Archive | November, 2012

Danation: How the West Was Lost

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Well, it’s over. Allen West has conceded. The election season has truly ended. Hilariously, the Politico report on Allen West’s concession mentioned his dismissing more than half of congressional Democrats as communists, only to follow that up with the line “West ran as a rare truth-teller in politics.” I do not believe his political career [...]

Gilbert King Talks Passion for History, Sheds Light on Research Process Behind “Devil in the Grove”; He Appears Sunday at Miami Book Fair

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Last March, a week after the murder of Trayvon Martin, HarperCollins released Gilbert King’s Devil in the Grove. As we said in our review at the time, this tremendous, impeccably researched book, which tells the story of Thurgood Marshall’s defense of the Groveland Boys — four young black men who were accused of raping a white [...]

Q&A: Stephanie McMillan Talks Occupy, the Environment in Her Latest “The Beginning of the American Fall”

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Don’t call Stephanie McMillan a Democrat. Don’t call her a liberal, either. The winner of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights Journalism Award — and native South Floridian; she penned her first lefty piece, a review of Jonathan Schell’s Fate of the Earth, as a student at the frou frou Fort Lauderdale high school [...]

Q&A: Christopher Beha on Writing and the Loss of Intellectual Religion; Appearing Sunday at Miami Book Fair

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Christopher Beha’s debut novel What Happened to Sophie Wilder has received rave reviews from publications ranging from New York Times Book Review to Vogue. In this meditative story, Beha, who is an associate editor at Harper’s and previously published the memoir The Whole Five Feet, brings us Charlie Blakeman, a floundering writer living with his [...]

When Walmart Comes to Midtown: “Walmart doesn’t destroy small businesses, capitalism does.”

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The title quote is from an article by Pablo Babanegra of Miami Autonomy and Solidarity. It sums up problems within local movements fighting the entrance of Walmart into their communities, and focuses on the construction of the Walmart Super Center in Midtown Miami (which has met intense opposition from many Miami residents). The article is [...]

Q&A: Julie Klam on Friendkeeping and the Delicate Art of Memoirs; Book Fair Appearance on Saturday

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Pop culture addicts who loved the original incarnation of VH-1′s Pop-Up Video prized the show for its irreverent, half-serious running commentary balloons. While, say, a hair metal ballad blared away onscreen, you might have read a comment on the vintage price of Aqua Net, or statistics on Spandex. The concept proved so beloved, in fact, [...]

Q&A: Adam Gopnik on Grad School, Food Philosophy, and the New Yorker; Book Fair Appearance Tonight

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Adam Gopnik’s most recent book, The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food, centers, like so many other recent volumes, around food. But rather than spend the chapters waxing ecstatic about obscure ingredients or pushing for specific notions of health, Gopnik, appropriately for a New Yorker staff writer, takes a headier tack. [...]

Q&A: Naomi Wolf Talks Vagina, Careless Critiques, and Self-Censorship in the Feminist Community; Appears at Miami Book Fair Saturday

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Naomi Wolf’s latest, Vagina, has gotten mixed — sometimes very mad — reviews both in seasoned critical circles and the blogosphere. Wolf, veteran feminist and Beauty Myth author, will appear at the Miami Book Fair on Saturday, so we caught up with her to chat about the book, which has performed steadily according to several [...]

Five Mystery Writers You Should Check Out at Book Fair

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While everyone loves a good mystery, it’s a genre overrun with writers, which makes it hard to decide who’s worth your time. To assist you, we’ve compiled a list of five mystery writers, both debut and established, who are participating in the Miami Book Fair this weekend and worth checking out. No matter what you’re [...]