Book Review: The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas The year is 1672, and the Haarlem Tulip Society has offered a hundred thousand florin prize to the tulip breeder who can create a black tulip, without imperfection or spot of other color. Cornelius van Baerle of the sleepy village of Dordrecht is one of the… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Tulip
Tag: politics
Book Review: Jewish Noir
Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people. So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes. (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir
Book Review: In the South Dakota Country
Book Review: In the South Dakota Country by Effie Florence Putney This is a history of South Dakota written for grade school children in the 1920s, when the frontier days were still in living memory. (Indeed, my mother was educated in a one-room schoolhouse some years later.) This was before Mount Rushmore and Wall Drug,… Continue reading Book Review: In the South Dakota Country
Book Review: Bug Jack Barron
Book Review: Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad What’s bugging Jack Barron? Jack used to be a young radical, waving signs and helping form the Social Justice Coalition. But the SJC became a legitimate political party, and Jack wasn’t really interested in playing politics. Plus, he’d gotten on television a lot, and the cameras and audiences… Continue reading Book Review: Bug Jack Barron
Book Review: Herblock at Large
Book Review: Herblock at Large by Herbert Block. Herbert “Herblock” Block (1909-2001) was a multiple-Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist. He’s most famous for his coverage of McCarthyism and Watergate, but kept working until just before his death. This 1987 collection covers the early years of the Reagan administration. As might be expected, these cartoons aren’t very kind… Continue reading Book Review: Herblock at Large
Book Review: A Carnival of Buncombe
Book Review: A Carnival of Buncombe by H.L. Mencken The 2016 presidential election campaign has already begun, so let’s take a look at a book about elections of the past, shall we? H.L. Mencken (1880-1948) was a newspaperman, most famously on the Baltimore, Maryland Sun. For a number of years, he had a weekly opinion column published… Continue reading Book Review: A Carnival of Buncombe
Book Review: Twin Cities Noir: The Expanded Edition
Book Review: Twin Cities Noir: The Expanded Edition edited by Julie Schaper & Steven Horwitz Like the previously reviewed USA Noir, this is a collection of grittier crime stories from Akashic Books with a regional focus. In this case, the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota, and the surrounded metro area, plus one up… Continue reading Book Review: Twin Cities Noir: The Expanded Edition
Manga Review: Chaika: The Coffin Princess #1
Manga Review: Chaika: the Coffin Princess #1 Original Story by Ichirou Sakaki, art by Shinta Sakayama It has been five years since the end of the war with the Gaz Empire, and up until now, there has been peace. Not everyone has adjusted well to the post-war era. In particular, Toru Acura based his entire… Continue reading Manga Review: Chaika: The Coffin Princess #1
Manga Review: Showa 1944 1953 a History of Japan
Manga Review: Showa 1944 1953 a History of Japan by Shigeru Mizuki Shigeru Mizuki was one of the oldest (born 1922, died 2015) still-working and most respected manga creators in Japan. Though he is best known for children’s horror comics such as GeGeGe no Kitaro, Mizuki also has written extensively for adults. This is the third… Continue reading Manga Review: Showa 1944 1953 a History of Japan
Book Review: Analog 1.
Book Review: Analog 1 edited by John W. Campbell Astounding Science Fiction was one of the most influential science fiction magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s. But long-time editor John W. Campbell had felt for years that the title did not reflect the more mature, “hard” science fiction he preferred to run. So… Continue reading Book Review: Analog 1.