Reviews

The Anger of a Happy Warrior

By Stan Persky | 2023 April 4

U.S. socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont lays out his ideas for how to thnk about and remedy the injustices of America’s extreme capitalist system in his new book, “It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism.” The 81-year-old political activist remains engaged and even iconic as he counsels anger at the powers-that-be and assures readers it’s okay to be angry. Stan Persky thinks it’s a compelling argument.

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The Show Goes On: Nik Sheehan reviews the 2023 Best Picture Oscar Nominees

By Nik Sheehan | 2023 March 11

Filmmaker and critic Nik Sheehan takes a last-minute tour of the Oscars before the show goes on.

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Joined at the Mind: Brian Fawcett (1944-2022)

By Stan Persky | 2023 January 25

Brian Fawcett wrote books for people who find television too slow. Stan Persky remembers a writer who never forgot his hometown, and with whom he shared a “joint mind.”

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The trouble with Stanley Tucci’s Taste (and the right way to make tomato sauce)

By Brian Fawcett | 2022 March 2

Brian Fawcett on how to make Euclid Avenue Tomato Sauce. Everything you need to know to get it right.

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The Answer to Some Things (and not others)

By Vivien Lougheed | 2022 January 18

Ken Belford’s selected poems, “The Answer to Everything.” Or, as reviewers Vivien Lougheed and John Harris suggest, “the answer to some things (and not others).”

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Far from the Madding Crowd

By Stan Persky | 2020 December 11

Douglas Murray’s “The Madness of Crowds,” a critique of the “social justice movement,” is a conservative writer’s response to gays, feminists, race, and trans people. Stan Persky reviews it, keeping an eye on the tripwires in an ideological minefield.

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The (Good) Trouble With David Shields

By Brian Fawcett | 2020 August 20

David Shields’ The Trouble with Men. It ain’t self-help, says Brian Fawcett.

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Woody Allen - Apropos of Nothing book cover

Apropos of Woody Allen: The Anxiety of Being… and don’t forget Nothingness

By Stan Persky | 2020 August 18

Woody Allen’s autobiography is not-so-great, but the films are more than good. Stan Persky reviews the book, the scandals, and the stuff on the silver screen.

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Norm Sibum and the Poetry of “Flaneurism”

By Brian Fawcett | 2020 July 21

Brian Fawcett reads Norm Sibum’s new volume of verse. He thinks Sibum is a skilled poet, but….

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Big Pharma: drugging involuntary psychiatric patients

By Tom Sandborn | 2020 July 2

Lawyer Jim Gottstein uncovers Big Pharma’s use of the drug Zyprexa on involuntary mental patients.

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