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Book Review: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet – Horror Stories by Richard Matheson
September 6, 2022 opinionsofawolf Leave a comment
Remember that monster on the wing of the airplane? William Shatner saw it on The Twilight Zone and Bart Simpson saw it too. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" is just one of many classic horror stories by Richard Matheson that have insinuated themselves into our collective imagination.
Here are more than twenty of Matheson's most memorable tales of fear and paranoia. Personally selected by Richard Matheson, the bestselling author of I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, these and many other stories, more than demonstrate why he is rightfully regarded as one of the finest and most influential horror writers of our generation.
I picked this up because I remembered enjoying I Am Legend (although my review is only 3 stars, when I looked it up just now…) I also had familiarity with The Twilight Zone episode based on the first story in the collection. I individually rated each of the twenty stories then calculated the average to give the collection a rating.
I rated two stories 5 stars. "Mad House" (made me make shocked and thrilled faces) and "First Anniversary" (I called it timeless in my notes). The former is a very meta commentary on being a writer. The latter reminded me of Buffy in that who you've fallen in love with changes, only in this case it was the woman changing instead of the man.
There were quite a few stories that I found moderately engaging and enjoyed their historic vibe. Like "Disappearing Act," whose whole idea is it's someone's personal notebook left in a cafe. Or "Crickets" whose idea is what if crickets' chirps are really a form of Morse code?
But there are also two stories where, just, the entire structure idea is racist. One "The Children of Noah" involves the idea that a town's inhabitants are all the descendants of a sea captain and his Pacific Islander bride. The racist part is that they're dangerous BECAUSE of being part Pacific Islander. The story "Prey" is about a "Zuni" doll that's inhabited by the spirit of a great warrior. The whole idea made me cringe. One story, "The Distributor" confused me so much that I'm still not sure what the overall point was. A character who I think is a bad guy uses the the n word and another racial slur, but it's a little unclear to me if he was meant to be a bad guy.
There are also definitely outdated gender ideas here. The least offensive is that it's oh so scary for teenage girls to wage war as witches in "Witch War." The worst is "The Likeness of Julie." Most of the story is from the perspective of a college undergrad male rapist. That's bad enough. If you want to know how it manages to get worse, check out the spoiler paragraph below in brackets.
[The twist ending is that the college woman he rapes, Julie, in fact got inside his mind supernaturally and made him rape her. It's the worst victim blaming I've seen in forever, and I honestly wanted to scrub my own brain out with soap. I'm suspicious that Matheson knew on some level how awful this story was, because the collection notes that he published it under the pseudonym of Logan Swanson in Alone by Night, which appears to have been some sort of anthology.]
So, there we have it. Some stories manage to be timeless. But definitely not all. Come into this collection prepared for a mixed bag.
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Length: 336 pages – average but on the longer side
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Categories: Book Review, Genre, horror, Length - average but on the longer side, short story collection Tags: book, book review, nightmare at 20000 feet, racism, Review, richard matheson, sexism, short story collection, spoiler, twilight zone
Book Review: Coffee Will Make You Black by April Sinclair (Series, #1)
April 5, 2022 opinionsofawolf Leave a comment
Set on Chicago's Southside in the mid-to-late 60s, following Jean "Stevie" Stevenson, a young Black woman growing up through the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Stevie longs to fit in with the cool crowd. Fighting her mother every step of the way, she begins to experiment with talkin' trash, "kicking butt," and boys. With the assassination of Dr. King she gains a new political awareness, which makes her decide to wear her hair in a 'fro instead of straightened, to refuse to use skin bleach, and to confront prejudice. She also finds herself questioning her sexuality. As readers follow Stevie's at times harrowing, at times hilarious story, they will learn what it was like to be Black before Black was beautiful.
After reading Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (review) and finding myself disappointed with how it handled race, I intentionally looked for older classics of LGBTQIA+ lit written by Black authors. (As a starting place. I intend to continue this searching with other BIPOC groups). In my search I found this book listed as an own voices depiction of a queer young Black woman in the South Side of Chicago. My library had a digital copy, so I was off.
First published in 1995, this is certainly an own voices book. The author grew up in Chicago in the same time period as Stevie, and that authenticity really shines through. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 (spring 1965 to summer 1967), Part 2 (fall 1967 to fall 1968), and Part 3 (fall 1969 to spring 1970). Part 1 begins in Stevie's last year of middle school. It establishes the systemic racism Stevie and her family live with that the Civil Rights movement that Stevie will later become involved in in high school. It also demonstrates Stevie's difficult relationship with her mother. In Part 2, Stevie enters high school, Dr. King is assassinated, and Stevie starts to push back on racism and colorism. In Part 3, Stevie starts to question her sexuality and also the lack of interracial friendships and relationships she sees among her friends and family.
In some ways this was a tough book to read. It pulls no punches about what life was like for a young Black girl at this time. Although it always pains me to read about racism and colorism, there was an extra twinge in reading this because Stevie is just such an immediately likable little girl with a protective mother. The book opens with Stevie asking her mother what a virgin is (because a boy at school asked her if she was one), and her mother not wanting to tell her. This reminded me of all the conversations about Black girls being forced to grow up too fast and letting them stay the little girls they are. Although I advocate for frank talks about sexuality with questioning children, I also understood her mother's impulse to keep Stevie little just a while longer.
Stevie's sexuality is left open-ended in this book, in spite of my finding it on a list of lesbian fiction originally. Essentially the idea is posited that sometimes adolescents feel confused only to realize later they're straight. I wondered if this is what happens with Stevie so peaked at the sequel. (spoiler warning!) Apparently in the sequel Stevie identifies as bisexual. This thrilled me, because there's so little representation of bisexual folks in literature, but also because I felt a bit of a twinge of recognition when reading about Stevie's confusion in the book. Part of why she's so confused about if she's straight or a lesbian is because the answer is neither. It was a great depiction.
I did feel the book ended kind of abruptly. It's definitely a bit of a plot hanger that leaves you yearning for the sequel. Not in an uncomfortable way but more in a I want to see Stevie finish growing up way. Plus, it's the start of the 1970s, and that's such a fun time period to read about.
Overall, this own voices book gives a realistic yet fun depiction of growing up Black in the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s. If you're coming for the queer content, hang in there, it shows up in Part 3. A great way to diversify your reading.
Length: 256 pages – average but on the shorter side
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Categories: Book Review, classic, Genre, Length - average but on the shorter side, LGBTQIA+, Reading Group / Book Club Discussion Guide Tags: april sinclair, bisexual, black lit, book, book review, chicago, classic, coffee will make you black, colorism, LGBTQIA+, puberty, queer, racism, Review, sexuality
Book Review: The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone
November 22, 2020 opinionsofawolf Leave a comment
Dr. Cone is respected as the founder of Black liberation theology. In this book first published in 2011 he explores the connections between the Jesus's crucifixion and the lynchings committed by white Americans against Black Americans. He also explores in a forthright manner how Christianity is experienced and expressed in Black American churches and directly addresses the seeming contradiction of Black Americans embracing the faith they encountered initially through white enslavers.
I think it's important before giving my thoughts on this book to establish for those who may web search their way here who I am. I'm a white, US American woman with the privilege of a Masters degree. While I don't hazard to guess who Dr. Cone intended to write for, I will say I found both a greater understanding of the Black Christian church in the US and simultaneously called out as a white US American – a couple of times as a white woman specifically. If you are a white US American and not a Christian, this is still a relevant read for you. 79% of Black US Americans consider themselves to be Christian (Pew Research Center) – a greater percent than either US Americans overall or when compared to white US Americans alone. If we are to be good allies, it's important to understand how this faith intertwines with the atrocious history and (Dr. Cone argues, and I agree with him, continued presence of) lynching in the US.
Dr. Cone gives context for how Black US Americans, especially those who are descendants of enslaved people, came to find and embrace the Christian faith. He also discusses some prominent white and Black theologians, highlighting the differences in how they addressed or, in the case of white theologians, failed to address systemic racism in the US.
I could not find one sermon or theological essay, not to mention a book, opposing lynching by a prominent liberal white preacher.
(loc 79%)
I was particularly moved by the section that discussed how these theologians reacted to the 1963 Birmingham Baptist Church bombing, which resulted in the deaths of four Black girls – Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Carol Denise McNair (11). Dr. Cone's justified palpable frustration at the general lack of response even in the face of such clear evil was important to hear.
The title of the book alludes to the answer to a couple of questions I've heard people ask before – how is the Black Christian experience different from that of white Christians and how did the descendants of enslaved people come to embrace the faith of those who enslaved their ancestors? According to Dr. Cone, Black US Americans saw a fellow sufferer in Jesus and a clear connection between how he was crucified and how Black US Americans are unjustly treated. He also draws attention to how Black churches pay attention to different aspects of the Bible than what you might hear in white churches.
One cannot correctly understand the black religious experience without an affirmation of deep faith informed by profound doubt. Suffering naturally gives rise to doubt. How can one believe in God in the face of such horrendous suffering as slavery, segregation, and the lynching tree? Under these circumstances, doubt is not a denial but an integral part of faith. It keeps faith from being sure of itself. But doubt does not have the final word. The final word is faith giving rise to hope.
Dr. Cone directly addresses the frustration of the white people who enforce segregation and lynching and Black people suffering from these things both laying claim to the same faith and how painful that is. My takeaway was that, rather than ask how white supremacists and Black US Americans can lay claim to the same faith, acknowledge that white supremacy is twisting the faith of white US Americans.
Hate and white supremacy lead to violence and alienation, while love and the cross lead to nonviolence and reconciliation.
White supremacy tears faith to pieces and turns the heart away from God.
Dr. Cone also dedicates space to Black women's voices, and I was particularly moved by this part as it features Black women directly calling out white women as having the ability to bring change to white supremacy. I have so often heard the opposite, disempowering message that our options of action as white women are limited due to the patriarchy, but that is an overly limited viewpoint. While it is true the patriarchy limits us, we do have the ears of other white folks in a way that Black people often do not, and white women may have more influence over the men in our lives than we may realize. (When I say men in our lives I mean this in the most inclusive way possible – family members, sons, friends, colleagues, etc…) Black women in this book see and call out the power that we white women clearly have with specific examples of how white supremacy responds to perceived affronts on white women. If we have the power to cause harm to Black folks in this way, then we have the power to, at the very least disengage from it by not allowing our experiences to be used as the spark to start off the firestorm, but perhaps we can also use it to quench the violence to begin with. I think it's important for those reading this not to mistake this as a call for white saviors but rather as a call for white women to cease (knowingly or unknowingly) inciting violence and to work against it. I think of it as the Bible says – take the log out of our own eyes first.
This book also includes some very meaningful explorations of the blues and Gospel music, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King's theology. It ends with a call to address continued issues, especially as seen through the prison system. As a white woman who grew up rural poor with a large local issue when I was in high school being whether or not to bring in a prison as a source of jobs to an economically depressed area, I viewed this as yet another reason to address efforts toward our incredibly problematic private prison industrial complex in the US.
Through private prisons and the "war against drugs," whites have turned the brutality of their racist legal system into a profit-making venture for dying white towns and cities throughout America.
This clearly was a meaningful read for me, and I can easily see what an important read it is for my fellow white US Americans. It does not give easy answers for what to do, but it demonstrates how white supremacy hurts everyone and leaves one with an urge to be part of the change for good.
Categories: Book Review, Genre, Length - average but on the shorter side, nonfiction Tags: antiracism, Book, book review, christian, christianity, james h. cone, nonfiction, racism, Review
Book Review: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
July 26, 2020 opinionsofawolf 1 comment
Aster lives in the low-deck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, the Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship's leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster, who they consider to be less than human.
When the autopsy of Matilda's sovereign reveals a surprising link between his death and her mother's suicide some quarter-century before, Aster retraces her mother's footsteps. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer and sowing the seeds of civil war, Aster learns there may be a way off the ship if she's willing to fight for it.
I went into this book hearing it was a space opera take on the American antebellum south with queer characters, written by a Black American author. That was an apt description, but what I didn't know was that Aster is neurodiverse, and that was the finishing touch that really sent me over the moon about this book. So let's talk about Aster first.
Aster is clearly autistic. (I am using this language, rather than person-first based on the wishes of the overall autistic community). Being autistic is just a part of who she is at her core of her being. It's not perceived as something to be overcome or a superpower. There are parts of her autism that are strengths and parts that are weaknesses. Her ability to learn in-depth about plants and their healing powers is a strength and her tendency to take people literally and miss the point is a weakness, but only in situations where others aren't considerate of how she perceives the world. When they are considerate and think about how to frame what they say in a way Aster will understand, it is totally fine. I loved everything about Aster. I want more books starring people like her with the representation handles so smoothly.
Other representations that exist in the book in beautiful ways include, but are not limited to: asexual, bisexual, trans*, lesbian, and a wide variety of abilities and disabilities.
The intermingling of spaceship and Antebellum American south was heartbreaking. Imagine everything about how Starship Enterprise is largely a utopia and turn that on its head, and you have the Matilda. It's not that systemic inequality is not already clear to me, but I do think depicting it on the confines of a spaceship heightens the awareness of it seeps throughout everything.
The mourning of a child's murder is not one of my moods, so please do not dismiss it thus.
[location 71%]
Although I think it should be obvious from the fact this is telling a story of the Antebellum south in outerspace, I do want to give trigger warnings for rape, abuse, violence, executions, and torture (all things that of course happened in the Antebellum south and anyplace with systemic inequality).
Everything about this was simultaneously richly imagined and depicting the diverse world we really do live in. I thought this was gorgeous and hope to meet Aster again (or someone like her) in future worlds by Rivers Solomon.
Categories: Book Review, Genre, Length - average but on the longer side, scifi Tags: actuallyautistic, an unkindness of ghosts, antebellum, antebellum south, asexual, autism, bisexual, blacklit, book, Book, lesbian, neurodivergent, neurodiverse, racism, Review, rivers solomon, scifi, space opera, trans
Book Review: Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States by Andrew Coe (Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge)
August 17, 2013 opinionsofawolf 4 comments
American Chinese food is different from Chinese Chinese food. This is a well-known fact. Coe tells the history of how Chinese food came to America and changed and adapted to the cuisine we know today. Along the way, some of the stories of Chinese immigrants to America and Chinese-Americans are told as well.
I love food, and I love history, so a book telling the history of a specific cuisine totally appealed to me. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for what could have been an enticing history of American style Chinese food. Instead, it gets hung up in the early history of both Chinese food in China and Chinese food in America in the 1800s then hops, skips, and jumps over how it changed through the 1900s up to present. While this information is interesting, it is not the history of American Chinese food it is presented as.
The main issue with the book is it spends almost 1/4 of its time exploring the history of Chinese food in China. While I learned some interesting facts, such as that tofu was invented in the Han Dynasty (page 80), this information is not necessary to convey how Chinese food came to America and changed. A much briefer introduction to where Chinese food was at before coming to America would have sufficed. The best part of the book is when it discusses Chinese food in America in the 1800s and explores how US-born Americans' embracing of Chinese food or not depended on many factors such as the current rates of xenophobia, job markets, and prices. Viewing the history of the American west coast through the perspective of Chinese immigration and Chinese restaurants was truly fascinating. One of the more fascinating things that I learned in this section was a detail of the history of the racist perception of Asian men as not masculine. In that time period, when Chinese immigrants were competing with white Americans and Irish immigrants for railroad and other jobs, the backlash was that since Chinese men "didn't need" to eat meat to work long hours they could afford to take a lower rate of pay. Articles attacked the Chinese diet as a sign that Chinese men are less masculine since they "don't need" meat the way white American and Irish-American men do. One article title from this time period cited in the book is "Some Reasons for Chinese Exclusion. Meat vs. Rice. American Manhood against Asiatic Coolieism. Which Shall Survive?" by Samuel Gompers (page 141). As a vegetarian, I found it fascinating that the sexist perception of a less meat-centric diet (the Chinese did indeed eat meat, just less than American men), has both such a far-reaching history and was used to fuel xenophobia and racism against immigrant workers. It is clear to me after reading this that a large part of the work for vegetarians is to get rid of the faulty correlation between meat and masculinity. I could see fixing this having other positive outcomes as well, such as fighting against misperceptions of the masculinity of other cultures.
Unfortunately, the wonderful details found in the chapters on the 1800s gradually cease to exist as the book moves up through time. While the 1920s get some special attention, such as touching on the fact that Chinese restaurants survived Prohibition well because they had never served alcohol anyway (page 189), slowly these details fall away until we get nothing but the bare bones of how Chinese restaurants functioned and interacted with American history in the rest of the 20th century up to present. There is even one rather aggravating long aside exploring President Nixon's visit to China. While his visit to China definitely gave a resurgence of interest in Chinese food in the US, it was again unnecessary to give such incredible details on Nixon's visit. It could have been simply stated, instead, that Nixon visited China, bringing Chinese food to the forefront of American thought again and giving a resurgence of interest in Chinese cuisine. The book has a tendency to lollygag on topics that are not actually what the book is supposed to be about. While these topics can be interesting and Coe explores them well, they are not what the book supposedly is about. It would be better to present the book with a different title or edit the focus back to simply Chinese-American cuisine.
One other factor that made me enjoy the book less is that Coe shows a clear bias toward Chinese culture. There is nothing wrong with enjoying Chinese culture, but Coe says some things that if he had said them in reverse would be considered completely unacceptable to say. He frequently presents the Chinese people as more civilized, their way of doing things as more logical and simply better, and even scoffs at the level of advancement of European countries compared to China at one point (page 94). Lack of bias and simply presenting the facts is the strength of historical nonfiction works. It would have been nice to see that level of professionalism in this book, regardless of Coe's personal views.
Overall then, while I learned some new facts about both Chinese-American cuisine and Chinese-American history, the book wanders significantly through Chinese history and Chinese cuisine as well. Interesting, but not what the title implies the book is about. Coe also shows some bias that should not be present in a history book. These are easily skimmed over, however, and thankfully do not come up very often. Recommended to those with an interest in both Chinese-American and Chinese history in addition to the history of American style Chinese cuisine, as all three are covered rather equally.
Categories: Genre, nonfiction, Reading Challenges Tags: 1800s, 1900s, a cultural history of chinese food in the united states, american chinese, american style chinese food, andrew coe, book, bottom of tbr pile challenge, chinese food, chinese immigrants to america, chinese immigration, chinese men, chinese-american, chop suey, chop suey: a cultural history of chinese food in the united states, food history, food in america, genre, gold rush, history, irish immigrants, nixon, nonfiction, racism, Review, sexism, Vegetarian, xenophobia
Book Review: Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones (Audiobook narrated by ensemble)
November 6, 2012 opinionsofawolf 1 comment
It's 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia, and someone is kidnapping–and killing–black children. How this terror haunts one fifth-grade classroom is told through three different perspectives. Tasha, whose parents are "living apart" for a while. A painfully intelligent boy named Rodney who does not actually consider himself lucky to still have his father at home. And Octavia, better known as Sweet-Pea by her family and Watusi by her classmates. She's the darkest-skinned child in the classroom, and is ridiculed by them all, but she has a spirit that outshines everyone.
The Atlanta child murders of 1979 to 1980 were a real thing that overshadowed the author's own childhood. Jones clearly remembers what it was to be in fifth grade and relates those emotions with raw detail, but she also brings along an educated adult's understanding of race and race relations in the American south. This all combines to create a powerful story that sweeps the reader away to another place and time while simultaneously leaving them with greater understanding.
The book is divided into three sections. Each child's tale is told through a different narrative method. Tasha's uses third person. Rodney's second person, where the reader is told "you are" in an attempt to put the reader closer into Rodney's shoes. Finally, Octavia's is told in first person. Tasha's story covers the first part of the school year, Rodney's the second, and Octavia's goes through January. It's an interesting narrative choice that ultimately works. The reader sees three different reactions to the child murders and race relations at three different points in the crisis, in addition to the children's observations of other people's reactions. It provides a multi-layered perspective that clearly demonstrates the complexity of all points the story touches upon: crime, race relations, broken families, class issues, and even just the process of growing up.
I appreciate the narrative complexity that Jones chose, but I do feel the story told suffers a bit. I identified so much more strongly with Octavia than either of the other two children because her voice and personality were able to shine through so much more clearly. Of course, it's possible that this is the whole point. In fact, it does feel a bit like the whole book is just building up to Octavia's story. But although I had a similar level of attachment to Tasha, I simply didn't feel that way for Rodney. Part of that could have been the narrator chosen for Rodney. His voice was rather flat and dull without the nuance of the other two narrators. But I don't think that the second person narrative tense helped much. Thankfully, Rodney's portion of the book was quick, and the other two sections more than made up for it.
Speaking of the other two narrators, I feel bad that I was unable to find any of the ensemble's names. The women who narrated Tasha and Octavia did a phenomenal job. They captured both the age and the dialect of the children without once slipping into a tone that could be perceived of as false or mocking. They truly embodied the little girls, and I felt I got something extra from listening to the audiobook, which is precisely how it should feel. It's unfortunate that the narrator for Rodney failed to do the same thing, providing a rather lackluster, mediocre performance.
The social justice commentary enmeshed in the book is brilliant. One cannot possibly read this book and not see how racism and entrenched classism negatively impacts children and families. Even at ten, these children get it that the media and police care less about them getting kidnapped that they would if they were white. Even at ten the children have already learned racism so well that they ostracize the darkest child in their class. (This book made me very interested in reading more about racism within the black community). Most powerful to me, though, particularly after reading the books in The Real Help Reading Project, is how subtly Jones demonstrates the difficult choices parents and other adults must make to provide what is best for their children and how that is exacerbated by inequality. I'd be more clear, but that would give away the ending of the book. Suffice to say it's a powerful message presented in a subtle manner through a little girl with whom it is impossible not to establish a connection.
Overall this is an engaging, thought-provoking piece of historical fiction. It brings the reader directly into a classroom of fifth graders to see how not just a kidnapping and killing spree but also enmeshed racism and sexism impact the present and future of children. Recommended to fans of historical and literary fiction.
Categories: Genre, historic Tags: 1970s, 1979, 1980, atlanta, audiobook, black lit, book, Book, classism, crime, genre, georgia, historical fiction, leaving atlanta, octavia, race, racism, Review, rodney, serial kidnapping, serial killer, tasha, tayari jones
Book Review: Fire Baptized by Kenya Wright (Series, #1)
August 21, 2012 opinionsofawolf 1 comment
The humans won the supe-human war, and now all supernaturals are confined to caged cities whose bars are made up of every metal that is harmful to supes. They also all have a brand on their forehead letting everyone now immediately what type of supernatural they are–crescent moon for shifter, full moon for vampire, wings for fairy, X for mixbreed, which is what Lanore just happens to be. Lanore is hoping to be the first mixie to graduate from the caged city's university, and she also works on the side with another mixie, Zulu, to run a mixie civil rights group. The purebloods by and large hate mixies. As if her life wasn't already complicated enough, one night Lanore witnesses a murder, and the murderer turns out to be a serial killer. Now Lanore is on his list.
I am so glad I accepted this review copy. The branding of supes and caged cities was enough to show me that this is a unique urban fantasy series, but I wasn't aware that it's also a heavily African-American culture influenced series, and that just makes it even more unique and fun.
It's not new to parallel supe civil rights issues with those of minorities, but they often flounder. Wright's book depicts the complexities eloquently. Making a group within the supes that the supes hate makes it more closely parallel the real world. The addition of the brands on the foreheads also makes the supernatural race immediately identifiable just as race is in the real world by skin color. The caged cities are also a great analogy of inner city life and how much of a trap it can feel like. The fact that Lanore accidentally witnesses a murder on her way home from school is something that can and does happen in the real world.
The other element that I really enjoyed is how Wright brings the African-American religion of Santeria into the mix. She provides multiple perspectives on the religion naturally through the different characters. Lanore doesn't believe in any religion. MeShack, her ex-boyfriend and roommate, does, and it helps him in his life. And of course the serial killer also believes in Santeria but is going about it the wrong way, as Lanore eventually learns. The book naturally teaches the reader a few things about Santeria, which is often maligned and misunderstood in America. But it does it within the course of the story without ever feeling preachy.
The sex scenes (we all know we partially read urban fantasy for those) were hot and incorporated shifter abilities without ever tipping too far into creepy beastiality land. They were so well-written, I actually found myself blushing a bit to be reading them on the bus (and hoped no one would peak over my shoulder at that moment).
The plot itself is strong through most of the book. The serial killer is genuinely scary, and Lanore doesn't suddenly morph into some superhero overnight. She maintains her everywoman quality throughout. I wasn't totally happy with the climax. I didn't dislike it, but I also think the rest of the book was so well-done that I was expecting something a bit more earth-shattering.
There are two things in the book that knocked it down from loved it to really liked it for me. They both have to do with Zulu. Zulu is a white guy, but his beast form is a black dude with silver wings. I am really not sure what Wright is trying to say with this characterization and plot point. It wasn't clear when it first happens, and I was still baffled by the choice by the end of the book. In a book that so clearly talks about race, with an author so attuned to the issues innate in race relations, it is clear that this was a conscious choice on her part. But I am still unclear as to why. Hopefully the rest of the books in the series will clear this up for me. My other issue is with how possessive Zulu is of Lanore. He essentially tells her that she's his whether she likes it or not, and she goes along with it. Why must this theme come up over and over again in urban fantasy and paranormal romance? A man can have supernatural powers and not use them as an excuse to be an abusive douche. I'm just saying. But. This is part of a series, so perhaps these two issues will be addressed in the next book. But for right now, I'm kinda sad that Lanore chose Zulu.
Overall, this is a unique piece of urban fantasy. The tables are turned on the supes with them in caged cities, and the creative use of forehead brands and the existence of mixed-breed supernaturals are used intelligently as a commentary on race relations in the United States. I highly recommend it to urban fantasy fans and am eagerly anticipating reading the next entry in the series myself.
Source: Kindle copy from author in exchange for my honest review
Categories: Genre, urban fantasy Tags: book, Book, fairies, fire baptized, florida, genre, inner city, kenya wright, lanore, meshack, mixbreed, mystery, race, racism, Review, santeria, serial killer, series, series #1, shfiters, supes, urban fantasy, zulu
Mini Movie Reviews #2
August 9, 2012 opinionsofawolf 10 comments
This is one documentary you need to believe the hype about. Chris Rock decided to make it after his daughter (not even five years old yet) asked him why she doesn't have good hair. This documentary then looks at the world and culture of African-American hair. It covers everything from perms to weaves to hair shows. Chris Rock interviews famous and not famous people alike with a certain charm and intelligence that gets them to really open up. I think the scene that best demonstrates the feel of the whole movie is when Chris Rock is interviewing a white male scientist about sodium hydroxide, which is the perm that African-Americans use to straighten their hair. The scientist has just shown Chris how quickly sodium hydroxide eats through raw chicken, and Chris says, "You know black people put that on their hair." Horrified, the scientist says, "Really?! Why would they do that?!" Chris says, "To look like white people." Epic. Silence. The documentary is smart, because it doesn't run around blaming white people for this whole culture among African-Americans against natural hair. It kind of blames everybody, and it does it in a witty, intelligent manner.
The Wolf Man
Another from the 100 Horror Movies To See Before You Die list I've been working my way through. A wayward son of a British aristocrat comes home to hopefully reestablish himself in the little town. He starts to pursue an engaged gal, but while doing so, gets bit by a wolf. Naturally, he turns into a werewolf. I think what's the creepiest about this film is how the main character goes about pursuing the engaged girl. He starts off by watching her through a window and then hitting on her in her father's shop in possibly the creepiest manner ever. She resists….at first. But then doesn't. The whole film sort of feels like a judgment on both him for being a creeper and the engaged girl for being seduced by the bad boy instead of sticking with her nice, stable man. Kind of a nice change of pace from more modern films, eh? The special effects aren't as good as some others from this same time period that I've watched, but they're still fairly decent. It's a fun change of pace if you enjoy shapeshifters. Also the "British accents" are pretty much nonexistent.
The House Of Usher
When this movie started, I thought it was going to be cheesy. But I was very wrong. It turns out that this is an adaptation of a Poe story, and it is completely frightening, even with outdated special effects. Essentially, this guy wants to marry this girl, but her brother insists that the Ushers need to let the family die out. He also claims the house itself is evil. I won't tell you what happens from there, but suffice to say the tension builds perfectly until you are on the edge of your seat for the climax. Vincent Price plays the brother and let me tell you, he is a legend for a reason. When I finished this one, I was actually nervous to go to bed. Which never happens to me.
PS There is a 2007 remake. Ignore it. Ignore it so hard.
Party Monster
This is based on the true story of a murder during the 1980s ecstatic clubbing days (see what I did there?), which was written about in Disco Bloodbath by James St James. (Btw, the memoir is almost impossible to find and hella expensive). Anyway as for the movie. It's very campy. The absolute best part is seeing Macauley Culkin and Seth Green play two fabulous druggy gay men. It's campy but not over-the-top. I mean, these clubbers really did act like this. They weren't exaggerating. But the plot is oddly told, jumping around perspectives and time and can be hard to keep up with. Also the ultimate murder is told by a rat (a man in a giant rat suit). So yeah. It's odd but fun. Recommended to fans of Seth Green.
This movie really doesn't need much explanation. It's a classic (chosen for preservation) for good reason. I have read Dracula, and I was flabbergasted at how good the adaptation was. Modern film adaptations could learn a thing or two from this production. Bela Lugosi as Dracula is still deliciously creepy, instilling chills. Two cool things to know. One, originally there was an epilogue in which the audience is told vampires are indeed real that has been forever lost so the ending does feel a bit abrupt (because it's not actually the ending). Also, the entire movie was shot simultaneously on the same sets in Spanish (with Latin* actors).
Categories: Movie Review Tags: 100 horror movies to see before you die, 1941, 1960, 2009, african-american, african-american culture, chris rock, creepy guy, documentary, edgar allen poe, film, film review, good hair, horror, mini-reviews, Movie Review, Movie Review, not rate, pg, pg13, poe, public library, racism, Review, shapeshifter, the fall of the house of usher, the house of usher, the wolf man, usa, vincent price, werewolf
Book Review: The Department of Magic by Rod Kierkegaard, Jr.
June 30, 2012 opinionsofawolf 4 comments
Di Angelo and Farah thought they were getting a typical, boring DC government job. But it turns out they have been assigned to the Department of Magic, and whether they like it or not, their horogaunt boss is having them face down demons, shifters, and more in repeated robberies to gather the pieces of George Washington in the hopes to bring him back to life to fight off the ancient Mexican gods who were stirred out of slumber by all the talk of the ancient Mayan prophecy of the end of the world in 2012.
I have not hated a book this much since finishing Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift in February (review). On the plus side, this means you all get to enjoy an angry Amanda take-down style review. On the minus side, I had to suffer through this horrible thing. But this is what book reviewers do. We suffer through things and tell you about them so you don't have to.
This book has a triple-whammy of awful. It has so many grammar and spelling mistakes that I can't believe it ever made it through an editor (oh but it did!). The plot is confusing and ill-paced. Finally, and most importantly, it is so prejudiced I had to double-check that this wasn't a pen-name for Ann Coulter. Too often I've made these assertions in the past but been unable to truly show them to you since it was a library book or some such. Enter: the kindle. But first let me quickly explain the plot/structure/pacing issues.
So Farah and Di Angelo aka Rocky are hired by this mysterious department in the US government. There is a lot that makes zero sense about the department. First, it appears to only consist of Rocky, Farah, and their boss Crawley (a horogaunt). Anyone who has worked in the US government *raises hand* knows that they do not underhire. They overhire. So this just makes the author look like he knows nothing about government.
Throughout the book, Farah and Rocky have this problem of carrying out covert operations for the department and almost getting arrested and wanted for murder and blah blah blah. Um, excuse me. This is the motherfuckin government. If they want George Washington's sword they "borrow" it. If they can't "borrow" it, they send in government agents and protect them from prosecution because, I reiterate, this is the motherfuckin government. A department that supposedly exists to keep America aligned with the goddess America and protected from demons and vampires and what-have-you that no one else knows about would probably be a Big Deal on the inside. So this plot point makes no sense.
Then there's the pacing issues. The pacing goes up and down and up and down and the reader keeps prepping for a climax only to get none. I think you see the analogy I am going for here. And it sucks.
Moving right along, let's get to just a few of the more egregious grammar, spelling, and other writing I caught in this *laughs hysterically* edited book.
rung off. (location 385)
Americans hang up. No one in this book is British. The narrator is not British. This is stupid.
He could feel her hot breath, fetid as a zoo animal's gorged on fresh meat. (location 752)
This is a bad analogy, as any high school student can tell you, because the vast majority of people don't KNOW what a zoo animal's breath smells like. An analogy is supposed to help a reader connect an unknown thing to a known thing.
Kabbala (location 858)
This is not how you spell Kabbalah.
Then she pulled both of their caps off and bit him on the mouth. (location 1889)
No, this is not a scene between one of our heroes and a demon. This is supposed to be Farah romantically kissing Rocky. Was that the image you got from that? Didn't think so.
The most terrifying form devils or demons can take. No one has lived to describe them. (location 1889)
This comes from the federal book on beasts and demons that our heroes read and start every chapter with an excerpt from. Question. If no one has ever lived to describe these demons then a) how do you know they exist and b) how the hell are you describing them in this book?!
Her face was beautiful, appearing radiantly soft-cheeked and virginal in one instant, a rotting grinning skull, a death-mask in the next. (location 3922)
If you are writing a sentence comparing something from one instant to the next, you can't compare three things! Two. Two is your limit.
Ok, but obviously I wouldn't hate a book this hard for bad plot and some (ok a lot of) writing problems. I'd give advice and encouragement. The hating on the book comes from the prejudice hitting me left and right. It was like running the obstacle course in Wipe-Out! I can't and won't support or recommend a book to someone else as not for me but maybe for them when it's this painfully prejudiced throughout. Let's begin, shall we?
Look, hon, you know you've got zero will-power. Honestly you're like a lesbian. You go out with this guy a couple times, you'll move in together on your third date. I see him all day, every day. I don't want him underfoot when I come home too. Plus he's too poor for you. (location 741)
Oh look! Homophobia! The sad part is you can tell that Kierkegaard thinks he's being funny when he's just flat-out offensive. To top off this delightful bit of dialogue, we've got classism. And I feel I should mention the man they are talking about is an Iraq War vet. But he's poor. And clearly that is what matters in dating. Homophobia is not quite this blatant throughout the rest of the book, although we do have a *delightful* scene in which Bobbi (a girl) shows up to seduce Rocky, who she thinks is gay, since Farah spread a rumor that Rocky is gay to keep her fiancee from being upset that she's working with a man. Yeah. That happened.
There is more blatant classism, though.
Baltimore is the blue-collar ugly step-sister of the white-collar Washington DC metropolitan area. (location 1250)
Noooo, comparing hardworking people with blue collar jobs to the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella is not offensive at all.
*sighs*
Also, pretty much every demon "disguises" themself as a homeless person. This means almost every homeless person our heroes run into is a demon. Seriously.
And what about women?
The reason I'm so into Nineteenth Century romantic literature, I guess, is because I love anything that reminds me of growing up with my mom and my sisters and gets me inside women's heads. (location 1214)
Yes! Let's just go ahead and say that Jane fucking Austen represents every woman's head everywhere in the 21st century. That's just awesome.
Speaking of women, I will say this. Farah is the more talented of the duo in climbing, which is nice. However, she and every other woman are presented as shallow and obsessed with fashion. Also, a baby is born, and Farah turns overnight into a doting mother-figure when she was a sorority-sister type girl mere hours before. Meanwhile, the actual mother fails at parenting, and the only explanation for this utter lack of ability with babies is that she is a vampire.
I'm not sure what the precise word is for it….xenophobia perhaps? But Kierkegaard makes it abundantly clear that only Protestants have the whole religion thing right.
White or "good" magic, he told her, already had a name. It was called "prayer." And even prayer, unless directly addressed to God the Creator, is in essence a Luciferian transaction, because it relies on the intercession of intermediaries, such as saints or boddhis, and inevitably involved some sort of quid pro quo. (location 1545)
Speaking of religion, no hateful book would be complete without some anti-semitism tossed in there, would it?
Freemasons–A Lucifer-worshipping conspiracy cult dedicated to Zionist one-world government, heirs of the Christ-murdering Pharisees and the Knights Templar. (location 1596)
Christ. Murdering. Pharisees. He actually went there. And not only are they the Christ killers but! They also secretly run the world through a Satan-worshipping secret organization!
I would have thrown the book across the room at this point, but it was on my kindle, and I love my kindle.
And finally. To round it all out. We've got some good, old-fashioned American racism.
First we have the black man who spoke entirely normally until this sentence:
You got any questions you need to axe me, you know where I live. (location 1193)
Then we have the Asian-American man who can't pronounce his own name:
There they consecutively picked up a squat red-faced Asian named Robert, which he pronounced as "Robot," and a noisy and vituperative older black man in a water-sodden daishiki named Walkie-Talkie. (location 3225)
Beyond these blatant examples there's the fact that every person of color is either actually a demon in disguise or working for the seedy underground of some sort of organization. The exception to this is Farah, who is Lebanese-American, but Kierkegaard takes extreme care to point out that she is NOT Muslim. She's one of the Christian Lebanese-Americans. She also basically acts just like a white sorority girl but with an exotic look!!
See? See? I just. *sighs* The only people who might not be horribly offended by this book are the type of people I don't really want to recommend books to anyway, except to be like "Here, read this book that might make you realize what a douchebag you are being, like say some classics of black literature or books on how hard it is to be gay in an evangelical family or maybe read about the real history of the Bible." You see my point.
The only people who would enjoy this book are people who have this same prejudiced world-view against basically everyone who isn't a white, straight, Protestant, American male. So, I guess, if that's you, have at it? But it's riddled with spelling, grammar, and plot problems, so you won't enjoy it anyway. So hah.
Categories: Genre, urban fantasy Tags: american history, american politics, ann coulter, anti-semitism, bobbi, book, classism, di angelo, end of the world, farah, genre, george washington, government, grammar, homophobia, horogaunt, kierkegaard, mayan prophecy, pacing, racism, Review, rocky, rod kierkegaard jr., sexism, spelling, urban fantasy, us government, washington dc, wtf, xenophobia
Reading Project Wrap-up: The Real Help–Helping Put "The Help" in Historical Context
February 28, 2012 opinionsofawolf 8 comments
On September 3, 2011, myself and Amy of Amy Reads announced our intention to co-host a reading project devoted to reading the list of recommended reads put out by the Association of Black Women Historians in response to the incredible popularity of Kathryn Stockett's book (and later, movie) The Help. It's hard to believe that we've already completed reading all 10 books. I sort of feel like I took a mini class on the history of black women's labor in the US, and I'm so glad I did.
Although I was a US History major (and also English) in undergrad, I tended to focus more on colonization, westward expansion, and World War II. The Civil War was not a thing of mine, nor was the Great Migration or the Civil Rights movement. It may sound silly, but when you've only got 8 to 10 courses, some of which are taken up by requirements, to cover all of US history, some things just don't get covered, especially if you don't already have an interest in them. So, although I knew right away that something was WRONG with The Help, it was difficult for me to elaborate exactly what. I knew it was wrong for a white woman to be putting words in black women's mouths about a time period that is so recent and still stings. I knew that having the main, white character come in and rescue the black help was wrong. And I knew that putting such a rosy color on a time period that was anything BUT rosy was revisionist and distasteful. But I didn't know enough about black women's history to say much beyond that.
Well, thanks to this project, I know so much more now. I know enough to elaborate in more detail what is offensive about The Help. But before we talk about that, I want to talk about some of the things that I learned.
In the first read, A Million Nightingales by Susan Straight, we followed the life of a fictional biracial (but seen as black) woman living first as a slave then as a freewoman. In this book I learned all of the negative connotations associated with working within a white household due to slavery. We saw how Moinette was seen as sexual competition by the white women while simultaneously being raped by the white men. This helped establish the false stereotype of black women as seductresses that must be controlled and watched within the home. We also saw how slave women were forced to wear rags whereas white ladies wore finery. This is a difference that racist whites later attempted to replicate by forcing uniforms upon their live-in and live-out servants. This was also the first instance in the project where we saw that although some semblance of friendship could come up between black and white women, they could never truly be friends while living in a racist, unequal society.
The first nonfiction book–Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women , Work, and the Family, from Slavery to the Present by Jacqueline Jones–covered the largest time period of any that we read, sweeping from slavery up through the Civil Rights era. It was, frankly, daunting and one I wish in retrospect I could have read over a longer time period to let things sink in more. Yet, through this book we saw the parallel line of black history in the background of mainstream history taught in schools. In this book we learned how African-American culture developed to be different from white culture but certainly no less valid. For instance, we saw how slavery and its methods established the matriarchy and forced the stereotype of the "strong black woman" upon all black women, whether they wanted to be independent and the matriarch or not. This book was also the first instance where we saw the incredibly brave front-line roles black women played during the Civil Rights movement from protecting voting registration workers with rifles to braving hostile whites when entering segregated areas. This book also gave me an understanding of why black feminists and black women sometimes disagree with white feminists and white women about women's role in the home. For so long black families were forced apart or the black wives and mothers were forced to work out of the home that the idea of being the lady of the house is appealing as an equal right. Although modern feminists talk about women's right to choose what kind of life they're going to lead, I think it's really important to realize that for black American women for a long time they had no choice but to work outside the home–the exact opposite of white American women.
Our second fiction book–The Book of Night Women by Marlon James–is one I'm honestly a bit baffled over its inclusion on the list. It's set in Jamaica and is entirely about a slave rebellion on that plantation. Although I loved the book and got a lot of emotional depth out of it, I don't feel as if it informed me much on the topic at hand. It did demonstrate how it can be difficult or even impossible to find a way out of a corrupt system, which is a good reminder when studying the past and wondering why so-and-so didn't do thus-and-such. Hindsight is 20/20, and even when in possession of it, there's still no clear way out. This book, then, reminded us not to judge others' choices too harshly.
The next nonfiction read was the memoir Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody. I'm personally partial to memoirs as a learning tool, because I think one of the best ways to learn about something is through the eyes of someone who lived it. Anne Moody grew up in the south during Jim Crow and also became famous for a sit-in she participated in at Woolworth's. This read demonstrated two key things. First, that black women were involved in the quest for civil rights without any need of poking or prodding from well-meaning white women. Second, it demonstrated that the assertions made in the nonfiction earlier about the help were true. Anne's mother and herself both worked as domestic help, and Anne vividly recalls her mother working all hours of the day, even right after having a baby, bringing home the white family's leftovers, and the way the help was trusted and simultaneously feared and distrusted by the people who employed them. Moody's memoir is an angry one, but she certainly had a right to be an angry woman.
Our next read was Like One of the Family: Conversations from a Domestic's Life by Alice Childress, which is an assembly of a serial written by Childress in the 1950s revolving entirely around the life of a domestic servant, Mildred. Through these vignettes Childress addresses the tough situations domestic help encountered in the 1950s and sometimes plays out fantasies the help may have had such as telling off the employer, whereas in real life they might not be able to afford to do that. I admit that while I was reading this collection, I wasn't sure as to the value of it, but I found myself thinking back on it again and again throughout the rest of the project. The book basically demonstrates the absurdity of employers calling the help a member of the family when the whole situation is steeped in inequality and racism. This book is even more valuable since it was written by an educated black woman who had to periodically work in domestic service during the 1950s.
Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household by Thavolia Glymph was our next nonfiction read, and it narrows its focus in on relationships between black and white women in the south from right before the Civil War to right after. This book clearly demonstrates why a simple loving friendship between the help and the children in the household she works in just would not be logically possible. The book demonstrates with historical documents how much energy white women in the south used simply to attempt to maintain their false position as "better than" black women. This book demonstrated the complex cultural and racial relationship between black and white women that could not simply be fixed by one well-meaning college-educated southerner.
We then read The Street by Ann Petry, which I discovered is considered a classic of black American literature. This book demonstrates the life of a black woman who first works as a live-in but then winds up having to come home to move out with her son after discovering her husband's affair. She then does everything she can to avoid domestic work and keep her son safely on the straight and narrow. Although very little of this book is set in a domestic help situation, the beginning of the book, as well, as Lutie's ever-failing quest to care for her son demonstrates the adverse affect that a society dependent upon racially divided domestic help has on those at the bottom of the totem pole, not to mention the culture at large. The book is not subtle, but it is an enjoyable read and clearly related to the topic.
To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War by Tera W. Hunter looked at the intersecting issues of racism, sexism, classism, and domestic labor by narrowing its focus in on the city of Atlanta and covering its history from all of these perspectives. It is difficult, nay, impossible, to summarize everything I learned through this incredible book. Suffice to say, nothing we read made it clearer the nearly impossible obstacles faced by southern black women in domestic work or made Kathryn Stockett's book so abundantly clearly ridiculous and naive.
Our final fiction read was Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely. This was definitely the most mainstream entertaining book of the project. It is kind of a cozy mystery in which the crime solver just so happens to be a feisty black domestic servant woman named Blanche. Everything we learned so far about the complexities innate in the domestic help situation are abundantly clear in the story without being preachy. I found myself wondering how this book did not become more popular when it was first released. It is such a clever mystery novel.
Our final read was Living In, Living Out: African American Domestics in Washington, D.C., 1910-1940 by Elizabeth Clark-Lewis, which, as the title indicates, focused in on the differences between help that lives in the home and help that lives outside of the home, and why black women drastically prefer the latter. This is a short read, but it clearly demonstrates the dehumanizing affect of both racism and domestic labor for those subjected to it.
So, given all of that, how would I characterize what is wrong with Kathryn Stockett's The Help now? I would say it drastically oversimplifies the serious, life-threatening, soul-stealing world of racism in the American south and also innate in the employer/servant dichotomy. It places the reins of social change in the hands of a kind white woman who views the help like one of the family, when in reality it was through the courage and strength of black women that the civil rights movement had any chance at all. And they certainly did not view themselves as a member of the family for whom they worked for disgustingly low wages. It seeks to rewrite history in a way that will assuage white guilt (most likely foremost the white guilt of the author) and retroactively removes the very real civil rights agency demonstrated by black women in the south from them. It is a racist book because it oversimplifies and dumbs down what is a complex and sad chapter in American history that everyone should clearly understand for what it was to prevent us from ever reliving it.
Now, I know not everyone has the time or the energy to read all of the books on this list. So what are my recommendations?
If you want a popular-style, fun book to read instead of The Help, I recommend you pick up Blanche on the Lam . It is also a whole series, so there's lots of room for prolonged entertainment without the disgusting rewriting of history seen in The Help.
If you are more interested in the civil rights movement and the involvement of domestic help in it, then I suggest you pick up the memoir Coming of Age in Mississippi .
If you like short stories and want to hear the voice of the real help from the 1950s, then I suggest you pick up Like One of the Family: Conversations from a Domestic's Life .
If you really enjoy a well-researched, well-documented piece of nonfiction in your life and want a much clearer understanding of race in the populous southern city of Atlanta, then definitely pick up To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War .
Finally, if you want a short nonfiction read that quickly covers some of the issues innate in racially based domestic help through the voices of the women who lived it, then you should pick up Living In, Living Out: African American Domestics in Washington, D.C., 1910-1940 .
I am very grateful to the Association of Black Women Historians for taking the time to assemble and post this list. I learned so much from reading through it and am now able to eloquently defend my stance on why it's sad and wrong that The Help became such a popular read. I encourage you all to follow your gut and question when something is popular that just doesn't seem quite right to you. Read up on the real history and find the little-known gems of fiction that are brave enough to confront the real issues. The publishing industry will only change what it puts out and pushes on the public when we change our demands. I can say that Amy and I already saw at least two of the books on the list go from unavailable on the Kindle to available in the time that we worked on this project. We hope that this at least in a small part had to do with a new demand for the titles due to the release of the list from the ABWH or maybe even from ourselves talking about these lesser-known books on the blogosphere.
What I ask of each of you readers in conclusion is to choose just one book from the list to read. Challenge yourself and try something that isn't "popular." You'll be surprised at what you discover and learn.
Categories: Reading Projects Tags: a million nightingales, alice childress, ann petry, anne moody, association of black women historians, barbara neely, blanche on the lam, classism, coming of age in mississippi, elizabeth clark-lewis, jacqueline jones, kathryn stockett, labor of love labor of sorrow, like one of the family, living in living out, marlon james, out of the house of bondage, race, racism, reading project, reading project wrap-up, south, susan straight, tera w. hunter, thavolia glymph, the book of night women, the help, the real help, the real help reading project, the street, to 'joy my freedom


text:
Federal Pay Legislation: Hearings, Eighty-eighth Congress, First and Second Sessions, on H.R. 11049, a Bill to Adjust the Rates of Basic Compensation of Certain Officers and Employees in the Federal Government, and for Other Purposes. September 5, 1963, May 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 22, 25, 1964
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964 - United States - 311 pages
Considers legislation on Federal employee wage increases.
Silvergleid David secretarytreasurer National Postal Union 265
H R 11049
Staats Hon Elmer B Deputy Director Bureau of the Budget accom
Vaughn William T legislative representative National League of Post
Campbell William J Chief Judge U S District Court Chicago Ill 294
American Bar Association 298
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
Examples of effect of H R 11049 on pay of postmasters in fourthclass
Jaspan Daniel legislative representative National Association of Postal
Federal Professional Association
Lasseter Dillard B executive officer Organization of Professional
Federal Trial Examiners Conference 297
National Association of ASCS County Office Employees NASCOE
National Association of Referees in Bankruptcy 297
MacKay John W president National Postal Union accompanied
Griner John F on behalf of the American Federation of Government
American Nurses Association 256
Civil Service Commission 1 81
National Federation of Federal Employees
Federal Pay Legislation: Hearings, Eighty-eighth Congress, First and Second ...
action adjustment administration agencies amended amount annual annum Assistant Association authorized basic believe bill Budget Bureau career Chairman chart Chief City Civil Service Classification Act Commission committee comparability compensation Congress consideration cost court Delete Department Deputy Director effective employees established executive fact Federal Salary field figures follows fourth-class give Government grade higher House included increase industry legislation less lieu thereof MACY million MURPHY paid paragraph percent period positions Post Office postal postmasters present President principle professional proposed questions raise range receipts receive recommended relating Representatives respect responsibilities revenue units scales schedule Secretary Senator Senator Fong sentence Stat statement step subsection Thank tion United United States Code wage Washington
Page 103 - Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Postmaster General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation.
Page 69 - Agriculture shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Page 68 - Secretary), who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall receive compensation at the rate now or hereafter prescribed by law for the heads of executive departments.
Page 5 - The effective date of a change in enrollment under section 890. 301 (d) (2) is the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after January 1, 1967.
Page 65 - ... (1) Secretary of State. (2) Secretary of the Treasury, (3) Secretary of Defense.
Page 185 - ... post office building. (2) Makes occasional simple distribution of parcel post mail requiring no scheme knowledge. (3) Operates electric forklift trucks. (4) Rewraps soiled or broken parcels. Organization relationships. — Reports to a foreman or other designated supervisor. In concluding our duties, I would like to add that our people separate the mail and, where the post office scheme is needed, we place the mail before the clerk. When the clerk has completed his work through his knowledge...
Page 64 - The total annual compensation in effect immediately prior to the effective date of this section of each officer or employee of the House of Representatives, whose compensation is disbursed by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and...
Page 71 - Board at a rate not exceeding the maximum scheduled rate of the General Schedule of the Classification Act of 1949, as amended".
Page 68 - Each member of the Board shall receive a salary at the rate of $10,000 per annum, together with necessary traveling and subsistence expenses, or per diem allowance in lieu thereof, subject to the provisions of law applicable thereto, while away from the principal office of the Board on business required by this Act.
Page 65 - Except as otherwise provided in this section, each officer or employee in or under the legislative branch of the Government, whose rate of compensation is increased by section 5 of the Federal Employees...
Title Federal Pay Legislation: Hearings, Eighty-eighth Congress, First and Second Sessions, on H.R. 11049, a Bill to Adjust the Rates of Basic Compensation of Certain Officers and Employees in the Federal Government, and for Other Purposes. September 5, 1963, May 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 22, 25, 1964
Author United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
Publisher U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964
Original from the Library of Congress

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON
By Admin	| July 5, 2008
Some people will say that words like "scum" and "rotten" are wrong for Objective Journalism–which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place. – Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, 1994
It's been a rough millennium for some of America's more notorious iconoclasts. The last few years have brought us the deaths of singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, comedian George Carlin, and Hunter S. Thompson, progenitor of "gonzo" journalism and the subject of Alex Gibney's latest documentary, aptly titled "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson."
Using footage from interviews and home movies that haven't been seen in decades, if ever, Gibney traces Thompson's life and career, focusing primarily on the years between 1965 and 1975. Johnny Depp narrates, and takes us through the high points: the breakthrough of Hell's Angels; the "Battle of Aspen" – Thompson's campaign for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado (he lost); Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72; and of course, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which would cement Thompson's legacy, and that of gonzo journalism itself.
These things are all well-known, or should be, but as in his earlier efforts, "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" and "Taxi to the Dark Side," Gibney presents a great deal of unfamiliar detail. For example, I'd never seen the interview Thompson gave where he took credit for the "Muskie on Ibogaine" rumor, part of his coverage of the 1972 Democratic campaign that many feel was instrumental in securing the nomination for George McGovern (including McGovern himself). And there are plenty of revealing interviews, with everyone from family (ex-wife Sandra, son Juan), colleagues (Tom Wolfe), and friends (Jimmy Buffet, Jimmy Carter, Pat Buchanan), all of whom testify to the fierce strength of HST's convictions and his lasting influence.
If there's a complaint to be made about "Gonzo," it's the way Gibney glosses over Thompson's later career. It's true that Thompson's identity was becoming increasingly obscured by his Raoul Duke alter-ego, leading to his spending more and more time holed up in Owl Farm. But he continued writing for Rolling Stone, ESPN, and the San Francisco Examiner well into the 1990s. His legacy already established by that time, it's understandable that none of his later stuff would garner the same notoriety as his early work, but one could easily (and mistakenly) come away from the film with the impression that Thompson did nothing for the last 20 years of his life, and this simply isn't the case.
That aside, perhaps the most depressing aspect of "Gonzo" is the realization that Thompson's suicide, while presaged by the Good Doctor himself (this confirmed by longtime collaborator Ralph Steadman), was at least partly attributable to George W. Bush's "election" in 2000. Thompson's second wife Anita describes his depression following that debacle, and it's all too apparent from later interviews with the man that the once stalwart champion of Freak Power had finally had enough.
I freely admit that Hunter S. Thompson is one of the reasons I wanted to become a writer in the first place. I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and on the Campaign Trail '72 in high school and like to think his words contributed to my choosing to major in journalism.
And also to dropping it a couple years later.
"Gonzo" is a painstaking account of a man who was more and, ultimately, less than the infamous Raoul Duke. The July 4th release is fitting, for Thompson was a true patriot. His longstanding association with the counterculture notwithstanding, Thompson loved this country and the things it once stood for, and his voice is sorely missed today. Whether you were a fan of his work or not, you'll find "Gonzo" well worth your time.
I'll conclude with perhaps HST's most famous passage:
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back. – Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, 1971
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I bumped into a video of Shaykh Ahmed Tijani Ben Omar, spreading positive vibes in a gospel context but within Islam and decided to edit his speech and singing so I could company him with my guitar and drums.
I used my Ibanez AR300RE, RME Babyface, Klotz Titanium cables featuring Chicken Picks Shredder.
For the software, I preferred my recent favourite, Peavey Revalver 4.


text:
Laura Mvula
Laura Mvula Announced As The MTV Staying Alive Foundation's 2016 Ambassador
Charlotte Warwick
The MTV Staying Alive Foundation has unveiled their latest celebrity ambassador for 2016.
Taking over from Tinie Tempah as the face of their campaign, Laura Mvula will be representing the organisation on a global scale – helping to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and raise funds for the benefit of young people around the world.
As part of her role as ambassador, the award-winning singer-songwriter will front a number of public service announcements for the organisation and will also perform at a London based fundraiser later in the year to promote MTV Staying Alive's work.
Laura said of this exciting news: "Becoming an ambassador for MTV Staying Alive is a great honour for me.
"It's so important that we work harder than ever to increase awareness about HIV among young people. We need to work together to ensure that our future generations are empowered, particularly young people, so they can protect themselves against HIV."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7---iGdDIBQ
She added: "Raising up our girls and women is something I've been focussing on a lot recently and it's something I tried to express in Phenomenal Woman [Laura's latest music video].
"First and foremost girls and young women should have access to information and know that they can make their own choices and part of why I'm involved with MTV Staying Alive is because they're getting the message out to a very wide audience.
"Girls are disproportionately affected by HIV, with nearly two thirds of all new infections among young people being girls, so I hope that in my role as Ambassador I'll be able to encourage them."
Laura will be adding her name to the amazing list of Staying Alive Foundation ambassadors and performers over the years, including Beyoncé, Diddy, George Michael, Tinie Tempah, Kelly Rowland, Becca Dudley and Keri Hilson, all of whom have helped the charity in the global fight against HIV.
You can find out more about the MTV Staying Alive Foundation here.
More From Laura Mvula
2016 MOBO Awards Nominations: Skepta, Kano And Laura Mvula Lead The Way
The 1975, Skepta And Kano Included In Mercury Prize Album Of The Year Shortlist
Overcome (Ft. Nile Rodgers)
Pardon Me (Ft. Professor Green, Laura Mvula, Wilkinson & Ava Lily)
Arctic Monkeys, Olly Murs Score Ivor Novello Award Nods
Tinie Tempah High-Fives Prince William During BAFTAs Performance!
Tinie Tempah, Laura Mvula To Open EE British Academy Film Awards
James Blake Wins 2013 Mercury Prize
Tinie, Naughty Boy and Laura Mvula Win At MOBOs


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Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel spent nearly $1.7 million in tax dollars on TV advertisements featuring himself and Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, promoting a new investment program for Ohioans with disabilities.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel's office spent $1.84 million in taxpayer dollars on TV ads featuring himself and Ohio State University football coach Urban Meyer to boost an investment program for disabled Ohioans.
Critics say Mandel -- a Republican who announced his run for U.S. Senate six months after the ads began running -- dodged scrutiny of the self-promotional ads by spending less than $50,000 at each station, so the buys were not subject to external review.
Mandel's office defended the ads as necessary to raise awareness of the new STABLE investment program, which allows people with disabilities and their families to contribute money tax-free for housing, education and other expenses, without affecting federal benefit eligibility.
"Treasurer Mandel is on the side of the taxpayers and is proud to be a national leader in helping people with Down syndrome, autism and other disabilities," spokesman Chris Berry said in an email.
Berry said the office was transparent about the costs from the beginning.
But the cost breakdown given to reporters last June detailed only about half the actual costs of the TV commercials. The fact sheet said the office would spend $776,980 on TV ad buys; state expenditure records show nearly $1.7 million has been spent.
Once all bills have been paid, that total will reach $1.84 million, according to Mandel's office.
During the same time, Mandel's office paid Florida-based company Intuition LLC $1.2 million to manage the investment accounts.
In 2015, state lawmakers unanimously passed a bill authorizing the treasurer's office to administer STABLE investment accounts under the federal Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE).
The state budget provided Mandel's office $2 million each in the fiscal years ending in 2016 and 2017 to implement and administer the program. The law requires the treasurer's office to develop "marketing plans and promotional materials to publicize" the accounts.
Mandel visited newsrooms across the state, explaining the program.
The treasurer's office reports 2,281 people have opened accounts since the program began June 1. Of those, 1,287 were Ohioans.
How did Mandel buy ads?
Typically, TV advertising campaigns are managed by an outside consulting firm. The firm buys the ads on behalf of the client and keeps a small cut.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted did so for a series of pre-election public service announcements. The office wanted to pay Pierce Communications, a Republican media firm, $549,411 to buy ad time. The request went before the Ohio Controlling Board, a legislative and budget office panel that oversees state spending, in July and was approved.
Mandel's office chose to pay TV stations directly for ad buys in amounts less than $50,000 per fiscal year. Had they been over that amount, the spending request would have needed approval from the Controlling Board.
Six of the 2016 buys and 13 of the 2017 buys were within $1,000 of the threshold. Stations received one payment in June and a second payment in December, January or February, according to state records.
For example, WEWS Channel 5 was paid $60,244 to run the ad -- $25,500 was paid in June, when the ad started running, and the rest was paid in December, after the ad finished running. Berry said two buys were made, one in each fiscal year, because money had been appropriated for both years.
In addition to $1.3 million spent from the state STABLE fund, Mandel's office has spent about $371,000 on the ad from the state's securities lending fund.
"The law allows permissible funds such as securities lending income to be used for expenditures of this nature, and in an effort to implement, administer and promote this new initiative for people with special needs, we did just that," Berry said.
The Dayton Daily News ran a story on the ad buys, and Mandel responded with a detailed news release that listed five reasons the ad buys were appropriate and 11 PSAs Ohio officials have appeared in since 2007.
Berry said the office made an effort to spread money across the state and that paying stations directly saved the office money.
The office also paid Midwest Communications and Media, a Republican-led media firm, $45,000 to "assist with the earned and paid media strategy, media purchasing and reporting." Like the TV buys, the payments to Midwest and Lucas Nutter, who produced the ad, were made in two payments in two different fiscal years.
Rep. Jack Cera, a Belmont County Democrat and controlling board member, said it appears the treasurer's office was trying to avoid the controlling board. Cera said it's unlikely the request would have been denied but $1.7 million on advertising would have likely attracted media attention and questions from the bipartisan panel.
"The controlling board is where we get to question any of these things and it appears that they made an effort to keep everything under the threshold which makes me wonder," Cera said.
Fellow board member Sen. Bill Coley, a Butler County Republican, said the board should investigate the spending, talk to treasurer's office and make sure everything was done correctly.
Mandel is scheduled to testify before lawmakers Wednesday on the House Finance Subcommittee on State Government and Agency Review. His office has requested $2 million a year for the STABLE program, with $250,000 dedicated for promotional efforts.
When did the ad run?
The ads began running in mid-June 2016 and ended Dec. 4, three days before Mandel officially announced he is challenging U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. Mandel had been mulling a run for months and in January 2016 had revived his federal campaign fundraising accounts.
Berry said the STABLE ad had nothing to do with Mandel's Senate bid and accused "liberal political bosses" of politicizing something that isn't political. Berry said Mandel appeared in the ad because he is responsible for the program, and there are no plans to run the ad in the future.
"It is imperative that when individuals and families choose to invest their hard-earned money into STABLE Accounts, they have full faith and trust that their dollars are safe and secure," Berry said. "By having the knowledge that the Treasurer of Ohio, who manages billions of dollars every year, is the STABLE Account administrator, participants can have the peace of mind that their investments are safe and secure."
Berry noted other statewide officeholders, Republicans and Democrats, have appeared in public service announcements touting their office's work.
Cera said elected officials -- from the governor to county leaders -- shouldn't have their names and pictures on office materials and advertising. He said his wife once threw away an absentee ballot request from Husted's office by mistake because she thought it was a campaign mailer.
"Taxpayers' money should not be used to promote statewide candidates even if they're already in office," Cera said.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a more accurate amount spent on the TV ads. Money spent from the state's securities lending program was not included in an earlier version of the story.


The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act helps further collaborative partnerships under Iowa's Workforce Development System. The goal of this system is to provide high quality employment services to all individuals. This system is designed to be able to improve accessibility for job seekers with or without disabilities. Each American Job Center offers accommodations and assistive technology to meet the needs of job seekers with disabilities.
Social Security's Ticket to Work program supports career development for Social Security disability beneficiaries age 18 through 64 who want to work. The Ticket program is free and voluntary. The Ticket program helps people with disabilities progress toward financial independence.
The Ticket program is a good fit for people who want to improve their earning potential and are committed to preparing for long-term success in the workforce. Ticket to Work offers beneficiaries with disabilities access to meaningful employment with the assistance of Ticket to Work employment service providers called employment networks. If you are ready to go to work, there are people ready and waiting to help you!
The career development services and support you need are unique to you. The Ticket program can connect you with the right mix of free employment support services and approved service providers that will best fit your needs.
The Ticket program and Work Incentives allow you to keep your benefits while you explore employment, receive vocational rehabilitation services and gain work experience. Your cash benefits and Medicaid or Medicare often continue throughout your transition to work, and there are protections in place to help you return to benefits, if you find you are unable to continue working due to your disability.
Job seekers with a disability are invited to IowaWORKS Centers throughout Iowa and identify yourself as having Social Security benefits or a Ticket to Work when you come to the workforce center. Ticket to Work is one of many work incentives offered through Social Security.
For more information, please contact Ticket2Work@iwd.iowa.gov or call (515) 725-1118.
Or alternately, fill in this convenient form and we will contact you by your preferred method.