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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Lukas has commented on (118) products
The Overstory
by
Richard Powers
Lukas
, January 29, 2019
This is one of the most remarkable novels I've read in the past few years. It all comes down to trees. Winner of the National Book Award.
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Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey
by
Colin Grant
Lukas
, November 16, 2018
"In death I shall be a terror to the foes of Negro liberty. Look for me in the whirlwind or the song of the storm. Look for me all around you."-Marcus Garvey, 1925 A sweeping, absorbing, and well-researched biography of the larger than life Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey, who during his heyday was the most famous black man in the world. Garvey ended up in Harlem and became famous as an orator, writer, and activist and for his back to Africa movement. Colin Grant traces his life from Jamaica to London to Harlem to prison in Atlanta and back to London. He cut a flamboyant figure, often dressing like an army officer, and often clashed with other black leaders, notably the great intellectual W.E.B. DuBois, but no one could doubt his commitment to the uplift of the black race. His career ended ignominiously, as he was convicted of mail fraud, jailed, and then exiled to London. He failed to achieve his goal, but his influence would emerge in the Rastafarian movement, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Power movement. A terrific biography of an extraordinary 20th century figure.
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My Body Is a Book of Rules
by
Elissa Washuta
Lukas
, November 11, 2018
I generally like books that experiment with form and structure and Elissa Washuta's "My Body is a Book of Rules," while billed as a memoir, is much more inventive that the limitations and formulas of the genre. Washuta, a Cowlitz Indian born in New Jersey, writes about culture, race, religion, sex, the body, and education, among other things, in an unflinching and penetrating way that almost dares you to look away. I discovered this on the Powell's list of books for Native American Heritage Month.
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Speak No Evil
by
Uzodinma Iweala
Lukas
, November 04, 2018
Impressive and compassionate book by Nigerian-American writer Uzodinma Iweala ("Beasts of No Nation") about two privileged teens in the D.C. area, Niru, the parent of Nigerian immigrants, and his white friend Meredith. It's both a coming of age story and a coming out story, as Niru realizes he's gay, which is shocking to his conservative parents, especially his imposing father. While the story itself flirts with cliche, the writing, characters, and themes (sexuality, race, cultural, the immigrant experience) are handled with nuance and sympathy. Somewhat interestingly, Iweala splits the narrative between Niru's story and Meredith's story, which I liked.
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"All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans
by
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker
Lukas
, November 01, 2018
"The myth that Indian mascots honor Native Americans, then, appears to be little more than a carefully constructed rationale to justify the maintenance of a system of domination and control." In this short, but packed book, the authors explore (and demolish) common myths/misconceptions about Native Americans, such as "Columbus Discovered America," "Sports Mascots Honor Native Americans," and "Indian Casinos Make Them All Rich." Should be on the syllabus of all high school U.S. history classes.
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Slow Days Fast Company The World The Flesh & LA
by
Eve Babitz
Lukas
, October 23, 2018
This slim book, lovingly reissued by New York Review Books, is a remarkable document of a vanished Los Angeles, a city which is always a bit of a dream, although in a very different way than New York City. Eve Babitz was something of an it girl who designed album covers for the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, played chess naked with Marcel Duchamp, embraced hedonism with charm and wit, and seemed to know just about everyone. This book is billed as a novel but is based on her experiences and written in a sort of deadpan confessional style. Deserves to be as much as an L.A. classic as better know worked by Didion, Chandler, and Bukowski. Also see "Eve's Hollywood."
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Lonely Boy Tales of a Sex Pistol
by
Steve Jones
Lukas
, October 11, 2018
"The Sex Pistols were born to crash and burn, and that's exactly what we did." For a band that was only around for a few years and released only one proper album, the Sex Pistols are one of the most exhaustively documented bands in rock. I think I've seen 4 films about them and read 5 books about them, and I actually prefer the Clash. There's no denying the seismic impact they had on the British punk scene and, really, it begins with them. Lead singer Johnny Rotten (aka John Lydon) has written a book (2 actually), as has erstwhile bassist Glen Matlock, who was unceremoniously booted before the band got huge, so I suppose it was guitarist Steve Jones's turn. Don't look for much insight or depth here, as it's a very shallow account of his life and work. I've read enough of these books to realize that almost all of them follow the same rise-fall-recover trajectory and "Lonely Boy" is no exception. Like so many musicians, he struggled with addictions. But, mostly, it seems like he likes to have sex with "birds." A better title would be "Fancy a Shag?" A far more intellectual and comprehensive look at the band is Jon Savage's essential "England's Dreaming."
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The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border
by
Francisco Cantu
Lukas
, October 09, 2018
"The border's in our blood. . ." It's hard to right about border security and immigration with impartiality. If you're on one side, the border patrol (and ICE) are trigger happy good old boys living out wild west fantasies. If you're on the other, they are the last line of defense between wholesome Americans and the blood thirsty, drug-pushing criminals that are making their way to our border. It's become one of the most contentious political issues of our time. Francisco Cantu brings a unique perspective, as grew up in the Southwest, is Mexican-American, and was border patrol agent. The book, unfortunately, is a little uncertain about what it wants to be. It's a memoir in some ways, but also it's a little bit history, a little bit social commentary, and a little bit discourse on the very complex issues. I liked it and think it's a subject more than worthy of a literary approach, but I wanted something more, something deeper from it, which maybe was an unfair expectation.
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Suicide of the West How the Rebirth of Populism Nationalism & Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy
by
Jonah Goldberg
Lukas
, October 06, 2018
"The rust of human nature is eating away at the Miracle of Western civilization and the American experiment. . .the corruption can only succeed when we willfully, and ungratefully, turn our backs on the principles that brought us out of the muck of human history in the first place." Long enough subtitle for your? If you don't like it, you probably hate America and puppies. Jonah Goldberg, of the National Review and American Enterprise Institute, is familiar to listeners of NPR as the conservative who dislikes Trump and seems like a thoughtful, rational, moderate person. You know, one liberals can actually stand. His writing is a different matter though. His previous book was hilariously titled (Although he's not joking.) "Liberal Fascism." While I do think it's important to engage intellectually with those you disagree with, it can be hard to read a book in which your basic ideology is antithetical to the writer. Goldberg takes aim at liberals and all their evils (multiculturalism, identity politics, socialism, feminism, academia) without really giving credence to their arguments. I mean, attacking Marx is a little passe. As with "Fascism," his main idea is clear but his attempt to carve about an intellectual conservative tradition is uneven, unconvincing, and all over the map. Sigh. There's no point in critiquing something that conservatives will love and liberals will hate. A more rigorous look at the conservative tradition can be found in "The Reactionary Mind."
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Inheritance of Loss
by
Kiran Desai
Lukas
, September 24, 2018
I found this a compelling, sweeping, and moving story that weaves together several storylines and moves back and forth between New York and a village in the Himalayas. Second novel from Kiran Desai, whose mother, Anita Desai, is also an acclaimed novelist.
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Jagannath
by
Karin Tidbeck
Lukas
, September 21, 2018
Very strange, very unsettling, very good stories that are like dark contemporary fairy tales, reminiscent of Neil Gaiman and Angela Carter. Weird tales might be a more accurate description. From Sweden.
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Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo
by
Zora Neale Hurston, Deborah G Plant
Lukas
, September 20, 2018
"All these words from the seller, but not one word from the sold." Remarkable document that was written in 1931 but only recently published. Zora Neale Hurston, best known for her novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," went to Alabama to interview octogenarian Cudjo Lewis, who had been abducted from his home in Africa and sold into slavery. He has a remarkable memory and Hurston presents his account, giving voice to the the millions who were silenced. Presented as a scholarly work, there are notes, appendixes, and introduction, and a forward by Alice Walker, all of which help give it context. A major rediscovery.
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Jacobites Prince Charles Edward Stuart & the 45 Rebellion
by
Jacqueline Riding
Lukas
, September 18, 2018
I really like history, but I had a somewhat imperfect education (Thanks a lot liberal education.), and so there are times I read a book of history and feel more confused than enlightened. I knew the terms/names "Jacobites," "Bonnie Prince Charlie," and "Culloden" without really having a grasp of them. After reading Scot's "Waverley," which is set during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, I picked this book up. Also, I've got some Scottish heritage! It's not the fault of historian/professor Jacqueline Riding that I had trouble following the narrative (So many dukes!), but 500 pages was too much for me. If you're a fan of indie rock, you'll learn where Will Oldham got his nom de rock. Um, yeah, this was a terrible review. Sorry.
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The Mars Room
by
Rachel Kushner
Lukas
, August 29, 2018
Even without reading the comments, I can guess that people are going to have a problem with the protagonist of this novel and the grim subject matter. The main character is a stripper who kills a man and loses custody of her child. Much of the novel is set in a woman's prison (It ain't no "Orange is the New Black."). Good fiction should bring you into contact with characters that you normally wouldn't think about or encounter, and that's exactly what Rachel Kushner's novel does. She's one of our best writers, and this is one of my favorite books of the year. "The Flame Throwers" is equally good.
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67 Shots Kent State & the End of American Innocence
by
Howard Means
Lukas
, August 23, 2018
"These people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize the community. . .They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America, and I want to say they're not going to take over a campus, and the campus is going to be part of the Country and State of Ohio." Ohio Governor James Rhodes on the protest leaders. Even non-Baby Boomers are familiar with what happened at Kent State on May 4th, 1970. A protest on campus turned violent and the National Guard opening fire, killing 4 and wounding 9. It was immortalized by CSN&Y in "Ohio." Howard Means's book compiles interviews and contemporary reports to paint a vivid (and disturbing) portrait of what happened that day. Given the increased militarization of our police force and its often harsh treatment of activists, it's not a story that has lost any of its power or relevance. I do quibble with his subtitle, as I think American Innocence, if there ever was such a thing, had been dead for a long time. Just ask the Native Americans. Also, see "Days of Rage" and "Witness to the Revolution." PS-Future members of Devo were at Kent State during the protests and killings.
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Guest
by
Sok Yong Hwang
Lukas
, August 17, 2018
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There There
by
Tommy Orange
Lukas
, August 12, 2018
"But for Native people in this country, all over the Americas, it's been developed over, buried ancestral land, glass and concrete and wire and steel, unreturnable covered memory. There is no there there." As we reach the twilight of the white male writers (the recent passing of Tom Wolfe and Philip Roth just highlights this.), voices that have too long been left out of the American narrative are finally being heard. Tommy Orange's debut novel follows a handful of Native characters as they all converge on a Pow wow in Oakland. Many of the characters are carrying baggage or scars, whether it's bad relationships, alcoholism, or the history of Native peoples in this country. But the book, while is has intensity and anger, is not despairing. I'll shut up. You should read it.
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Korean War A History
by
Bruce Cumings
Lukas
, August 07, 2018
"The Korean War, more than any other war in modern times, is surrounded by residues and slippages of memory." Given our contentious, high profile relationship with North Korea, there may be renewed interest in the short-lived (At least from our perspective.) Korean War (1950-1953), a war that has never officially ended. Sometimes called "the forgotten war" (At least from our perspective.), it exists dimly in our memory, perhaps best-known in pop culture from "MASH" and the clash between Truman and MacArthur. History Bruce Cumings has written extensively about the war, but this short, yet incredibly illuminating and accessible history is maybe the single best introduction to the subject. Cumings treats it as a civil war that we happened to be involved in for a few years, as well as a clash between communism and democracy, although our vision of democracy in Asia had serious imperialist leanings. What is perhaps most striking about the book is that an American historian makes an effort to understand the perspective of the adversary. There's real nuance and sympathy, which is striking. A book that all Americans should read.
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The Female Persuasion
by
Meg Wolitzer
Lukas
, August 05, 2018
"Women, women, women, all of them sitting patiently in their vulnerability and vanity, sitting there as women did." Although the Brooklyn-born Meg Wolitzer has been publishing novels since the 80s, it was 2013's "The Interestings" that brought her to a wider audience. Her most recent novel, "The Female Persuasion" is firmly of the moment, as we're riding a wave of women novelists with a feminist bent. She's a little older than writers of books like "Asymmetry" and "Conversations with Friends," two name two recent books from a critical female perspective. The story is driven by two feminists of different generations: the older, iconic Faith Frank (Who seems to be at least a little bit based on Gloria Steinem.) and the younger, more idealistic Greer Kadetsky, who hears an inspiring talk by Frank at her college and goes to work for her. The clash between generations of feminists and the compromises that many are forced to make is a fruitful and poignant theme and Wolitzer treats it and her characters with compassion, nuance, and wit. A great book.
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Astral Weeks A Secret History of 1968
by
Ryan H Walsh
Lukas
, August 02, 2018
Could you find me? Would you kiss-a my eyes? To lay me down in silence easy. To be born again. To be born again." Man, I wanted to like this book. Van Morrison's epochal, singular "Astral Weeks" is one my favorite albums and even while I can't stand baby boomers, I'm deeply interested in the myths and follies of the 60s. While Morrison's "Astral Weeks" is a kind of anchor, it's a free ranging, which is too say unfocused and uneven, story of Boston in 1968. Morrison was living there and wrote much of what would be the album during this formative time, the Velvet Underground were frequently playing the Boston Tea Party, a young Jonathan Richman was discovering the band that would change his life. . .But there's more! The Boston Strangler terrorized the city and Tony Curtis would later star in the movie, James Brown calmed the city a few days after MLK's assassination, a Harvard professor named Timothy Leary introduced a generation to LSD, and folk singer turned cult leader Mel Lyman led a druggy commune. It's all interesting stuff, but the author, a musician, can't really pull it all together. More like "Astral Weaks," you know?
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Nine Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
by
Jeffrey Toobin
Lukas
, July 26, 2018
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Man's Fate (La Condition Humaine)
by
Andre Malraux
Lukas
, July 22, 2018
Andre Malraux's life is more interesting than his books. Born in France in 1901, he was involved with the revolutionary movement in China in the 20s (The setting for his most famous novel.), fought with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, and was part of the French Resistance. Like Sartre and Camus he was deeply interested in politics and literature, but he was perhaps much more involved than they ever would be. Later he would be in the French government. "Man's Fate" (La Condition Humaine) is about revolutionaries/terrorists/freedom fighters (take your pick) in 1920s China. It presumes some knowledge of the history and politics (I have none.) and is an example of how didacticism and political messaging don't always work in novel form.
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Stranger In a Strange Land
by
Robert A Heinlein
Lukas
, July 21, 2018
"There was so much to grok, so little to grok from." Classic sci-fi novel from the dean of American science fiction. With its story of a man from Mars preaching a new gospel, who can see why this big with the 60s counterculture. It's entertaining but very much of its time. I'd give it 3 groks up. Also see "Starship Troopers" and "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."
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Sudden Death: A Novel
by
Alvaro Enrigue
Lukas
, July 21, 2018
"The function of a novel is precisely that: to name what is lost, to replace the void with an imaginary archive." Where has this novel been? It came out in 2016, and I haven't heard/read a thing about it; I just happened to pick it up at the library. Mexican author Alvaro Enrigue's debut is a dazzling, darkly funny, and post-modern fun house of a book, effortlessly blending fact and fiction, history and fantasy, and jumping around through time. Sometimes these pomo affectations can be off-putting or pretentious, but Enrigue, working in the rich Borges/Calvino/Eco vein, has an original take on both technique and content. Here are some things this book has: a tennis match in the 16th century involving the artist Carvaggio, Cortez and his Mayan lover, the author writing this book, prostitutes, priests, conquistadors, and sex. Very close to a masterpiece of our time. "As I write, I don't know what this book is about."
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The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
by
Michael Finkel
Lukas
, July 19, 2018
Writer/journalist Michael Finkel's book tells the incredible story of Christopher Knight, who, as young man, disappeared into the Maine woods and lived alone as a "hermit" (a word he rejects) for nearly three decades. Part of his survival was based on stealing, and he was eventually caught and tried. There are echoes of "Into the Wild," although the ending is less bleak, and nature classics like "Walden" (Knight does not think highly of Thoreau.) and Abbey's "Desert Solitaire." It's quite compelling and thoughtful, exploring both man's connection to nature, the rejection of society, and solitude. You might also like "My Abandonment," about a father and daughter living in the woods.
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Virginia Woolf
by
Hermione Lee
Lukas
, July 18, 2018
"On or about December 1910, human nature changed."-Virginia Woolf Mammoth, majestic biography of one of the great literary figures of the 20th century. Hermione Lee, who has also written biographies of Edith Wharton and Penelope Fitzgerald, excels at situating Woolf in the context of her family and her impressive circle of friends and contemporaries (including Katherine Mansfield, E.M. Forster, T.S. Eliot, Lytton Strachey, and Edith Sitwell). Lee also explores Woolf's mental and emotional health. This was in the early days of psychology (She did read Freud.) and Woolf was never officially diagnosed, but struggled with depression and even hearing voices. She walked in to the River Ouse in 1941 at the age of 59 and drowned herself. If anything, her reputation is stronger now than it was during her lifetime, as she has been embraced by feminists (Her "Room of One's Own" is an important text.) and rescued from the male-dominated modernism (Joyce, Eliot, Pound) that dominated the culture. A great biography.
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An American Marriage
by
Tayari Jones
Lukas
, July 14, 2018
Fourth novel by Atlanta-born Tayari Jones. The generic title is a little misleading. A young marriage is thrown into disarray when the husband, a black man, is wrongly accused of rape and imprisoned. On the outside, his wife reconnects with a childhood friend who loves her. A big chunk of it is told through letters while the husband is in prison. The marriage plot is given a fresh treatment and the racial lens makes it more compelling the most books about relationships. In its treatment of family, race, and the South, it reminded me, at times, of "Sing Unburied Sing," which I also really liked.
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Asymmetry
by
Lisa Halliday
Lukas
, July 13, 2018
"This is because politics in imaginative work is like a shot in the middle of a concert. The noise is deafening but it imparts no energy." A woman gets involved with an older writer. An economist is detained at the airport. Year later, the writer is interviewed by the BBC. These are the three stories/sections that make of "Asymmetry," the celebrated the debut novel From Lisa Halliday. I went into this with high expectations but found the characters flat and the story somewhat hard to get into. Two debut novels that I thought were more compelling: "Neon in Daylight" and "Conversations with Friends."
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Neon in Daylight A Novel
by
Hermione Hoby
Lukas
, June 17, 2018
Impressive and incisive debut novel from British-born, New York-based Hermione Hoby. Like a number of young female writers, she is clearing out the dead white male debris and opening up a space for women writers with a strong feminist perspective. That's not to say the novel is didactic or political; it's quite an engaging and enjoyable read. I'd also recommend "Conversations with Friends" and "Asymmetry."
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Flamethrowers
by
Rachel Kushner
Lukas
, May 24, 2018
"You remained the person you were before things happened to you." Rachel Kushner's 2013 novel is one of the more ambitious, daring, and compelling novels of the decade. I don't say that lightly. While we're gradually getting away from the myth of the Great American Novel and the myth of male genius, many of the books that continued to be feted and heralded as masterpieces, from Franzen's egregriously praised novels to "City on Fire" to "The Nix," are conventional male "great novel" books. So it's refreshing to read a book that, while it has a familiar structure, has a distinctive voice and is able to find something new to do with a well-worn genre. There's no point in relating the plot, but those looking for an important and fresh voice in American fiction should pick this up. Her latest novel is about prisons and called "The Mars Room."
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Meet Me in the Bathroom Rebirth & Rock & Roll in New York City
by
Lizzy Goodman
Lukas
, May 15, 2018
"Wait. They don't love you like I love you."-Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps" The early 00's (the aughties?) saw an explosion of guitar-based rock and roll and New York City reclaiming it's position as the epicenter of cool. Sometimes called the rock revival, sometimes called the garage band wave, it was characterized by cool, sharply dressed bands recovering the exuberance and dynamism of punk, new wave, and early rock. With hindsight, it wasn't particularly groundbreaking the way punk or no wave was, but after the awful late 90s era of mook rock, rap rock, and teen pop, it was a breath of fresh air. Lizzy Goodman's book is an extensive oral history of the period and is composed of hundreds of interviews from all the main suspects: the Strokes (whose song gives the book its title), Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, TV on the Radio, the White Stripes (not from NYC), and, um, the Killers. It doesn't offer a lot of context or critical acumen, but it's very entertaining, especially if you were listening to the music during this period. The take away is that everyone did loads of drugs and Ryan Adams was a bad influence.
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Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News
by
Kevin Young
Lukas
, April 06, 2018
"Black bodies, especially male ones, get viewed as weapons-they are not allowed self-defense as society is not quite sure they have a self to defend." New Yorker poetry editor and poet Kevin Young's book is an ambitious, provocative, wide-ranging (and long) exploration of the idea of hoaxes in American history, politics, pop culture, and literature. It was perhaps perfectly suited for this moment of post-truth, fake news, and alternative facts. There are familiar figures like P.T. Barnum, James Frey, Orson Welles, JT LeRoy, and, of course, Donald Trump. What is maybe his most compelling and controversial idea is that race itself is something of a hoax, often exploited by whites. I disagree with the commentator who finds this too "narrow" of a focus, especially given what a huge part race plays in our history and culture. I read this shortly after Kurt Andersen's "Fantasyland" and they have some similarities, but this is by far the more engaging and intelligent book.
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Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
by
Muriel Spark
Lukas
, April 03, 2018
"Not while I am in my prime," she said. "These years are still the years of my prime. It is important to recognize the years of one's prime, always remember that." "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1961) is a short, almost novella length, story about an influential teacher, her students, and her eventual undoing, which still sparkles (pun intended) and shines 60 years later. It was made into a film starring Maggie Smith, for which she won an Oscar, and is on a number of best books of the century lists.
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Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s & the American Political Tradition
by
Linda Gordon
Lukas
, March 02, 2018
I think most people have a fairly monolithic view of the Klan, one consisting of lynchings, cross burnings, and white hoods. In this illuminating new history, NYU professor Linda Gordon, she focuses not on the post-Civil War Klan, which almost exclusively existed to terrify and terrorize blacks, but at the second Klan, which emerged in the 1920s and expanded its targets to include Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and drinkers. Gordon shows how this Klan operated as a fairly respectable social club/fraternal organization (Although there's a whole chapter about women in the Klan.) and drew upon nativism, Christianity, and the temperance movement to fuel its hatred and membership. Though written in a dry, academic style, it's an important history and, sadly, there are far too many contemporary parallels. Oregonians will be shocked and dismayed to find that our liberal utopia had a very strong Klan presence.
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Sympathizer
by
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Lukas
, March 02, 2018
"We're revolutionaries, and revolutionaries can never be innocent. We know too much and have done too much." Impressive and provocative debut novel by Vietnamese-born, American-based writer Viet Thahn Nguyen. There have been so many films and books about Vietnam, but as I was reading this, I realized almost all of those, even anti-war ones, were from the American perspective. So if readers find if "heavy-handed" or lacking in humor or hard to get past page 5 (really?), maybe they're the problem. The book, narrated by a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist agent, is about more than just the war, but about the conflicted relationship between the Vietnamese and the Americans, racial identity, and the effect of politics on the individual (I"m not sure how you write a novel about Vietnam that isn't political.). Nguyen is a vital new voice in fiction and I look forward to reading his latest book, "The Refugees." "Sometimes I dreamed of trying to pull a mask off my face, only to realize that the mask was my face."
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Little Fires Everywhere
by
Celeste Ng
Lukas
, March 02, 2018
A moving and compelling domestic drama that is as tense as a good thriller. Set in the bland, affluent town of Shaker Heights, the novel brings together several families and scrutinizes their flaws and conflicts. While I agree with one commentator that the book doesn't really tie things up neatly, I don't think that's a problem as, frequently, life does not wrap up neatly. The book explores familiar territory (ennui and unhappiness in the suburbs, a la Updike and Cheever), but finds a fresh perspective and gets away from the white maleness that usually dominates in these narratives. A very strong second book from Celeste Ng.
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Show That Never Ends The Rise & Fall of Prog Rock
by
David Weigel
Lukas
, November 02, 2017
"Are you ready to prog rock and roll?!!"-Probably never said by anybody. Songs written in 8/12 time and obscure key signatures, concept albums, ridiculous song titles ("Karn Evil 9: First Impression"), keyboard solos lasting for days, songs lasting for weeks-these are the hallmarks of progressive rock, a genre that thrived in the 1970s and was reviled by many critics and rock fans. Washington Post writer David Weigel thinks this is unfair and sets out to both tell the story and make a case for this much maligned genre. I approached this book as a fan of music books, rather than a fan of prog rock, which I don't have, but certainly have a limited interest in. His defense is that this bands, which include ELP, Yes, Genesis, Rush, and King Crimson, were musical virtuous who dealt in big themes, expanded the boundaries of rock, and worked on an epic canvas. Its detractors find the music pretentious, self-important, and, worst of all, boring. King Crimson probably gets an inordinate amount of space because it's the most respected of the lot (Kanye sampled them!) and Robert Fripp is the most important guitarist in the genre. Weigel writes as a fan, and I wish he'd been a little more critical, as well as willing to explore why almost all of the musicians and fans are white and male. Of the bands, Rush has finally earned some cred and you might want to see the documentary "Beyond the Lighted Stage." Set your keyboards on snooze.
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Golden Hill
by
Francis Spufford
Lukas
, October 06, 2017
Set in mid-1700s New York City, Francis Spufford's "Golden Hill" is an impressive recreation of a long gone age, as well as a tribute to the early British novels of Smollett and Fielding. However, Spufford spends so much time trying to capture the sights, sounds, smells, and language of the period that he neglects the plot and characters. Well, he overplots and the book is half comedy of manners and half thriller without really succeeding at either. English majors might like this. It reminded me of David Liss's books, many of which are also set in the 18th century, although I think his books are far more lively and engaging.
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Existentialism Is a Humanism
by
Jean-Paul Sartre
Lukas
, October 06, 2017
"What we do we mean here by 'existence precedes essence'? We mean that man first exists: he materializes in the world, encounters himself, and only afterward defines himself. If man as existentialists conceive of him cannot be defined, it is because to begin with he is nothing." I'd call this Sartre for dummies, but there's really no such thing. However, it is a short and accessible distillation of his philosophy and certainly far more manageable than his unwieldy magnum opus, "Being and Nothingness." The text is taken from a lecture he gave and this edition also includes a valuable introduction and Sartre's essay on Camus' "The Stranger." Best enjoyed while smoking a Gauloise and sipping espresso.
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The Nix
by
Nathan Hill
Lukas
, September 13, 2017
Another year, another over-hyped, over-praised, over-long novel by a white dude (Nothing against white dudes, they've just kinda dominated the literary scene since, well, forever.). Previous entries include "The Art of Fielding," (So boring.) "City on Fire" (So long.), and everything by Jonathan Franzen (So self-important.). Iowan native Nathan Hill's book is really a pretty simple mother and son story, but extended to an unreasonable length so that it seems more substantial than it is. The 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention is the key historical event. Oh, a nix is like some Scandinavian goblin or spirit of mediocre writing.
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Notes of a Native Son
by
James Baldwin, Edward P Jones
Lukas
, September 13, 2017
There's been renewed interest in James Baldwin over the past few years, partly because of the film "I Am Not Your Negro" and partly because his essays about race in America are as relevant, if not more, as when they were written. Baldwin was the rare writer who excelled at both fiction ("Go Tell It On the Mountain," "Giovanni's Room") and essays, the most famous of which is "The Fire Next Time." His voice in these essays is sharp, articulate, quietly angry, and uncompromising about the racial tensions he saw in this country. This collection touches on his biography (the title essay), the protest novel, his experiences in France, where he moved, and the film "Carmen Jones." If you haven't read anything by him, now's a great time to start. Introduction by author Edward P. Jones ("The Known World").
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Mrs Fletcher
by
Tom Perrotta
Lukas
, September 06, 2017
Original title: Milf. Tom Perrotta, who wrote "Little Children" and "Election," is the rare contemporary author who is easy to read, but also substantial. His books aren't exactly comic, but he has a satirist's eye. His latest novel ambitiously attempts (Mostly successfully.) to juggle two different points of view, that of a middle aged divorced woman who likes porn and her boorish, jock son who has a rough first semester at college. Perrotta is a deeply empathetic writer, although the mother is the much more developed and nuanced character. If you haven't read Perrotta, this is a great introduction. Also, make sure to watch the HBO show "The Leftovers," which he co-created and is based on one of his books.
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This Must Be The Place Talking Heads
by
David Bowman
Lukas
, September 06, 2017
"Home is where I want to be, Pick me up and turn me around." According to the book jacket, David Bowan is the biographer that the Talking Heads deserve. Talking Heads are one of my favorite bands, but I'm not sure how accurate that statement is. Bowan offers up a serviceable, occasionally insightful, history and analysis of the band, which is marred by his personal, expressive writing style that, like so many critics, owes something to Lester Bangs. What does emerge that I didn't really know about was the tension between David Byrne and Tina Weymouth. Any Heads fan will enjoy it, even if the band deserves better. I'd also recommend Byrne's book, "How Music Works," and Jonathan Lethem's book on "Fear of Music."
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His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick MacRae
by
Graeme MacRae Burnet
Lukas
, July 19, 2017
I'd call this a murder mystery, but you already know who committed the murders. Set in rural 19th century Scotland, Graeme Macrae Burnet's second novel is interesting because it's presented as a series of historical documents discovered by the author. The longest section is the confession of the young murderer and then there are testimonies from doctors, neighbors, a criminologist, and, finally, the transcript of the trial. It's a dark, involving, and creative novel that does something fresh with familiar elements. A finalist for the Booker Prize in 2016.
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Wolf Whistle Politics The New Misogyny in Public Life Today
by
Naomi Wolf, Diane Wachtell
Lukas
, July 07, 2017
File under: Social activism A very timely book, given who are president is and the current toxic political climate. This collection gathers previously published pieces by notable writers like Naomi Wolf, Jill Lepore, Lindy West, and Gail Collins. It seems the publisher was hasty to get his on the shelves and would have benefited from more careful editing and from some new essays. Still worth reading, if only to get your blood boiling to smash the patriarchy.
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The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell
by
W. Kamau Bell
Lukas
, June 02, 2017
"Every few years, angry white men rebrand themselves as a way to disguise their racism. It my lifetime they have been called the alt-right, the Tea Party, the ‘silent majority.” And when they can’t come up with a new name to change to, they usually just go ‘Aww, screw it ! let’s just call ourselves the Ku Klux Klan again!’” W. Kamau Bell is best-know for his acclaimed, but short-lived show "Totally Biased" and his current CNN show "United Shades of America." He's both a comedian and a social critic, and while I think he's funny, I think he's more influential as the latter and this book is definitely its best when he's dealing with issues of race. Like many comedians' books, it's a loosely connected string of anecdotes and autobiography. It's a breezy read, but a little unfocused. The strongest chapters are the more serious ones, like the show he did with members of the KKK and the one about a racial incident at a Berkeley cafe. I'd also recommend Phoebe Robinson's collection of essays, "You Can't Touch My Hair."
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American War
by
Omar El Akkad
Lukas
, May 18, 2017
"This isn't a story about war. It's about ruin." Ignore the somewhat generic title, this is a provocative and impressive debut from Omar El Akkad, who was born in Egypt, worked in Canada, and now resides in Oregon. Akkad borrows a few tricks from the dystopian fiction playbook, but like most good dystopias, this is about the present, not the future. He imagines a future in which there's been a second Civil War and America is once again divided. It's a grim and violent world of ecological disaster, plagues, collapsed economies, assassinations, drone-darkened skies. More than any other novel I've read in recent years, it captures the dispirited and polarized zeitgeist. I'm not sure what it means that it took a non-American writer to write a book that is plugged into the moment. An early contender for my favorite book of 2017.
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The Givers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age
by
David Callahan
Lukas
, May 15, 2017
David Callahan founded and edits a website called Inside Philanthropy. His new book explores the world of ultra rich philanthropists (he calls many of them "activist philanthropists"), you use their money not just for good, but to influence politics, sway public opinion, and even try to privatize traditionally public institutions (schools, for example). While the book is somewhat blandly written and follows a repetitive format (Here's this rich guy. Here's how he made his money. Here's what he does with his money.), it's well-researched and thought-provoking, raising a key question of whether it's truly democratic to have the 1% wield such enormous power. Familiar figures like Bill Gates, the Koch Brothers, and Mark Zuckerberg are featured, and Callahan follows the money as it works its way into health, education, arts, politics, and more. We learn that the rich are different than us: they have more money, more power, and more influence.
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Divided We Stand The Battle Over Womens Rights & Family Values That Polarized American Politics
by
Marjorie J Spruill
Lukas
, May 12, 2017
Although it's a history, author and professor Majorie J. Spruill's book about women's rights is very much of the moment. Like historian Rick Perlstein ("Nixonland," "The Invisible Bridge"), Spruill writes about the past in a way that illuminates and makes sense of the present, especially of the deep divisions between Left and Right. The bulk of her book takes place in the 70s with the rise of feminism and activists like Gloria Steinem and the subsequent conservative backlash, led by Phyllis Schlafly, who successfully merged religion and politics in a way that still impacts us. While I don't think Spruill can help but be sympathetic to the feminist position, she does try to be fair and balanced. Given how polarized our current climate it is, it is helpful, if depressing, to see how women's rights were, for a time, a bipartisan issue and that the ERA, which was defeated largely due to the efforts of Schlafly and her minions, had strong support. An important book for anyone interested in women's rights (which should be everyone), the historical roots of our split culture, and political history.
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Exit West
by
Mohsin Hamid
Lukas
, May 10, 2017
"Under the drone-crossed sky and in the invisible network of surveillance that radiated from their phones." Fourth novel by the Pakistan-born author of "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." Despite (or maybe because of) the rise in nationalism and isolationism, non-American literature is more important and relevant than ever. Mohsin Hamid's new novel is of the moment without being self-consciously zeitgeist-y. It follows two lovers who flee their war-torn country, spend time as refugees, and then try to adjust to a new life in a new country. It's a book that both creates empathy for those our government is telling us to fear and connects us with another point of view.
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Near to the Wild Heart
by
Clarice Lispector and Alison Entrekin
Lukas
, May 09, 2017
"The dense, dark night was cut down the middle, split into two black blocks of sleep." The celebrated debut novel from the Ukranian-born Brazilian novelist Clarice Lispector. It was published in 1943 when she was in her early 20s. It's something of a rediscovered modernist classic, and it was compared to far better known writers like Joyce and Woolf, although Lispector said she hadn't read them until after publishing the novel. It does have something of their non-linear stream of consciousness style, but also has a voice and a lyricism that is very much its own thing. I can't say I always understood it, but I liked it. The title comes from Joyce: "He was alone, unheeded, near to the wild heart of life."
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Makers & Takers Why Conservatives Work Harder Feel Happier Have Closer Families Take Fewer Drugs Give More Generously Value Hones
by
Peter Schweizer
Lukas
, May 02, 2017
OMG, this is one of the funniest books I have ever. . .Oh, wait, it's not satire? Damn. I think my favorite part of the ridiculous subtitle is "[conservatives] even hug their children more than liberals." It's enough to disagree with the politics of liberals, but their parenting is questioned to. I have no idea who Peter Schweizer is, but this is simply an inane book, dealing in broad stereotypes and sweeping generalizations, that will offend any thoughtful person, regardless of ideology. I'm more leftist than liberal, but it's hilarious that Bill Maher, Garrison Keillor, and Michael Moore are the liberals he trots out to make examples of. I really did try to look at a different political point of view, but this book is horse crap and Schweizer should be ashamed of himself. If you want another absurd book on the problems with liberals, try "Liberal Fascism."
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The Blood of Emmett Till
by
Timothy B. Tyson
Lukas
, May 01, 2017
"Nothing that boy did could ever justify what happened to him."-Carolyn Bryant Donham The story of Emmett Till is well-known: Till, an African-American teenager from Chicago, was visiting relatives in Mississippi and talked to a white woman in a store named Carolyn Bryant. She claimed he said vulgar things to her and, simply on her testimony, he was kidnapped and brutally murdered. His killers went free. Timothy Tyson's new book opens with an interview with Bryant, now repentant and saying that nothing happened, certainly nothing to justify Till's murder. Aside from telling the story in detail, Tyson excels at capturing the racial climate of the time and setting the murder in its social and historical context. A story that should never be forgotten.
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Song Machine Inside the Hit Factory
by
John Seabrook
Lukas
, April 27, 2017
Maybe I'm not the audience for this book. I like music, but usually avoid top 40 and, as the subtitle indicates, this is very much about hit songs, not necessarily good songs. Yet I heard about it from a review in "The Atlantic" and author John Seabrook is a staff writer at "The New Yorker." Seabrook looks at how hit songs are manufactured (yes, that's a deliberate word choice), from the songwriting to the music to the singer to the all important hook. This is less about singers and musicians and more about the producers and songwriters who have the magic touch to create hit after hit. While it has moments of interest, what's missing is any kind of critical voice suggesting that maybe this approach, while creating a successful product, does not create enduring music. I know Seabrook, as a journalist, is presenting rather than interpreting the material, but you have to question his use of phrases like "Pop music changed forever" or "She (Kelly Clarkson) killed them all." There's little offered in the way of a dissenting voice and instead you get a lot of Swedes (seriously) and Dr. Luke, who has recently been in the news for feuding with his protege Kesha. Perhaps unintentionally, Seabrook shows not just how hits are made, but the artistic bankruptcy of singles-driven, producer-based, computer-created music.
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The Refugees
by
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Lukas
, April 27, 2017
"If you're going to bomb a country, his roommate in U-Tapao said, you should at least drink its beer."-"The Americans" Vietnamese-American writer Viet Thanh Nguyen first novel, "The Refugees," was one of the most impressive debuts in recent memories and his second book, a collection of short stories, confirms that he is a vital and distinctive new voice. In my opinion, we're in a twilight of the white male writers moment (All you Jonathans can just retire.) and the future of American fiction belongs to writers like Nguyen, who can approach culture from multiple perspectives and experiences. All the stories here are about both figurative and literal exiles.
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Richard Hell and the Voidoids' Blank Generation
by
Pete Astor
Lukas
, April 20, 2017
"I was saying let me outta here before I was even born."-Richard Hell & the Voidoids, "Blank Generation While not as well known as his NYC punk peers like Talking Heads, Blondie, Ramones, and Television, Richard Hell (nee Meyers) was highly influential in the look, sound, and style of punk, both in American and England. This book, part of the 33 1/3 series, focuses on his 1977 album with the Voivoids, "Blank Generation," which featured the iconic title track and "Love Comes in Spurts." For those unfamiliar with Hell, I'd start with his autobiography, "I Dreamed I was a Very Clean Tramp," and for those unfamiliar with punk, I'd start with "Please Kill Me." This short book doesn't offer much new if you've read those, but it does go a little more in depth about the recording of the album. Author Pete Astor draws on his own experiences with the album, which are helpful, and a lot of critical theory, which is not. At the very least it will make you appreciate "Blank Generation" and its influence a little more.
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Great Place to Have a War America in Laos & the Birth of a Military CIA
by
Joshua Kurlantzick
Lukas
, April 19, 2017
"We only had a minimal understanding of the history, culture, and politics of the people we wanted to aid."-CIA officer working in Laos This is an important book about a neglected and shameful period in American foreign policy: our secret involvement in Laos. It was concurrent with Vietnam and also used the "domino theory" (If one southeast Asian country falls to Communism, they'll all fall.) as a justification. Arming and support the Hmong people, the U.S. fought a proxy war that involved over 580,000 bombing runs, which dropped more than 2 million tons of ordinance, much of which impacted the civilian population. As the subtitle indicates, Kurlantzick, a fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, the book is also about the use of the CIA to fight unconventional wars. It helps if you have some familiarity with the Vietnam War. Other books on the same theme: "Legacy of Ashes" (a history of the C.I.A.) and "Ghost Wars." "They (the CIA) thought that [Laos] was a great place to have a war."-Robert Amory Jr., former CIA deputy director
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CBGB & OMFUG Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock
by
David Byrne
Lukas
, April 18, 2017
"This ain't no Mudd Club or CBGB, I ain't got time for that now."-Talking Heads, "Life During Wartime" The small, scuzzy Bowery club CBGB was nobody's idea of ground zero for a musical revolution, but it became the de facto HQ of NYC punk and is probably the most storied club in rock history. This handsomely put together coffee table is a series of black and white photos and quotes. The early days are obviously the highlight, as every important NY punk band (Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, Television, Richard Hell, Talking Heads) started there. Even after its heyday, it remained an important club for New York and out of town bands, but things get a little shakier in the 90s. You can see the 70s/No Wave lineage of scuzz rockers like Jon Spencer, Pussy Galore, and Royal Trux, but how in the name of Dee Dee Ramone did pictures of bands like Goo Goo Dolls, Bush, and Sum 41 get in here? Is nothing sacred? CBGB met an ignominious end, closing in 2006 and turned into a high-end boutique. There's a "replica" at the Newark airport and the iconic awning is at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It lives on more as a brand (T-shirts, hats, phone cases!) than anything. Still, this book is a reminder of one of the great periods in American music. Introduction by owner/manage Hilly Kristal and afterward by David Bryne.
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On the Road to Armageddon How Evangelicals Became Israels Best Friend
by
Timothy P Weber
Lukas
, April 18, 2017
"We are very pro-Jewish, pro-Israel. I would say evangelicals are the very best friends have in the whole world outside their own family. Evangelicals are more committed to Israel than some of the American Jewish community."-Jerry Falwell As someone who grew up Christian, I never really understood the often rabid pro-Israel position of many evangelical Christians. I knew it had something to do with the end times, but given the history of anti-Semitism in the church and many Christians beliefs that the Jews were responsible for the crucifixion, it always felt a little paradoxical. I was looking for a book that elucidated this, but theologian Timothy Weber's "On the Road to Armageddon," is not quite that book. It's more theological than political and if you're unfamiliar with terms like "dispensationalism" and don't know much about Biblical prophecy, you'll be more confused than illuminated. I'm glad I read it, and the sections on visions of the apocalypse/end times in both history and pop culture were good, but I think the subject still needs a definitive work.
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Twelfth Enchantment
by
David Liss
Lukas
, April 18, 2017
David Liss is the un-crowned king of literary historical fiction. He left Columbia to pursue writing and made his debut with "A Conspiracy of Paper," the first of his novels feature Benjamin Weaver, an 18th century Jewish ex-boxer turned kind of private eye. Aside from being rousing stories, Liss also vividly evokes the time period he writes about and they have a special appeal for English majors who have spent some time with 18th century novels. In "The Twelfth Enchantment," he moves into the 19th century for a story that involves a stolen inheritance, the Luddites, the industrial revolution, a changeling, a magic book, revenants, the supernatural, William Blake, and Lord Byron. If this all sounds like a lot, Liss deftly weaves in the historical aspects with his own fervent imagination. In Lucy Derrick, he creates a heroine who is ever bit as resourceful, intelligent, and well-drawn as his better known Benjamin Weaver. I would love to see this as a mini-series.
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Strangers in Their Own Land Anger & Mourning on the American Right
by
Arlie Russell Hochschild
Lukas
, April 17, 2017
The 2016 election was the election that launched a thousand "what happened?" articles. We're just starting to get the deluge of post-election books. If you were Clinton supporter, you were endlessly chastised to get out of your bubble and your liberal preconceptions and understand the heartland Trump supporters. Oddly, I didn't hear much about rapid xenophobes and gun nuts being told to get out of their bubbles, which are apparently more authentic, however repulsive. "Strangers in Their Own Land" starts as a joke set-up: A Berkeley sociologist walks into a red state. . .Hochschild heads to Louisiana to try and understand the red state mindset in a state that, while heavily invested in and dependent on oil, was also the victim of one of the worst oil spills (the Deepwater Horizon) in history. Hochschild explores this paradox without going too deep, which is one of the book's flaws. She cites Thomas Frank's excellent "What's the Matter with Kansas?" as an inspiration, but she's not as caustic, incisive, and angry as he is. That't not to say it isn't an important book that sheds light on those that left coast elites too often dismiss, but I hardly think it will help bridge the considerable gap in our country.
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Telegraph Avenue
by
Michael Chabon
Lukas
, April 06, 2017
I have read a number of Chabon's books with enjoyment, while remaining somewhat skeptical of the acclaim he routinely receives. He is certainly at the front ranks of the perpetual skirmish over great American novelist (neck and neck with Franzen!), though it is rarely questioned whether he deserves to be there. Like Franzen, he is clearly a master of prose and of the old fashioned narrative novel, but I find both of them lacking something. This sprawling, energetic, multi-racial, intergenerational novel encompasses a small group of friends and family in and around Berkley and touches on family, love, adolescence, geek culture, record collecting and money, among other things. The record store culture will remind some readers of "High Fidelity." It's ambitious in its scope, but falls somewhat flat in its characterization and thematic nuance. You decide whether a chapter long sentence is virtuosic or just showing off. Obama has a cameo.
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Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
by
Trevor Noah
Lukas
, April 06, 2017
South African comedian Trevor Noah seemingly came out of nowhere in 2015 to take over one of the most highly sought out posts in television: hosting "The Daily Show" when Jon Stewart stepped down. These are incredibly big shoes to fill and, while he's struggled, I think he's started to make the show his own, and I appreciate that Stewart went with an unknown. Those expecting his memoir "Born a Crime" are in for a shock. Noah grew in Johannesburg at the end of the apartheid era and experienced racism (he's mixed race), poverty, violence, police brutality, and an abusive stepfather. It's heavy stuff, but Noah avoid self-pity and presents his remarkable childhood in a gritty, unadorned, and compelling manner. It's a good book on its own, but is also casts a different light on Noah and makes his success all the more impressive. Another good book about growing up South African is "Kaffir Boy."
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Sula
by
Toni Morrison
Lukas
, April 03, 2017
Powerful, sometimes violent and unsettling second novel from Toni Morrison. A few commentators noted that they found a characters unsympathetic or sociopathic, but I think that's a limited way to read a novel. Plenty of great characters (Lady Macbeth, Captain Ahab, Milton's Satan) aren't likable. Probably not the Morrison novel to start with, but well worth reading.
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Run of His Life The People v O J Simpson
by
Jeffrey Toobin
Lukas
, April 03, 2017
Jeffrey Toobin strarted covering the O.J. Simpson trial (the so-called trial of the century) for "The New Yorker," which led to this book, originally published in 1996. Thanks to the recent "American Crime Story" series based on the the book, I imagine this will be widely read again. It's a thorough, well-researched, and sober account of a polarizing trial that could've benefited from being a little shorter. The series was mores sympathetic to the prosecution team than Toobin, a former lawyer, is in his account. Toobin's also written about the Supreme Court and Patty Hearst.
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Invisible Bridge The Fall of Nixon & the Rise of Reagan
by
Rick Perlstein
Lukas
, April 03, 2017
Simply put, this is one of the best books I've ever read about politics. It's incredibly well-researched and detailed (Without being boring.), fiercely intelligent, illuminating, and provocative. It forms a sort of trilogy of the modern conservative movement with Rick Perlstein's earlier books, "Before the Storm" (about Barry Goldwater) and "Nixonland." In all of these books, he locates many of the political and social fractures we still experience. "The Invisible Bridge" may be his masterpiece, as it tells a compelling counter-narrative to the mainstream views of Reagan and his ilk. What distinguishes Perstlein and his "Baffler" gang (including the great Thomas Frank) is that they critique both parties, are sardonic, and make history and politics vital and relevant. As the subtitle indicates, this book looks at Nixon's disgrace and the emergence of Reagan (beloved and invoked by Republican and Democrat alike) as the new face of the Republican party in the 80s and an ally to Christian conservatives. In Perlstein's hands, Reagan is less the Great Communicator and scourge of atheistic communism as a chipper cipher who blithely enacted destructive policies. At 800 pages, it's a substantial read, but its energy and with never flags. As with any good history, it makes sense of the present as well as the past. Excellent.
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The Jealous Kind
by
James Lee Burke
Lukas
, March 22, 2017
I think I've read everything by the prolific James Lee Burke and have yet to be disappointed. While he sticks to his strengths (sharply drawn characters, tangled up plots, pungent dialogue, a strong sense of evil and injustice), I never find his books cliched or dull. His latest (as of 3/17) is a little different in that the protagonist is Texas teenager Aaron Holland, who is related to the other Hollands that Burke has written about. It's partly the usual Burke crime sage, but also a coming of age/first love story that reminded me a bit of "The Last Picture Show." But with more death. Although he'll never get much respect from the literati, Burke is one of our great writers.
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Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things Stories
by
J T Leroy, Jeff Feuerzeig
Lukas
, March 09, 2017
"The heart is deceitful about all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it?"-Jeremiah 17:9 If you know anything about JT LeRoy, it's that there is no JT LeRoy. The enigmatic LeRoy was a former teenage hustler and prostitute until it was revealed LeRoy was actually Laura Albert, who had her sister-in-law dress up as LeRoy for public appearances. This is chronicled in the film "Author: The JT LeRoy Story." As with another minor literary scandal (James Frey's liberal use of alternative facts for "A Million Little Pieces"), what's striking it that once the hubbub has died down, you're left with a book that's not that great. A series of interconnected stories about a damaged, teenage mother and her son, the style is transgressive meets dirty realism in a sordid hotel room, where they have drunken and barely consensual sex on stained sheets while the neighbors complain. This new edition includes new stories and a foreword by director Jeff Feuerzeig ("The Devil & Daniel Johnston"). Made into the film by Asia Argento.
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The Ballad of Black Tom
by
Victor Lavalle
Lukas
, March 09, 2017
Part of the burden of loving the highly influential weird tale master H.P. Lovecraft is contending with his virulent racism, which sometimes crept into his stories. This year, we've had two books use Lovecraft as a jumping off point to explore race and racism: Matt Ruff's "Lovecraft Country" and Victor LaValle's "The Ballad of Black Tom." Ruff's book was a little more political, while LaValle's is a little more horror. Both are worth reading, especially if you're familiar with Lovecraft. LaValle reworks a Lovecraft store, but with a black protagonist and Harlem setting.
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Lovecraft Country
by
Matt Ruff
Lukas
, March 09, 2017
As a huge fan of weird tale master H.P. Lovecraft (even as I'm repulsed by his racism), I was really excited for this novel, which transports Lovecraft land to 1950s Jim Crow America. Its novelty is taking a pulp-like plot (which were often written by men with less than progressive views on race and women) and infusing it with a social and political awareness that is often lacking in genre fiction. It's a great idea and while I enjoyed it, I wish it had been a little more successful in blending the two ideas. Still, this is a great read for fans of genre fiction who want something a little different. Great cover too. Cthulthu gives it two screaming tentacles up.
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Girl in a Band
by
Kim Gordon
Lukas
, March 08, 2017
"We're gonna kill the California girls."-Expressway to Yr Skull "When Sonic Youth toured England, journalists took to asking me a single question over and over: 'What's it like to be a girl in a band?'" Even the most casual fan of indie/alternative knows the formidable and massively influential Sonic Youth, who relentlessly pushed the boundaries of rock music for three decades. Their final album was called "The Eternal," and they did seem like they'd go on forever, but, alas, the creative core of the band, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, divorced, effectively dissolving the band. Gordon discovered that Moore, with whom she had a daughter, Coco, had been having an affair. An ignominious and cliched end for such an important band and, of course, devastating for Gordon. Moore was always the too cool for school guitar god, but Gordon was just cool: bass player, feminist, art fan, style icon. Any music fan will enjoy and appreciate her recent memoir, which takes us through her California childhood to the early days of Sonic Youth to the rise of alternative rock to the end of the band and beyond. Gordon is an economical, laconic, and insightful writer, who wears her intelligent, cool, and artiness lightly. There are brief appearances by major figures like Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love (Gordon produced Hole's first album), Neil Young, who took the band on tour, the Beastie Boys, who were also 90s NYC tastemakers, and Sofia Coppola. Gordon is currently making music with a new band Body/Head. "In 1985, when Bad Moon came out, hardcore groups were singing about Ronald Reagan. I wasn't interested in this and preferred to sing about the darkness shimmering beneath the shiny quilt of American pop culture."
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No Wave
by
Marc Masters
Lukas
, March 08, 2017
Emerging from punk, but fiercely independent of it, New York's No Wave movement was both more radical and more short-lived. It coalesced around a small group of bands who were featured on the Brian Eno-produced "No New York" album, which included Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (with Lydia Lunch), Contortions (with James Chance/White), DNA, and Mars. Not everyone was a fan of the album and this important and well-documented history includes every band associated with the scene, as well as filmmakers and actors. The bands included here made some of the more uncompromising and brutal music of the 20th century and while none really made money or, in some cases, much of a career, they were enormously influential on indie/alternative, as well as more avant-garde and noise-based acts. No Wave will always remain a niche taste, but this a a great book for those who know just how important it was. It should have its own soundtrack album.
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Louder Than Hell The Definitive Oral History of Metal
by
Jon Wiederhorn, Katherine Turman
Lukas
, March 08, 2017
"This book goes to 11." You could play a drinking game with every time someone references Spinal Tap. The oral history has become a standard in telling pop culture stories, from SNL to Seattle's grunge scene to MTV. This ambitiously "definitive" history of metal is for those more interested in the "Behind the Music" type tales of debauchery and insanity and it does drag after all. It is amazing how so many of the bands in here followed a similar career arc: early, struggling days, success, excess, crash and eventual recovery (or, in some cases, death). The book starts with Sabbath and works it way through the various major subgenres, including the British New Wave, thrash metal, death metal and the notorious Norwegian black metal scene, which gave us church burnings, murder and suicide. Metal purists may object to an entire chapter on the unfortunate "nu metal" years and current fans will be disappointed that indie metal bands like Baroness, High on Fire, Boris and Sun))) are left out. It's fun, but not very enlightening and many of these guys (and it is almost exclusively guys) come off as total a**holes. A more balanced, historical account of metal is "Sound of the Beast." I give this 2.5 devil horns up. Praise Satan!
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The Story of the Lost Child
by
Elena Ferrante
Lukas
, January 31, 2017
"The order of the world in which we had grown up was dissolving. . .The exploitation of man by man and the logic of maximum profit, which before had been considered an abomination, had returned to become the linchpins of freedom and democracy everywhere." The fourth and final novel of Italian writer Elena Ferrante's sweeping and absorbing Neapolitan Novels. As its heart, it's the story of a friendship, but it touches on politics, family, social issues, writing, and, especially, gender roles and the patriarchy. The somewhat cutesy covers are misleading, as these are novels that are often dark, anger, intense, and politically engaged. Taken as a whole, they are one of the most impressive and compelling literary achievements of the 21st century. And, in an age of short attention span and digital saturation, sitting down with a 4 volume novel is an immersive and deeply satisfying experience. Pour a glass of Italian wine and pick up the first book, "My Brilliant Friend."
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The Sellout
by
Paul Beatty
Lukas
, January 31, 2017
"They say 'pimpin' ain't easy.' Well, neither is slaveholdin'. Like children, dogs, dice, and overpromising politicians, and apparently prostitutes, slaves don't do what you tell them to do."-Paul Beatty, "The Sellout" One of 2016's most acclaimed and provocative books, Paul Beatty's novel "The Sellout" won the Booker and a spot on the NYT Book Review's 10 best books of the year list. Set in the L.A. suburb of Dickens, "The Sellout" is a darkly funny satire of race, racism, and the myth of the post-racial dream of the Obama era. It's a book in which the unnamed narrator tries to re-segrregate schools and bring back slavery. One review below called it a minstrel show, which I don't think is fair. Beatty is self-consciously embracing certain cliches and stereotypes about race and black Americans only to demolish them. Despite its ambition and distinctive, sardonic voice, there was something about it that I found a little hard to get into, which I can't quite put my finger on. Still, I'd recommend this to anyone interested in satire and race relations. I'd also suggest watching Spike Lee's problematic, but fascinating "Bamboozled" for a similar satire of race and racism.
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Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs
by
Douglas Smith
Lukas
, January 31, 2017
You could ask a lot of people about Rasputin and you'd probably get answers about a mad monk who helped bring down the Romanovs and was assassinated. Douglas Smith's exhaustive and exhausting (700 pages plus notes) aims to find the truth behind the myth. It's an Impressive work of scholarship, but I don't if it's meant for a general reader. I lost interest about 300 pages in. There's a lot of interesting material here, but it's not well-edited and the sheer bulk is overwhelming. Again, perhaps it's meant more for the Russian scholar than the average reader
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Devil All the Time
by
Donald Ray Pollock
Lukas
, January 31, 2017
"Arvin didn't know which was worse, the drinking or the praying. As far back as he could remember, it seemed that his father had fought the Devil all the time." Debut novel from Ohioan Donald Ray Pollock, whose still has been called hillbilly gothic, but I prefer white trash noir. Bringing together a range of damaged and disturbing characters, including a serial killer couple, a local sheriff, a fervently religious vet and his son, "The Devil All the Time" plunges you into a very dark, very violent world where, despite the religion theme, God is nowhere to be found. Comparisons to Flannery O'Connor and Cormac McCarthy are common and a few see similarities to Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers," which I think is inaccurate. Stone's film is wildly over the top and bombastic in its "satire" about violence and media. Pollock isn't trying to shock, he simply presents the brutality and nihilism of this world. That said, I think his second novel, "The Heavenly Table," which has more of a conventional crime story is stronger. It's almost too perfect that he grew up in a town called Knockemstiff, which is also the name of his first book, a collection of short stories.
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Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
by
Jane Mayer
Lukas
, January 31, 2017
The subtitle sums it up. A compelling, infuriating, and necessary book written by Jane Mayer, a staff writer at "The New Yorker." While it covers a number of powerful donors, the Koch Brothers emerge as the dark princes of the book (Their father's business ties included Stalin and the Nazis). Thanks to Citizens United, money is speech and is a serious threat to the very fabric of democracy. Every American should read this book.
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How Everything Became War & the Military Became Everything Tales from the Pentagon
by
Rosa Brooks
Lukas
, January 14, 2017
"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you."-Leon Trotsky I didn't judge this book by its cover, but by the provocative title. Unfortunately, the book is unfocused, anecdotal, and lacking a strong thesis. Brooks worked at the Pentagon and is a law professor at Georgetown, but she can't translate her experience into a compelling argument. Rachel Maddow's "Drift" is a better book about the American military in the post-9/11 era.
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On the Nature of Things
by
Lucretius, Frank O Copley
Lukas
, May 11, 2016
While I was dimly aware of the Roman writer, it wasn't until reading Stephen Greenblatt's book about the Renaissance, "The Swerve," that I learned more about him. The book, which takes its title from Lucretius's theory of atomic movement, is centered on the rediscovery of "On the Nature of Things" by a 15th century Florentine. The subtitle of Greenblatt's book is "How the World Became Modern" and for him, Lucretius is not just a great poet, but a radical thinker whose ideas helped man emerge from the dark ages. He, perhaps, overvalues Lucretius's contributions, which isn't to say there aren't some fascinating ideas in here. Lucretius develops both a scientific line of inquiry, using the theory of atoms developed by the Greek Democritus, and a philosophical one, based on Epicurus. The upshot is that all is material, avoiding pain is desirable, and while there are gods, they are in no way involved in our lives. These certainly would have been subversive ideas in their time and at the end of the middle ages, but it does feel more as if Lucretius is synthesizing many ideas rather than offering original thoughts. A compelling and provocative read, nonetheless. Translator Frank O. Copley provides a useful introduction
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How to Live or a Life of Montaigne in One Question & Twenty Attempts at an Answer
by
Sarah Bakewell
Lukas
, March 13, 2016
"Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself." Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a nobleman, a wine-maker, and a government official, but he is remembered for his series of essays, which explored everything from friendship to cannibalism. In these essays, we see glimmers of a distinctive temperament and a probing intelligence that was interested in just about everything. His approach to subjects--idiosyncratic, curious, un-dogmatic--is pretty much the blueprint for the personal essay. Sarah Bakewell's absorbing book is both a biography and a look at Montaigne's philosophy on life. Montaigne emerges as someone who, in an age of fear, violence, and religious fanaticism, was moderate, rational, and open to everything around him. One could do far worse than to try and emulate Montaigne.
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Cold Hand in Mine
by
Robert Aickman
Lukas
, March 11, 2016
I've only recently encountered the work of English writer Robert Aickman (1914-1981) and for fans of unusual horror (he used the term "strange stories), this is a real find. Originally published in 1974, it's 8 unsettling and nuanced stories that while influenced by the "weird tales" of authors like Lovecraft and Ashton Smith, have a uniquely creepy power and mood. It's horror for people who don't really think they like the genre and while there are supernatural elements, they're handled in an understated, naturalistic (well, as naturalistic as you can be) way. If you can, find the version of this with cover by Edward Gorey. I'd suggest pairing this with a warm fire and a cold glass of sherry.
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Scenes Of Clerical Life
by
George Eliot
Lukas
, February 27, 2016
Some poll recently voted George Eliot's "Middlemarch" as the greatest of English novels and, well, it's pretty hard to quibble with it. Born Mary Ann Evans, George Eliot quietly revolutionized fiction by introducing a greater sense of interiority and an enormous feeling of sympathy for her characters. Like her predecessor Jane Austen, much of her work is set in provincial towns and, also like Austen, she's far more incisive and intelligent that she's often given credit for. Published in 1857, "Scenes of Clerical Life" is her first work, made up of three long stories, loosely connected by the title theme. It lacks the scope and depth of "Middlemarch," but her keen grasp of human nature and nuanced portrait of seemingly dull settings are already evident. If you're unfamiliar with Eliot, I'd start with "Silas Marner" or "Mill on the Floss."
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The Meursault Investigation
by
Kamel Daoud
Lukas
, February 23, 2016
Algerian writer Kamel Daoud re-imagines "The Stranger," but looks at it from the native point of view. His main character is the brother of the nameless Arab murdered by Meursault. He audaciously references one of the most famous opening lines of the 20th century: "Mama's still alive today." I recently taught "The Stranger" to high school seniors and I found it interesting to reconsider the novel from the Algerian perspective. If you've read "The Stranger," I think you'll get something out of this.
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A Brief History of Seven Killings
by
Marlon James
Lukas
, February 19, 2016
"This country, this godd*** island, is going to kill us." A sprawling, buzzing, polyphonic novel that spans decades, crossing borders, and gives voice to everyone from gangsters to dead politicians, Marlon James's "A Brief History of Seven Killings" is perhaps the most ambitious book of the last few years. There were other big, important novels last year, like "Purity" and "City on Fire" (Thanks white American novelists!), but this eclipses those books. Starting in Jamaica, where James is from, in 1976, the reader is immersed in the vivid and violent world of Jamaican politics, music, gang wars, and culture. Bob Marley is there as the almost mythic Singer, who was nearly killed in an assassination attempt. James excels at capturing all manner of voices (black, white, male, female, criminal, C.I.A., writer) and creating a fervent, detailed Kingston that breaks through the usual stereotypes (which often reduces the country to reggae, ganja, and beautiful beaches).
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Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink
by
Elvis Costello
Lukas
, February 15, 2016
In recent years, every musician from Carrie Brownstein to Richard Hell has dropped a memoir. Given that Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus) has long been one of the most literate, witty, and verbose songwriters, it's a little surprising he's waited this long to write his autobiography. But here it is, weighing in at a whopping 670 pages. I agree with the other comment: it could've used some judicious editing. That's not to say that Costello isn't an engaging and insightful storyteller, it's just that he tends to ramble, especially towards the end of the book when the quality of his music tappers off. A rabid music fan whose catholic taste embraces everything from jazz to punk, Costello talks about family, other musicians (he's met just about everyone), and, especially, the furious early years of his career, where he recorded and toured with the mighty Attractions. These sections will probably be of most interest to longtime fans. So kick back, put a few records on, and enjoy, but be prepared to skim the last 100 pages. "Well I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused."
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Dont Suck, Dont Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt
by
Kristin Hersh
Lukas
, February 05, 2016
"Those heroes you men were? They were the angels." Vic Chesnutt was something of a cult musician who put out over a dozen albums of cracked, lyrical music that reflected his bleak, but insightful worldview. He was partially paralyzed in a car accident when he was 18 and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, but he was still able to play the guitar. While he never had much mainstream success, other musicians like Michael Stipe, who produced 2 of his albums, and Fugazi were big fans. Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses was good friends and touring mates with Chesnutt and this small, but profound book is about the difficulty of being friends with a brilliant, but hardly easy man. Much of it is dialogue and it does presuppose some familiarity with Chesnutt's life and work. It is a unusually intimate portrait that avoids the rock and roll cliches. Ultimately, it's heartbreaking as Chesnutt, for all his talent, killed himself at the age of 45.
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The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic
by
Jessica Hopper
Lukas
, January 30, 2016
The title's a little misleading but, then again, Hopper is trying to make a point, which she acknowledges. It is a bold statement, but also an indication of the paucity of female music critics in a profession that remains mostly a boys club. The Chicago-based Hopper, who writes for indie bible Pitchfork, compiles her writing from the last decade or so, which touches on the sexism of emo ("Where the Girls Aren't"), emerging rappers (Kendrick, Chance, Chief Keef), female musicians (Cat Power, St. Vincent), R. Kelly's horrible crimes against underage girls, and Hole's "Live Through This." Hopper's a good, observant critic, but too many of the articles feel short and the book is a little uneven. Despite the title, there's not much about the difficulties of being a female critic and the deep-rooted sexism of rock music. Still, it's a valuable addition to rock criticism and an important book for multiple reasons.
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Last Stand Custer Sitting Bull & the Battle of the Little Bighorn
by
Nathaniel Philbrick
Lukas
, January 27, 2016
The Battle of Little Big Horn (or Custer's Last Stand) is one of the closest things we have to an American myth. Custer has alternately been lionized for his courage against the savages and demonized for both his military failures and his war against America's indigenous people. Nathan Philbrick, the author of "Mayflower" and "In the Heart of the Sea," tries to get to the facts in this absorbing, well-researched history (History does contain plenty of description of events, "uncommonreader.") that does as good a job as possible of telling both sides of the story. Iconic figures like Custer, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse are hard to disentangle from legend, but Philbrick humanizes them and puts them in context
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Drinking in America Our Secret History
by
Susan Cheever
Lukas
, January 15, 2016
As somebody whose been known to enjoy a drink (or six!), I enjoy reading books about drinking, both historical ones and recipe ones. I thought this would be about the history of drink in America and, while it is, it also focuses more on the destructive aspects of drinking and the many alcoholics in our history. Given that Cheever is the daughter of a famous writer who struggled with drinking (John Cheever) and is a recovering alcoholic, perhaps this approach is not surprising. It's fitfully interesting, starting with the Pilgrims landing because they were out of beer, going through the Revolution, which was partially planned in taverns, and then coming to a screeching halt with Prohibition, before picking up again and becoming a vice for a President (Nixon). Lots of famous figures float through and there are plenty of good anecdotes, but an uncertain tone and a lack of organization brings it down.
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Hotels of North America
by
Rick Moody
Lukas
, January 15, 2016
Years ago, a review of one of Moody's books began by calling him "the worst writer of his generation." Perhaps as a riposte, the quote on the cover of his latest book proclaims him "one of our best writers" (Washington Post). The time when he was in contention for any kind of writer of his generation (best or worst) has long passed. I first encountered him after watching "The Ice Storm," which is adapted from his novel. I actually thought, in a rare turn, the film was far better than the book. Anyway, I agree with the other reviewer that Moody thinks he's clever and that's maybe the best thing you can say about this book: it's clever. In a very Nabokovian meta turn, Moody presents this as a series of online reviews about hotels that he (Rick Moody) has edited. They're not just about hotels, of course, but about life, love, and all those big things. I like the premise and Moody does express the melancholy of travel, but it becomes monotonous after a while. If you find McSweeney's stuff funny, you'll like this.
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Voss
by
Patrick White
Lukas
, December 31, 2015
"Voss? No. He never was God, though he liked to think he was. Sometimes, when he forgot, he was a man." Originally published in 1957, Patrick White's "Voss" is something of an overlooked classic. Set in 19th century Australia, it's the story of the title character, an imposing German explorer and an innocent young woman named Laura. Voss sets off on an expedition, while Laura waits patiently in Sydney. It's both an unlikely love story and an intense story of adventure and survival. White has a particular, idiosyncratic writing style, which can be both primal and poetic. White won the Nobel Prize in 1973. Introduced by fellow Australian writer Thomas Keneally ("Schindler's List"). Inspired the short-lived Australian sitcom "Whose the Voss?"
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Personal Matter
by
Kenzaburo Oe
Lukas
, December 29, 2015
1969 novel by the Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe about a character named Bird who is having something of life crisis, complicated by the birth of brain damaged son. He deals with it by avoiding his wife and having an affair. Dark, yet ironic, you can see Oe's influence on another Japanese master: Haruki Murakami. Other good Oe books: "Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids" and "Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness."
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Blues & Chaos The Music Writing of Robert Palmer
by
Robert Palmer, Anthony Decurtis
Lukas
, December 19, 2015
"A love of music was more evident in him than in anybody I ever met."-Robbie Robertson (The Band) The late Robert Palmer (not to be confused with the singer) never had as high of a profile as other first generation rock critics (Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Robert Crisco), but he's arguably the most perceptive and passionate of the lot. He's best known for his great book on early blues called "Deep Blues," but this well-chosen and organized collection shows that he had wide ranging interests and wrote with intelligence and nuance about jazz, early rock and roll, world music, and punk. It's a mix of articles, reviews, and interviews with Eric Clapton and William S. Burroughs. Should be on the bookshelf of any serious music fan.
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Vernon God Little
by
D B C Pierre
Lukas
, December 16, 2015
This is by far the worst book I've read all year. It's incoherent, stupid, and ugly. D.B.C. ("dirty but clean" wtf?) Pierre no doubt thinks he's beeing very edgy and topical by dealing with school shootings, underage lust, and the media circus. His supposedly satiric version of America (he's Australian) is so grotesque and ludicrously overwrought as to be unrecognizable. What's more picking small town Texas idiots to make fun of isn't exactly edgy. Pierre seems to have absorbed his version of America via bad cable TV, video games, and trashy check out line magazines. Though supposedly comic, it's about as funny as a pencil stabbed into your ankle and broken off. And this won the Booker Prize (putting Pierre alongside Salman Rushdie & A.S. Byatt), which shows that just maybe some people in Britain want to see America as this horrible, violent, and senseless fun house. This is not me being provincial; there is much about our culture that is ripe for satire, but not by somebody who knows nothing about it or about writing. Man this book sucked so much. PS: A fun game to play when you get bored is spot the obscenity on every page.
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The Whites
by
Harry Brandt
Lukas
, December 15, 2015
Somewhat confusingly this is novelist Richard Price ("Clockers," "Lush Life") writing as Harry Brandt. I'm not sure the point of having a pen name if you tell everyone who have a pen name. Anyway, this is a tough, gritty cop thriller that builds tension well, but has some trouble with its conclusion.
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Ghost Pirates & Others The Best of William Hope Hodgson
by
William Hope Hodgson, Jeremy Lassen
Lukas
, December 11, 2015
"It is jeering. I can hear its voice echo like Satanic thunder amid the mud overhead--It is calling to me!I must go--The sea calls. . .It is now God--and I am one of its children." Although never given any respect in its time, the subgenres of weird fiction and cosmic horror have re-emerged to find a new audience and greater critical recognition. The pale (and kinda racist) king of the weird tale, H.P. Lovecraft, even has his stories collected by the Library of America, which means he's in the same company as Henry James and Mark Twain. The English writer William Hope Hodgson was a contemporary of Lovecraft, who praised his long story "The Ghost Pirates," which is part of this collection. The stories here are almost entirely nautical horror, which makes somewhat unique. Hodgson, like Melville and Conrad, had experience as a sailor, which he draws on. The writing can be a little musty, but fans of Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith will appreciate his haunted moods and sense of cosmic dread. Hodgson was killed in World War II. His othe major work is "The House on the Borderland."
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The Wake
by
Paul Kingsnorth
Lukas
, December 08, 2015
"It was written in what might be called a shadow tongue--a pseudo-language intended to convey the feeling of the old language. . ." When I heard that the debut novel by Paul Kingsnorth, a poet and former journalist, was written in a homage to Old English (he calls it a "shadow tongue"), I was immediately intrigued. Kingsnorth (kind of a perfect writer name) imagines the chaotic, violent world of England after the Norman conquest. You can appreciate its Joycean linguistic inventiveness while still having trouble following it. It actually makes more sense to read out loud. No doubt this will appeal to anyone who had to suffer through "Beowulf" or "The Song of Roland" in English class. Pairs well with mead.
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Red World of Polaris The Adventures of Captain Volmar
by
Clark Ashton Smith
Lukas
, December 06, 2015
Clark Ashton Smith was a fantasy/sci-fi/horror writer whose reputation has received a small boost due to Penguin Classics reissuing a collection of his stories. He wrote for the pulps and so was never taken seriously at the time, but, like his friends and contemporary H.P. Lovecraft, his work is now more widely read and respected. If you're new to Smith, I'd suggest starting with the Penguin collection first. This slim volume contains a story that was considered lost and is more sci-fi than horror; it lies somewhere between Edgar Rice Burroughs and Lovecraft. The artwork is so terrible as to be almost brilliant.
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My Brilliant Friend
by
Elena Ferrante
Lukas
, December 03, 2015
"There are no gestures, words, or sighs that do not contain the sum of all crimes that human beings have committed and commit." If you even have a mild interest in literature, you've probably heard about Elena Ferrante four-book series called "The Neapolitan Novels." Set in a poor neighborhood in Naples, this first volume chronicles the close, but sometimes strained relationship between the narrator and Lila, the spirited, brilliant friend of the title. It has something of a Victorian novel feel in that it fully immerses you in the detailed, vivid world of it characters, but there's nothing old fashioned about it, and Ferrante is particularly aware of the malignant power of men. To address two other reviews, I don't think it's accurate or helpful to call their relationship "co-dependent," nor do I think characters have to be empathetic to be interesting. I mean, are Macbeth and Richard III empathetic? A great novel; one of the best of this young century. Followed by "The Story of a New Name."
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Big Short Inside the Doomsday Machine
by
Michael Lewis
Lukas
, November 30, 2015
"You have to understand this," he'd say. "This was the engine of doom." Books and films about the 2008 financial crisis have become something of a cottage industry as the crisis is rightly seen as one of the defining events of our time. I've never taken a business or economics class (I majored in English twice), but have come to realize just how important understanding economics are in our world. Michael Lewis worked on Wall Street and wrote about his experiences in "Liar's Book" and he's also written the best-sellers "Moneyball" and "The Blind Slide." I can't say that I understood everything in "The Big Short," but it did personalize the crisis by focusing on a handful of individuals who were responsible or saw it coming. I disagree with other commentators who think that Lewis avoids blame or how deep it goes, and I don't think one book can cover everything, nor is meant to. Aside from getting a basic understanding of tranches, credit default swaps, and subprime mortgages, the takeaway is there is an incredible amount of reckless, unregulated behavior on Wall Street. Soon to be a film with Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, and Brad Pitt. Some other books to check out are "Too Big to Fail," "The Devils Are All Here," and "Meltdown."
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Big Short Inside the Doomsday Machine
by
Michael Lewis
Lukas
, November 30, 2015
"You have to understand this," he'd say. "This was the engine of doom." Books and films about the 2008 financial crisis have become something of a cottage industry as the crisis is rightly seen as one of the defining events of our time. I've never taken a business or economics class (I majored in English twice), but have come to realize just how important understanding economics are in our world. Michael Lewis worked on Wall Street and wrote about his experiences in "Liar's Book" and he's also written the best-sellers "Moneyball" and "The Blind Slide." I can't say that I understood everything in "The Big Short," but it did personalize the crisis by focusing on a handful of individuals who were responsible or saw it coming. I disagree with other commentators who think that Lewis avoids blame or how deep it goes, and I don't think one book can cover everything, nor is meant to. Aside from getting a basic understanding of tranches, credit default swaps, and subprime mortgages, the takeaway is there is an incredible amount of reckless, unregulated behavior on Wall Street. Soon to be a film with Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, and Brad Pitt. Some other books to check out are "Too Big to Fail," "The Devils Are All Here," and "Meltdown.
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Ladies & Gentlemen the Bronx Is Burning 1977 Baseball Politics & the Battle for the Soul of a City
by
Mahler, Jonathan
Lukas
, November 28, 2015
"In later years, the proud pioneers who had settled--or resettled anyway--this urban frontier (SoHo) would point darkly to the day, identifying it as the tipping point, the moment when their beloved neighborhood made the irreversible transition from scruffy artists' colony to theme park for the taste-fetishizing upwardly mobile." I recently read the wildly hyped "City on Fire," which netted it's first time novelist author a cool 2 million dollar advance. The book is set in the pre-gentrified NYC of the late 70s and uses the famous blackout as a set piece. If you struggled through that bloated whale of a book, you owe it to yourself to read the real story. Jonathan Mahler weaves together the cultural and political history of NYC, focusing on 1977, the year of the blackout, Son of Sam, a Yankees victory, punk rock, disco, and crippling debt. Familiar figures like Reggie Jackson, Mario Cumuo, Ed Koch, George Steinbrenner, Jimmy Breslin, and John Lindsay make appearances. Portlanders currently experiencing the growing pains of our city will appreciate the urban renewal/ gentrification aspects, as cheap space for artists and musicians is transformed into expensive housing and tourist-friendly destinations. Punk icons Richard Hell and Patti Smith both have books about this period as well.
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Airships
by
Barry Hannah
Lukas
, November 25, 2015
According to Larry McMurtry ("Lonesome Dove"), Barry Hannah is "the best fiction writer to appear in the South since Flannery O'Connor." According to Philip Roth, "Hannah is more than just a new voice--he is half a dozen brilliant new voices." That's a lot to live up to, and you can really fault this story collection if it falls a little short of the hyperbole. Published in 1978, many of the stories first appeared in "Esquire," which is where I heard about this book. It can be seen as part of the "dirty realism" school and has some similarities with Thomas McGuane, Harry Crews (he's not quite that extreme), and Raymond Carver, with whom Hannah shared an editor (Gordon Lish). A few stories are set in Vietnam. "We're not simple animals. There's a god in every one of us, if we find him."-"Dragged Fighting From His Tomb"
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Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
by
Sarah Vowell
Lukas
, November 23, 2015
While I sometimes read more academic histories, I do like Vowell's witty, irreverent, and, above all, relevant take on American history. While some might find her a little glib, she always treats the historical figures seriously and finds a way to bring them to life in a way few others succeed at. The title is a little misleading, as Lafeyette (full name: Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette) is more a supporting character, and the real story is the Revolution generation, including Washington, Franklin, Cornwallis, and Von Steuben. For a more thorough (but less entertaining) treatment of the subject, check out "Founding Brothers."
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City on Fire
by
Garth Risk Hallberg
Lukas
, November 21, 2015
You really have to question people who give a 5 star review to a debut novel. And just because a book is long (900 pages) does not make it epic. Garth Risk Hallberg (cool name bro) shoots for GAN (Great American Novel) status with his first book, but falls epically short. Dude got a two million advance for this. Two million! I think he should use some of that money to pay people who made it through this self-important, bloated, and ultimately contrived and tedious novel. You're eyes will be on fire from slogging through so many pages.
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Coral Island
by
R M Ballantyne
Lukas
, November 13, 2015
Interesting as an influence on Golding's "Lord of the Flies," but rather dull otherwise.
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Last Of The Mohicans A Narrative Of 1757
by
James Fenimore Cooper
Lukas
, November 13, 2015
It is easy to mock James Fenimore Cooper and find him old fashioned, formulaic and condescending towards his Native American characters. When I first read this in college, I thought he was a kind of frontier Tom Clancy: popular, but cliched and not very good. Yet for anyone who wants to understand American lit., he remains a key figure in establishing the rules for both the western and the adventure story. Contemporary readers will find his comments on Indians, women and the wilderness interesting, if a little dated.Part of the 5-book Leahtherstocking Tales.
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I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp
by
Richard Hell
Lukas
, November 13, 2015
"Maybe the most extreme example of this class of moment is what I'm trying to describe here. What it felt like to first be creating electrically amplified songs. It was like being born. It was everything one wants from so-called God." Hardly a household name, Richard Hell is quite possibly the most influential punk--as much for his style, attitude and look as his music--of the 70s. He co-founded Television and the Heartbreakers, put out two albums with the Voidoids, wrote poetry and interacted with seemingly every musician in NYC in the late 70s. He quit music in the 80s to focus on writing. His memoir is candid, funny, exhilarating and poignant. A must for anyone who cares about this incredibly fertile period in music. Also recommended: Just Kids, Please Kill Me, Love Goes to Buildings on Fire.
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Occultation & Other Stories
by
Laird Barron, Michael Shea
Lukas
, November 12, 2015
Creepy, unsettling, Lovecraftian stories from one of the better modern horror writers.
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Between the World and Me
by
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Lukas
, November 09, 2015
The book of the moment. Essential reading.
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Dylan Goes Electric: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties
by
Elijah Wald
Lukas
, November 08, 2015
Dylan's electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 looms large in his mythology. If you're a Dylan fan, you're already familiar with and this book, while fitfully interesting, covers well-trod ground.
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Permanent Midnight: A Memoir
by
Jerry Stahl
Lukas
, November 08, 2015
So this dude wrote for "Moonlighting" and "Alf" and did drugs. Like, a lot of drugs. Made into a film with Ben Stiller.
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Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All Stories
by
Laird Barron, Norman Partridge
Lukas
, November 05, 2015
A continuation of the cosmic horror tradition of Lovecraft. Dude has an awesome name for a horror writer. Cthulhu gives it two tentacles up.
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Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq
by
Crawford, John
Lukas
, November 03, 2015
It's like an inferior "Jarhead," and I didn't even like "Jarhead" that much.
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Fall Strain 02
by
Guillermo Del Toro
Lukas
, November 01, 2015
Volume 2 of "The Strain" trilogy, a collaboration between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth," "Hellboy") and novelist Chuck Hogan. Currently a series on FX.
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Fates and Furies
by
Lauren Groff
Lukas
, October 31, 2015
Fitfully interesting, rather overhyped and overwrought story of a marriage that is told from each partner's point of view. Could've used more fury.
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Undermajordomo Minor
by
DeWitt, Patrick
Lukas
, October 30, 2015
There are castles, Barons, dukes, a man named Lucy, and a chapter called "Klara the Beguiler." It's all very clever without being especially good or interesting. In the acknowledgements, he cites the post-modern folktales of Italo Calvino as an influence, but he's hardly at that level. It feels more like a parody than a homage, with bits of Kafka, Dinesen, and English Gothic novelists (Walpole, Lewis, Radcliffe) floating about.
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