Book Reviews
Consider CultureWatch's Four Gift Book Suggestions: Murder, Assassination, Racial Hatred and Ageism
Margolick has written a profile of two women, Elizabeth and Hazel, who appeared in an iconic photograph taken during the desegregation attempt at Little Rock’s High School. How they have handled both friendship and distancing is a long and complex tale. In Agewise: Fighting the New Ageism in America author Gullette explores the causes and effects of a youth culture that makes growing old wrong in the eyes of many Americans. Assisted Dying, a mystery novel, provides a fast ride on the highways of Florida's Gold Coast and would make a terrific book group choice. Millard's Destiny of a Republic carefully lays out a sensitive, detailed account of President Garfield’s murder and is on our reviewer's highly recommended list. more »
Where Has Joy Gone?
These days, you almost have to venture backwards in time to find pictures of life redeemed in spite of or because of depravity, dishonesty, error. The ancient Greeks, Shakespeare, Hardy, Austen, even Sinclair Lewis or Harper Lee ... make your own list had so much more to say than just calling attention to or bewailing or glorifying what least deserves it in what we like to call civilization. more »
CultureWatch: Jane Fonda and Red Grooms
In Jane Fonda; The Private Life of a Public Woman, Bosworth explores the ambivalences of Jane Fonda as artist, romantic, businesswoman, femme fatale, and partly finished intellectual. Red Grooms' Marlborough Gallery show, New York: 1976-2011, is a madcap collection of paintings, sculptures and walk-through "sculpto-pictoramas" depicting the high-life, low-life and in-between-life of the metropolis more »
Most Frequently Challenged Authors of the 21st Century
The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) receives reports from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books in communities across the country. Where can you find more information on why a particular book was banned? more »