Monday, March 2 2009
Apocalypse Jukebox: Disaster, Revelation and Impossible Salvation
In this excerpt from PopMatters' new book Apocalypse Jukebox, Janssen and Whitelock inform us, “In no small way, rock ‘n’ roll’s early development took place in the shadow of a mushroom cloud.”
Tuesday, February 24 2009
Apocalypse Jukebox: The End is Near, There and Everywhere
In this excerpt from PopMatters' new book Apocalypse Jukebox, Janssen and Whitelock talk about “the devil’s masterpiece for trapping teenagers, making them his slaves, and causing them to be the enemies of God.”
Thursday, February 5 2009
Marty Beckerman and America’s Dumbocracy
“When you say more rash and outlandish things you get heard and when you say more nuanced things your voice gets drowned out.”
Stuff White People Like: A Theory of the Liberal Leisure Class
"Look at our generation … Stuff is all we have … It's not a display of wealth. It's about a display of authenticity and taste."
Friday, January 30 2009
Killing for Coal: An Interview with Thomas G. Andrews
Andrews' book distinguishes itself from conventional labor histories by going beyond sociological factors to look at the total physical environment and the role it played in the lives of both labor and management, and how it would lead to the Ludlow Massacre of 1914.
Wednesday, January 28 2009
‘Art’: A Diminished Magnificence
Has any other art, even literature or music, ever exceeded the visual arts in its ambition, its richness, and its sheer beauty?
Sunday, January 11 2009
Rebels Wit Attitude: Nirvana
In this excerpt from PopMatters' new book Rebels Wit Attitude, Iain Ellis discusses how Nirvana were a rocking perfect storm of punk’s attitude, metal’s riffs, and pop hooks.
Tuesday, January 6 2009
PopMatters Best of Books 2008: Non-Fiction
The 20th century is history and the 21st century is beginning to assume full shape and form with definable contours. As these 24 outstanding non-fiction titles from 2008 demonstrate, it’s a different world outside your door.
Monday, January 5 2009
A Spirited Friendship
Given the respective careers of Will Eisner and Frank Miller, the root of their friendship becomes apparent. For both, the comics medium takes precedence above all else.
PopMatters Best of Books 2008: Fiction
Feeling anxious? Here are 23 masterful works of fiction from 2008 that will either underscore your anxiety or help alleviate it through escape into the past and the land of make-believe.
Thursday, December 18 2008
George Orwell: Forgiving and Championing Bad Art
Orwell's essays remind us that better than our best intentions is our inescapable nature, our shared ordinariness, which will always have the potential to redeem us all if only we will embrace it.
Sunday, December 14 2008
Rebels Wit Attitude: Beastie Boys
In this excerpt of PopMatters' new book Rebels Wit Attitude, Ellis discusses how Beastie Boys were not afraid to play the enemy within, often mocking the macho strutting of harder rappers.
Sunday, December 7 2008
Rebels Wit Attitude: Talking Heads
In this excerpt from PopMatters' new book Rebels Wit Attitude, Ellis looks at the Talking Heads' art school intellectualism, pop melodies, funk rhythms, and the abstract humor that made them outsiders.
Sunday, November 30 2008
20 Questions: Laura Miller
Cofounder of Salon.com, ravenous reader Laura Miller talks with PopMatters 20 Questions about C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and other influences that led to The Magician's Book.
Tuesday, October 21 2008
LeBron James and the Beat Book
If beat reporters keep churning out books on 'Bron, why aren't we learning anything? These books represent the current state of the beat book -- and indicate it may be in serious trouble.
Friday, October 17 2008
Honoré de Balzac: A Man of Enormous Appetites
One has to wonder, having conquered two duchesses before reaching his 25th birthday, if Honoré de Balzac didn't believe he deserved the aristocratic title in his name more than some who'd come by it more honestly.
Wednesday, October 1 2008
No Easy Reasons: Interview with Camilla Noli
The question at the heart of Camilla Noli's debut novel, Still Waters, is this: Is every woman suited to motherhood? The book is a sharp, distressing look at the answer. PopMatters spoke to Noli about the book, the controversy, motherhood, and the writer's dream realized.
Monday, September 22 2008
“All I Ever Wanted Was to Control My Own Life”: An Interview with Chuck Klosterman
Cultural critic Chuck Klosterman talks with PopMatters about his new book, Downtown Owl, his regrets about an old one, and that he might next get into making documentary films.
20 Questions: Laurie Lindeen
"It's A Wonderful Life", aint' it? Author and musician Laurie Lindeen (Zuzu's Petals), like George Bailey, would know, as she shares some insights with PopMatters 20 Questions.
Thursday, September 18 2008
This is Water: Remembering David Foster Wallace
Nicholson Baker. Bill Murray. Mark Leyner. David Byrne. Steve Martin. The Coen Brothers. And in the middle of it all, David Foster Wallace.
