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Posts tagged with ‘Social and Cultural Commentary’

EMINENT OUTLAWS, by Christopher Bram

May 12, 2012

THE EXTRAORDINARY LITERARY HISTORY of gay writers in America, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Grade: B PLUS

EMINENT OUTLAWS: THE GAY WRITERS WHO CHANGED AMERICA
Grand Central
2012

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THE MARK INSIDE, by Amy Reading

May 8, 2012

FASCINATING TRUE STORY of a 1919 confidence game (and the victim’s revenge) sheds light on the history of scams.

Grade: B PLUS

THE MARK INSIDE: A PERFECT SWINDLE, A CUNNING REVENGE, AND A SMALL HISTORY OF THE BIG CON
Knopf
2012

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GONE TO AMERIKAY, by Derek McCulloch and Colleen Doran

May 5, 2012

GORGEOUS GRAPHIC NOVEL looks at three generations of the Irish-American experience through interlocking tales.

Grade: B PLUS

GONE TO AMERIKAY
Vertigo
2012

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MAD LIKE TESLA, by Tyler Hamilton

May 4, 2012

A LAID-BACK LOOK AT a wide range of “clean energy” inventors, from the mainstream to the maverick. Fascinating!

Grade: SOLID B

MAD LIKE TESLA: UNDERDOG INVENTORS AND THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF CLEAN ENERGY
ECW Press
2011

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THIS LOVE IS NOT FOR COWARDS, by Robert Andrew Powell

April 30, 2012

TOUCHING TRUE STORY of the pride and hope the beleaguered citizens of Ciudad Juárez have found in soccer.

Grade: SOLID B

THIS LOVE IS NOT FOR COWARDS: SALVATION AND SOCCER IN CIUDAD JUAREZ
Bloomsbury USA
2012

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RAGNAROK, by A. S. Byatt

April 25, 2012

POETIC, COMPELLING MEDITATION on the power of myth: a girl’s fascination with Norse legend during, after WWII.

Grade: A MINUS

RAGNAROK: THE END OF THE GODS
Grove
2012

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HOW ESKIMOS KEEP THEIR BABIES WARM, by Mei-Ling Hopgood

April 21, 2012

ENTERTAINING AND ENLIGHTENING look at the many  different ways people raise children all around the world.

Grade: SOLID B

HOW ESKIMOS KEEP THEIR BABIES WARM: AND OTHER ADVENTURES IN PARENTING (FROM ARGENTINA TO TANZANIA AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN)
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2012

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THE SINNER’S GRAND TOUR, by Tony Perrotet

April 16, 2012

AN OFFBEAT TOUR of Europe’s most sexually scandalous historic landmarks is R-rated antiquarian fun.

Grade: SOLID B

THE SINNER'S GRAND TOUR: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HISTORICAL UNDERBELLY OF EUROPE
Crown
2011

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SCAPEGOAT: A HISTORY OF BLAMING OTHER PEOPLE, by Charlie Campbell

March 20, 2012

IDIOSYNCRATIC, ABSORBING, INSIGHTFUL, snarky overview of the phenomenon of “scapegoating” throughout history.

Grade: SOLID B

SCAPEGOAT: A HISTORY OF BLAMING OTHER PEOPLE
The Overlook Press
2012

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SEE ME NAKED, by Amy Frykholm

March 7, 2012

THOUGHTFUL COLLECTION OF people’s true stories about reconciling their sexuality with their Christian beliefs.

Grade: B PLUS

SEE ME NAKED: STORIES OF SEXUAL EXILE IN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY
Beacon Press
2011

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