Beyond the Messy Truth: How We Came Apart*How We Come Together (2017) is a frank reading of American-style democracy that encourages an honest debate on how to shape the country. Author Van Jones travels around the country, touting The Beautiful Work: Four Solutions that he says would clean up the “Messy Truth” concerning the way Americans came apart and what conservatives and progressives could do to find unity. Beyond the Messy Truth takes readers through a fact-based history that is hard to dispute. In 2016, American voters were fed up … [Read more...] about BOOK REVIEW
Book Review
Nikki Meredith takes a detailed look inside the minds of the Manson women
It took Nikki Meredith more than two decades of prison visits, trips into the California desert, and prolonged research to knit her memories, reactions, opinions together and write the words that describe the crime and the punishment in The Manson Women and Me; Monsters, Morality, and Murder (2018). What makes The Manson Women and Me a compelling read is the close scrutiny Meredith applies to investigating the mindsets, before and after, of Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel, two of the three women at the center of the “Manson Family” … [Read more...] about Nikki Meredith takes a detailed look inside the minds of the Manson women
Sci-fi thriller of first alien contact in the future
Last month’s review, The Left Hand of Darkness, dealt with earthlings’ effort to increase the human galactic footprint. Ursula K. Le Guin took readers way, way into the future to tell a tale about humanizing other worlds. By comparison, authors of Saturn Run, John Sandford and Ctein peered just around the corner of time in Saturn Run, (2015) to tell a tale about Earth’s first alien contact. Everything takes place in the late 2060s after a large object headed to Saturn is spotted and is decelerating. What follows is a space race between the … [Read more...] about Sci-fi thriller of first alien contact in the future
60’s science fiction ahead of its time dealing with sexuality and imperialism
When Ursula K. Le Guin died earlier this year, she left her fans a rich history of literature. In much of that literature she tackled humankind’s quest for dignity. Her stories make us think deeply about how we treat each other — most famously in her groundbreaking 1969 science fiction masterpiece, The Left Hand of Darkness. Le Guin was a courageous writer -- she wrote about sexuality, truth to power, and imperialism at a time when these topics were considered revolutionary. 25 percent of millennial-age American men think asking a woman who is … [Read more...] about 60’s science fiction ahead of its time dealing with sexuality and imperialism
BOOK REVIEW: THE SOUTHERN PHOENIX
The Southern Phoenix, written by Rosemary Jenkins, is the perfect book to read during Black History Month. By linking fictional characters to real-life civil rights events, Jenkins insightfully recreates the Black experience in mid-century America. This historical novel, published last year, provides readers with a vivid portrayal of the post-World War II racial divide in the American South and how it created the civil rights movement. Jenkins depicts iconic events—the 1965 Watts riots, bus and lunch counter sit-ins, the voting rights … [Read more...] about BOOK REVIEW: THE SOUTHERN PHOENIX
Debut novel has familiar plot but from different point of view
Imaginative storytelling, tension and drama linked to how we see the world are what good novels are made of — Zach Wyner does this in: What We Never Had (2016). But what’s unique about this debut novel isn’t the plot, which is a familiar coming-of-age story -- it’s the second-person point of view. Josh, the protagonist, is a 20-something tutor who gives his 20-something friends the specialized help they need as they confront the challenges of post-college life. In describing these relationships, the second person magically provides both … [Read more...] about Debut novel has familiar plot but from different point of view
Women’s individuality and power lost in a dystopian society
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood (1985), is an account of a woman’s life in a world deprived of the expression of individuality and personal desires. It chronicles what Offred, the protagonist, endures while subjugated to servitude in Gilead. Gilead is a dying Orwellian world. Birthrates are falling for some unknown reason. All societal institutions have become narrowed with a religious fervor for two purposes — procreation and perpetual war. While Offred exists for procreation, she quickly realizes that compassion, empathy and … [Read more...] about Women’s individuality and power lost in a dystopian society
Hybrid novel discusses women’s empowerment issues
When Caits (pronounced cats) Meissner ventured inside San Quentin last summer to meet with inmates taking a creative writing class, she talked about a new kind of writing, at least for me, called “hybrid literature”. I didn’t realize that Rosemary Jenkins previously had written in the same style. When I worked my way through Jenkins’ Leticia in Her Wedding Dress and Other Poems (2005) it surprised me with its illustrations and bilingual advantage. Meissner similarly uses unorthodox techniques in Let It Die Hungry. There are writing prompts … [Read more...] about Hybrid novel discusses women’s empowerment issues
The hopeful resilient human spirit behind bars
Zek: An American Prison Story (2016), by Arthur Longworth, captures the tedious and mundane, the miserable and disappointing, the irrational and vicious aspects of doing time behind bars. But it also offers keen assurance that, in spite of these highly toxic dynamics, the resilient human spirit retains the ability to hold on to a hopeful attitude. Zek, a Russian reference to a prisoner, is an authentic chronicle about incarceration. Longworth is a state-raised novelist who entered the Washington state prison system at age 21 with little … [Read more...] about The hopeful resilient human spirit behind bars
A Look Back Into Voting History of Minorities
A coalition of America’s minorities, voting with liberal Whites, could dramatically change the nation’s political landscape, a progressive author says. However, disenfranchisement laws diminish the impact of the largest minority group, African-Americans. States throughout the country have varying laws that play a role in taking away a person’s right to vote. In California, the right to vote is only temporarily denied to those serving a sentence for serious felonies. Steve Phillips, author of Brown is the New White: How the Demographic … [Read more...] about A Look Back Into Voting History of Minorities