about contributors submissions book series advertising contests tour dates Mixed Media PopMatters Picks
|
|
Valerie MacEwanFeaturesThe House of the Scorpion and More: Summer Reading List for Ages 8-15Now, six years later, things are quite different: George W. is our president, Laura Bush is the First Lady, and the Texas Book Festival has morphed into one of the premier literary events in the country. [3 July 2003] Steal This ListThis summer marks the fiftieth anniversary of J.D. Salinger's classic novel of adolescence adrift, 'The Catcher in the Rye'. Rob Maitra, 'PopMatters' critic and high-school teacher, brings us a report from the field that confirms that, even after half a century, Holden Caulfield is still very much alive -- and kicking. [25 September 2001] Southern ExposuresDeath to diversion! Rather than push the usual summer herd of 'beach novels,' 'PopMatters'' writers invite you to spend this summer exploring books from their lists of important works. In this first installment of the series, Valerie MacEwan revisits some classics and suggests some Southern writing that goes beyond 'Frankly, my dear...' [13 June 2001] ColumnsNarrative JourneysI see it as the globalization of the Southern experience. [26 December 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) Hollering TherapyConfederate soldiers utilized the Rebel Yell to put fear into the hearts and souls of the Union Army. It also made them happy, I suspect, to holler in the woods. [24 July 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) The Pantego Mud Run: A Fourth of July EventMany have described the Mud Run as Heaven on Earth for folks who love beer, tattoos, tube tops, and tobacco [26 June 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) Touring the SouthAgri-tourism. It seems people will pay good money to drive a tractor, weed collards, and pick cotton. [29 May 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) Southern Yard Art. . . the inevitable chemical breakdown of the rubber components of tractor tires . . . combined with the unfortunate fading of red plastic in both artificial begonias and roses, brought about a sense of urgency in the group's ultimate mission . . . [23 April 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) Am I a Southerner?Today's Southerner plays whatever card is needed to win the hand. [27 March 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) The New American JingoismThen, when the US and other countries amassed enough Jingo Credits, they would be allowed to unfurl their flags. [6 March 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) The Deer CampThe Deer Camp is about 20 miles into the next county, five miles down a winding stretch of dirt road, and smack in the middle of 200 acres of forest and swamp. [9 January 2002] (more True Tales of the New South) Missing Walter. . . I paid my stay-at-home-PTA-homeroom-chairperson-every-freakin-fieldtrip-chaperone-mother dues . . . [19 December 2001] (more True Tales of the New South) Reviews
The Schooling of Claybird Catts by Janis OwensComing of age plots haven't gone out of style -- the term has. There's got to be a better phrase: Grow up or shut up. Reality excursions. Maturity madness. [8 June 2004] 
The Week You Weren’t Here by Charles BlackstoneCritics must be fair in their evaluation of a book and they must explain their disappointment or their joy. They should, from time to time, recommend that others give a book a try -- that their analysis is not the final word. [21 January 2004] 
Paranoia by Joseph FinderReviewers should never reveal that critical plot pivot early in most suspense thrillers when the reader should stop and think about the protagonist's course of action. The 'give away point' you could call it. [12 January 2004] 
Lunch at the Picadilly by Clyde EdgertonClyde Edgerton, a combination of Mark Twain and Will Rogers, is the quintessential southern storyteller. [5 November 2003] 
Stalking the Divine: Contemplating Faith with the Poor Clares by Kristin OhlsonImagine a small group of cloistered nuns, right in the middle of Cleveland, who pray for the City, all day, all night. This is their calling. In 2003. Gives you chills, doesn't it? The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, cloistered in a monastery, they're praying for you. [16 October 2003] 
Why Men Won’t Commit: Getting What You Both Want Without Playing Games by George Weinberg, PhDMen want permanent monogamous marriages but apparently they act like jerks and behave as if they don't. [21 May 2003] 
The Organ Donor by Matthew WarnerWarner takes his research and formulates a riveting story, a horror thriller fit for the most ardent fan of the genre. It's about harvesting organs and executing political prisoners according to a waiting (and cash carrying) recipient's need. [6 May 2003] 
Perfect I’m Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches, and Baseball by David Wells with Chris KreskiIf this book is brutally honest, if Wells is 'baseball's most beloved badass', I'm beginning to understand the demise of the sport and the lag in ticket sales. [23 April 2003] 
Elizabeth Must Die by Jeremy NeeDLEHave you ever felt so wrong -- so out of place that your own emotions are painful and hostile? Felt like a freak in your own skin?" 
Shutter Island by Dennis LehaneIt's a jack-in-the-box -- remember to back out of the way when you turn the literary handle. [8 April 2003] 
Important Things That Don’t Matter by David AmsdenThe plot is pure pop culture -- coming of age, learning about sex, going through puberty, and defining family in whatever functional/dysfunctional terms fit. [2 April 2003] 
The Da Vinci Code by Dan BrownThe characters are believable, the fictional premise intriguing, and it has two major components to insure sales -- the Knights Templar and the search for the Holy Grail. 
What About The Kids? Raising Your Children Before, During, and After Divorce by Judith S. WallersteiDr. Spock and others publish child care books. Well, this is a divorce care book. [12 March 2003] 
The New Southern Gentleman by Jim Booth[It] takes the cultural confusion, the anachronism that is the New South and with tongue firmly in cheek, describes the region's dwindling pseudo-aristocratic heritage. [5 March 2003] 
The Long Silence of Mario Salviati by Etienne van HeerdenCarefully and meticulously, van Heerden chronicles the notion of apartheid and its effect the inhabitants of Yearsonend. [26 February 2003] 
The Spirit of Family by Al and Tipper GoreMany of the photos are reminiscent of the Work Projects Administration (WPA) Federal Arts Project from 1936-1942. [23 December 2002] 
Quiver by Stephanie SpinnerStephanie Spinner's 'Quiver' is not just a good book for young readers, it's a stepping stone to Greek mythology. 
Rinzen Presents RMX EXTENDED PLAY Concept + Project Coordination by Rinzen Edited by Rilla AlexandeBased on themes ranging from the relevant to the ridiculous. [6 November 2002] 
Dr. Tatiana’s eEx Advice to All Creation by Olivia JudsonI'm appalled by the behavior of the young iguanas of today: I keep encountering groups of youths masturbating at me. [4 September 2002] 
... this is devastating to Goldstein and Beloff, who really want to get their ass kicked in order to prove their southern bigotry theory. [14 August 2002] 
Boat Bastard: A Love/Hate Memoir by Deborah van RooyenThe poster child of tell-all, slam-the-bastard, blame-anyone-but-yourself books. [24 July 2002] 
21 Dog Years, Doing Time at Amazon.com by Mike DaiseyAmazon.com is hiring and they're looking for freaks. [19 June 2002] 
Temporary Spaces by Martin EberleThere is a sense of profound loss in the comments made by the club patrons, of affection for one temporary space now discarded for another. [5 June 2002] 
The World’s Smallest Book Edited by Josua ReichertWith their stunning style and remarkable substance, these books are quickly becoming the maximum indulgence for any connoisseur of printed matter. [22 May 2002] 
Who Owns History? Rethinking the Past in a Changing World by Eric FonerEach generation, each separate age of man, writes its own history from that time frame's unique perspective. [3 May 2002] 
Washington by Meg Greenfield'Washington' dissects the media, the politician, 'the policy dingdongs on the seventh floor' and the social elite. No weasel words here. Meg Greenfield never dulls her scalpel while dissecting the town and its inhabitants. [1 January 1995] 
Steal This Book by Abbie HoffmanFirst published in 1970, the classic alternative guide to life is considered by some to be 'the single most important piece of pop culture to come out of the Viet Nam era'. 
72dpi-Anime by Edited by Robert Klanten, Hendrik Helige, and Birga MeyerFar-out publisher Die Gestalten Verlag has created an unprecedented collection of revolutionary multi-media graphic artists. '72dpi-Anime' is a web design exposition, a virtual art fair. 
Somehow Form A Family (Stories That Are Mostly True) by Tony EarleyI realize, soon after reading the title essay, I'm not really learning anything of substance about Earley except how he had a crappy TV set and loved 'The Brady Bunch'. 
Sign After the X ____ by Marina RoyTakes us on a journey to x, the land of graphemes, mathematical symbols, and subversive texts. 
The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll [Third Edition] by Holly George-Warren, Jon Pareles anPULL. 
News Dissector: Passions, Pieces and Polemics 1960-2000 by Danny SchechterSuperficial sound bite journalism doesn't really inform us. 
Lowell Limpett and Two Short Stories by Ward JustAccording to Ward Just, one day he sat down a novelist and got up a playwright. It wasn't really that simple. With 'Lowell Limpett', Ward Just makes it seem that way. 
High Drama in Fabulous Toledo by Lily JamesThe central unifier involves a computer programmer who leaves the Novell basement of Unix realtime and attempts to blend into corporate culture, thinking the 1950s ideal man is what he needs to emulate. Knowing he is socially illiterate, he figures the only way to acquire a wife is by taking a woman hostage. [Review and interview with Lily James, author of 'High Drama in Fabulous Toledo']. 
Girl Beside Him by Cris MazzaThe dialogue is fast-paced, the narrative engages the reader, and Mazza rarely dwells on minute details. She also gives the reader a chance to feel superior to her characters by creating a group that is as emotionally evolved as a concrete chicken. 
Fearless Jones by Walter MosleyPunctuated by illicit sexual forays, bursts of rage, terse interpretations of 1950s middle-class Caucasian Judeo-Christian priorities, and a few songs of the Old South, 'Fearless Jones' leaves very few stones unturned. 
Esther’s Pillow by Marlin FitzwaterFormer White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater rows across the river of historical fiction with both oars in the water. As the quintessential media man, Fitzwater can sure write the story. This time, though, his stake in his new novel, 'Esther's Pillow', is personal, as he reveals in an interview with 'PopMatters'.
Esther’s Pillow by Marlin FitzwaterFormer White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater rows across the river of historical fiction with both oars in the water. As the quintessential media man, Fitzwater can sure write the story. This time, though, his stake in his new novel, 'Esther's Pillow', is personal, as he reveals in an interview with 'PopMatters'. 
The Days of the Bitter End by Jack EngelhardEach day that lives in infamy presents a new criteria for learning, an opportunity for reflection. No act of terrorism, no defining historical moment, stands alone. When the prize is the American dream, the fight can be both devastating and exhilarating. 
Deadlock: The Inside Story of America’s Closest Election by David Von DrehleIt's flash history created by the instant-gratification culture of Internet analysis and sound-bite news. One fears that, to the general public, source is irrelevant, content is king. But there exists a subversive group of individuals who want to know how information was attained, the validity of the source, the bias of the reporter. 
Circling Dixie: Contemporary Southern Culture Through a Transatlantic Lens by Helen TaylorIf [Helen Taylor] were from around here, we'd say she done her mama proud. We'd tell her this here book is so good it makes you want to slap your grandma. 
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne TylerRather than succumb to the crisis of identity suffered by the everyman, the ordinary person, Anne Tyler's novels contain characters who come to grips with the consequences of their choices and learn to appreciate their own reality, who begin to feel good in their own skin. 
BoyGenius by Yongsoo ParkTransported by a magical blend of metaphor, illumination, and synergy, the plot drives forward down highways of illusion, twisting and turning through an elusive landscape of the bizarre. 
American Muslims: The New Generation by Asma Gull HasanIt is a persuasive argument, an essay of sorts, explaining the fundamental compatibility of Islamic beliefs with those of Christianity. 
The Anime Encyclopedia, A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCaThen there's the one about the teenagers who get involved in corruption on a grand scale when one of them is slipped a computer disk in a Shinjuku club by someone whose life is just about to be terminated. |
Now on PopMatters
Features
:. Re-Meet the Beatles: PopMatters Salutes the Still Fab Four :. Ayn Rand and the World She Made
Columns
Rabble Without a Cause: Table Space: The Final Frontier PopShots: PopShots: The Lighter Side of Swine Flu
Blogs
Notes from the Road: The Sounds: 7.Nov.09 - Chicago Mixed Media: The Carter (trailer) Short Ends and Leader: Indentity Crisis: The Ultimate Cut - Watchmen - The Complete Story (2009) Sound Affects: Gem Found: An Interview with Luke Franks Marginal Utility: A Quick Theory of the Self Peripatetic Postcards: What’s Hot in Korea
Music
:. Echo & the Bunnymen: The Fountain :. Ray Davies and the Crouch End Chorus: The Kinks Choral Collection :. Efterklang and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra: Performing Parades :. Lisa Germano: Magic Neighbor :. On Fillmore: Extended Vacation :. Various Artists: Si, Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba Vol.2 :. Anjulie: Anjulie
DVDs
:. You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977–1984 :. Merry Sitcom: Christmas Classics From TV’s Golden Age :. Note By Note: The Making of the Steinway L1037
News
:. Doom boom: Apocalyptic fantasies seem to be all the rage these days :. Couple’s book tackles evangelicals’ questions on climate change :. Celebrity deaths give life to eternal speculation :. Palin’s much-anticipated book inspires, well, copies :. Hollywood’s ingenuity on line for holidays: Few sequels, remakes on tap for Christmas season
|
