Review: What’s the Matter with White People? Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was

What?s the Matter with White People? Why We Long for a Golden Age That Never Was by Joan Walsh My rating: 5 of 5 stars A resonant and highly readable political memoir that attempts to unlock some of the most stubborn mysteries of modern politics, including why false promises work so well, without falling back on the tempting conclusion that people are just dumb. Walsh writes from a highly personal perspective, and it works. View all my reviews

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Review: public phenomena

public phenomena by Temporary Services My rating: 5 of 5 stars A cool little art book about the everyday, and mostly inadvertent, aesthetic experiences that turn up as people attempt to the adapt the urban environment to their needs (and occasionally as the urban environment adapts to people). Photos range around the world showing everything from post-snowstorm parking blockades in Chicago to makeshift barriers in Ljubjana to ghost houses all over. The book itself is a form of the adaptation it celebrates. Taking note of the aesthetic content hidden in plain view by the side of the road is a

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Review: The Odyssey

The Odyssey by Homer My rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s Homer! The epic is foundational for Western Civilization as a good read in any case. I’m no expert on translations, but I found the Lombardo version colorful and readable. View all my reviews

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Book Review: South African Township Barbershops and Salons

South African Township Barbershops and Salons, Simon Weller, Mark Batty Publisher, 128 pages, 2011. ISBN 978-1-935613-04-6. Hard cover $27.95 If African Signs, with its minimal text but rich collection of photographs, provides a window to African vernacular culture, South African Township Barbershops & Salons passes through that window to provide something of an inside tour. Simon Weller, a professional photographer, not only document numerous advertising signs but also spent time with the hair cutters and their customers as well as several sign painters. He aims not just to show the art but also the culture in which the art is

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Review: The Iliad

The Iliad by Homer My rating: 5 of 5 stars An eminently readable translation brings the appalling gore, risible gods, tragic heroes and wondrous poetry to life. A great way to reacquaint, or acquaint, yourself with one of the world’s great works of literature. My reading partners via readingodyssey.org help a lot too. View all my reviews

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Book Review: African Signs

African Signs, by Rob Floor, Gert van Zanten andPaul Faber, KIT Publishers, 208 pages, 2010. ISBN 978-9-4602-2080-7. Soft cover $45 Every once in a while those of us who don’t often make it to Africa have an opportunity to glimpse the continent’s extraordinary commercial visual culture. As recently as this summer vibrant examples of hand-painted movie posters from the 1980s and ‘90s were on view at the Chicago Cultural Center, which also mounted a show in 1996 of elaborate decorated coffins from Ghana. Both genres have books devoted to the, African hair salon and barber shop signs, meanwhile, were featured

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