Rachel Balik

About Rachel Balik

Rachel is a full-time staff writer at findingDulcinea.com where she covers arts and culture, as well as GLBT rights, women’s health and the dying newspaper industry. She has studied English, Philosophy and Theater, worked in all three fields, and has a illicit love for biographies of scientists.

Reviews

The Dodos: 13 October 2009 - New York

Touring after the release of their latest album, Time to Die, the Dodos revert to a more raw and experimental sound [1 November 2009]

Only the Super Rich Can Save Us! by Ralph Nader

Neither fiction nor fact, Nader's sprawling novel is another venue for the same political ideas we've heard, not an opportunity for creativity.

Just a Phrase I’m Going Through: My Life in Language by David Crystal

Crystal's book is part memoir and part guide to the world of Linguistic study. But as it turns out for the author, life and language are one and the same. [29 September 2009]

Radiohead and Philosophy, ed. Brandon W. Forbes and George A. Reisch

Understanding why Radiohead may be the greatest band of all time requires help from the greatest philosophers of all time. If you're still confused about Kid A, Heidegger can help. [14 September 2009]

It’s Beginning To Hurt by James Lasdun

Lasdun's stories ease us out of our lives and pull us into the world of his characters, whose experiences at times seem more real than our own [1 September 2009]

A World I Loved: The Story of an Arab Woman by Wadad Makdisi Cortas

Wadad Makdisi Cortas understated but deeply nostalgic memoir of her childhood in Lebanon gives a revealing, appealing, and necessary glimpse into the Arab world of the past. [25 August 2009]

As Tall As Lions: 30 June 2009 - New York

Although the band demonstrate musical versatility and dexterity, they also draw attention to themselves in a way that is visually intense. [11 August 2009]

Au Revoir Simone: 27 June 2009 - New York

It was never clear whether they were consciously putting on a show, or forgetting that there was an audience and simply being three girls having fun in a basement. [7 August 2009]

In the Kitchen by Monica Ali

Ali is a talented writer, working with a fascinating list of ingredients. But her final product is, quite simply, over seasoned and undercooked. [6 August 2009]

TV on the Radio + Dirty Projectors: 5 June 2009 - New York

Despite a downpour, TV on the Radio was able to use the dreary, soggy night to accentuate the illuminating energy of its music and performance. [15 July 2009]

London’s Burning by Dave Thompson

Thompson writes of that singular year when punk when was really fresh, and only a select few, himself included, were on the scene when it was conceived. [5 July 2009]

The National: 29 May 2009 - Philadelphia

The National’s performance, muted and uneasy as it was, still elicited rapt attention and glowing faces. [22 June 2009]

Hella Nation by Evan Wright

Wright’s gift is his ability to trace a story through time and weave together a piece that is chilling in both subtlety and revelation. [26 May 2009]

Mary Stuart: 20 April 2009 - Broadhurst Theatre, New York

Portrayed by the explosively accessible Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart demands our attention, lures our senses, and holds our hearts with a blend of power and tenderness [21 May 2009]

Five Peace Band: 23 April 2009 - Lincoln Center, New York

The concert was a chance for two men with parallel careers to reconvene at a point that mirrored their shared roots. [15 May 2009]

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

A crime novel where the reader is bewildered rather than scheming and conjecturing makes for a lethargic trek. [30 March 2009]

Script and Scribble by Kitty Burns Florey

“This isn’t meant to be a nostalgia trip,” Florey says. Rather, a mix of living monument to an essential human skill and a call to action. [26 March 2009]

On Criticism by Noel Carroll

The sole purpose of critics is to influence the public in making art choices by way of guiding them through an understanding of a work’s value -- they must pass judgment. [5 March 2009]

The Sky Below by Stacey D’Erasmo

Incorporating themes from Greek mythology, the author portrays a compelling protagonist, his self-pity subtly presented with a mix of clear narrative and sub-textual self-loathing. [9 February 2009]

Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend by Mark Wilkerson

There is a significant amount of information about the Who, but it doesn’t tell an obsessive fan anything she doesn’t already know. [7 November 2008]

Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan

Treating the dismay and dissatisfaction of her characters as a quiet inconvenience, the real tragedy of these stories is their tone of grim and expedient inevitability. [16 October 2008]

The Life and Death of Images,  Diarmuid Costello & Dominic Willsdon (eds.)

In addition to a reasonably strict adherence to the analytic restrictions of philosophical inquiry, the speakers in this book seem to be on a subtextual quest to save art. [29 September 2008]

Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar

Many who feel that philosophy is not for them, or is incredibly esoteric, will soon realize it’s as natural a commentary on our lives as jokes about boobs are. [26 August 2008]

Slackonomics by Lisa Chamberlain

Chamberlain’s deftly researched book gives a group of people once lumped disparagingly with Reality Bites and dot-com disasters a multifaceted, fresh and potent identity. [15 July 2008]

The White King by György Dragomán (Author), Paul Olchváry (Translator)

This is not just a beautiful novel, but also an important political reflection. [10 June 2008]

The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB’s, by Rachel Balik

The book is a successful 'Who knew?' effort, and would make a great gift for any Jewish teenager with a guitar, but as cultural or aesthetic theory, it feels unsound. [7 April 2008]