Books

more Reviews

Friday, June 26 2009

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

This maddening new novel is cinematic, set in New York City in the midst of its slide into near-complete dysfunction.

Gods and Soldiers: The Penguin Anthology of Contemporary African Writing

Perhaps the strongest theme here is that there’s no singular “voice of Africa”, no overarching cosmology to unify the continent’s literature -- and that’s a great thing.

Thursday, June 25 2009

Leaving India by Minal Hajratwala

“Each time we move, we must leave something of ourselves behind; perhaps then the map of a Diaspora consists, like a constellation, mainly of gaps.”

Love Will Tear Us Apart by Sarah Rainone

Weddings render even the most peripheral guest nostalgic, but Rainone takes this truth and pushes it to its limits.

Wednesday, June 24 2009

Studs Terkel’s Working: A Graphic Adaptation

Pekar finds splendor where others might see only grind, and has a gift for finding the telling anecdote or quotation to illustrate a point or typify a character.

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong: Steven Brower

Satchmo provides a more personal look at the man and his talent for rethinking spaces, both audio and visual.

Tuesday, June 23 2009

The Book of Cool by Marianne Taylor

In general, Taylor's writing is unflaggingly good-natured, but that doesn't seem to suit the subject matter, which trades in stereotypes and casual cruelty.

Hound Dog & How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll

Meet the songwriters who helped make Elvis a star, and find out why one author curses the Beatles.

more Features

Tuesday, June 23 2009

Aleksandar Hemon

“Hell,” Hemon tells PopMatters 20 Questions, “is being stuck at an airport without a book, starving for thought, forced to watch CNN.” Heaven might be a bathtub full of Turkish coffee …

Friday, June 19 2009

Bumming Smokes in Paris and London: George Orwell’s Obsession with Tobacco

Cigarette smoke so permeates George Orwell’s stories it almost leaves stains on one’s fingers when reading his books.

Friday, June 12 2009

Love Your Big Brother: What Orwell’s ‘1984’ Tells Us About 2009

George Orwell’s seminal book can equip its readers with the intellectual apparatus necessary to see through the routine mendacity and stupefying barrage of euphemism that plagues contemporary political life.

more Columns

Wednesday, June 24 2009

Snagged by Bishop—Hook, Line & Sinker

Like the lakes we fish in, there are great treasures lurking in those depths, and great depth lurking in those treasures.

Tuesday, June 23 2009

Augusten Burroughs: The View Through a Saltine Cracker

As a memoirist, Burroughs is highly skilled at the art of aestheticized self-pity.

Wednesday, June 17 2009

Out of Tune and ‘Amplified’

As George Orwell said, “Nearly every book is capable of arousing passionate feeling, even if it is only a passionate dislike.”

more Blogs

Monday, June 29 2009

Friday, June 26 2009

Thursday, June 25 2009

Wednesday, June 24 2009

Re:Print: Summer Reads 2009

Tuesday, June 23 2009

Monday, June 22 2009

Sunday, June 21 2009

Friday, June 19 2009