Busy, busy, busy…
I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve had no time to update this blog–which I apologize for. We’ve had two twitter reviews, and no post to alert people to them.
Those reviews were The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon (because his new book came out in early August) and The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.
I’ve neglected this blog, but I’ve been active as hell online. I’ve been interning at The Reader alt. weekly in Omaha, Neb. It was a great experience, and they’re still letting me help out with their online stuff.
But that’s taken a chunk out of the LitReader’s time. I never got to post my review of some of ”The Shadow”’s pulp novels–or did a blog exchange with a guest poster.
Hopefully I’ll get back into the swing of things. But for now here’s a link where you can find the last two week’s twitter reviews.
Twitter Review: Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 1
Since Comic-Con was last weekend, I thought it’d be appropriate to post a twitter review of a comic book collection. Hence: Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.
Check out my thoughts on the comic book classic here.
And, in case you missed it, The Reader published my review of Peter Kilborn’s new book “Next Stop, Reloville: Life Inside America’s new Rootless Professional Class.” You can read it here.
Twitter Review: Death of a Salesman
I’m changing things up a bit for this week’s twitter review. Instead of a novel, biography, or non-fiction text, I’m reviewing Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” script.
Check out the review here.
Twitter Review: Madam Secretary
This week I review “Madam Secretary: A Memoir”–former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s autobiography. read the review here.
Hemingway was a KGB spy????
The Guardian reported yesterday that a new book claims Earnest Hemingway was a KGB agent.
Last week, however, saw the publication of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America (Yale University Press), which reveals the Nobel prize-winning novelist was for a while on the KGB’s list of its agents in America. Co-written by John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Alexander Vassiliev, the book is based on notes that Vassiliev, a former KGB officer, made when he was given access in the 90s to Stalin-era intelligence archives in Moscow.
Its section on the author’s secret life as a “dilettante spy” draws on his KGB file in saying he was recruited in 1941 before making a trip to China, given the cover name “Argo”, and “repeatedly expressed his desire and willingness to help us” when he met Soviet agents in Havana and London in the 40s. However, he failed to “give us any political information” and was never “verified in practical work”, so contacts with Argo had ceased by the end of the decade. Was he only ever a pseudo-spook, possibly seeing his clandestine dealings as potential literary material, or a genuine but hopelessly ineffective one?
Could this be true? Was Earnest Hemingway, among the great crafters of modern American literature, have been in cahoots with the KGB?
Perhaps…
Twitter Review: The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA’s Final Showdown with the KGB
I don’t know if I could fit the title alone inside a tweet, so I called it simply “The Main Enemy.” Check out the twitter review here.
July 4, 2009
Happy 4th of July!
America’s birthday is a great holiday. Eating charred meat and watching explosions are the best ways to celebrate democracy.
Our country has had some ups and downs in its 233 years, but it’s safe to say more good has come than evil.
Today we’ll look at a unique situation that has a bit of both—the 1972 election of Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal.
Two books detail beautifully this period and should be read immediately: All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, and Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 by Hunter Thompson.
It’s fair to say Nixon was a dishonest politician who loved dirty tricks from his career’s get go. Just look at the infamous “pink lady” episode when Nixon ran for the Senate in 1950.
Nothing changed between 1950 and 1972. In his re-election campaign, Nixon employed people who would do anything for him: Gordon Liddy, H.R. Haldeman, and people of similar ilk.
The ’72 election was a cake walk for Nixon; he won every state except Massachusetts. The Democrats truly did not have their act together, which Thompson illustrates in Fear and Loathing.
Thompson followed the Democrats as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine. He was no fan of Nixon’s, and didn’t mind telling readers that. He wanted Democratic candidate George McGovern to win the White House…but of course that didn’t happen.
He shows exactly why the Dems lost that year and all their blunders as they headed to November.
America re-elected “Tricky Dick” Nixon, but he wouldn’t serve long. Thanks to the diligence of two Washington Post reporters, Nixon would leave the White House disgraced.
Woodward and Bernstein weave a great story in All the President’s Men, and show just how corrupt Nixon and his cronies were.
Nixon’s men bugged offices, defrauded individuals and did anything to discredit their opposition. The Committee to Re-elect the President (or CRP, and pronounced “creep”) conspired to do anything for their candidate.
The Washington Post did their job—exercised the free press.
Nixon abused his power, which was a huge disappointment for Americans. But The Washington Post, as an extension of the people’s will, rebuffed the abuse and saved the country’s integrity.
Happy birthday, America.
Twitter Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Check out my twitter review of the first Harry Potter book here.
Book-worthy TV and Movies: All the President’s Men
Two words: freakin’ awsome.
This movie is brimming with suspense. It shows the frustrations a reporter faces in uncovering a good story–and how satisfying the outcome can be.
This isa great movie, based on the book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
