Amazon Customer

A Dated Tract Masquerading as Enlightened and Reasonable

Revisado: 01-10-25

The title pretty much says it all. I only finished because I’m a finisher of books. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

All In

Revisado: 12-15-24

Another rec from a friend — didn’t know, going in, anything about Maria Bamford. Initially I found the tone off-putting — the “recipe” motif and upper-Midwest, quasi-Prairie Home Companion vibe weren’t working for me. I’m a finisher, though, and about halfway through, when things took a hard turn into the heavy, I started to better understand 1) why this book had been recommended and 2) why Maria Bamford is “Maria Bamford.” The self-effacing pathos, yes, but also the intelligence, and the love.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Oddly Affecting

Revisado: 11-28-24

I “read” this on a recommendation; I had no idea how the author was or why she was famous. Ultimately, you don’t really need to know because the story here isn’t about kids TV but about the human being bravely enduring before, during, and after that experience. And the human is at the heart of this story. And she would seem to be a strong, smart, pithy person. Yay.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A New Kind of Dystopia

Revisado: 03-31-24

Listened to this in advance of my students reading it. As YA goes, this is well done, even putting aside important concerns like Own Voices and representation (including LGBTQ+). As a teacher, I probably could have done without the sexual violence, though the description thereof is not explicit; for a reader of post-colonial lit, it felt a little bit like the author ticking off a box. I only realized in the last few paragraphs how little reflection there was throughout. What we get is mostly action, and, accordingly, the narrative moves quickly, and this will appeal to young readers. Not a ton of humor, but the writing isn’t overly serious, even when the concerns of the plot are. I was a bit concerned that the more sci-fi aspects of the plot would feel corny, but they mostly linger in the background. In the end, I feel pretty good about my students reading this, for the art/writing, for the people we meet, for the perspective, and for the questions all of these things raise.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

(Get Woke to) The Shapeshifting Power of Status

Revisado: 03-20-24

At one point, Marx unpacks the status signaling in a spring 1994 moment from MTV’s 120 Minutes that I watched (and videotaped) in real time. Sharp as the edges of a brand new pack of note cards. Even-handed. Mildly snarky but never mean-spirited. Well-performed. I feel like I learned something new.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

An Untold History of Pittsburgh

Revisado: 02-27-24

I grew up around Pittsburgh and have read pretty widely, and almost everything here was news to me. No surprise there. Smoketown doesn’t set out to be a comprehensive history of Black Pittsburgh; it’s a series of histories that, together, form a kind of Romare Bearden collage of many of the people, places, and things that made twentieth century Black Pittsburgh, and by extension Pittsburgh itself, great. As the stories pile up, it’s hard not to feel moved by the staggering level of accomplishment arising from just a few neighborhoods. There is also a profound sense of injustice as the effects of systemic discrimination begin to compound and literally eat away at the superstructure of what was. An informative, gripping, necessary read, well-written and equally well-performed.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Deeply Felt, Astutely Observed, Beautifully Written

Revisado: 01-12-24

Not a quick read, but the narrative is better for the twists and turns a long the way, and the humanistic depiction of the central figures.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Meh

Revisado: 11-18-23

This was one by Vonnegut I’d never gotten around to reading. There are a few glimpses here of the brilliance we’d later see — the riffs on war and corporate life in particular stand out. Mostly, though, this is underdeveloped, dated, and something of a slog. For completists only.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

On Being a Dad

Revisado: 10-10-23

If you’re a thinking-person dad or a fan of Keith Gessen, there’s so much to love here.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

There Is No Why

Revisado: 10-04-23

I was concerned going in about the conspicuous breathing sounds by the reader and a plodding narrative. The breathing sounds are at worst moderately annoying. If the narrative was dark, well, so was Vonnegut. Anyone who has read a few of his books knows this going in. I wanted to learn more about the writer who turned me on to reading when I was a teenager, and I did.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña