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.
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