Class Matters is a terrific book for homeschoolers or for UU folks looking for a non-fiction book discussion. We spend a lot of time talking about feminism or racial prejudice or homophobia but we avoid discussions of class like the plague. Class Matters makes good solid points as to why we need to stop doing this. And it gives a lot of good tips for people who want to take part in classism discussions or movements.
Fabulous book, I’m going to buy it.
I am a Courtney Love fan. There, I said it. My children aren’t thrilled about it, (they are in the “it’s all her fault Kurt is dead” camp and while they’ve all outgrown that a bit, part of them still believes it and part of them still blames her.)
I was really looking forward to Dirty Blonde and it didn’t disappoint me at all. I’m not interested in some traditional auto-biography, tell-all thing from Love. That would be out of character and a waste of everyone’s time. Let’s leave the tell-all stuff to Frances, when she’s grown up and ready. That would be the only Love/Cobain tell-all worth reading.
Dirty Blonde feels like Courtney Love – at least the Courtney Love that I know.
I don’t really DO graphic novels (or comics). They just aren’t my thing, I know that and I avoid them. But when I heard Fun Home was being challenged and banned, I decided to give it a try. I do like Dykes to Watch Out For, in small doses, so I had high hopes for Fun Home.
High hopes indeed. Fun Home is excellent. And it totally needed to be a graphic novel instead of just a written word piece. What a family, what a story, what a terrific job Bechdel did telling her story.
A Banned Book: Fun Home Read More »
I ran into a problem while reading Autobiography of a Face. Besides I just said I was swearing off Irish authors, and Grealy was from Ireland, I just finished her book, As Seen on TV and had listened to a few chapters of Patchett’s Truth & Beauty. Too much Lucy Grealy and all of it sounds the same. In fact it all sounds the same because in many, many cases the stories were told in virtually the same way in all three books.
Once I resigned myself with that, sort of accepted it the way you accept the re-telling of family stories over and over again, I enjoyed reading the book. I’m sorry Grealy died, particularly the way she died. Very sad and melodramatic, the latter of which she probably appreciates – wherever she is.
I wonder what all of those people who went to school with her think about her now – what they think about themselves – what they say about Lucy to their children.
Autobiography of a Face Read More »
Sigh, Sigh, Sigh, Sigh. There Is No Me Without You is a difficult book. Difficult because it’s a reminder of how little most of us are doing to solve huge problems. It’s a reminder of how little difference we are making in the world.
Everyone should read this, and books like it – and then DO something. And while you’re at it, go read Mary’s interview with the author. And visit Mary’s family – her family has made a difference in Africa.
There Is No Me Without You Read More »
Like they always say, truth is stranger than fiction. The Coroner’s Journal proves that completely. Louis Cataldie is one of the most interesting characters ever to grace the pages of a book and he’s a real live person. The crimes, often felt like something out of a horror novel or a whodunit, but those were real crimes. Truth is definitely stranger than fiction.
I would like to meet Cataladie over a cup of coffee and a hot donut someday, the stories he can tell and the fact that he still seems to be pretty sane after all that he’s been through. Amazing
The Coroner’s Journal Read More »
I requested As Seen on TV from the inter-library loan system when we were attempting to listen to Ann Patchett’s book, Truth & Beauty, about her friendship with Lucy Grealy. TW was not impressed with Truth & Beauty or with Lucy Grealy but I was interested. We never got past the first CD of Truth & Beauty but As Seen on TV was easy to read.
TW laughed her way through the first chapter or two and said Lucy Grealy should have been a blogger. She’s write. The first story was true blog, the others not so much. Her political rants, thankfully not many, were a little boring and I found myself just wanting to get on with it. The rest of the book, well worth reading.
I do find myself wondering if I really want to read her auto-biography or not. It’s on the shelf right now, maybe I should just leave it unread and be happy with the short stories. I’m afraid, after I read her biography, I won’t like Lucy nearly as much as I do right now.
It’s important to remember that Lesbian Images was written 30 years ago. We’ve come a long way since then. Sometimes I think we’ve come too far, but that’s another blog entry entirely.
Jane Rule takes a look at lesbian characters in literature. From The Well of Loneliness to a Colette to Orlando with some discussion of books like The Price of Salt and Rubyfruit Jungle. She does a fairly good job of contrasting the characters with the authors who created them, as well. I think maybe I need to read The Well of Loneliness again, and more Colette.
I’d like to see a similar stufy of lesbian images done with literature from the 1970’s to today. Anyone want to take that on?
Wilson, a secular humanist, speaks to a Southern Baptist Pastor about the need to save “The Creation“. Creation meaning nature.
Very interesting but also just a wee bit depressing. Around here we joked a bit about the potential loss of fish by 2048 but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Depressing. Particularly since Wilson suggests a one time payment of just 30 Billion could solve the majority of the world’s problems. 30 Billion isn’t a whole lot of money, compared to what the US is spending on the war in Iraq…
Depressing.
Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West reads like a high school text book. A wee bit boring, particularly considering the subject matter. There were some interesting stories, samples from newspaper articles and obituaries and the photos were excellent.
If you’re looking for some deep and meaninful account, this isn’t it. If you’re looking for some straight forward, easy to read text then you’ll find it in Soild Doves.