Read And Reviewed

the closing of the american mind by Alan Bloom -- or -- the author's admission that he is old, useless and in the way.

By joshuacitrak, on November 15th, 2012 |

Allan Bloom is a hysterical, raving, reactionary lunatic. He and his academia ilk are exactly the reason why education teaches kids nothing, because they know absolutely zero about the children they’re supposed to teach. mostly, this book is little more than a “get off my lawn” diatribe against any and all (race, sex, drugs, rock [...]

when you're young, you're easily impressed

By joshuacitrak, on March 1st, 2011 |

Recently re-reading “On the Road.” “On the Road” for me, like a lot of other kids, was one of those things, a secular bar-mitzpah like “Rocky Horror” or copping beer with a fake ID. It was some necessary fuel that propelled you–so I thought–into a trajectory of the wildest, most colorful, harmless-crazy explosion of youth [...]

Cooking Dirty

By joshuacitrak, on July 10th, 2009 |

Never look at your favorite restaurant in the same way thanks to, “Cooking Dirty,” another tome in the long line of kitchen exposé books. Part memoir, part confessional, Jason Sheehan serves up the typical gross out “you won’t believe what happens before that souffle gets to your table” stories that inundate the foodie world. Sheehan, however, does it better than most, and importantly, doesn’t take himself too seriously as he chronicles his experiences during the long hours spent in commercial kitchens. [...]

Drown

By joshuacitrak, on April 21st, 2009 |

In, “Drown”, Junot Diaz’s compilation of short stories, we are invited to explore a streets-eye view of Latino-American melting pot culture. Diaz writes of life as a boy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and of coming of age in the suburban wastes of New Jersey. [...]

Adam’s Tongue

By joshuacitrak, on March 23rd, 2009 |

Language makes us human, Derek Bickerton asserts in “Adam’s Tongue”, not the other way around. Humans simply could not have taken the evolutionary leap out of the savannas without it. However, contrary to common belief, language isn’t as simple as a straight line evolution from the myriad of animal calls exhibited by our genealogical [...]

Riding Towards Everywhere

By joshuacitrak, on March 7th, 2009 |

“Riding Towards Everywhere,” Bill Vollmann’s book about “catching out”—hobo slang for riding a freight train without permission—romanticizes the forgotten conveyance and freightage of Manifest Density and the Westward expansion of the United States. The railways built this country. It wasn’t really until the 1950’s that we had an Interstate Highway System. Most people, but not Bill, forget [...]

Stuffed & Starved

By joshuacitrak, on February 10th, 2009 |

This is not a cheery, feel good book regardless of what the back cover blurbs say. Being hungry and getting fed is serious business for everyone—the starving farmer, GMO seed companies, the multi-national distributors and the end consumer. Raj Patel gets right down to the meaty heart of the most under reported and least understood of all the vital services—food—its production, transportation and [...]

The Elephant Vanishes

By joshuacitrak, on January 16th, 2009 |

“The Elephant Vanishes” is a collection of subtly odd, twisting stories where the quirks and kinks of life aren’t looked upon as burdens, rather as just another way of being. A young couple, aching with hunger, decide to rob a McDonald’s of burgers and Cokes to assuage their conscience—and appetite. Reduced people deliver Sony TV’s into apartments and offices—uninvited—but yet people refuse to acknowledge them or their televisions. A dancing dwarf is wanted by the leaders of a revolution, for crimes no one remembers or understands. [...]

Nobody Move

By joshuacitrak, on December 12th, 2008 |

With his last book, “Tree of Smoke,” Denis Johnson won the National Book Award. So what better to follow up that serious literary work than a pulpish noir crime [...]

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

By admin, on October 10th, 2008 |

Though I’m only two stories into Well Tower’s first collection, “Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned”, the book is turning into a delightful find. Towers spins his prose with a quirky matter-of-factness making the odd and strange seem at home amongst the norm of everyday [...]

the closing of the american mind by Alan Bloom -- or -- the author's admission that he is old, useless and in the way.

when you're young, you're easily impressed

Cooking Dirty

Drown

Adam’s Tongue

Riding Towards Everywhere

Stuffed & Starved

The Elephant Vanishes

Nobody Move

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

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