Back to Blog
Evicted by matthew desmond sparknotes5/24/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The intent of this polemic, on one level, is to dislodge the standard chronology and narrative scaffolding of U.S. I do not wish to diminish these works by linking them too closely to The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and underwritten by the New York Times, but, in formal terms, the project, considered in toto, is clearly a polemic ( New York Times Magazine 2019). Some of the most famous works in Western literature are polemical: Luthers Ninety-five Theses, Swifts Modest Proposal, and Marx and Engelss Communist Manifesto come to mind in this regard, although it should be noted that some would consider Swifts work rather more a burlesque or satire than a polemic per se. The term polemic is derived from the Greek noun polemos, meaning war, and the Greek adjective polemikos, meaning warlike or hostile. A polemic is conventionally viewed as contentious, disputative, or combative rhetoric, the intent of which is to espouse or support a particular position and, in so doing, undermine another, via bold, categorical, often overstated claims. This article will be published in the Spring 2022 issue of The Independent Review. Single Issues of The Independent Review.Podcast: Independent Outlook / Conversations.International Economics and Development. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Back to Blog
![]() ![]() We love you too much," to console her friend for mistakenly accusing a cute neighbor boy of spying on her while she skinny dips in Greece). ![]() Even though they are separated for most of the summer, the friends communicate their love and understanding for one another (Tibby writes to Lena, "Don't torture yourself, Len. These magical pants serve as a substitute friend for each girl as she is tested that summer, from Carmen, who goes to visit her father only to find out he's engaged to a woman with two teenage kids, to Tibby, who befriends a precocious 12-year-old cancer victim. ![]() They promise to rotate the jeans among them and, upon their reunion at summer's end, record their favorite adventures on the pant legs. ![]() As four lifelong friends prepare to split up for the summer, they discover that the second-hand jeans look good on all of them, despite their different physiques. First novelist Brashares successfully creates four distinct characters, each with her own story line, and ties them together with a creative device: a pair of pants purchased in a thrift shop. ![]()
Back to Blog
Bright dead things poet limon5/24/2023 ![]() ![]() Her work is consistently generous and accessible-though every observed moment feels complexly thought, felt, and lived. Ada Limn is the author of four books of poetry, including Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book. Limón has often been a poet who wears her heart on her sleeve, but in these extraordinary poems that heart becomes a “huge beating genius machine” striving to embrace and understand the fullness of the present moment. ![]() ![]() ![]() Bright Dead Things examines the chaos that is life, the dangerous thrill of living in a world you know you have to leave one day, and the search to find something that is ultimately “disorderly, and marvelous, and ours.” A book of bravado and introspection, of 21st century feminist swagger and harrowing terror and loss, this fourth collection considers how we build our identities out of place and human contact-tracing in intimate detail the various ways the speaker’s sense of self both shifts and perseveres as she moves from New York City to rural Kentucky, loses a dear parent, ages past the capriciousness of youth, and falls in love. Ada Limn is the author of four books of poetry including Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry, a finalist. ![]()
Back to Blog
Pamuk orhan istanbul5/24/2023 ![]() ![]() Pamuk is a faithful practitioner of what is termed the “East-West novel” genre in Turkish literature, which addresses fraught encounters of modernity between Ottoman or Turkish Muslim and European cultures. He published his first novel, Cevdet Bey and Sons (1982 Turkish 2023 English), a three-generation saga ranging from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic, when he was thirty. Pamuk devoted himself to painting until the age of twenty-two before he decided to become a novelist. After graduating high school (the American Robert College, Istanbul), he studied architecture before receiving a degree in journalism from Istanbul University. Most of his work is set in Istanbul, Turkey, the former capital of the Ottoman Empire, and the city of his birth (1952). Orhan Pamuk, one of the foremost practitioners of the global novel today, writes with a focus on Turkish culture, history, and politics while engaging techniques of world literature. ![]()
Back to Blog
The lincoln highway amor towles5/24/2023 ![]() ![]() If, after finishing " The Lincoln Highway," you want to immerse yourself in another American journey narrative, here are a few suggestions. It also has had a very central place in the history of American storytelling. Some of the men in the book are figures from history and some from fancy, but whether real or imagined, almost every one of them is on his way to someplace different from where he started.” - Sally in "The Lincoln Highway," by Amor Towles (page 481).Īs Sally points out, since the earliest days, getting-up-and-going has been topic number one in the record of human endeavors. For THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY the playlist I returned to most often featured contemporary singer/songwriters performing relatively spare and mournful music. Napoleon heading off on his conquests, or King Arthur in search of the Holy Grail. The Lincoln Highway: Music Click the image to expand Listen (Spotify) I generally listen to music while I write, finding it can help me get into a suitable mood. ![]() It’s got twenty-six stories in it that have come down through the ages and almost every one of them is about some man going somewhere. The Lincoln Highway: A New York Times Number One Bestseller (Kindle Edition) Published October 5th 2021 by Cornerstone Digital. Take that big red book that Billy is always lugging around. The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles 4.3 (56) Paperback 16.34 19.00 Save 14 Hardcover 23.99 Paperback 16.34 eBook 12.99 Audiobook 0.00 Large Print 32.00 Audio CD 39. ![]() “Any child of ten can tell you that getting-up-and-going is topic number one in the record of man’s endeavors. ![]()
Back to Blog
Candace owen book5/24/2023 ![]() “The pettiness will do nothing to thwart sales. She followed up with a call to her 2.6 million followers to snatch up the book. Owens included pictures of the book with what appeared to be smear marks on the cover. I know it must have pained you to ship out all 90,000 copies you had in stock- but this is unacceptable,” she wrote Saturday afternoon. “Dear About 1,000 people have written to let me know that your employees appear to be stomping on and in this case, smearing Vaseline on my books before mailing them. ![]() The outspoken Owens took to Twitter to accuse the retail giant’s employees of damaging her tome, “ Blackout.” Michael Jackson was desperate to change 'weirdo narrative': revealĪmazon workers really left their mark on conservative pundit Candace Owens‘ new book - including in Vaseline, she claims. Get wavy with the ultimate hair wavers of 2023 - no ocean requiredĪmazon stock slips 4% over slowdown in cloud business ![]() Giving firms like Amazon tax breaks are a losing bribe ![]()
Back to Blog
Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs5/24/2023 ![]() I wouldn’t even call it a cliff hanger since the story doesn’t really get started until the end. In fact, I would have loved to read a whole book just about Grace and her mysterious older brother. I also really liked the guys in this book, two of whom clearly have big secrets they are keeping. Not all the sisters endeared themselves to me, but the mythological ride was a fun one. Imagine teenaged Charmed but with Greek Mythology and you get SWEET VENOM. She’s the socialite snob who is more concerned with not ruining her shoes than with the monsters attacking them. Greer is the sister we meet towards the end of the book. She’s big into computers and not so much into sticking up for herself. She took a long time for me to warm up to and is responsible for the less than stellar start in SWEET VENOM. ![]() She’s super sarcastic and supremely unimpressed with everything. Gretchen is the tough and jaded one who has been fighting monsters for years on her own. All three do have very distinct personalities, which I appreciated, but those distinctions all kiss the cliché line more than I would like. ![]() Gretchen, Grace, and Greer are the three monster hunters who were separated at birth. These descendants of Medusa have lethal venom laced fangs, the ability to hypnotize with their eyes, and three powers uniquely theirs. No turning people to stone with a glance. Show More monster hunters who are the only ones who can see the mythological beasties that prey on humanity. ![]()
Back to Blog
Royal assassin cover5/24/2023 ![]() ![]() The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd and to remain in the distant mountains. A quarter-century after the original publication of the Farseer Trilogy, these special editions present Robin Hobb's modern classics as never before: in gorgeous hardcover editions, with ten beautiful full-colour illustrations by Magali Villeneuve.Īs Royal Assassin begins, Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king's assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Martin as 'fantasy as it ought to be written', and by Lin-Manuel Miranda as 'an incredible series'.įitzChivalry Farseer and the Fool are back again in book two of the beloved saga, full of adventure, magic, and sinister plots. A richly illustrated anniversary edition from the beloved Farseer Trilogy, hailed by George R.R. ![]()
Back to Blog
Kiese laymon heavy5/23/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() His suspension followed ongoing criticism from the administration, including president George Harmon, who believed his controversial pieces on race in the school newspaper adversely affected campus and alumni relations. He also attended Jackson State University, where his mother worked as a political science professor, and Millsaps College, where he was suspended for a year after taking a library book without checking it out. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Oberlin College, and his Master's in Fine Arts at Indiana University. Laymon was born and raised in Mississippi. Laymon was awarded a "Genius Grant" from the MacArthur Fellows Program in 2022. He is the author of three full-length books: a novel, Long Division (2013), and two memoirs, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (2013) and the award-winning Heavy: An American Memoir (2018). He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. Kiese Laymon (born August 15, 1974, in Jackson, Mississippi) is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. ![]()
Back to Blog
Seconds away by harlan coben5/23/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yet as I added more and more it ended up at #10 – that should say how good the quality is with these books because I absolutely loved this one. This was one of the first books I added, and it immediately went into the #2 spot. The crazy thing about doing this list is I went through it book by book. Here we go with my Top 10 Harlan Coben Books: #10: Tell No One ![]() Going to be hard considering every one of them is amazing. Now to go through all of these and – ugh – try and pick out what the best ones are. You an also see the complete list of Coben books in publication order here: Harlan Coben. There are 13 Harlan Coben standalone novels right now. Every time he releases a new book, I will be sure to update this list if it fits in. The last standalone novel released by Harlan Coben was Missing You in March 2014. But man – these standalone books are absolutely amazing. I have not yet read any of his Myron Bolitar or Mickey Bolitar series. Each book I picked up and started and quite simply could not put down. I read them over the course of April and May 2014 – I read every single standalone novel Coben wrote. If you’re not a regular reader – then you won’t know that I only just started reading these. This may be one of the most difficult articles I’ve ever had to write – grading the Top 10 Harlan Coben books. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases. ![]() |