William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock 'n' Roll
Critic Casey Rae depicts William S. Burroughs as a wise sage whom the wild creatives seek out for his wisdom... well, almost.
17 Sep 2019
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Joanna Russ, the First Minister of Feminist Science Fiction
Gwyneth Jones's masterly account of the life and times of Joanna Russ serves as a timely reminder of the strides made in visibility and diversity in science fiction literature —and the distance still left to traverse.
11 Sep 2019
'Official Secrets' Is a Devastating Reminder of the Power of Deception
Gavin Hood's thriller about British whistleblower Katharine Gun's attempt to stop the Iraq War, Official Secrets, is nothing special artistically, but its intense relevance burns the screen.
29 Aug 2019
A Biography Worthy of 'Hiroshima' Author John Hersey
John Hersey covered Hiroshima and America's race riots with empathy, courage, and profound humility. Jeremy Treglown's biography, Mr. Straight Arrow, should bring a new generation of readers to Hersey's work.
19 Jul 2019
Chanya Button's 'Vita & Virginia' Imprisons and Cages Virginia Woolf
Looking upon Virginia Woolf with an immature and childish creative lust, writer/director Chanya Button and co-writer Eileen Atkins reduce her to a bland literary figure in Vita & Virginia, leaving us to remember the contrarian truth.
15 Jul 2019
Could Marion Turner's Book on Chaucer Alter Future Scholarly Work?
From Marion Turner's work, Chaucer: A European Life, Chaucer emerges as a man who lived through intrigue, rebellions, a peasant's rising, and above all, a determination to translate.
11 Jun 2019
When Harper Lee Came up Short: 'Furious Hours'
Casey Cep traces Harper Lee's winding road to defeat in Furious Hours.
10 Jun 2019
Lanthimos' 'The Favourite' Plays with History and Our Emotional Impulsivity
Stylistically risqué, The Favourite relates to a certain type of subversive British cinema from filmmakers such as Peter Greenaway, although it is not an imitation.
03 Jun 2019
On Warren Zevon, the "Kurt Vonnegut of Rock Music"
Author C. M. Kushins talks with PopMatters about the complicated legacy of Warren Zevon, from crack-up to recovery and back again, and his research for Nothing's Bad Luck: The Lives of Warren Zevon.
07 May 2019
'Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom' Is as Monumental as the Man It Chronicles
Noted historian David W. Blight offers readers the fullest portrait of Frederick Douglass yet in this "biography of a voice".
04 Apr 2019
'All the Lives We Ever Lived' Finds Comfort in Mourning with Virginia Woolf
These days, when personal grief becomes a public performance on social media, it's heartening to have a book such as Katharine Smyth's All the Lives We Ever Lived, wherein deep introspection is given space and literature provides both solace and inspiration.
28 Feb 2019
'The Song Is You' Is the Sinatra Biography That’s Not a Biography
The revised and expanded version of Will Friedwald's acclaimed Sinatra book, The Song Is You, is about the music and nothing but the music.
27 Feb 2019
Edward Gorey, Agent of Chaos
Two recent books on screenwriter, illustrator and author Edward Gorey, Born to Be Posthumous and Gorey's Worlds, are engaging works that show that Gorey's mystique remains safely impenetrable.
19 Feb 2019
On 'Love and Strife', but Mostly the Strife, of Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow has won many literary awards, including the Nobel, Pulitzer, and National Book Award. Yet Zachary Leader's thorough work, The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965-2005, a PopMatters pick, begins with Below asking himself, "Was I a man or was I a jerk?"
23 Jan 2019
Townes Van Zandt: 'Music, Genius, and Rage'
Townes Van Zandt's longtime road manager and producer, Harold F. Eggers, Jr., looks back on road-life with the haunted songwriter. He has more stories than most.
21 Jan 2019
John Berger was a Lifelong Cultural Agitator with a Valuable Point of View
Joshua Sperling's biography of John Berger is more of an art history text that's focused on specific social and political elements as they are connected through Berger's perspective.
14 Jan 2019
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