Fans of the “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series by Alexander McCall Smith may recall the remarks of the protagonist, Precious Ramotswe, on the passing from fashion of the “traditional build” for Botswanan women. In the latest, The Miracle at Speedy Motors, she muses thus:
… fewer people wished to be considered traditionally [...]
I spent a few precious minutes in a bookstore on Friday, and got a chance to flip through Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosphy through Jokes. I can’t recall what this joke was supposed to illustrate, but it made me laugh anyway:
Three women are in the changing room of [...]
I know, I know, literature is a matter of taste. But I have never even begun to understand the general adulation of Chuck Palahniuk, and I had mentally filed that fact in the large folder labeled “Things People Seem to Enjoy that I Can’t Stand,” at least until I read this review in a [...]
Sara Miles’ “Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion” is the best thing on this topic I’ve read lately. If you doubt that starting and running food pantries can be a holy undertaking, Miles will convince you otherwise. I wish she had written more about the effects of burnout on herself and her [...]
I can’t be objective about The Art of Racing in the Rain, because as my family knows my critical faculties are permanently suspended where dogs are concerned. Nevertheless, if the thought of a dog as narrator does not make you run for the hills, give it a shot. I enjoyed it very much.
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, by David Hadju
Criticisms of comic books back in the day sound EXACTLY like criticisms of violent video games (e.g. Grand Theft Auto IV) today.
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow
Geeks simply cannot resist the temptation to lecture about their enthusiasms. It doesn’t make [...]
… Badger has some suggestions for you:
I would like everyone, including myself, to use less self-deprecation, in their blogs, blog titles and descriptions, posts, emails, conversation, and life in general. How are you gendering your self presentation and what survival strategy is this? Do you need it? Is it working? Are you doing it on [...]
I’m not nuts about posting a link to Amanda Marcotte’s blog, but in this case she’s found something interesting: a new book by Jeffrey Feldman, “Outright Barbarous: How the Violent Language of the Right Poisons American Democracy.” Like others, I’ve noticed how ugly political language is on the right, and how effectively such language can [...]
Yesterday I finished Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson. The main (autobiographical?) story is an intense and lovely reflection on first love, but the part that’s sticking is a disturbing episode where Craig, the protagonist, and his little brother are molested by a teenage male babysitter. Craig seems to feel helpless to [...]
Michael Chabon. I loved Kavalier and Clay, I loved Yiddish Policemen’s Union (being released in paperback on Tuesday!), and I am absolutely knocked out by Gentlemen of the Road. It’s just beautifully written, succinct, elegant, witty, and a great story. I also adored the Tristram Shandy-style chapter titles, viz.:
Chapter Nine
On Anxieties Arising from the [...]
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