Back in December 2013, a PR consultant stopped before boarding a plane to tweet at her 170 followers. “Going to Africa,” she wrote, “Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding, I’m white!” When Justine Saccro got off the plane 11 hours later, she had no idea that her life had totally changed. Her tweet went viral, as tens of thousands of people expressed their outrage and demanded (basically) her head. She immediately lost her job and served her 15 minutes as the most hated person […]
Interesting and Flawed
I have quite literally put this review off for most of 2015. I read it in March! My feelings for it are not very complicated: I liked it. I liked it a lot. It’s just that the subject matter is itself complicated and worthy of a better review than I am able to give it. Especially since I’ve left the review til December 30th. Ronson centers his book on the phenomenon of internet shaming. Internet shaming might be new, but shaming in and of itself […]
Biological imperative, my ass
Delusions of Gender is a truly interesting study of the (mostly flawed) studies in neurological science intended to explain gender differences between men and women that originate in the brain. It got a lot of press when it first came out a few years ago, and deservedly so — with nearly 100 out of 340 pages dedicated to footnotes and the bibliography, it’s impressively researched and satisfyingly comprehensive. Cordelia Fine’s main argument, after definitively surveying the field, is that neurological claims to identify and explain […]
A thoroughly enjoyable disturbing novel!
Fifty-first book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. This book is not for the faint-hearted. It isn’t for those who can’t stand gore and animal cruelty and the death of children. But in its own way, this is one of the best books I have ever read. This is the story of Frank, a 16 year old living with his Father on an island. His brother, Eric, has just escaped from a mental asylum and for the major part of the book, Frank is […]
Hauntingly Beautiful!
Fiftieth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. Oh! Is there anything even close to an Oscar Wilde novel? If there is something that is horrifying and disgusting, yet somehow most reassuring and beautiful, this is it. A novel that shook up the world into which it was born. So ahead of its times! So exquisitely written with such a rich language and splendid narrative! I honestly don’t find myself capable of reviewing such a book. I write this only because I had decided that I […]
Demythologizing a tragedy.
Firstly, this book was excellent, and I recommend it for everyone. So if you don’t read this review further than the first sentence, you’ve already gotten the message. Columbine is a book ten years in the making. Dave Cullen was one of the first journalists on the scene the day that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wreaked their violence, and he spent the next decade painstakingly researching the incident, determined to tell the story of what actually happened that day. This might seem like a ploy […]
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