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October 07
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Alicia
is currently reading:
The Wordy Shipmates (Hardcover)
by Sarah Vowell
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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Alicia said:
"Woot! So excited for new Sarah Vowell! I just happen to be in the mood for her particular brand of historical reflection (viewed through a lens of witty gloom) right now. And I just fell in love all over again seeing her on The Daily Show tonight.
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October 04
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Alicia
is currently reading:
The Assault on Reason (Hardcover)
by Albert Gore Jr.
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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Alicia said:
"I'm loving this book so much. I wish every American would read it. It addresses: What's become of the marketplace of ideas? And why has the print-based public sphere that emerged from the books and essays of the Enlightenment come to seem as remote a...more
I'm loving this book so much. I wish every American would read it. It addresses: What's become of the marketplace of ideas? And why has the print-based public sphere that emerged from the books and essays of the Enlightenment come to seem as remote as the horse and buggy? The usual suspect (television) is (surprise!) to blame in large part, says Gore. But he says it in such an eloquent and thoughtful way that it feels new and makes you wish even harder that you'd been skilled in the voodoo arts back in November/December 2000, able to tweak the minds/bodies/souls of the Supreme Court justices who decided Bush v. Gore.
One of the most haunting concepts Gore addresses (concededly borrowed from a sort of contemporary German person) is "the refeudalization of the public sphere," meaning that the current dialogue (and many people's worldview) is comparable to the time before the printing press democratized knowledge and made the idea of America thinkable. Despite the sad, sad image that phrase evokes, I'm so moved by the way Gore loves America -- the best possible way. A thoughtful yet passionate way, but (and this probably goes without saying) not a flag-pin wearing, we'll-put-a-boot-up-your-ass way. ...less
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September 16
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New comment on Laura's review of
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why
(see all 2 comments)
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September 11
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New comment on Alicia's review of
Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture
(see all 4 comments)
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September 10
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Alicia
is currently reading:
Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays (Hardcover)
by David Foster Wallace
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Alicia
gave
to:
Midnight Sun (Partial Draft)
by Stephenie Meyer
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in September, 2008
Alicia said:
"OK, so not exactly a "book." According to Stephenie Meyer's web site, this is a partial draft of a manuscript that was leaked over the interwebs, but it's hard to believe that this was going to be the fifth book of the saga. I call TIBS (an...more
OK, so not exactly a "book." According to Stephenie Meyer's web site, this is a partial draft of a manuscript that was leaked over the interwebs, but it's hard to believe that this was going to be the fifth book of the saga. I call TIBS (an acronym my friend has tried to get off the ground for years, meaning 'This Is BullShit'...Try it!). This book just goes back to the beginning (Twilight) and retells the whole story from Edward's point of view, but Edward's pov isn't all that different from Bella's, unreliable narrator as she is. The sequence of events and the dialogue are identical to Twilight. There are a few minor incidents that went untold the first time around, but they're not central to the plot. Still, I read it in one sitting. What?! At least I didn't go to a Breaking Dawn midnight release party dressed as a vampire! ...less
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Alicia
gave
to:
Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture (Hardcover)
by Daniel Radosh
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in September, 2008
Alicia said:
"I thought this was a really entertaining, well-written, insightful book about the bizarre alternate universe of Christian pop culture. It was also a timely read, considering the RNC's recent efforts to reignite the culture wars and demonize the "...more
I thought this was a really entertaining, well-written, insightful book about the bizarre alternate universe of Christian pop culture. It was also a timely read, considering the RNC's recent efforts to reignite the culture wars and demonize the "liberal media" (yawn...that old chestnut). I got the sense that book was animated by a desire to understand what forces really fuel the Christian market and why the right wing has been so successful in politicizing religious faith. Ultimately, the author determines that (in the course of writing this book) he met a lot more moderate, reasonable people than he did intolerant-lunatic-fringe-fundamentalist types, and he stresses the importance of finding a common ground with the reasonable set, seeing as nontheistic rationalists are grossly outnumbered AND (more importantly) secularism as a sociopolitical model is not the exclusive property of the nonreligious. Basically, in addition to being a humorous examination of this weird cultural bubble, the book also calls for eliminating that bubble for a variety of reasons, such as: "When their only audience is other Christians, the feedback loop amplifies narrow-mindedness and inhibits self-examination."
The author is a Jewish guy from New York who's been published in the New Yorker, The NY Times, and a host of other publications. I expected the book to be pretty snarky, given that Christian culture is a really easy target (example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..., but I thought he was actually incredibly fair and kind in his assessment of things like Christian comedy, Christian theme parks, Christian wrestling, the Creation Museum in Kentucky, and other such cringe-worthy subjects. Kinder and more fair and kind than I could be, I think. Of course, there were moments when snark was more than deserved, like in laughing at the terrible writing of Tim LaHaye, author of Left Behind. Apparently, one of the heroes of that book is a prize-winning journalist, and this is an example LaHaye's idea of Pulitzer-winning prose: "To say the Israelis were caught off guard was like saying the Great Wall of China was long."
Another snark-deserving individual: Stephen Baldwin. Whoa.
Also entertaining was a list the author acquired from a friend who works for Harlequin regarding taboos to be avoided in the company's "inspirational" romance novels. Taboo words included the following: dang, dagnabbit, breast (except for breast cancer if necessary), Halloween, heat (when used to describe kisses), undergarments of any kind, whore.
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August 29
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Alicia
gave
to:
Mountain Man Dance Moves: The McSweeney's Book of Lists (Paperback)
by McSweeney's
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in August, 2008
Alicia said:
"This book contains a number of helpful lists. For example, there's a list titled "NICKNAMES FOR TOUGH UNICORNS." I find this useful because our kickball team's mascot is an inflatable unicorn, and we've been trying unsuccessfully to assign ...more
This book contains a number of helpful lists. For example, there's a list titled "NICKNAMES FOR TOUGH UNICORNS." I find this useful because our kickball team's mascot is an inflatable unicorn, and we've been trying unsuccessfully to assign nicknames to our teammates for two seasons. This list offers perfect unicorn-themed kickball nicknames, such as Impaler, Mythdemeanor, Horny D, Rainblow, Crazy Horse, and (my favorite) Drill Bitch. Problem solved!
As this book's resplendent cover indicates, many of the lists are unicorn-themed.
Here are some of my other favorite lists:
FUTURE WINNERS OF THE NEW YORKER CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST
"You're doing something unusual, Harold!"
"I certainly am in a bar with other businessmen."
"This desert island is a bummer."
"I love being wealthy in the Hamptons."
"I'm saying a cliché in a different context, Pam."
"I like intercourse."
"I'm thinking something incongruous to what I'm doing."
TOTALITARIAN INSTITUTIONS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE FITTING FOR GEORGE ORWELL'S 1984, CONSIDERING HOW THAT YEAR TURNED OUT
The Ministry of Denim
The Ministry of Footloose Starring Kevin Bacon
The Ministry of the Beef and Where It Currently Is
The Ministry of Girls Just Wanting to Have Fun
The Ministry of Fools, and the Pity with Which Mr. T Regards Them
ACTUAL ENGLISH NAMES CHOSEN BY OUR ESL STUDENTS IN SUZHOU, CHINA
Napoleon
Beyoncé
Whiskey
Virus
Bob Shop
WAYS I WOULD SUBTLY MENTION MY INVENTION OF THE HOVERBOARD IN EVERYDAY CONVERSATION
"Yeah, traffic was terrible yesterday. But not for me, since I soared above it on my hoverboard."
"I like your hat. I would get one like it, but I'd probably lose it while riding my hoverboard."
"Yes, this week has gone by fast--fast like the hoverboard I invented."
"Excuse me. Could you pick up my pen? Unfortunately, it is susceptible to gravity, unlike my hoverboard."
"Did someone say 'hoverboard'? No? Well, now that we're on the subject..."
"Hoverboard! Which I invented."
HAIRCUTS I HAVE REVIEWED WHILE RIDING TO WORK ON THE SUBWAY
On a bowl cut: "This cut is to fashion sense what the microwave is to cooking: bland, insipid, and uninspired."
On a bob: "Great energy but poor execution."
On a crew cut: "A minefield of danger and delight. The gel says 'stay' and the spikes say 'play.'"
On a double French braid: "This casual luxury brings to mind Heidi of the Swiss prom."
On a short cut (male): "Wind-tossed fun--the happy drama of the ocean on the surface of the human head."
On a short cut (female): "A short, shorn bird's nest of salt-and-pepper respectability. Middle-aged never had it so good."
On a hat: "A triumph of understatement."
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August 27
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Alicia
marked as to-read:
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Modern Library)
by Carson McCullers
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Alicia
marked as to-read:
Of Human Bondage (Paperback)
by W. Somerset Maugham
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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