, a stubborn man who loves to argue about anything. Taking place in April, 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts, one day word reaches the residents that the British are coming through on their way to a colonists' ammunition dump in Concord. The men of the town gather their weapons and meet the British on the town green hoping to convince them to leave Lexington alone. The British aren't in a talking mood.
When the smoke clears, several men, including Moses, lie dead, and Adam is running for his life with only a hunting musket. He meets up with some survivors from the town, and nearby towns, and over the next 24 hours they all get a crash course in war.
Fast does an excellent job with this book. He really has the reader crouched behind a stone wall, sweaty hands on a musket, never having killed another person before, but knowing that the British are just down the road, and soon it will be them or you. Strongly recommended.
This is the story of one day in the life of 15-year-old Adam Cooper, having the usual difficult son/father relationship with his father, Moses, a stubborn man who loves to argue about anything. Taking place in April, 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts, one day word reaches the residents that the British are coming through on their way to a colonists' ammunition dump in Concord. The men of the town gather their weapons and meet the British on the town green hoping to convince them to leave Lexington alone. The British aren't in a talking mood.
When the smoke clears, several men, including Moses, lie dead, and Adam is running for his life with only a hunting musket. He meets up with some survivors from the town, and nearby towns, and over the next 24 hours they all get a crash course in war.
Fast does an excellent job with this book. He really has the reader crouched behind a stone wall, sweaty hands on a musket, never having killed another person before, but knowing that the British are just down the road, and soon it will be them or you. Strongly recommended.
The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest
The First $20 Million is Always The Hardest, Po Bronson, Random House, 1997
At a Silicon Valley company called Omega Logic, Andy Caspar, a young software tester, wants to become one of the techno-elite. He figures the way to get there is to get involved in a hot project at Omega to build a 686 computer. Instead, through a bit of upper-management maneuvering, he is made project manager on what seems like a bottom-of-the-list project, to build a computer with a $300 price tag.
From the 3D characters to the interesting, easy to read story to the fact that Bronson does a good job at keeping the technical parts from getting too overwhelming so that no special computer knowledge is needed, this is a first-class story for everyone, not just those in the computer field.
At a Silicon Valley company called Omega Logic, Andy Caspar, a young software tester, wants to become one of the techno-elite. He figures the way to get there is to get involved in a hot project at Omega to build a 686 computer. Instead, through a bit of upper-management maneuvering, he is made project manager on what seems like a bottom-of-the-list project, to build a computer with a $300 price tag.
From the 3D characters to the interesting, easy to read story to the fact that Bronson does a good job at keeping the technical parts from getting too overwhelming so that no special computer knowledge is needed, this is a first-class story for everyone, not just those in the computer field.
Harvest the Fire
Harvest the Fire, Poul Anderson, Tor Books, 1995
This is part of a far future series about a poet, Jesse Nicol, living on an Earth whose cultural and literary glory days are in the past. He travels to the moon and falls in love with a Lunarian (a human subspecies) named Falaire. She wishes to escape the rule of the Cybercosm, an intelligent, self-aware, more-than-an-artificial-intelligence system which rules Earth with a benevolent, but iron, hand. She gets Jesse, also a pilot, involved in a plot to hijack the last interplanetary shipment of anti-matter and send it toward a Lunarian asteroid colony. The anti-matter would give the Lunarians enough energy to be permanently independent of the Cybercosm.
This is an excellent story. I have avidly read science fiction for over 20 years, and Anderson is my favorite SF author, so I don't claim to be totally objective or unbiased. Still, the characters are real people, the future society building is well done, and, overall, this novel is writing raised almost to an art form. Well worth reading.
This is part of a far future series about a poet, Jesse Nicol, living on an Earth whose cultural and literary glory days are in the past. He travels to the moon and falls in love with a Lunarian (a human subspecies) named Falaire. She wishes to escape the rule of the Cybercosm, an intelligent, self-aware, more-than-an-artificial-intelligence system which rules Earth with a benevolent, but iron, hand. She gets Jesse, also a pilot, involved in a plot to hijack the last interplanetary shipment of anti-matter and send it toward a Lunarian asteroid colony. The anti-matter would give the Lunarians enough energy to be permanently independent of the Cybercosm.
This is an excellent story. I have avidly read science fiction for over 20 years, and Anderson is my favorite SF author, so I don't claim to be totally objective or unbiased. Still, the characters are real people, the future society building is well done, and, overall, this novel is writing raised almost to an art form. Well worth reading.
When Corporations Rule the World
When Corporations Rule the World, David C. Korten, Kumarian Press and Barrett-Koehler Publishers, 1995
"Economic growth" is one of those indisputable concepts with which everyone is supposed to agree. Seeming to be ranked with God, motherhood and apple pie, economic growth is supposed to provide more, and better paying, jobs for everyone and greater prosperity from one end of society to the other.
But, David Korten, armed with an MBA and PhD from Stanford Business School, and thirty years of overseas experience actually seeing the effects of economic growth, says Not So Fast.
He says that mankind, Americans included, have been using earth's finite resources as if they were infinite. He talks about transnational corporations that may be headquartered in a certain country, but owe their allegiance to whoever has the lowest tax rate. Also mentioned are corporate CEOs who lay off thousands of employees, then are treated as heroes by their boards of directors and Wall Street for their bold leadership.
Korten also has a wonderful metaphor or analogy for life in contemporary America. The first Star Trek series had an episode called "The Cloud Minders". It took place on a planet where the elite lived in a city on a cloud called Stratos where they had the best of everything. The dirty, dangerous ore mining that made Stratos possible took place on the planet surface. The surface dwellers had no opportunity to experience life on Stratos, and the residents of Stratos had no desire to experience life on the surface.
This is a thoroughly researched, easy to read book that easily reaches the level of required reading for everyone. Highly recommended.
"Economic growth" is one of those indisputable concepts with which everyone is supposed to agree. Seeming to be ranked with God, motherhood and apple pie, economic growth is supposed to provide more, and better paying, jobs for everyone and greater prosperity from one end of society to the other.
But, David Korten, armed with an MBA and PhD from Stanford Business School, and thirty years of overseas experience actually seeing the effects of economic growth, says Not So Fast.
He says that mankind, Americans included, have been using earth's finite resources as if they were infinite. He talks about transnational corporations that may be headquartered in a certain country, but owe their allegiance to whoever has the lowest tax rate. Also mentioned are corporate CEOs who lay off thousands of employees, then are treated as heroes by their boards of directors and Wall Street for their bold leadership.
Korten also has a wonderful metaphor or analogy for life in contemporary America. The first Star Trek series had an episode called "The Cloud Minders". It took place on a planet where the elite lived in a city on a cloud called Stratos where they had the best of everything. The dirty, dangerous ore mining that made Stratos possible took place on the planet surface. The surface dwellers had no opportunity to experience life on Stratos, and the residents of Stratos had no desire to experience life on the surface.
This is a thoroughly researched, easy to read book that easily reaches the level of required reading for everyone. Highly recommended.
The Nine Nations of North America
The Nine Nations of North America, Joel Garreau, Avon Books, 1981
The author, a Washington Post reporter. asserts that traditional boundaries in North America like state and national boundaries have become increasingly meaningless as the continent has already broken up into nine separate countries. With names like The Foundry, The Empty Quarter, Ecotopia and MexAmerica, each has its own culture, its own economy, and own way of getting what it wants from its neighbors.
Agreeing, or disagreeing, with any of this is up to the individual reader. This is still a logical, plausible, and fascinating look at a very possible future for America.
The author, a Washington Post reporter. asserts that traditional boundaries in North America like state and national boundaries have become increasingly meaningless as the continent has already broken up into nine separate countries. With names like The Foundry, The Empty Quarter, Ecotopia and MexAmerica, each has its own culture, its own economy, and own way of getting what it wants from its neighbors.
Agreeing, or disagreeing, with any of this is up to the individual reader. This is still a logical, plausible, and fascinating look at a very possible future for America.
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