Public figures like Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton, Harvey Weinstein and our (not my) president make the news for being men who use their positions of power and privilege to abuse women; to demean them, to call them sluts and whores, to make them feel weak. The sad state of things though is this isn’t a privilege reserved for men of wealth and power. All men can wield this power, if they choose to (in some circumstances). I think most women can think of a time where […]
Would You Know if You Lived in Captivity?
Trigger warning: Rape/captivity Helena Pelletier is just about as happy and at peace in her life as she can be. She has a loving husband, two daughters whom she loves, a jam making business and strong connection to nature and the world around her. In the first chapter or two, I was seriously envious, then the other shoe drops and we learn that Helena has been keeping secrets about her past. Now, due to her father escaping from prison (after fashioning a shiv out of […]
You Keep Telling Yourself That, Pal…
John Wayne Cleaver has some (most) indicators that he’ll probably be a serial killer one day: The superficial/not actual indicators: His middle name is Wayne, his dad is named Sam (which makes him the Son of Sam), his last name’s Cleaver, he’s obsessed with serial killers. The real: The “triad”–bedwetting, animal cruelty, and a compunction towards arson. Oh yeah, and he’s a sociopath. But as much as John studies serial killers, he keeps telling us and his therapist that he’s studying them so that he […]
Truth Time: Victor Frankenstein is a Dick
Hollywood can’t get Frankenstein right. We all grew up thinking that the Frankenstein monster was this green, groaning thing was stupid and aimlessly looking for people to murder. The reason why Hollywood can’t get it right is because while people do die in the book, it’s not a traditional horror novel. Instead, it’s a quiet study of what makes us human and what happens when our basic needs aren’t met. It’s a gentle argument that we are shaped into the people we are rather than born […]
I Wasn’t As Attached As I Wanted to be…but as I wrote the review, I found that I was
I’ve realized that I’m an odd sort of Rainbow Rowell fan. I liked Eleanor and Park ok-enough. I think I liked the idea of it more than the execution of it. I embraced the nostalgia of the time and of first love but it’s not really a book that I’ll revisit…nor do I ever recommend it to my friends (that’s telling to me). I know that this is blasphemy in these parts and I apologize. But I liked Eleanor and Park enough to read Landline…and […]
Greatest Hits of Teaching…
Because I teach the same books each year (sometimes twice a year because I teach different courses with some books that intermingle between the two), I write the same reviews for those books each year for CBR. I don’t feel like writing reviews for the same books that I read over and over again, I present to you a literary clip show. Kick back, relax and experience rehashed posts from the past! I promise I have other reviews to finish but here’s what I’ve been […]
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