“I’m trying to get people to be at ease with the incredible amount of variety in the United States.”
Books
Book Interview: Talking to BrownMark about “Life in the Purple Kingdom”
Front and center in this memoir are BrownMark’s efforts to reconcile his resentment and gratitude toward the man who both sold him short and afforded him the “opportunity of a lifetime.”
Literary Appreciation: D. H. Lawrence’s “Women in Love” at 100
I hope this centennial will inspire readers to immerse themselves in this enormously important, rich, and vibrant work.
Book Review: “Murder and the Movies” — So Cinematic, the Spectacle of Death
Our awareness of our delight in the homicidal temptations presented by film is itself a kind of twisted comedy that the critic is all too aware of.
Book Review: Crime and Espionage — to the Sounds of Jazz
There’s a larger story to tell about black composers and musicians breaking into the film and TV business, but its only lightly touched on here.
Book Review: Two Glimpses of Caribbean Culture in a Year without Carnival
A pair of recent books help keep the glorious spirit of Carnival alive.
Visual Arts Book Review: Pasolini and Fluxus — For and Against the Avant-Garde
Long live Fluxus, with its questionable boxes of ephemera, its baggy bags of soil, and its mad prankster sensibility.
Book Review: “Humankind” — The Power of Positive Thinking
Humankind, at the very least, compels us to rethink fashionably pessimistic assumptions about human nature.
Book Review: “Fallout” — Memorably Detailing the Defeat of the Hiroshima Cover-Up
I heartily recommend M.M. Blume’s excellent Fallout, which ably synthesizes large amounts of archival, historical, and biographical material from three continents.
Book Review: “And Go Like This” — Short Stories of Distinction
The stories in And Go Like This are wise, compassionate, and deftly crafted.