Books

Book Review: “The Amazing Bud Powell” — A Disappointing Study of a Jazz Legend

August 5, 2013
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Ramsey’s book on Bud Powell is both a provocative read and a disappointing one. Anyone thinking this will be an illuminating portrait of a jazz master is likely to suffer a serious case of buyer’s remorse.

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Book Review: “The Hanging Garden” — A Posthumous Gift from a Literary Giant

August 4, 2013
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This novella is a gift to all of us who love Patrick White’s strangely alive prose and a welcome addition to his oeuvre. And for those who don’t know his work, it is a terrific way to be introduced to one of the 20th century’s finest writers.

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Book Review: “Reading Ḥayy Ibn-Yaqẓān” — Rewriting the History of Ideas

August 3, 2013
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“Reading Ḥayy Ibn-Yaqẓān” is a mesmerizing study that will enchant anyone interested in interdisciplinary, cross-cultural explorations of the history of science that transform the way we look at the past and the present.

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CD Review: Dream Pop Gets Serious — the Ambitious Reach of Candy Claws

August 1, 2013
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The latest LP from the dream pop band Candy Claws turns out to be its most profound and impressive statement to date.

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Book Review: “Into the Nightmare” — An Epic Account of the Assassination of John F Kennedy

July 29, 2013
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“Into the Nightmare” is a great book, a monumental book, and an authoritative assimilation of forty years of what everyone, off and on the record, has argued about the Kennedy assassination, plus what author Joseph McBride himself concludes.

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Arts Commentary: A Call to (Proper) Arms — Why a Science Fiction/Fantasy Fight Over Sexism Matters

July 27, 2013
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Call it dueling futures. Because the battle for the soul of the science fiction and fantasy community is about nothing less, and even if we in the mystery community never considered the impact of a chainmail bikini, you may want to sharpen your broadsword.

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Book Review: “In the Land of the Living” — A Coming-of-Age Yarn Mixed With Grief

July 18, 2013
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Austin Ratner’s follow up to “The Jump Artist” is an an exuberant, terrific novel — for its weaknesses, as well as its strengths.

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Book Review: From France with “L’Amour” — A Neglected Volume by Marguerite Duras

July 9, 2013
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For those of you who have never read Marguerite Duras, “L’Amour” is an invigorating place to start.

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Book/Theater Review: Vladimir Nabokov Does That Shakespeherian Rag

July 8, 2013
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Nabokov will become much more seriously playful about extinction and the nature of love in the increasingly complex fables to come. “The Tragedy of Mr. Morn” is his initial earnest fairy tale.

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Short Fuse Book Review: A Fascinating Tale of “Strange Rebels”

July 3, 2013
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Author Christian Caryl ends “Strange Rebels” with the idea that “if the experiences of 1979 suggest one conclusion, it is that we should never underestimate the powers of reaction.”

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