Recent Books FeaturesTuesday, November 24 2009
Sandra BrownBestselling author Sandra Brown chats about her weep-inducing, wavering confidence and advises that one should be wary of hiring a discount hit man. Tuesday, November 10 2009
A Working Class Family: Ed and Edie FalcoPopMatters talks with Ed Falco and his niece, actor Edie Falco, about their life in the arts and Ed's gritty new novel, Saint John of the Five Boroughs. Monday, November 9 2009
Ayn Rand and the World She MadeAyn Rand set out to remake reality as if it were an ill-fitting dress: by sheer will, she tried to fashion a Balenciaga gown from a housedress. Wednesday, November 4 2009
Leaving Las Vegas and Leaving for GoodUsing Ben in Leaving Las Vegas as a gauge to measure myself against, my life wasn’t anywhere close to as bad as it could be, but people who thought they had better control of their drinking than me still fuck their lives right up, so....
Nicholson Baker’s Enthusiasms and Passionate ObsessionsNicholson Baker writes from his enthusiasms, which are many and ever changing. Among other things, his books have focused on sex, John Updike, public libraries, and pacifism and World War II. His latest, The Anthologist, is his love letter to poetry. Monday, November 2 2009
How Far Is Too Far?: Navigating the World of Young Adult FictionIn the world of "edgy" young adult fiction, there's a tendency to either bury real world consequences, or exploit the darker material for all it's worth. But where does that leave the young readers grappling with the content? Tuesday, October 27 2009
Barb JohnsonFrom a balcony overlooking the flood of New Orleans to 'The Bubble' laundromat, where the city's characters come to wash it all out, award-winning author Barb Johnson talks with PopMatters 20 Questions. Friday, October 23 2009
PopMatters @ 10PopMatters celebrates its birthday this week with a series of essays on cultural changes over our 10-year lifespan. Today: Mark Reynolds on "The Long and Short of Long-Form Journalism" and Nikki Tranter on "Exit from Nowheresville: My 10 Years with PopMatters". Sunday, October 18 2009
Patricia Cornwell20 Questions caught up with award-winning, international best-selling author Patricia Cornwell in a rare moment when her feet were on the ground. Wednesday, October 14 2009
Await Your Reply: Dan Chaon Talks About Self-inventionLost, indie music and Final Destination inspired Dan Chaon's latest novel, Await Your Reply -- all deal with issues of self-invention and how we conceptualize the self, he tells PopMatters. Friday, October 2 2009
American Liars and the Enforcers of HonestyA hard-boiled history of the lie detector revels in the seedy deceptions at the roots of the search for a truth-telling machine (plus: it exposes the kinky origins of Wonder Woman). Wednesday, September 30 2009
The New American Spook CountrySpook Country is about America’s loss of innocence, its various ways of remembering the past, and an attempt to find a way of reconciling those memories with the present. Thursday, September 17 2009
The Frankfurt School in ExileThe positivists regarded Hegelian dialectics as metaphysical voodoo; the New York Intellectuals thought the Frankfurt School's associates were closet Stalinists. Tuesday, September 15 2009
China’s Factory Girls: A Conversation with Author Leslie T. ChangTraditional and often sensational coverage of China is only a partial interpretation: the people themselves are being lost in the translation. Sunday, September 13 2009
Nick HornbyNick Hornby tells PopMatters 20 Questions about his affiliation with Seinfeld’s George Costanza, his soon-to-be-released album with Ben Folds, and this great bargain he got from a Russian website… Friday, September 4 2009
Airplane Books, Junk Literature, and the Western Canon: All Novels Are Lies, Some Lies Are BetterReading deeply and widely at the very least makes us less dull and more patient, and it happens to be the only way to make informed, qualitative judgments within and across genres. Wednesday, September 2 2009
Who Are You: Tom Waits and ‘Lowside of the Road’ by Barney HoskynsWaits is a deconstructionist vaudevillian with a heart who rails against cynicism; a furious bluesman blaring unabashedly about the soul-- his words and music stretch into a bizarre land, where the light is slanted, eerie. Tuesday, September 1 2009
Explainers: Back to the ‘50’s and Up to the PresentJules Feiffer's groundbreaking Village Voice comics delivered a satirical take on current events and paved the way for many contemporary strips. Tuesday, August 11 2009
Chronicling Catastrophe: Dave Eggers and the American Nonfiction NovelWhen faced with catastrophe, from wars to natural disasters, the nonfiction novel is sometimes the only medium that can do justice to the chaos. Wednesday, August 5 2009
Pot, Skinny-Dipping, and Freedom Rock: Woodstock and the Year of the Outdoor Music Festival (Part 2)PopMatters presents the second part of a chapter on Woodstock from Kirkpatrick's recent book 1969: The Year Everything Changed. Part two covers Woodstock appearances by the Who, the Band, Jimi Hendrix and more. |
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