Tag: nonfiction
Book Review: Peter Longerich’s ‘Goebbels: A Biography’ is Excellent, Appalling, and Instructive
REVIEW: Yes, it's true: Joseph Goebbels Helps today's GOP. Often considered the father of modern propaganda, Goebbels foreshadowed the GOP playbook in terms of distortion, deception, and dishonesty. Peter Longerich's "Goebbels: A Biography" (ISBN: 9781400067510) is excellent, appalling, and instructive.
Book Review: Greenberg’s ‘America Ascendant’ Gives Us Hope for the 21st Century
REVIEW: Positive feelings about the USA can sometimes be in short supply but Stanley B. Greenberg's “America Ascendant: A Revolutionary Nation's Path to Addressing Its Deepest Problems and Leading the 21st Century” (ISBN: 978-1250003676) offers optimism and the promise of a better future. Wouldn't it be great if he's correct?
Book Review: Shining a Light on the Digital Underground of ‘The Dark Net’ and It’s Not Very Pretty
REVIEW: You can find anything on the Internet. Proving that in “The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld” (ISBN: 9781612194899) is author and social media analyst Jamie Bartlett. Turns out that a lot of the online netherworld is pretty wild (and often not very pretty).
Chasing Freedom: New Book by Soviet Born Author Details Her Compelling Story of Bondage to Freedom
BOOK NEWS: (CHARLOTTE, N.C.) 'Chasing Freedom' (ISBN: 9780578164373) is a newly-released book authored by Ella Miriam that details her personal and compelling story from bondage to freedom. Born during the gruesome Nazi siege of Leningrad, Miriam's childhood and early adulthood was spent in the grim Soviet Union of Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev.
New book, ‘Music Business For Dummies’ by Loren Weisman
BOOK NEWS: A new book was released this month by music industry veteran, producer, and marketing guru, Loren Weisman, the latest in the 'for Dummies' book series, "Music Business For Dummies" (ISBN: 978-1119049654; trade paper; Wiley). The author describes the book thusly, "'Music Business For Dummies' explains the ins and outs of the music industry for artists and business people just starting out.
Book Review: Real-life Horror Story is a Prison of Disbelief in ‘Going Clear’
REVIEW: A beautifully crafted book on a mesmerizing but ugly topic, "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief" by Lawrence Wright (ISBN: 9780307745309) is a shocking investigation into the cult of Scientology. As with today's torture-porn horror films, its followers are berated, degraded, and psychologically harmed.
New book reveals early days of corn syrup in foods: ‘SWEET SUCCESS: A Journey of Change and Challenge’
BOOK NEWS: Doug Lapins' new book, "SWEET SUCCESS: A Journey of Change and Challenge" (ISBN 978-0-9905995-0-0; paper; Foursome Press) chronicles the changes, challenges, and guiding principles of a thirty year stellar corporate career. "SWEET SUCCESS" also tells the history of a then-new product, high-fructose corn syrup, with the "inside story" of how, over time, a money-saving and seemingly harmless new sweetener became a controversial product.
New book, ‘We Are Buyers. You Are Sellers. You’re Busted’ by Dick Lee
BOOK NEWS: Author and veteran corporate consultant Dick Lee recently announced his new book, "We Are Buyers. You Are Sellers. You're Busted" (ISBN: 978-1-4834-1692-2; HVMPress). According to the author, the book's goal is "to track historically corporate abuse of customers and describe the resulting deterioration of buyer-seller relations."
New Book: How to Make Your Home Flood Safe, by Capt. Dan Berg
A new book, "How To Make Your Home Flood Safe" (ISBN: 978-1494923754; Aqua Explorers Inc) by Capt. Dan Berg, is the complete homeowners guide...
Book Review: How and Why the US is Economically ‘Divided’
BOOK REVIEW: The collection of essays called “Divided: The Perils of Our Growing Inequality” (ISBN 978-1-59558-923-1) covers its important topic from a variety of viewpoints. While a valuable book, it's also a bit of a hit-or-miss affair because editor David Cay Johnston selected articles that emphasize facts and data whether or not there was any entertainment value in the writing.
Book Review: ‘Lightning’ Words about Bird
BOOK REVIEW: The first of a two-part biography of Charlie 'Yardbird' Parker, Stanley Crouch's “Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker” (ISBN: 9780062005595) is as multi-layered and exciting as many of Bird's great alto sax solos.
Book Review: Next U.S. President Profiled in ‘HRC’
BOOK REVIEW: The inside story of the woman poised to become the next U.S. President, "HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton" (ISBN: 978-0-8041-3675-4; Crown Publishers) by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes is a delightful rarity: a serious book that is fun to read.
Getting in Touch with your Inner Racist: Book Review of ‘Dog Whistle Politics’
BOOK REVIEW: In the most important American book of the year so far, Ian Haney Lopez presents a ton of facts and a mountain of logical deductions about race, politics and the nation's future in 'Dog Whistle Politics' (ISBN: 9780199964277). Reading it is like pulling off a scab.
Book Review: Brilliant Words on Music in ‘Visions of Jazz’
BOOK REVIEW: It isn't easy getting a handle on a genre that ranges from the smooth swing of a Benny Goodman to the jagged edges of an Ornette Coleman but Gary Giddins' 'Visions of Jazz' (ISBN: 0-19-507675-3) is a beautiful book that makes delightful reading for any jazz lover.
Book Review: Breezy Writing about ‘Windfall’ Profits in ‘Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming’
BOOK REVIEW: Reading even a few pages of “Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming” (ISBN: 9781594204012) reveals heretofore hidden facts about the business aspects of climate change. Author McKenzie Funk takes you around the globe to reveal the gnarled hand of the marketplace at work.
Book Review: A War Book with a Difference, ‘Blackett’s War’
BOOK REVIEW: Books about World War II rarely discuss probability theory, mathematics, and observation of logistics procedures, which makes "Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare" (ISBN-13: 978-0307595966) by Stephen Budiansky, a refreshing change. But the horrors of combat are not overlooked (warning; graphic descriptions ahead).
Book Review: ‘The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism’
BOOK REVIEW: With the soul of America at stake, Teddy Roosevelt formed a rough alliance with crusading journalists to battle for workers’ rights and a better nation for everyone. Their foes were a familiar group: the vested interests of big corporations and their trusts. In Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism" (ISBN: 9781416547860), the skirmishes are exciting even if the writing is tepid.
Book Review: Music Career Guide Number 1,245,834, ‘The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business’
BOOK REVIEW: When seeking a book about careers in music, you will find plenty of choices. Many of them seem to have titles similar to "The Artist's Guide to Success in the Music Business" (ISBN-13: 9781608325788), but Loren Weisman's volume emphasizes the practical things over which you can exercise some control.
Book Review: Doubling Down on Democracy
BOOK REVIEW: Recent events are made to feel like a Hollywood thrill-ride movie in “Double Down: Game Change 2012” (ISBN 9781594204401) a look at the 2012 presidential election from "Game Change" authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. Spoiler Alert: the book has a happy ending.
Book Review: The Permanent Political Cla$$ and ‘Extortion’
REVIEW: Despite a disturbing right-wing bias, "Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets" is an eye-opening disclosure of the ways that money flows in Washington, D.C., as well as how the principles of Democracy are subverted and perverted by members of the "permanent political class." Because writer Peter Schweizer is a right-wing nut job whose fawning and boot-licking of the putrid memory of Ronald Reagan is thoroughly disgusting.
