Walking Man, Tim W. Brown, Bronx River Press, 2008
Written as one of those celebrity tell-all biographies, this novel is about Brian Walker, publisher of the zine Walking Man.
Set in Chicago of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brian seems to have a genetic need to walk everywhere, which he writes about in his zine. He works in the copy room of a downtown law firm, which is a godsend for any zine publisher. He is friends with Tracy Minister, a gorgeous woman who is temping at the firm while she pursues her dream of becoming an actress.
One day, while crossing a downtown street, Brian is already in the crosswalk, when a BMW tries to drive between him and another man also in the crosswalk. In an instinctive reaction, Brian kicks the BMW and dents it. Both men are arrested, then released, and the BMW driver sues Brian for damages. As the case waits for its turn in court, Brian becomes an ardent defender of pedestrian's rights, and a national celebrity.
He goes on a national lecture tour, causing the law firm to terminate his employment. Speaking at college campuses, he gets a positive reception, and sells lots of copies of his zine. Later, Brian travels to a national zine conference in San Francisco, where he also gets a generally positive reception. The exception is when another zine publisher publicly accuses Brian of selling out zinedom's guerrilla, do-it-yourself philosophy. Because of Brian's fame, he can no longer keep up with the demand for Walking Man. It is now printed by a printing company, the cover is 4-color glossy paper, and there is a (gasp) bar code on the back (the mark of the Antichrist in the zine world).
Meantime, Tracy has gotten an acting job. It's in a local production, and it requires her to be naked on stage. That lasts for a few months, then she gets a job as a Production Assistant on a local TV talk show. Brian freaks out, accusing Tracy of being a sellout; they don't see each other for a while. Does Brian stand up for pedestrian's rights by winning his court case (which finally sees the light of day)? Do he and Tracy get back together, and ride off into the proverbial sunset?
Here is a really interesting look inside zine culture; anyone who has ever published a zine will enjoy it. It's also a good story of an average person suddenly thrust into the spotlight.
Showing posts with label brown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brown. Show all posts
Monday, November 5, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Who Will Feed China? Wake-Up Call for a Small Planet
Who Will Feed China? Wake-Up Call For a Small Planet, Lester R. Brown, W.W. Norton, 1995
This book uses China as an example of how the ability of countries to feed their people is going to become a major problem in the next few decades.
Why should the average person care about China's ability to feed itself? When China starts importing grain, in quantities of hundreds of millions of tons, prices around the world are going to rise very dramatically. The world will enter a period of food scarcity, where there simply isn't enough to go around. Political and economic instability will become an issue, not to mention simple survival for much of the Third World.
China has several 'strikes' against it in the area of food production. The vast majority of the land cannot grow anything because it is all mountains and desert. The cultivable land is in the east and south, the same place where the industrialization is happening. All those factories and highways are built on what was farmland. Over three-quarters of the farmland is irrigated, and water is becoming scarce, as the rapidly growing cities make their demands on the water supply. Food production per acre is stagnating or dropping, no matter how much water or fertilizer is used. As China industrializes, its residents are moving up the food chain. No longer content with a rice diet, they are more interested in consuming red meat, which, by itself, takes lots of grain. Underlying all of this is China's rapidly growing population.
This is a fascinating book. The author does not mean to 'pick on' China, but to show that with a growing population worldwide, especially in Asia, and food production stagnant or dropping, something needs to be done now. The alternative is the world's food production and distribution system completely falling apart, with disastrous consequences. This book is short, a very easy read, and it says a lot. It is highly recommended.
This book uses China as an example of how the ability of countries to feed their people is going to become a major problem in the next few decades.
Why should the average person care about China's ability to feed itself? When China starts importing grain, in quantities of hundreds of millions of tons, prices around the world are going to rise very dramatically. The world will enter a period of food scarcity, where there simply isn't enough to go around. Political and economic instability will become an issue, not to mention simple survival for much of the Third World.
China has several 'strikes' against it in the area of food production. The vast majority of the land cannot grow anything because it is all mountains and desert. The cultivable land is in the east and south, the same place where the industrialization is happening. All those factories and highways are built on what was farmland. Over three-quarters of the farmland is irrigated, and water is becoming scarce, as the rapidly growing cities make their demands on the water supply. Food production per acre is stagnating or dropping, no matter how much water or fertilizer is used. As China industrializes, its residents are moving up the food chain. No longer content with a rice diet, they are more interested in consuming red meat, which, by itself, takes lots of grain. Underlying all of this is China's rapidly growing population.
This is a fascinating book. The author does not mean to 'pick on' China, but to show that with a growing population worldwide, especially in Asia, and food production stagnant or dropping, something needs to be done now. The alternative is the world's food production and distribution system completely falling apart, with disastrous consequences. This book is short, a very easy read, and it says a lot. It is highly recommended.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Plowin' Newground
Plowin' Newground, Jerry W. Brown, Dry Bayou Press, 2001
George "Jickie" Jennings is the son of a moonshiner from the Louisiana Bayou. He realizes, early on, that education was his ticket out, so scholarships to Tulane University, then UCLA-Berkeley, lead to him becoming a civilian scientist with the Defense Department. He is called back home when Ersel, his father, is severely injured in an accident.
The relationship between the two can best be described as difficult. During the Great Depression, the family survived as best they could. Some money could be made by, for instance, catching crawfish or helping a neighbor in their garden, and selling to one of the local businesses. Ersel was drunk much too often.
At Tulane, Jickie falls for a woman named Rachel Goodman, who comes from a very religious family. Her brother, David, the man of the family (their father had died), tells Jickie to end the relationship, now, because he isn't Jewish. David even takes Rachel home to Texas, to prevent them from seeing each other. Jickie marries a local girl, but she later dies of cancer. In the early 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement comes to town, in the form of three young people helping the local blacks to register and vote. An attempt by the local Ku Klux Klan to encourage the three to immediately leave turns tragic.
Back to the present, actually the late 1970s, Jickie's bitterness and jadedness comes off as acting like a major jerk. When Ersel wakes up, there is no grand, tearful reunion (the two hadn't spoken to each other in more than 15 years). In fact, they spend most of their time complaining at each other. On the good side, Jickie runs into Rachel, now Ersel's neurosurgeon, and they get back together. As time goes on, the two men spend a lot of time with each other, get a lot of things out in the open, and Jickie begins to start to let go of his pain and bitterness.
The reading may seem rather slow, but, by the end, the reader will realize that they have just finished a great novel. Not only is this an interesting story of a person's life, but one can almost hear and smell the bayou while reading it. This is a fine piece of writing.
George "Jickie" Jennings is the son of a moonshiner from the Louisiana Bayou. He realizes, early on, that education was his ticket out, so scholarships to Tulane University, then UCLA-Berkeley, lead to him becoming a civilian scientist with the Defense Department. He is called back home when Ersel, his father, is severely injured in an accident.
The relationship between the two can best be described as difficult. During the Great Depression, the family survived as best they could. Some money could be made by, for instance, catching crawfish or helping a neighbor in their garden, and selling to one of the local businesses. Ersel was drunk much too often.
At Tulane, Jickie falls for a woman named Rachel Goodman, who comes from a very religious family. Her brother, David, the man of the family (their father had died), tells Jickie to end the relationship, now, because he isn't Jewish. David even takes Rachel home to Texas, to prevent them from seeing each other. Jickie marries a local girl, but she later dies of cancer. In the early 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement comes to town, in the form of three young people helping the local blacks to register and vote. An attempt by the local Ku Klux Klan to encourage the three to immediately leave turns tragic.
Back to the present, actually the late 1970s, Jickie's bitterness and jadedness comes off as acting like a major jerk. When Ersel wakes up, there is no grand, tearful reunion (the two hadn't spoken to each other in more than 15 years). In fact, they spend most of their time complaining at each other. On the good side, Jickie runs into Rachel, now Ersel's neurosurgeon, and they get back together. As time goes on, the two men spend a lot of time with each other, get a lot of things out in the open, and Jickie begins to start to let go of his pain and bitterness.
The reading may seem rather slow, but, by the end, the reader will realize that they have just finished a great novel. Not only is this an interesting story of a person's life, but one can almost hear and smell the bayou while reading it. This is a fine piece of writing.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The Lights in the Sky are Stars
The Lights in the Sky Are Stars, Fredric Brown, E.P. Dutton, 1953
Set at the end of the 20th century, Max Andrews is a starduster, one for whom space travel isn't a cute dream but an obsession. He joined the Air Force, from which space pilots would be chosen, just before the flood of people also wanting to go into space. Max has been in space several times. A freak accident on Venus, just before returning to Earth, has permanently grounded him. Max compensates by becoming one of the best rocket mechanics in the business.
One of Max's friends, M'bassi, is the last of the Masai race (the rest were wiped out by a plague). He is taking a different route into space than Max. Whereas Max wants to send his body into space, followed by his mind, M'bassi wants to send his mind into space, and maybe his body will follow. One day, M'bassi is found lying on the floor of his apartment, successful in his quest.
America has started to explore the solar system, mostly out of fear of the Russians. With communism no longer a threat, and with no other compelling reason to go into space, Max is afraid that the bases on Mars and the Moon will be closed and mankind will retreat back to Earth. Max meets Ellen Gallagher, a newly elected member of the US Senate from California. Her pet project is a bill that would appropriate money to build a rocket to Jupiter. It takes time to get the bill through Congress, and signed by the President. Meantime, Max wants to get started so badly, he is practically jumping out of his skin. Finally, everything is ready.
A political appointee, William Whitlow, is named as Project Director. Max will be Deputy Director, with the day-to-day responsibility. By this time, Max and Ellen have totally fallen for each other, but she does not live to see the start of construction. Whitlow thinks it will take months to find and acquire an appropriate piece of land. A very thick package lands on his desk the next morning, from Max. It's full of pictures, descriptions and legal documents for a perfect piece of land in the American Southwest. Just before construction is actually ready to start, a big and dark secret from Max's past is revealed, one that imperils his participation in the project.
This is a real gem of a book. Anyone for whom space travel is a burning desire needs to read this story. The author does a fine job, and the big, dark secret is a surprise. Very much recommended.
Set at the end of the 20th century, Max Andrews is a starduster, one for whom space travel isn't a cute dream but an obsession. He joined the Air Force, from which space pilots would be chosen, just before the flood of people also wanting to go into space. Max has been in space several times. A freak accident on Venus, just before returning to Earth, has permanently grounded him. Max compensates by becoming one of the best rocket mechanics in the business.
One of Max's friends, M'bassi, is the last of the Masai race (the rest were wiped out by a plague). He is taking a different route into space than Max. Whereas Max wants to send his body into space, followed by his mind, M'bassi wants to send his mind into space, and maybe his body will follow. One day, M'bassi is found lying on the floor of his apartment, successful in his quest.
America has started to explore the solar system, mostly out of fear of the Russians. With communism no longer a threat, and with no other compelling reason to go into space, Max is afraid that the bases on Mars and the Moon will be closed and mankind will retreat back to Earth. Max meets Ellen Gallagher, a newly elected member of the US Senate from California. Her pet project is a bill that would appropriate money to build a rocket to Jupiter. It takes time to get the bill through Congress, and signed by the President. Meantime, Max wants to get started so badly, he is practically jumping out of his skin. Finally, everything is ready.
A political appointee, William Whitlow, is named as Project Director. Max will be Deputy Director, with the day-to-day responsibility. By this time, Max and Ellen have totally fallen for each other, but she does not live to see the start of construction. Whitlow thinks it will take months to find and acquire an appropriate piece of land. A very thick package lands on his desk the next morning, from Max. It's full of pictures, descriptions and legal documents for a perfect piece of land in the American Southwest. Just before construction is actually ready to start, a big and dark secret from Max's past is revealed, one that imperils his participation in the project.
This is a real gem of a book. Anyone for whom space travel is a burning desire needs to read this story. The author does a fine job, and the big, dark secret is a surprise. Very much recommended.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Qualiens: The Prolusion 1
Qualiens: The Prolusion 1, Michael Brown, Xlibris Corporation, 2001
The first of the three connected novellas in this book is about Marland, living in present-day Tucson, Arizona. He is attempting to contact extraterrestrials using a homebrew SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project.
A native of Indiana, he grew up in a very dysfunctional home. A gunshot wound to the head in his youth left him with acalculia, or a problem with numbers. He moved out West, and made it his mission to find aliens. The aliens, called the Qua, come to him through his computer. Marland asks all sorts of questions about science, philosophy, etc.
The second novella is about Leah, living in the same town in Indiana. Leah wants to have a baby very, very much. Problem 1: Leah, a struggling writer, is also a lesbian. Problem 2: Bekke, her lover, took off one day with several major appliances. Leah goes to the Biology Department of the local college, where her father was a professor, under the guise of working on a science fiction story, to ask about reproduction alternatives. She also has a relationship with a male midget involved in a very strange performance of Shakespeare.
The third story is about Connie, a school bus driver, who moved from Indiana to the tourist part of South Carolina with her boyfriend, who then abandoned her. She and her friends, Doris and Stephanie, start to get messages from an unknown source through those CD-ROMs that advertise so many free hours on the Internet. The messages are in the serial numbers that have to be entered in the computer when signing up.
This one is really good. There is a considerable amount of weirdness in it, so it isn't for everyone. These are fine stories of love, and relationships and contemporary life. I am looking forward to the sequel.
The first of the three connected novellas in this book is about Marland, living in present-day Tucson, Arizona. He is attempting to contact extraterrestrials using a homebrew SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project.
A native of Indiana, he grew up in a very dysfunctional home. A gunshot wound to the head in his youth left him with acalculia, or a problem with numbers. He moved out West, and made it his mission to find aliens. The aliens, called the Qua, come to him through his computer. Marland asks all sorts of questions about science, philosophy, etc.
The second novella is about Leah, living in the same town in Indiana. Leah wants to have a baby very, very much. Problem 1: Leah, a struggling writer, is also a lesbian. Problem 2: Bekke, her lover, took off one day with several major appliances. Leah goes to the Biology Department of the local college, where her father was a professor, under the guise of working on a science fiction story, to ask about reproduction alternatives. She also has a relationship with a male midget involved in a very strange performance of Shakespeare.
The third story is about Connie, a school bus driver, who moved from Indiana to the tourist part of South Carolina with her boyfriend, who then abandoned her. She and her friends, Doris and Stephanie, start to get messages from an unknown source through those CD-ROMs that advertise so many free hours on the Internet. The messages are in the serial numbers that have to be entered in the computer when signing up.
This one is really good. There is a considerable amount of weirdness in it, so it isn't for everyone. These are fine stories of love, and relationships and contemporary life. I am looking forward to the sequel.
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.
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