Books

Book Review: “F*CK The Army” — Anti-War Entertainment

June 25, 2024
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The revolving cast members of the FTA road show were determined to reinforce the belief among members of the military that the Vietnam War was at best pointless and at worst criminally insane as well as murderous.

Book Review: Chris Stein’s “Under a Rock” — A Complex Account of Love, Loss, and New York City

June 23, 2024
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Part of what makes “Under a Rock” special is Chris Stein’s open-eyed fascination with New York City.

Book Review: How California Appropriated Hawaiian Beach Culture

June 20, 2024
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California beach culture didn’t spring full blown from the ocean riding a longboard, but the closest you will come to a founding figure is the legendary native Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku.

Book Review: “Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life” — A Poet Who Spoke to Unbearable Loss

June 15, 2024
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This is not a dry, academic look at Thom Gunn’s life: the biographer supplies a loving — though at times unflinchingly honest — view of the self-punishing poet.

Author Interview: Tiya Miles on Empowering the Memory of Harriet Tubman

June 14, 2024
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Many of us think of Harriet Tubman as a lone heroic figure. But the truth is she was never alone; she did things that other people did not do.

Book Review: “The Sixth Extinction, Tenth Anniversary Edition” — Still Essential

June 12, 2024
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Today, Elizabeth Kolbert’s book remains an important reminder of what is at stake — nothing less than the future of life on earth.

Children’s Book Reviews: Belonging — Family and Friends

June 11, 2024
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Three new picture books offer help for kids wanting to be perfect, giving feedback, and finding your place in the world.

Book Review: “Clete” — A Whodunit in Masquerade

June 10, 2024
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James Lee Burke’s “Clete” is Beat poetry, suffused with sadness and longing for all those sunsets now gone.

Book Review: A Deep Dive into the Complex World of Ingmar Bergman

June 7, 2024
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Film historian Peter Cowie’s writing is always intelligent, if somewhat dry, and normally correct in its evaluations of Ingmar Bergman’s films.

Book Review: “Freeman’s Challenge” — Essential Reading on Prisons, Slavery, and Profit

June 4, 2024
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The prison was the first in the nation specifically designed to generate a profit for everybody but the laborers.

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