‘Odd Woman Out’ Is a Comedy Sketch-Like Memoir About What’s-Her-Name
We can never have too many Jewish Atheists from Brooklyn publishing essays about life as they see it. Actress Melanie Chartoff's 'Odd Woman Out' has me wanting more.
Megan Volpert
Megan Volpert is the author of a bunch books on communication and popular culture, including two Lambda Literary Award finalists. She has been teaching high school English in Atlanta for over a decade and was 2014 Teacher of the Year. She edited the American Library Association-honored anthology, This Assignment Is So Gay: LGBTIQ Poets on the Art of Teaching (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2013), and co-edited Tom Petty & Philosophy (Open Court, 2019)
Pretend It’s a City Proves Once Again, You Can’t Argue with Fran Lebowitz
Fran Lebowitz’s ubiquitous little smirk is still going as strong as ever because she never feels bad about herself.
Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers Bio ‘Somewhere You Feel Free’ Feels Constrained
This recent Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers biography sticks to the objective facts so closely, and the telling is so firmly chronological, that the author tends to miss the forest for the trees.
‘We’re Not Here to Entertain’ Is Not Here to Break the Cycle of Punk’s Failures
Even as it irritates me, Kevin Mattson's We're Not Here to Entertain is worth reading because it has so much direct relevance to American punks operating today.
‘The Art of Drag’ Captivates and Unites
Like a properly tightened corset, the total effect of The Art of Drag lends a stunning shape to the art forms in question.
Looking for the Next Best Version of America? Abrams Wrote the Book on How to Achieve It
"Try this at home": With her latest work, Our Time Is Now, Plotter-in-Chief Stacey Abrams offers a timely playbook for how to ensure free and fair elections in America.
Crapification Syndrome: When Hilarity Slides into Nausea
No one living in America today can escape the blast radius of the questions raised in Wendy A. Woloson's Crap.
Shahidha Bari’s ‘Dressed’ Is a Well-packed Suitcase
Reading Dressed is rather like the experience of wandering through a department store or a friend's well-curated closet.
What Has a Real Critic Got to Offer? On Stephanie Ross’ ‘Two Thumbs Up’
Stephanie Ross' book on aesthetic philosophy, Two Thumbs Up, can be used as a dissertation template. Just expect -- like a critic -- to argue with it, at times.
Phuc Tran’s Existential Trip of a Memoir, ‘Sigh, Gone’
Phuc Tran's smart, tough memoir, Sigh, Gone, might launch a broken down kid to read 150 great books—for free, at the local library.
Blues Everywhere She Goes: Odetta
Ian Zack's biography gives the often-overlooked Odetta a chance to keeping shining that little light of hers.