The Collection Chamber

BOOK REVIEW: "The Long Fall (1st Leonid McGill Mystery)" by Walter Mosley

2009-03-14T14:21:00.008-04:00

If there is one thing that Walter Mosley does well, it’s developing strong, flawed male characters that move the reader enough to give a damn about the outcome. From Easy Rawlins to Socrates Fortlow to the trigger-happy Mouse, each one occupies a space in the imagination that allows for the possibility that he just might exist. And that right there is the hook, that element of Mosley’s works that intrigues his audience and keeps it salivating. We either know someone who knows someone who used to tangle with an Easy-like figure, or we wish to the literary gods that our friends were that interesting. Or that resourceful. Or that true to life.

Leonid McGill is Mosley’s latest creation, a 50-something detective living in New York, whose past indiscretions have a way of reappearing whenever he commits to going straight. McGill used to handle his opponents in the ring, fighting well enough to command respect, but these days, all he seems to be doing is shadowboxing with his demons. He has a once-beautiful wife, Katrina, whom he doesn’t love or care much about, a woman with the cojones to birth two babies that share DNA with everyone but him. Her only reason for being around is a failed attempt to leave him for another man. His only reason for being around is to keep Twill, one of those other-man’s kids, from losing himself to his own demons. Theirs is an arrangement of, well, convenience, and the burden of that convenience leaves him emotionally twisting in the wind, all day, every day.

The McGill adventure starts off with the usual Mosley blast; a mysterious figure hires the detective to track down four guys who may or may not have been involved in a murder as teenagers. When the third one is found dead shortly after McGill contacts him, the private eye digs around to uproot the killer. What he finds en route to solving the case is classic Mosley: a litany of shady characters too outrageous to not be real; tainted cops only too happy to break their own laws; and double the violence found in a typical wild west flick.

The Long Fall has its shortcomings, primarily in that the main plotline lands kind of flat. The run-up itself is superb—action-packed and insanely suspenseful, and the subplots involve a pedophile taken down by a techno-savvy misanthrope and a mob-tied flunky searching for revenge. But the revelation at the end of who was pulling the strings of the four men’s deaths, and why they had to be manipulated, is a big disappointment; it’s way too far-fetched and beneath Mosley’s talent. Does that mean you should pass on this book? Not at all. Fall is still worth the time, and Leonid McGill is worthy of his boxing gloves.

--Dianha Simpson
imagineatrium.com

The Long Fall is released on March 24. Pre-order your copy today at your local independent bookstore.

Visit Indiebound.org to find your closest indy bookstore and keep your community thriving.

Acclaimed Fiction Writer Joe Hill Wants You to Love Your Indie

2009-03-11T17:58:00.011-04:00

Joe Hill, the award winning suspense/fantasy writer of Heart-Shaped Box and the graphic novel Locke & Key is sponsoring a contest on his official Web site to encourage people to support their local, independent bookstores by purchasing items in March.

To enter, you simply need to make a purchase at any independent bookstore in the country some time in March, send a photo or scan of the saved receipt to Joe, and at the end of the month he'll have a random drawing for a SIGNED slipcase copy of Gunpowder, his rare, limited edition novella.

Imagine the possibilities for neighborhoods if every author were as thoughtful and concerned about sustaining local communities as Joe Hill is. Joe is officially our new favorite writer.

Check out Joe Hill's outstanding writing at joehillfiction.com

BOOK REVIEW: "The Miracles of Prato" by Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz

2009-03-05T15:48:00.002-05:00

In 1456, Lucrezia Buti and her younger sister, Spinetta, arrived at the Church of Santa Margherita convent in Prato, Italy, somewhat reluctant to devote their lives to God. As was common practice during the Middle Ages, the two women were forced, like other unmarried or widowed women who lacked the support of a male relative, to find protection against the world’s evils among the nuns. Spinetta, who was used to being sheltered, adapted rather quickly, having accepted her cloistered fate with optimism. But Lucrezia, described as bearing a striking resemblance to the Madonna (if such a thing can be known), was resentful for having had her life decided for her. What she wanted was the fairytale life of the local merchant’s wife, Signora de’ Valenti: To fall in love with a successful man, to become his doting wife, and to fill their home with beautiful children. Ultimately, Lucrezia felt disconnected from the Order.

Enter Fra Filippo Lippi, a painter and an Augustinian monk who, like Lucrezia, took his vows out of necessity rather than in response to a spiritual calling. As chaplain of the convent, it seemed Filippo tended to his clerical duties more out of obligation to the Church and to his art patrons for bailing him out of his multiple transgressions. See, Fra Filippo was more man than monk, saddled with the very human desire to lay down with the fairer sex. Having earned a reputation for routinely giving in to this temptation, he found himself at their mercy.

Severely in debt and behind on several commissioned pieces, Fra Filippo asked for special permission to use the novitiate Lucrezia as the model for the Virgin Mary. The monk—or rather, the man—was taken with the young woman’s beauty, and visions of her flawless face took refuge deep in his heart. To Filippo, Lucrezia was the epitome of perfection, and immortalizing her beauty as the figure of the Virgin Mother was the highest compliment he could pay to his Creator. The request drew outrage from the convent—their fear being rendering Lucrezia vulnerable to the older monk’s proclivities—but the Sisters were powerless to refuse a favor for the Medici family, Filippo’s principal backer. The romance that ensued between them scandalized the Catholic Church and sullied both their reputations.

Their story comes to life in The Miracles of Prato, (Laurie Albanese and Laura Morowitz), which is wonderfully written in the voice of the time. Each chapter follows the Liturgical Calendar, giving the reader insight into the influence the Church had over parts of Europe, and the authors put forth an extraordinary effort to remain true to religious politics. The result is an unsettling—if not altogether surprising—foray into sexual and dogmatic inconsistencies. Celibacy and faith, while noble pursuits, were preached by the clergy, but not necessarily practiced with equal diligence.

An intriguing character throughout Miracles is Sister Pureza, an older nun whose hidden back story mirrors Lucrezia’s in many ways. To reveal now the similarities would be to do a disservice to the reader (the foreshadowing alone hints at the parallels in their lives), but suffice it to say Pureza’s actions are less heartless than well-intentioned. Her devotion is not unwavering—she spends an inordinate amount of time questioning her faith—and this colors her interactions with the Order. Her hope, we come to realize, is to save Lucrezia, the beautiful novice, from suffering at the hands of the Church’s powerful hypocrites.

The Miracles of Prato is a worthwhile read for those who enjoy historical fiction. The devotedly religious may not appreciate the authors’ celebration—for lack of a better word—of Lucrezia and Filippo’s scandalous, yet saccharine sweet, affair. Nor will they warm up to the “indiscretions” of the Catholic clergy. But Miracles is still an important story because it exposes the reader to the nuns’ bubble-like existence and the attacks on faith to which they were routinely subjected. Pick up the book and let me know what you think.

---Dianha Simpson
imagineatrium.com

Learn more about the authors and the book by clicking here.
Visit Indiebound.org for more great reads or to find your local independent bookstore.

BOOK REVIEW: "One Big Happy Family" by Rebecca Walker

2009-02-23T13:56:00.001-05:00

I picked up One Big Happy Family, a collection of essays on family and love, because I love knowing the private details of other people's lives, and I love high-quality essays. One Big Happy Family satisfied both urges for me, and like all great collections, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Editor Rebecca Walker brings together a varied group of writers to share their experiences of family – topics range from open marriage to open adoption, green card marriage to intercultural marriage. Many of the essays have themes of race and culture, and sexuality is construed as more than just a gay/straight binary. This is a book you will want to read straight through – it pulls you in and leaves you rethinking your own definition of family.

Many of the essays have an amusing but earnest tone. Nearly all are positive and strong, written by individuals satisfied by their choices and their family lives, even as they share the difficulties and heartbreaks associated with their families. Neal Pollack writes a standout, hilarious piece on being home with his young son. Z.Z. Packer's entry also shines, explaining the strange reality of having your parenthood questioned by strangers when your child doesn't appear to share your race. Liza Monroy engrosses readers in a story about entering into a green card marriage – while her mother works for the State Department. Dan Savage's essay and Susan McKinney de Ortega's also are memorable parts of the collection.

Some of the stories in the book are of a more informative tone, such as the one from from Paula Penn-Nabrit on home schooling her African-American sons or Marc and Amy Vachon's enlightening essay on equal parenting. We also hear from a proud (and anonymous) sperm donor, interracial and intercultural partners, parents of disabled children, members of large families, adoptive families, and a woman in couples therapy with her sister. As the book winds itself up, you start to wonder if there are any styles of "family" that aren't workable for someone out there. Perhaps that is the point.

With a variety of writing styles and topics that will speak to many readers, Walker's collection is a fascinating read if you enjoy the genre. Despite not quite seeing my own situation in any of the writers', I felt part of the collection – its inclusiveness made me rethink and relabel my own experiences and wonder what insights I would be able to contribute to such a collection. Midway through the book, I began to feel that it was extremely New York and Los Angeles focused, although later essays helped to mitigate that. Issues of poverty were not frequently addressed, either, which was a hole in the collection. However, with the understanding that even the most varied collection can't include everything, I thoroughly enjoyed my time immersed in other people's families.

---Katy Wischow
imagineatrium.com

Check out author Rebecca Walker at www.rebeccawalker.com
Keep your community thriving. One Big Happy Family is at your local, independent bookstore now. Visit Indiebound.org to find it.

Use Twitter to Stalk and Meet Celebrities, or How to Get a Man Date with Shaquille O'Neal

2009-02-21T11:55:00.011-05:00

Just when you think you have no cogent arguments for people who insist that things like Twitter and Facebook are "mindless" and "nonsensical," a beautiful story emerges of how a technology like Twitter can encourage some meaningful, memorable connections and make other people's days a little brighter. Isn't that what life is all about? Magical.

Read on...

....oh and we're not celebrities, but you can follow us on Twitter if you dare.

BOOK REVIEW: "Fool" by Christopher Moore

2009-02-10T19:31:00.003-05:00

“This is a bawdy tale…”

Gross understatement, indeed. Trust me.
“Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity…””

So continues Christopher Moore’s much-appreciated warning…right before he takes his audience through the literary equivalent of Amsterdam’s Red Light District. Well, a gladiator movie set in the Red Light District, to be exact.

Fool parodies several of William Shakespeare’s plays from the viewpoint of King Lear’s court jester, Pocket, or the Black Fool, as he is better known. Pocket does his job well, which is namely to keep his boss sufficiently amused so that the king would return the favor and spare him a hanging. True to this function in a Shakespeare work, his acerbic wit reflects the license court jesters were given…although one gets the feeling that Moore exaggerates just a bit. How so? It might be safe to say that calling Lear’s oldest daughter, Goneril, for example, an “insane tart” and advising his master to “get the girls some teachers who aren’t nuns” for “fuck’s sake,” would surely have led to a real jester (or anyone else) losing his life. But under Moore’s Lear’s protection Pocket runs amok, hurling well-crafted insults at all who tick him off. For his tenacity and creativity he earns ample heaps of wrath as well as the constant threat of finding his severed head on a stick. Much like his scepter sidekick, Joke.

For those of you who may have forgotten the plot, allow me: King Lear, faced with the daunting task of dividing his kingdom among his female heirs, instructs his three daughters to profess their love for him. No, a simple “I love you” won’t do; the pronouncement Lear expects is to be verbose, grandiose, befitting the pomposity of his station. The size of each girl’s property, then, will depend on her ability to make him swoon.

With her father’s court looking on, Goneril launches into a syrupy-sweet declaration of her unrelenting affection: “Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter/Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty/Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare/No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour/As much as child e'er loved, or father found/A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable/Beyond all manner of so much I love you.” Exactly what Lear’s ego wants to hear.

Next up is his middle daughter, Regan, who, not to be outdone, lavishes praise upon her father’s thirsty ears: Sir, I am made/Of the self-same metal that my sister is/And prize me at her worth. In my true heart/I find she names my very deed of love/Only she comes too short/that I profess/Myself an enemy to all other joys/Which the most precious square of sense possesses/And find I am alone felicitate/In your dear highness' love.”

Lear, drunk off the attention, immediately turns to Cordelia, his youngest daughter and obvious favorite: “What can you say to draw/A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.”

“Nothing, my lord.”

Although she does expound on the pointlessness of the exercise by explaining her love is indeed sufficient and genuine, Cordelia’s simple statement—also meant to expose the silliness of this charade—greatly offends Lear. Her honesty, in turn, gets her banished from the kingdom, and she is sent away empty-handed.

Where Pocket comes in—aside from holding court as the narrator—is as the mastermind of a plan to exact revenge on Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester obsessed with undoing Edgar, his legitimate heir half-brother. He includes in this nefarious plan Goneril and Regan for not only double-crossing the king but also for treating Lear and Cordelia poorly. One senses, though, that he mostly wants to stick it to them for the hell of it. “I’m not built for these dark dealings—I’m better suited for laughter, children’s birthdays, baby animals, and friendly bonking.” (189)

The genius in Fool, however, is the painstaking detail that Moore invests in this very central character. Pocket’s back story—as absurd as it is (he was raised in a convent by a Mother Superior who shaved her beard daily and was blessed with an Adam’s apple)—exists not so much to inform who and what he is at the present—Moore’s not that sentimental—but to give credence to his role as the king’s confidante. Once we learn that Lear [NOT GIVING IT AWAY!] because he [STILL NOT GIVING IT AWAY!], we understand why Pocket loves the old man so much. Even though he calls him a “decrepit old looney” and an “arrogant old tosser.” To his face.

Moore also allows Pocket a cast of characters equally inane—from a well-hung apprentice named Drool who mimics voices to randy wenches who conveniently fall out of their dresses while doing the laundry to villains who must be coached through their villainous, um, -ness to a potty-mouthed king whose stature diminishes by the second to whoring princesses who sleep with Spaniards that speak no English to rhyming ghosts who enjoy a good shag.

There’s always a bloody ghost.

Yes, Fool is bawdy, and just how so continues to make me blush. Moore’s tome is very definitely replete with “gratuitous shagging, murder, maiming…” etc. If you are of a delicate sensibility and need your Shakespeare fix to follow strict tradition, I would implore you to take a pass. Err on the side of caution, you might say. You would, however, be missing out on something special. Fool is delightful—in a sadistic kind of way—and I, as a former English major, appreciate the intelligent, goofy take on the ostentatious elements of The Bard.

---Dianha Simpson
imagineatrium.com

Fool is out now.
Buy your copy at your local independent. Visit Indiebound.org
Win an autographed copy of Fool. Find out more at www.chrismoore.com

BOOK REVIEW: "I Am Potential" by Patrick Henry Hughes

2009-01-23T20:12:00.001-05:00

Probably not the best book for a pregnant woman to be reviewing, the first few chapters of I Am Potential: Eight Lessons on Living, Loving, and Reaching Your Dreams detail the devastation when first time parents find out that their newborn son is far from physically normal and healthy. Patrick Henry was born without eyes and with shortened limbs that limit his upper body range and make it impossible for him to walk.

I moved quickly through those opening paragraphs compelled by a vain hope that right there on page 34 or 35 a miracle would be pronounced - the doctors would realize that in fact Patrick Henry could develop eyes to see the world through and sprout strong limbs to play football with his father. But that was not the story Patrick Henry and his father would, or wanted, to tell.

Instead both father and son alternately tell the reader about Patrick Henry's path through young life --- the operations, the hope and distress, the young boy's selflessness, his courage and in particular, his passion for playing the piano.

The "eight lessons" in the book's subtitle might signal warning bells to those fatigued by the self help genre, and "I am potential" is certainly a classic self help presentation. But at least there's no lecturing here, no guided visits to the depths of your being in the hopes of transforming your soul, no promises of self realization. It's just a simply told tale of lives that would have been less than whole without the determination and open heartedness of a boy named Patrick Henry.

---Niamh Bushnell
imagineatrium.com

BOOK REVIEW: "Cads, Princes & Best Friends: A Tale of Lust, Love & Redemption" A Memoir by Danielle Coulanges

2009-01-16T19:39:00.001-05:00

“God answers prayers. Although God’s answer is immediate, the particular way it unfolds may take time.”

When the memoir begins Danielle is living in downtown Jersey City , New Jersey in the 1990s. For the last decade she has allowed herself to be trapped in an unhealthy relationship with a real cad. This is a woman dealing with some heavy self esteem issues; she finally breaks away from this doomed relationship and begins working on recreating her life and ultimately herself. Desperate to start her life over, she needs to find a rewarding career, a loving relationship and a spiritual home.

Danielle is looking for a Christian church that will inspire her to become a more spiritually grounded person. Central to the story is the author’s blossoming faith in God which parallels her growing faith in herself. Her personal growth and spiritual growth are closely linked in this story.

Danielle Coulanges’s first book, Cads, Princes & Best Friends: A Tale of Lust, Love & Redemption, is a raw memoir that reads like you are literally reading pages of her diary and peering into her most intimate world. The author was born in the Caribbean island of Haiti and came to the New York City area at the age of sixteen in the mid 1970's. She's had careers as a fashion designer, entertainer, compliance officer and business woman.

This book is certainly not a roller coaster ride of excitement, but it is a story of a real person dealing with real situations. I think many readers will see themselves in this tale of lust, love and redemption and would recommend this to anyone who needs to make changes in her life or is on a spiritual quest.

---Jennifer Rossi
imagineatrium.com

For more Jersey authors, visit Imagine Atrium's author page.

BOOK REVIEW "Fresh Food From Small Spaces" by R.J. Ruppenthal

2009-01-09T16:52:00.003-05:00

Oh, the timeliness! Oh, the comforting knowledge this book gave me! Timely and comforting, because, being blessed with something rather rare in the NYC area, a backyard garden that I've cultivated for years, I saw it suddenly threatened by construction occuring on the empty lot next door! Instead of a vacant space, I was becoming hemmed in by a four story building, the first level of which was an ugly concrete wall along the whole left side of my garden! Apprehensive about possible loss of sunlight, I worried it might not be possible to grow my favorite vegetables, tomatoes and eggplants next summer. Then along came this book, filled with reassuring facts, telling me such things as, "even when there is little direct sunlight, light-colored concrete walls provide enough reflected light to grow many vegetables," and suggested trellises be placed all along those bare, ugly walls.

It spoke of container gardening and tiered gardening, so my tomatoes could reach for the sun more effectively. Some of the book's suggestions, such as chicken raising and honeybee keeping, are really not feasible for the city---although it says they are. Chapter eleven has gotten me intrigued by...of all things, composting using worms, which can be (the book says) easily done in one's basement or garage using a couple of plastic bins. I am going to try it! It's ecologically sound, not smelly or unsanitary, and a good way to dream away the winter months while (hopefully) producing rich compost to fertilize next summer's garden which, according to this book, can be prolific and beautiful, four story building or not!

---Jane Pedler
imagineatrium.com

Wanna buy the book? Find it at an independent bookstore near you at Indiebound.org.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Shape of Mercy" by Susan Meissner

2008-12-29T14:07:00.001-05:00

The Shape of Mercy is a rather simple story, told from the viewpoint of Lauren Durough, a college sophomore born into affluence. Her family’s money has afforded her many luxuries that she freely discloses at every turn, yet each casual mention of this inventory is coated with disdain. Lauren feigns rebellion, such as opting for a dorm room at UC-Santa Barbara in lieu of a condo at Stanford, and she readily—and frequently—applauds herself for choosing to live among the commoners. But to those who live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to survive, Lauren’s meager acts of rebellion are reminiscent of those of the hippies of the 60s and 70s, who could afford to spend their days fighting "The Man" and finding themselves because Mom and Dad were footing the bill.

One such mutinous decision finds our quasi-protagonist applying for a job transcribing the diary of Mercy Hayworth, an 18-year-old woman accused of bewitching her peers during the frenzy of the Salem witch trials. Lauren’s boss, Abigail Boyles, is a direct descendent of the diary’s author, and thus guards her familial treasure like an overprotective mother. The eccentric, crotchety Abigail hires Lauren specifically because she, too, is an only child borne into great wealth. What she ultimately needs from Lauren is two-fold: to give Mercy’s diary entries a place in history, and to help her peel back the layers of guilt that have suffocated her for most of her life. A tall order for a sheltered college student, indeed.

The problem with Meissner’s novel is that she fails to develop any of the characters beyond Mercy into ones that the reader should care about for longer than it takes to get through the book. Even Lauren’s supposed transformation rings hollow because its catalyst is no more believable than those who set it in motion. Her moral compass, appearing in the form of weak working-class stereotypes, are Esperanza, Abigail’s loyal Hispanic housekeeper; Clarissa, her working-two-jobs-to-put-herself-through-school roommate; and Raul, the devilishly good-looking medical-student love interest who is poor now but probably won’t be in the future. The first two routinely admonish Lauren for viewing life through green lenses while perched up high, languishing among The Haves. But, when the opportunity presents itself—Esperanza’s gifted condo and Clarissa’s salmon steak served on a silver platter by the Durough’s pool—both jump at the chance to abandon The Have-Nots. And Raul? Well, he remains devilishly good-looking and, like in all fairytales, rides in at sunset to save the day a la Prince Charming. How apropos for the princess.

The Shape of Mercy’s story-within-a-story would be worth a read if it was not mired in clunky dialogue (what’s with all the exclamation points?) and an uninteresting primary plot. What Meissner should have done was expand Mercy’s story and keep the parallels strictly between her and Abigail’s lives; both characters are strong enough and mysterious enough to hold the reader’s attention. Juxtaposing the younger woman’s naïveté with the older woman’s wisdom would have eliminated the need for pointless references to modern day materialism and added depth to the reading experience.

--Dianha Simpson
imagineatrium.com

BOOK REVIEW: "A Lion Among Men" by Gregory Maguire

2008-12-17T20:08:00.000-05:00

A Lion Among Men, written by Gregory Maguire, is the story of the life of the “Cowardly Lion” named Brrr. It was a little slow going in the beginning and at first seemed overly written for my own tastes. But as the story progressed, the style was very fitting in reflecting the life and mannerisms of Brrr. At first glance A Lion Among Men seems to be about the political on goings of the different lands in Oz. Things are in turmoil with the death of the Wicked Witch of the West and the quick exit of the Wizard of Oz.

Brrr is on assignment as court reporter to the Emerald City Magistrates and he has sought out an oracle named Yackle to question her about her knowledge of a certain Madame Morrible. Yackle is an ancient human who is trying to die but has not yet been released from this life. It takes her a while to “warm up” to conversation with Brrr, first demanding to know his history before sharing any of her memories.

He at first tries to brush off her requests but soon is sharing the story of his life, how he became famously known as the “Cowardly Lion” and the events that happened up until the point of the interview. I wanted to feel sympathy for Brrr, given his beginnings as an abandoned lion cub. He learned to protect his own life by cowering down in the face of danger and playing dead. While this worked the first time he encountered danger, he continued to employ this same technique to every situation he encountered, thus entangling himself even more deeply than he ever wanted. What began as sympathy turned to just pity as his difficulty with facing challenging situations kept recurring. His ideals were enacted in his head, but he never went further than that, letting fate control him.

There is also a side story going on about a special clock being guarded by a dragon and a small group of attendants. They are also traveling through the land and eventually cross paths with Brrr, but I won’t give away the reasons why as this is a turning point in the story.

Overall, A Lion Among Men is not an easy read, but it pulls you in and gives you the chance to understand how early events can shape someone’s (in this case a talking lion’s) future life.

---Christine Moss
imagineatrium.com

BOOK REVIEW: "Finding the Sweet Spot" by Dave Pollard

2008-12-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

Dave Pollard's book, Finding the Sweet Spot: The Natural Entrepreneur's Guide to Responsible, Sustainable, Joyful Work, is a jem for those searching for their life's work. This is not just another business book of tips or self-actualization guide, it is a valuable workbook with thoughtful insights on life and purpose, but written in a playful and approachable style.

The "sweet spot" of which he refers is the intersection between your gifts, passions, and purpose. Pollard's exercises guide the reader with probing questions and real-life examples. His case studies are also interesting and insightful, examining businesses that many people will recognize and appreciate. Finding this "sweet spot" may seem like common sense, but Pollard warns that it can be a challenging process. "It may be iterative – you may start with your Gifts, your Passions, or a need, and go back and forth many times between them before you discover where they intersect."

The book is thoughtfully laid out in a format that is at times akin to a workbook, providing space for the reader to list and sketch ideas and exercises. It's divided into three sections that outline his process in a very organized way – discovering the sweet spot, creating work that aligns, and making it sustainable.

One thing that may not appeal to everyone is that he implies a strong appreciation of social responsibility and readers are expected to have a concern and commitment for environment and sustainability issues. While these underlying concerns are true for many people these days, your work and personal life examples may not align with this. Pollard does show other perspectives though, even differing theories from his own. If anything, the book is a valuable resource for other business and personal work philosophies. On nearly every page, he references or recommends other books and web resources, many that I found myself noting for further reading.

Pollard encourages readers to discover their "natural work" in order to break free of "wage slavery" and dull career progression. His material is presented in an inspiring way and will very much interest anyone curious about her calling and career. It is certainly a sweet reprieve from the everyday business and career books, and will hopefully encourage people to think creatively about their life's work.

--Becky Hughes

imagineatrium.com

Read Dave Pollard's popular environmental and business blog at howtosavetheworld.ca.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Transition Handbook" by Rob Hopkins

2008-12-03T14:08:00.006-05:00

The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience is an incredibly important book because it provides an introduction to two critical and related issues that we face today. Rob Hopkins first introduces Peak Oil (which received increasing public attention with skyrocketing oil prices this spring) and then explains the role that global warming will play in exacerbating the Peak Oil crisis. Following the description of the crisis, the author attempted to provide a prescriptive formula to address the crisis in individual towns.

In the first section, describing the Peak Oil crisis, Hopkins explains why some of the “new” sources of oil are insufficient. As someone who has not followed the Peak Oil crisis closely, I appreciated some of the simple analogies that Hopkins provided, including his description of retrieving oil from the tar sands in Alberta.

“Tar sands are akin to arriving at the pub to find that all the beer is off, but so desperate are you for a drink that you begin to fantasize that in the thirty years this pub has been open for business, the equivalent of 5,000 pints have been spilt on this carpet, so you design a process whereby you boil up the carpet in order to extract the beer again.”

What was challenging, however, was the use of oil prices along as evidence that the crisis is hitting a pivotal point. While supply had an important impact on price this past spring, so too did hedge fund speculation and the precipitous decline of the American dollar versus other world currencies. The Peak Oil issue did not disappear this fall when oil prices fell, but the oversimplification could lead some people to conclude that it did. The author would have been better served to explain the process to “develop” oil reserves (thousands of years) versus the pace at which those reserves are being depleted.

In addition, it would have been helpful to have a more diverse set of sources to support the peak oil claims (since they exist). There are reports even from the US State Department that indicate that peak oil will be reached sometime between 1990 and 2010, and that the maximum oil reserves are ~2,100 billion barrels (State, 1982). These types of references would help to bolster the argument for the lay person reading the book.

The author is much more effective at linking the peak oil crisis to global warming. Although set in a British context, Hopkins clearly helps to debunk the current political claims that the way to solve the oil crisis is to (A) drill more and (B) use America’s extensive coal reserves to “create” oil. He provides a well articulated argument as to why these solutions would only serve to exacerbate global warming. It would have been helpful to explain the inclusion of that topic in the title, since it is of vital importance to Hopkins’ argument.

Hopkins' solutions and recommendations, such as the 12-step transition town program, are at times overly-prescriptive, overwhelmingly detailed, and difficult to follow. In addition, the view of the world that he paints post peak oil is so entirely unappealing to a huge segment of the population (no global travel, extreme re-urbanization, etc) that it is hard to understand how people would buy-in to the plan. The same solution would be more powerful if it were presented as a “realistic” view of the world, where there are both opportunities and challenges. It is clear that people need to act before the crisis hits, but it is unclear how a large portion of the population will be motivated by Hopkins’ vision. Hopkins does not entertain the idea that transformational technologies could help to smooth the transition (or even a step change in the way we utilize energy for existing technologies). If the author presented his “power down” view along with a call to encourage research into how to do more with less energy, the book would have broader appeal. While he explains why current alternative energy solutions would be ineffective (which was extremely helpful context for those of us who didn’t previously understand that it takes energy to make energy), it was a dismal view of the future that the only way to survive would be retrenchment into a world that looks a lot more like the 1900s than the future.

In spite of the above, this book is great first introduction to the concept of Peak Oil and the need to Transition. It has certainly motivated me to action, if only to research more about what can be done on a personal level to help combat this issue.

--Andrea Sparrey

imagineatrium.com

For more information on the book and on Transition Culture, visit transitionculture.org

BOOK REVIEW: "A House in Fez" by Suzanna Clarke

2008-12-01T13:27:00.001-05:00

My dream of living in Mexico for a year drew me to read A House in Fez, Building a life in the ancient heart of Morocco, by Suzanna Clarke. Like many of us, the Clarkes went on vacation to an exciting, exotic country and began to imagine what it would be like to live there. The difference is, they took the leap, bought an ancient house in need of major renovation and survived to share their fascinating journey.

Suzanna Clarke is a photo journalist and her writing style is lively, informative and entertaining. Her open-hearted embrace of the Moroccan culture had me thinking it might be appealing to hear loudspeakers calling me to prayer at dawn each day. And I found her adoption of stray cats and abused chameleons truly endearing.

Suzanna and Sandy Clarke are certainly the optimistic, adventurous sort, taking on their renovation project with her high school level French and his smattering of the local Darija dialect of Arabic. Reading this book, I was always eager to learn what happened next, whether they were negotiating with shady inspectors, discovering long buried treasures behind ancient walls or having lumber delivered by donkeys. In fact, the book helped me give my daughter, an interior designer in New York City, a fresh, new perspective in her work. Talking on the phone one day, I couldn't resist telling her, "You think that's bad, be glad you aren't renovating a house in Fez and dealing with runaway donkeys!"

--Jeanne Moren
imagineatrium.com

Purchase A House in Fez at your local, independent bookstore. Find it here.

BOOK REVIEW: "A Mercy" By Toni Morrison

2008-11-26T13:41:00.000-05:00

Toni Morrison is back! A writer of singular talent, her work is always provocative and elegant. However, recent novels such as Love and Paradise haven't quite reached the heights of her masterpieces Song of Solomon, Sula, and Beloved. Well, after reading her newest novel, A Mercy, I am delighted to say that Ms. Morrison is at the top of her game.

A Mercy, like Beloved, focuses on the lives of the most powerless people in society. In Beloved, the action centered on enslaved African-Americans. A Mercy, set a century earlier, explored of the lives of indentured servants—black, white, and Native American-- a dimension of American history of which many readers will be unaware.

A Morrison novel wouldn't be a Morrison novel without a terrible tragedy at its heart. I won't spoil it here, but Florens, the novel's main characters, struggles to mend her spirit, although the act that caused it is the "mercy" of the title. As in Beloved, we see how destructive a mother's love can be.

A Mercy is a short novel, but potent like strong whiskey. Take your time with it, as each sentence packs a wallop and if you don't watch yourself, you'll be hungover when you're done. These characters will haunt you and won't easily let you go.

For the TRUE Morrison fans out there, you can hear her read from A Mercy on NPR.

Or watch a great interview with Charlie Rose here.

--Tayari Jones
imagineatrium.com

Tayari Jones is the author of Leaving Atlanta and The Untelling.
Check her out at tayarijones.com

BOOK REVIEW: "Ghost Radio" by Leopoldo Gout

2008-11-22T19:48:00.005-05:00

Ghost Radio, the debut novel from producer/director/graphic artist Leopoldo Gout, is an enjoyable, easy read, and will strike a chord with those that remember the punk scene of the late 1980s, as well as fans of comic books and the paranormal.

The story involves two boys, Gabriel and Joaquin, brought together by a terrible tragedy in their teenage years. Bound together by this experience, they discover a common love of music. They form an experimental punk band, and during a pirate radio gig in Mexico, another terrible tragedy strikes. Joaquin wakes up in the hospital without Gabriel, and with no memory of how he got there.

After the loss of Gabriel, Joaquin channels his energy toward a radio call-in show he hosts called “Ghost Radio”, where callers talk about their paranormal experiences. Bolstered by his technical producer Watt and his beautiful Goth girlfriend Alondra, Joaquin is doing alright. He’s stable and his show has just been picked up in the States—yet when we join the story, unexplained things have started happening to him, and he is starting to get stuck between the stories his callers tell and reality as he knows it.

I had a good time reading this book. As a punk-loving former teen from the time period, I caught the inside references and recognized the names of the bands, although I actually swung between nostalgia and feeling like the name-dropping was a little heavy. However, I really love the fact that the characters are Mexican, and that the story doesn’t treat Mexico as a Third World country or some exotic locale, but as a legitimate place to live, with a youth culture that both mirrors the United States, yet preserves its own past and history.

Also, the concept of the show “Ghost Radio” is fantastic. The ghost stories woven throughout the narrative are the best parts of the novel. In each one, you can sense the caller’s particular viewpoint, and how confused they feel by their contact with the paranormal. Plus, the stories are just realistic enough that they’re pretty spooky.

However, for all the enjoyment I got out of the first two thirds of the book, the ending was completely confusing. The publisher describes this book by saying that Joaquin “opens the doorway into the paranormal, giving voice to the dead and instigating an epic battle for the souls of the living.” What epic battle? Souls of the living? I don’t know that anyone’s soul was really in jeopardy. Maybe Joaquin’s. It was really hard to tell, though. To me, the novel was like one of those episodes of the old “Twilight Zone” show, where the boundaries between reality and madness/paranormal/aliens/etc. are blurred and weird things start to happen, but the show ends with the main character realizing they’re totally screwed, so you never find out what happens. Ghost Radio's ending involves radio waves, electricity, the missing Gabriel, some sort of Mayan cult, and perhaps messages from beyond the grave, but depending on your expectations, might leave you a little frustrated, as it did me.

Aside from the disappointing ending and jarring use of multiple perspectives, the novel was still really enjoyable. Also, each chapter is illustrated with Gout’s fantastic drawings. If you like old-fashioned ghost stories and appreciate the Dead Kennedys, you’ll enjoy Ghost Radio.

---Kimberly Guinta
imagineatrium.com

For more info on Ghost Radio, visit the Official Site

Attack of the Clones - Exactitudes

2008-11-21T14:08:00.004-05:00

Many of us like to believe that we are unique and special, but in reality we conform to a certain GroupThink in our actions, mannerisms, ways or speaking and dressing, and value and belief systems.

Artists in the Netherlands have pounced upon this phenomenon and taken it to a bit of an extreme, maybe to make the point that in their rush to be different, many people are really quite like others and don't even recognize it.

From the Exactitudes Web site:

Rotterdam-based photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 14 years. Rotterdam's heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in cities abroad.

They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people's attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element.

Design the Future with Jacque Fresco

2008-11-13T17:04:00.007-05:00

Imagine a world where war is outdated, there is no shortage of resources, and every human being enjoys a high standard of living.

Welcome to the future...by design.

Imagine Atrium will be showing the remarkable film, Future By Design, which profiles Jacque Fresco and The Venus Project, on Friday, November 14 @ 7pm, free of charge.

If you're in the NYC area, stop by and join us!

More info: www.imagineatrium.com

BOOK REVIEW: "Conspiracy in Kiev" by Noel Hynd

2008-11-11T17:45:00.004-05:00

I was left with a mixed feelings about Noel Hynd's thriller, Conspiracy in Kiev. On the one hand, it includes everything you want in a good thriller - lots of exciting locations, well-planned murders, dramatic explosions, morally ambiguous underworld figures. On the other hand, it took a lot longer to wade through than your average spy novel, partly due to the continuing annoyance of the heroine's cloying perfection and the very occasional annoyance of some really bad writing.

Conspiracy in Kiev tells the story of Alex LaDuca, a Treasury employee charged with investigating financial scams like the ubiquitous "send your money to Nigeria to help out the king who will reward you handsomely" emails. The plot really gets going when Alex is tapped to go to the Ukraine in advance of a controversial and dangerous Presidential visit. Her ostensible purpose is to broker a deal with (and keep an eye on) a major local gangster who owes the U.S. money. She earns this assignment because of her almost too-good-to-be-true resume - fluent in five languages, athletic, beautiful, brilliant, composed, and morally flawless. After brief training in the Ukrainian language she is off.

Without giving away the exciting moments, Alex ends up embroiled in an international event much larger than tax evasion. After her trip to the Ukraine, Hynd's ambition really shows itself - he continues the story several months past what could have been the climax of the novel and manages to rebuild excitement around a second line of plot development, this time centered in South America, but all spiraling back to the events in the Ukraine.

Hynd clearly is a master of plotting and this skill is what made the book most enjoyable. What detracted from the pleasure was Alex's otherworldly goodness - I kept waiting for some small chink in her armor and was disappointed to find none. She has bad moods and personal traumas to settle, but her essential character, besides having all the skills and talents listed above, is one of perfection - she is kind, wise, sensible, assertive, dedicated, pious, nearly fearless, and makes the right moral choice in every instance. At times this got almost ridiculous. This appeared to be Hynd's main concession to the genre of "Christian mystery" he was writing in, aside from character development related to Alex's church attendance. Perhaps he did not want his protagonist to show any un-Christian flaws. The only other qualm I had in reading this novel was the occasional turn of phrase that was jarringly awful. For instance, "The design was endlessly intricate and delicate, as if made by hands guided by angels." Or consider this description, smack in the middle of a good action sequence: "The sweat rolled off her so furiously that she felt as if a fat person were lying on top of her."

Despite this, Hynd's novel is enjoyable, if light, reading. I also learned something about the intricacies of the European criminal underworld. He tied up all his loose ends, leaving the completist in me satisfied by the scope of this ambitious and interesting novel.

---Katy Wischow
imagineatrium.com

BOOK REVIEW: "Inkdeath" by Cornelia Funke

2008-11-01T19:16:00.003-04:00

Inkdeath is the third volume of the Inkheart trilogy. The story of Meggie, her parents, and the other characters picks up where Inkspell left off. By the end of Inkspell, a central character, Dustfinger, had been taken away by the White Women; and the evil Adderhead had been made immortal by Meggie’s father, Mo, in a bargain to win his family’s life and freedom.

Inkdeath begins with the quest (mainly of the boy Farid) to bring Dustfinger back into the Inkworld. The main part of the plot, however, revolves around the adventures of the Bluejay, Mo’s chosen identity when he is with the Black Prince and his men. It is a classic struggle of good against evil. At the heart of the struggle lies Mo’s goal of reversing the damage he did by making the Adderhead immortal. The Adderhead must die in order for good to win out.

At the core of the Inkheart is the interweaving of fiction and reality and the erasing of boundaries between worlds. The central premise of the first book is that someone with the gift to do so can read characters out of books and people into books. At first we know only that Meggie’s father, Mo, can do it, but later we find out there are others as well.

Coming in at 563 pages and 81 chapters, Inkdeath is a book of considerable heft, especially for smaller (younger) hands. The plot takes many turns, but not especially difficult to follow. The relatively short chapters neatly break the big book into manageable bites.

Since I have read both prior volumes it is a bit difficult for me to judge whether it could stand on its own, but I believe it can. I was a bit disappointed with the second volume, Inkspell. Whatever apprehensions I had about Inkdeath, however, soon disappeared. In this book Ms. Funke once again weaves a magic tapestry of two (or more?) worlds and takes her readers on a fantastic adventure. The characters are developed further and really come alive. The twists and turns of the plot keep you turning the pages in fear, anticipation, hope and joy. The descriptions of the Inkworld and its inhabitants leave enough room for the readers’ imaginations to take flight.

Originally my 11-year old son (who has also read the first two volumes) was supposed to read and review Inkdeath. Unfortunately, school work got in the way. He will most certainly read it eventually, and I hope he will enjoy it as much as I did.

--Tiina Medel
imagineatrium.com

Buy Inkdeath from an independent business in your community.

Find your local bookstore at Indiebound.org

Imagine What It Feels Like to Lose 37 Years of Emotional Baggage...

2008-10-18T14:10:00.004-04:00

Jill Taylor was a 37-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist when a blood vessel exploded in her brain. Through the eyes of a curious scientist, she watched her mind deteriorate whereby she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Because of her understanding of the brain, her respect for the cells in her body, and an amazing mother, Jill completely recovered.

In My Stroke of Insight, she shares her recommendations for recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functions of the two halves of her brain. When she lost the skills of her left brain, her consciousness shifted away from normal reality where she felt "at one with the universe...."

...Read more here or watch Jill's amazing presentation of her story at TED below:

Money is not Real

2008-10-15T15:17:00.004-04:00

Whether you're a stock broker or Joe Six-pack, if you have a 401(k), a mutual fund or a college savings plan, tumbling stock markets and sagging home prices mean you've lost a whole lot of the money that was right there on your account statements just a few months ago.
Read the full article...

BOOK REVIEW: "Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and Other Irritating States: A Dinner Party Approach to International Relations" by Chris Fair

2008-10-11T12:16:00.008-04:00

As the title forewarns, Cuisines of the Axis of Evil is a cookbook with much more than a gastronomic mission on its mind. So in the event that you'd like to learn how to cook a traditional Persian meal, but have no interest in the geopolitical past and present of Iran, move quickly along. If, on the other hand, you're a Liberal American (the capital L is no mistake) who likes to explore food and the reasons behind why our world is in such a damnable bad state these days, your only problem may be deciding whether to buy this book for your cookbook shelf or as an addition to your 'world polemics' series. Just buy two copies - you won't be sorry.

Chris Fair, the author of this catalogue of cuisine and perfidy, is an academic - a think tanker who has broken the mold to use her at times loquacious but often effective voice to talk freely about subjects she knows and cares lots about. There's no shortage of geopolitical and historical roughage here and while bald finger pointing exercises cover the
pages, Fair backs up each one with impeccably well researched references, all listed in the notes section at the back of the book. Chris also has a conscience about the food; each dish is explained in loving detail; flexibility with ingredients trumps hard and fast rules, and we're even offered a 'where to shop' section for each Axis delicacy.

I liked this book so much I was thinking of including it on my gift list for the holidays this year but realized that I'd better know my friends very, very well before sending them a copy. My Indian friends might be offended by the characterization of their country; center-to-right leaning Israeli or Jewish buddies would certainly stop taking my calls; and my European friends might wonder if I've lived in the US too long to appreciate that what's written for a US audience might not be as compelling for citizens of non-superpowers. "There is life beyond the pale!" I already hear them yell in frustration.

As for Americans who are not liberal minded, forget this book if you want to remain on speaking terms with them. Fair doles out harsh criticism of US foreign policy throughout the book but builds to a climax in the US 'Great Satan BBQ' chapter. She paraphrases Bin Laden in the chapter title and acknowledges more than once that he makes some good points in his video missals. For the liberals among us Chris Fair is a voice of truth and of reason but you can guarantee the religious right would thrill to see her and her fans burn in the foodless ovens of hell forever.

--Niamh Bushnell
imagineatrium.com

Order this book in Imagine Atrium's online store or from your local bookstore at Indiebound.org

More from Chris Fair

More from artist James Polisky

The Virgin Birth...of a Shark

2008-10-10T14:02:00.000-04:00

Scientists studying sharks at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, VA, have confirmed that a female blacktip shark gave birth to a pup without any help from a male shark. Read the complete AP story at CNN...

Apparently, however, in the shark world, virgin births are yawned at. National Geographic published a story over six years ago about the same thing happening at a Detroit aquarium involving a white spotted bamboo shark, who at that time gave birth to not one, but two babies all by her lonesome.

Who knew sharks were so talented?

BOOK REVIEW: "Blue Genes: A Memoir of Loss and Survival" by Christopher Lukas

2008-10-09T12:40:00.004-04:00

The only thing misleading about Blue Genes: A Memoir Of Loss And Survival , a moving tale of how self-inflicted death leaves wounds in the living, is the title. While acknowledging the genetic predisposition towards depression in the title, author Christopher Lukas barely touches on what that means. This is a book about nurture more than nature.

Although recognizing that his family is genetically predisposed to severe depression, Lukas nonetheless searches for understanding in the events of the individuals' lives. He clearly grasps the genetic factor and both brilliantly and emotionally describes the symptomatology, but never quite gets you inside a depressive's head to understand the actual mindset of depression.

Of course, that is a tall order. As one who also comes from a family with a history of clinical depression (though thankfully not suicide) and having fought a fierce battle with the illness myself a decade past, the only writer who I have seen achieve this is William Styron in his memoir of depression, Darkness Visible.

That said, Blue Genes is a very moving memoir of two brothers cyclically driven incredibly close and vastly apart in a world where depression and suicide were the rule, not the exception. Through reliving his memories of his older brother, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tony Lukas, from their early youth to Tony's suicide in 1992 at the age of 59, the author comes to understand himself better. Stretched out as it is from the Great Depression through to the Modern Age, this is a moving look at how siblings hurt, protect, and shape each other over a lifetime.

---David Norman
imagineatrium.com

Purchase this book in your community and support your local economy. Find your local, independent bookstore at Indiebound.org

BOOK REVIEW: "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" by Fred Pearce

2008-10-02T17:01:00.005-04:00

Growing up in the pre-Internet era, I was always one of those children who frequently asked two dreaded questions: "Mommy, where did this come from?" or "Why is this this way and not that way?" To this day, these sorts of curiosities have continued to kindle my brain. This explains why I was overjoyed to read the book, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner, by Fred Pearce.

Mr. Pearce also suffers from the plight that racks my brain: Where does stuff come from? He explores in great detail the places from where many common items emerge, such as the gold in his wedding ring, the cotton in his socks, teddy bears, computer parts, and so much more. Now, most Westerners couldn't even be began to fathom all the processes and changing of hands stuff goes through. However, there are many other questions this book raises, especially since "Going Green" has made its way into mainstream society.

How can individuals actually pay a fair price for products that start in many impoverished countries? Is fair trade actually fair? Is there enough water for people and not just the crops? And if there isn't enough food or water to feed workers, how will migration be affected? Mr. Pearce addresses these questions with the growing concern that more people are unaware of their purchasing decisions and explains why knowledge is the true way to "Go Green."

---Avalon Lent
www.imagineatrium.com

Help keep your community thriving. Purchase this book from an independently-owned bookstore in your neighborhood. For a directory of indy stores, visit Indiebound.org

BOOK REVIEW: "Company of Liars" by Karen Maitland

2008-09-30T12:04:00.005-04:00

Set in 14th century England, Karen Maitland's Company of Liars steals a page from the travel genre in literature made famous by Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, where seemingly random forces bring together extraordinary strangers with fanciful tales to tell. Where Maitland's novel deviates from the classic is in the characters' reasons for being on the road; the ties that bind the group are the lies that they tell, and with each subsequent tragedy, the characters are forced to reveal themselves. In doing so, the truth behind their journey becomes clear. Lurking in the background is the devastation wrought by what would eventually be known as the Black Plague. England is awash in turmoil, undone by a gruesome and painful disease, and escaping the deadly "pestilence" provides each character with a convenient excuse to flee from home. Until, of course, home becomes the conflict within them.

The band of pilgrims—Zophiel, the cynical magician; Jofre, the beautiful boy with the voice of an angel; Rodrigo, Jofre's master and protector; Narigorm, the seer, and her companion, Pleasance; pregnant Adela and her husband, Osmond; and Cygnus, the swan-man—is led by an ambiguous narrator named Camelot, who is smart, resourceful, and frighteningly precise in his observations of those around him. He serves as the obligatory pragmatist, the wisdom that comes with having experienced more misery than one human being ought. Unlike the others, though, he has spent an inordinate amount of time moving from town to town, but he, like the rest, is simultaneously running from his past and towards its inevitable reemergence. Through Camelot's eyes, the characters' life stories unfold into desperate lies, reluctant truths, and fruitless admissions of guilt.

Company of Liars is a smart read, rich with medieval history, social mores, and the religious dogma that undermines an entire country in exchange for immunity. Throughout her tome, Maitland deftly illuminates the Catholic Church's hypocrisy as the ruling institution during Plague-era England, peppering the novel with poignant commentary on the clergy's abandonment of its flock: "You'll be lucky to find a priest anywhere in these parts…. This time last year you couldn't piss without the blessing of a priest; now any Tom, Dick, or Harry, even a woman, can baptise you, marry you, shrive you, and bury you. Makes you wonder why we've been paying all those scots and tithes to the priests all these years, doesn't it?" That this question, representative of religion itself, has weaved its way through each character's story, makes Company of Liars a worthwhile adventure.

--Dianha Simpson
imagineatrium.com

Read the opening chapters of Company of Liars here.

Like this review? Join the community of passionate readers who support local business and self-sufficient communities at Indiebound.org

The Stock Market, The Bailout, and Economics for Dummies....

2008-09-26T13:59:00.003-04:00

...or for mp3 lovers or Michael Jackson fans, or whoever you may be.

Confused about what on earth is happening on Wall Street? Don't know the difference between a bailout and out on bail? Fresh Intelligence from Radar Magazine skools all the kidz who want to look smart without having to buy a pair of prescription-free imitation Sarah Palin glasses.
Read on and rock on....

May we also recommend....

A great book that uncovers the myths of money and other misguided traditions in the world of finance. Someone send a copy to Barack Obama and John McCain fast!

Killing Sacred Cows

BOOK REVIEW: "Cross Country" by Tim Waggoner

2008-09-24T16:29:00.004-04:00

Cross County, the new novel by Tim Waggoner, is an enjoyable read. It's partly a who-done-it mystery with a bit of surreal horror thrown in, but is blended quite well as to make it fairly feasible.

The two main focal points are Joanne Talon, the sheriff of Cross County, and the Cross Family itself. There are also colorful local townsfolk that add another dimension to the story. From its opening pages, the book starts out with an air of mystery, which Mr. Waggoner continues to evoke throughout the book. Joanne is the heroine, the youngest sheriff ever to be elected in Cross County. She is also well known in the county for an incident that happened to her as a child, where she was involved in a mysterious disappearance . She was rescued by local reporter Dale Ramsey, who over the years has become her assistant and confidant.

Also at the center of this tale is the mysterious Cross family, who oversee everything that happens in their county. No one seems to know or remember how they accumulated their vast wealth, and it's rumored that all the Crosses have varying degrees of psychic power. Other locals play a significant part as well. When one local woman, Debbie Coulter, is terrorized at her place of business and a seemingly unrelated murder takes place the same night, it turns into a strong battles of wills as Joanne attempts to do her job but has many obstacles to overcome in the collective body of the Cross family. Marshall Cross, the male head of the dynasty is closely monitoring the investigation and appears to know far more about whats going on than he should. As more murders take place it becomes a race against time to save the community and once and for all find out what lies at the bottom of this frenzied attack on the entire town.

Lately, I've read many books that, by the conclusion, are wrapped up too rapidly and leave a lot of questions pertaining to the story unanswered. Happily, this is not the case in Cross County. All things are explained --- perhaps a little too well, which makes the reader tend to think towards the book's climax that the author is targeting a decidedly more juvenile audience. For the most part, however I found Cross County an entertaining read, with multifaceted characters, an interesting setting, and a unique, if not a little confusing, ending.

---Jere Reyes
imagineatrium.com

Indiebound is the place to go to connect with readers in your community.

The Election from Hell: How the Ridiculous Electoral College Could Rob You of Your Vote for President

2008-09-23T16:57:00.005-04:00

Professor Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia has run the numbers to come up with a variety of scenarios that could produce a tie in the electoral college in the upcoming American election. According to the BBC, if this happens, it will be able to be summed up in two short, not so sweet words: a mess.

And Nancy Pelosi will be our new president. Ha.

What Happens When We Die? The Science of Near Death and OBEs

2008-09-21T10:46:00.008-04:00

Last week, Time Magazine did an interesting interview with Dr. Sam Parnia from the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York on the topic of out of body experiences (OBEs) among patients who were near death (or who actually "died" on the operating table). According to Dr. Parnia, 10 to 20% of patients who have been labeled as "clinically dead" by operating room doctors have reported that, while they were dead on the table, they floated out of their bodies and observed the details of the scene below.

Researchers at the Human Consciousness Project have just launched a 3 year experiment on the biology behind these experiences. The Human Consciousness Project is "an international consortium of multidisciplinary scientists and physicians who have joined forces to research the nature of consciousness and its relationship with the brain, as well as the neuronal processes that mediate and correspond to different facets of consciousness." The Project, composed of doctors and researchers from prestigious medical schools in Canada, the U.K., Holland, Austria, and the United States (including Weill Cornell, the University of Virginia, NYU, and many others) "will conduct the world’s first large-scale scientific study of what happens when we die and the relationship between mind and brain during clinical death."

Out of body experiences (OBEs) are, of course, not a new phenomenon. But until relatively recently they have always been relegated to the realms of occult nonsense, fantasy, and hallucination. Those having the audacity to share such an experience, believing that it actually happened to them, have usually been met with ridicule, disbelief, and disdain by most "normal" people.

Meanwhile, over 50% of Americans believe in things like guardian angels, according to a recent poll by the Baylor University Institute for Studies of Religion. So if most of us believe that angels exist, then why don't we believe that we have the ability to float out of our bodies, fly, and be conscious without functioning brains?

Food for thought.

Some people do believe this, however, and claim that they have been doing it for years, albeit with some trepidation. In Adventures Beyond the Body, William Buhlman offers a step by step guide for intrepid explorers who want to....fly. It's a guide for those who want to experience the world free of the confines of the suits that we wear on a daily basis -- to explore, with a phenomenon called astral projection, the parallel realms and worlds that lie beyond our ordinary reality. And it's all done at night. While your "body" is asleep, "you" can be flying around your house or around the world. It's just a little matter of practice, ability, and will....oh, and maybe a dash of belief.

We shall see if the scientists at the Human Consciousness Project will be able to prove that the mind can live outside of the brain in three years' time. Until then, most of us will have to content ourselves with being grounded, get on with our normal day to day realities, and forego the out of body experience and its accompanying feelings of excitement, terror, and disbelief at what is happening ---unless we read Buhlman's book that is....

....OR unless McCain wins the White House, has his own permanent OBE and leaves us Sarah Palin as president.

--Garrad Bradley
imagineatrium.com

Out-body-experiences, parallell universes, and the continuation of consciousness...all the focus of an exciting, soon to be released fiction novel, "How to Overcome the World," written by Garrad Bradley.

For more information, and to download the free graphic novel preview edition of the novel, visit howtoovercometheworld.com

More info on consciousness:

Time Magazine "What Happens When We Die"

The Human Consciousness Project

Near Death Experience Stories from BBC News Web site readers

Adventures Beyond the Body: How to Experience Out-of-Body Travel by William Buhlman

BOOK REVIEW: "Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth: A Novel" by Xiaolu Guo

2008-09-19T17:38:00.009-04:00

"I have always wanted to leave my village, a nothing place that won’t be found on any map of China . I had been planning my escape ever since I was little. It was the river behind our house that started it. Its constant gurgling sound pulled at me. But I couldn’t see its end or its beginning. It just flowed endlessly on. Where did it go? Why didn’t it dry up in the scorching heat like everything else?"

Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth is a novel written like a memoir. It is a gritty coming of age story set in China and takes you deep into the mind of its spirited protagonist, Fenfang.

Fenfang is a twenty something Chinese woman who travels one thousand eight hundred miles from the silence and monotony of Ginger Hill Village to the excitement and risk of urban life in Beijing . She doesn’t want to end up like her mother, picking sweet potatoes for the rest of her life. Instead, she longs to find success as an actress or a screenwriter.

This is a story of escape, of a woman courageously searching for her place in the world and trying desperately to lead a modern life. In Beijing , Fenfang finds “a city that never showed its gentle side.” She becomes a film extra to earn a meager living and is captivated by two young men. Ultimately she gains her independence in an unexpected way and gains the wisdom that only comes from living.

Xiaolu Guo’s voice is like a breath of fresh air in literature. Her narrative is alive and vivid. She succeeds in transporting you to a fragile world far away, providing an intriguing glimpse of daily life and its struggles in post Maoist China.

---Jennifer Rossi
imagineatrium.com

For more great reads, and to connect with independent minds in your community, visit Indiebound.org.

BOOK REVIEW: "Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life" by Kathleen Norris

2008-09-16T13:49:00.003-04:00

This thoughtfully written part memoir/part meditative essay centers on the idea/term "acedia," a complex and interesting word imbued with layered meanings, which traces its origin back to the early and medieval church texts, in which it is described as a "noonday demon."

Norris, through a series of personal and poignant narratives, defines this timeless concept as a kind of modern-day spiritual torpor characterized by apathy and slothfulness (both on the level of the individual and society). She explores the word by relating it to many facets of her life, in particular to her personal struggles with respect to her marriage (including seeing her husband through illness and subsequently to death) and her writing life, as well as other episodic biographical sketches.

To help clarify and demystify the concept, Norris weaves select etymological and historical accounts of acedia into the fabric of her own personal contemplations on her struggles, while at the same time illustrating the trying nature of coping with this modern-day spiritual indifference and the negative after-effects of it that permeate our culture. In the end, what we get through her search for meaning is the realization of the need for a balancing act. Whether it be through reciting the psalms in silence, or finding a spiritual connection inside an ancient religious text by Evagrius (or a modern-day thinker like Kierkegaard), or through counseling and treatment with or without drugs, the balancing of all of the options one has at his or her disposal in managing acedia or depression is ultimately a personal choice.

Through the various accounts she gives of other people's experiences in dealing with acedia, Norris illustrate how important is is to pick and choose the right support system that works. Religion, psychiatry, and psychology ultimately support this idea of balance, which leaves much room for a broader exploration into this important topic.

Norris' prose is direct and honest. This, along with the inclusion of many insightful quotations from thinkers across the centuries, makes Acedia & Me an enjoyable, worthwhile read.

--Jung Hae Chae
imagineatrium.com

For more recommendations on great books, check out Indiebound.org, a place where local businesses and communities thrive.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Lace Reader" by Brunonia Barry

2008-09-13T18:35:00.004-04:00

The Lace Reader

Synopsis:

In Barry's captivating debut, Towner Whitney, a young woman descended from a long line of mind readers and fortune tellers, has returned to her hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, for rest and relaxation. Any tranquility in her life is short-lived, however, when her aunt drowns under mysterious circumstances.

Take a trip to the the still point at the center of the lace. Take a trip with Sophya (or Towner) Whitney as she travels back home to Salem, Massachusetts and her troubled family when her Great Aunt Eva disappears. It’s a trip in time and space and thought. For the women of the Whitney family are all . . . different, perhaps disturbed, perhaps strangely psychic. Watch as you slowly understand what happened years ago, and see the picture emerge.

This is a tale of the victory of the human spirit over adversity, of coping with difficult and horrifying realities. Ultimately it is a tale of love, the love one family shares. It is filled with wonderful and strange characters --- witches, abused women, the Red Hat ladies, a has-been policeman, the Whitney family, born-again Christians, wild dogs, and Towner. It weaves back and forth through time and memory forming an intricate lace pattern of its own. We are drawn into that pattern and read it more with each page.

The author, Brunonia Barry, lives in Salem, and the love she has for her hometown shines through. Both the Salem of today and yesterday and its troubled history are drawn with an amazing sense of time and place. This story could not have been as real set in any other place. The language and voice border on poetic, while the story is stark and frequently frightening as the pattern slowly emerges and you find yourself bemused and wanting to know more. I read it slowly because I really wanted to devour it, but sensed that it was deeper than a fast read should be. It was worth savoring. I spent a time living with the characters and am still haunted by the beauty I found in the pages of this book.

A GREAT read.

--Mary Cremen
imagineatrium.com

Find more great fiction recommendations from independent bookstores at Indiebound.org!

Experience the mystery of The Lace Reader online here.

How to Die Happy (and Probably Instantly)...

2008-09-12T01:41:00.007-04:00

....Just prepare this burger and you're on the road to glory.

I heard Paula Deen on the Food Network today utter the phrase "That's music to a cracker's ears!" when sinking her teeth into a succulent piece of amazingly prepared mouthwatering meat, which made me do a double take since I wasn't totally paying attention to the television. Later I decided to Google Paula cuz she was on my mind and what on earth do I come across but her "Lady's Brunch Burger," a monstrously solid concoction of hamburger, two strips of bacon, a fried EGG, and (cover your eyes kids)...two WHOLE glazed donuts!

Yes, yes, OMG. But hey y'all, any good southerner surely wouldn't bat an eyelash at this. And those in the know have probably already seen this wonder in it's previous life as the Luther Burger (the Luther, however, never dared to garnish itself with TWO whole glazed doughnuts, or an EGG, good Lord). To people who have daintier palates and who had mental heart attacks at Imagine Atrium when we started selling Mo's Bacon Bar, the Lady's Brunch Burger is a true misnomer and may be liable to cause convulsions or throwing up inside the mouth.

Paula Deen is so darn cute and arguably the most entertaining and likable TV chef on the air today, so I forgive her for trying to kill us with her food, the majority of which I'm sure tastes delectable. Although she is known for casually dropping two and three whole sticks of butter into cheese and dessert sauces at one time, not all of her recipes are completely death inducing.

In fact, her new cookbook is for kids. Paula Deen's My First Cookbook is aimed at teaching kids how to whip up tasty dishes that mom and dad will absolutely love. And it's guaranteed not to contain any Lady's Brunch Burgers.

"For KIDS?" you say. I know, I know. You don't want your children's culinary habits being influenced by someone who puts hamburgers on glazed doughnuts. But kids are smart. They are well aware that glazed doughnut burgers are only for old ladies on Sunday afternoons. Kids also like to have FUN, and if there's one thing we can all learn from Paula it's that we really should enjoy life, love people, and have as much fun as possible...and that includes laughing and playing around in the kitchen while cooking mom or dad something weird, interesting, and tasty.

Pick up a Paula Deen cookbook today and smile. Live a little before you die. She'll help you get there faster, but you'll be grinning, belly laughing, and licking your lips all the way.

-Garrad Bradley
imagineatrium.com

-Pre-order Paula Deen's My First Cookbook at a 20% discount from Imagine Atrium.

-Or check out her best dishes for every holiday on the calendar in "Paula Deen Celebrates" - 40% off for our blog readers for a very limited time only!

***See Paula with Michelle Obama at pauladeen.com!***

-Find your local, independent bookstore and local, independent cafes at Indiebound.org

BOOK REVIEW: "The Homeowner's Handbook to Energy Efficiency" by John Krigger and Chris Dorsi

2008-09-10T22:16:00.007-04:00

With energy issues at the forefront of our minds and of the media lately, The Homeowner’s Handbook to Energy Efficiency couldn’t have come at a better time. No matter where you live – in a brownstone or single-family, apartment building or condo unit – The Handbook offers all readers practical suggestions on ways to save a few dollars while doing their part for the environment. Well-research and thorough, this book easily moves into the ranks as one of the “go-to” books for reference and information on home energy efficiency.

One of the books strengths is its thoroughness. There are full chapters dedicated to lighting and heating, doors and windows, insulation, landscaping, and much, much more. The Handbook offers practical suggestions on ways to improve your home's efficiency. Some of the many projects that are specifically mentioned in the book include:

Details on how to better insulate your home - or what to look for when you hire someone to insulate your home
How to figure out and, as needed, adjust your hot water heater to maximize its efficiency
The best way to landscape your home in order to create a cooler home in the summer and a warmer home in the winter
Simple ways to maximize the use of low-energy lighting both inside and outside your home

Another great thing about the book is that it is well-organized. Its chapters flow in a logical fashion from one from the other, discussing each part of your home. A detailed table of contents helps readers find their topic of interest quickly and easily, and enable this book to be easily used as a reference manual.

A recent homeowner myself I can appreciate that this book addresses all scales – no project is too big or too small. Renters certainly have different concerns than homeowners, and this book will help you, no matter what your position. Whether you are interested in upgrading an existing item or system in your home that is already in use or replacing it completely, The Handbook is a valuable tool. For example, the authors walk you through options for making your doors and windows more energy efficient through weather-stripping and other techniques, but also offer great information should you be looking to replace your doors and windows completely.

Homeowners and renters alike benefit by having this book on their shelf. I highly recommend it as a great reference tool to help make you green… and help save you green!

---Kris Ohleth
imagineatrium.com

For a multimedia tour inside The Handbook, click here.
Click here to listen to the authors discuss the book.

STOP! LOOK! LISTEN! You don't have to buy this book from a huge corporation or mega retail chain. Support and sustain your LOCAL economy buy purchasing this (or any other) book right in your own community. That way, dollars stay in your community. Find your local, independent bookstore at Indiebound.org

Picture of the Week

2008-09-03T20:45:00.003-04:00

How to Solve Marriage Problems: Cat Edition

Ad reads:

FREE TO A GOOD HOME
Beautiful 6 month old male kitten - orange & caramel tabby, playful, friendly, very affectionate. Ideal for family with kids.

-OR-

Handsome 32 yr. old husband - personable, funny, good job, but doesn't like cats. Says he goes or cat goes.

Call Jennifer....come see both & decide which you'd like.

Worried your man's cheating? You might wanna check his genes!

2008-09-02T01:00:00.007-04:00

Scientists in Sweden have recently completed a study that links a gene, apparently one that 40% of all men have, to a man's ability (or inability) to be interested in monogamy and have a successful, long-term relationship. The presence of this cheating gene, called an "allele," also seems to predict the likelihood of a man getting married or simply living unmarried with a woman, as well as how happy or unhappy the woman is in her relationship with the man.

The allele regulates the activity of a hormone in the brain called vassopressin. In earlier studies, other scientists studying voles found that certain species of male voles were monogamous and mated with the same female for life, while others were dirty rats...or let's just say more promiscuous. The scientists found that by experimenting with vassopressin and receptors in the brains of voles, they could change the males of the promiscuous species to faithful husbands (and vice versa).

Ethics aside, maybe one day you too can know at the start of a relationship whether your guy's gonna be good to you by making him take a simple test to check for a promiscuity gene. Then you can decide if he's worth the inevitable drama to follow. If you find the gene, and are hell-bent on garnering his affection, it may just be a simple matter of cutting his head open and rearranging things a little until he's perfect!

Ladies, don't act like you weren't fantasizing about this already.

Read the full story from The Washington Post.

Blast from the Past

2008-08-27T00:17:00.009-04:00

For those of us who didn't have the luxury of playing Space Invaders as impressionable young children, either because we couldn't afford Ataris or because we were just twinkles in someone's eye (or floating around somewhere in the ether) in the 1980s, this game seems like a creepy retro psychedelic nightmare drug come to life. It starts off innocently enough, with you as the sickly green, crude machine tank looking thing shooting at bizarre beings resembling mushrooms monsters, squids, and flashdancing waterbugs from outer space.

The game quickly descends into delightful terror, however, once you get past the second or third level when suddenly the music turns outrageously devlish, your heart starts to race, and you swear that someone or some thing is staring at you from the corner of the room you're in while you sweat uncontrollably and attempt to keep your eyes from bulging out of your head during your tumble into madness.

Thanks to somebody somewhere in Germany, newbies and hardcore Space Invaders addicts alike can stay up till all hours of every night of the week and play this game until their fingers fall off.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, if you have any concern and care for your sanity, you must not click here.

BOOK REVIEW: "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson

2008-08-26T15:23:00.003-04:00

Neal Stephenson announces in his acknowledgments in the beginning of Anathem that his latest novel is "a fictional framework for exploring ideas that have sprung from the minds of great thinkers of Earth's past and present." He then goes on to list some of these great thinkers for us, as if we were students in a college freshman philosophy class, hinting at the somewhat pompous tone of his book. Young students make up a majority of the characters in Anathem, endlessly expounding on scientific and philosophical points, all with words and terms that Stephenson made up (and that require a glossary) to emphasize the fact that the book is set on an alien planet. Anathem seems to attempt to do what other writers, most notably Umberto Eco, have already accomplished with far more success. Eco is a masterful storyteller and a true academic, and his books are elegant and mysterious stories packed with history, science and philosophy, told without condescension and without seeming as though he was the one to discover it all.

Stephenson does do an impressive job of creating an interesting alien world and culture. He's imagined a rich world that is compelling and fascinating. The mysteries of the plot take too long to play out, though, and not even the central characters ever become little more than mouthpieces for the pseudo-philosophical discussion that ultimately overwhelms the book. There are brief flashes of excitement, in the few places where real action related to the plot takes place, including an evocative and vertiginous spacewalk passage. But at over 900 pages, Anathem is a shockingly overindulgent book. If Stephenson had edited himself and whittled his story down to under 300 or so pages, he may have had a thrilling and interesting novel.

--Matthew Podsiad
imagineatrium.com

Anathem is available now.

For more perspectives and reviews on this book and other new titles, visit Indiebound, the place to celebrate independent bookstores in your community.

BOOK REVIEW: "The Black Tower" by Louis Bayard

2008-08-22T18:51:00.005-04:00

Louis Bayard's novel, The Black Tower, is like a roller coaster; it builds slowly but before you realize it, you've hit the peak of the hill and the action is moving fast. The first few pages of this book contain a timeline and genealogical charts to help explain the historical context: revolutionary-era France and the family of Marie-Antoinette. During the early chapters I found myself continually referring back to the charts, frustrated at the names (especially the multiple Louises and Charleses!) and family connections tossed around. Once I gave in to the pure enjoyment of reading The Black Tower, though, the novel rewarded me with an unpredictable outcome on the heels of a series of plot twists that I didn't see coming but made sense in the rearview mirror.

The story follows Hector Carpentier, whose financial missteps have left him and his difficult mother running a student boarding house and whose academic pursuits are less than successful. Carpentier unwillingly joins with a notorious French crime fighter to investigate a murder, and the investigation ends up leading them through the story of the lost son of Marie Antoinette and the difficult moral choices faced during revolutionary times. As the plot progresses we also see Carpentier and Vidocq, the inspector, expand into fully-developed and fascinating people, alongside other memorable characters. Bayard creates sympathy for his very flawed protagonists and allows them to carry the story through to its conclusion. The final sequence of events, though rushed and possibly unbelievable, feels right in the context of the entire book.

For readers who enjoy a mystery, or well-imagined history, this will be a pleasure. Aspects of both genres are well-developed and thoughtful, and Bayard's voice is intelligent and enjoyable to read.

---Katy Wischow
imagineatrium.com

Put your brain to the test.

2008-08-18T21:07:00.004-04:00

If you think you're so smart, put your brain to the test with the BBC's Senses Challenge. It's annoyingly, frustratingly fun. Click here to take the test.

BOOK REVIEW - "The Geography of Love: A Memoir" by Glenda Burgess

2008-08-15T17:04:00.012-04:00

A memoir of a life stuffed full with love and of losing someone special---someone so close you wonder if you’ll be able to breathe on your own once they’re gone. The first 100 pages or so read like a Harlequin romance, complete with stifling sentimentality and rose colored glasses. The writing feels class-practiced and hyperbolic - Glenda tells us that her lover turned husband looks like Gregory Peck and has the wit of Mel Brooks – and descriptions of nature and good wine are shared like intimacies but leave the reader limp and disengaged in this deep and narrow world of love supreme.

But things change for Glenda and her husband, Ken. 15 years into their happy marriage and family life Ken is diagnosed with cancer, first thought to be lung cancer, then abdominal. Ken is still described in larger than life terms by his loving wife but now the descriptions seem to better fit the man. Ken is on a collision course with a death force, and although the statistics are against him he dives soul first into the battle. Glenda too becomes more present to the reader now, we see her courage, her grace as a caretaker, and understand her desperate need for science or God to explain and reverse Ken’s fate. “Closing my eyes I prayed for a miracle. Prayer..A song in the face of loss”.

The book also deals with other sides of Glenda and Ken’s lives: her mother’s cancer, his vindication in his previous’ wife’s murder, and his relationship with his troubled daughter Jordan. Glenda’s love for Ken, however, is her focus, and his struggle with cancer is the story she tells best.

---Niamh Bushnell
imagineatrium.com

Support an independent bookstore. Purchase this book today from Imagine Atrium, Jersey City, NJ's independent bookstore.

Or buy the book from your local independent bookstore through Indiebound.

PARTICIPATE IN THE BIG READ!

2008-08-08T13:54:00.005-04:00

The Big Read, an annual initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture, is coming to your community!

Aimed at addressing the steep decline in literary reading among Americans, this national, community-centered event will take place in cities and towns across the United States. Each community chooses one book as their "Big Read," promoting the novel city-wide with book readings, discussions, film viewings, and festivals.

Currently, 208 communities are encouraging literary reading through The Big Read programming from September 2008 through June 2009. To find out what city or town near you is participating, visit The Big Read's web site.

If you're in the New Jersey/NYC area, consider attending Jersey City's Big Read kickoff for Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 on September 13. Visit http://www.imagineatrium.com/ for more info.

The Lost Tribe Discovered...Again

2008-06-22T23:27:00.004-04:00

The Observer in London revealed today that the "undiscovered" tribe, located in the Amazon near the Brazilian and Peruvian borders and whose pictures were blasted across major news bureaus all around the world a few weeks ago, aren't so recently discovered after all.

Carlos Meirelles, a "sertanista," or expert on indigenous tribes, working for the Brazilian Indian Protection Agency, apparently had knowledge of this particular tribe for over 20 years and also admitted that the tribe was first known almost a century ago. Meirelles actually sought out the tribe's location and took pictures as a publicity stunt in order to draw public attention to the threat of the logging industry in the Amazon and its impact on indigeneous populations.

Even though it turns out the tribe was not just discovered, it is still quite fascinating for those of us who had previously not been aware that there are many tribes of people living in various parts of the world who have never had direct contact with "modern" civilization and who possibly live as humans did thousands of years ago. To us, the "newly discovered" tag does still apply.

Meirelles says that one reason why he took the pictures and passed them off as an undiscovered tribe was to prove to naysayers (including the president of Peru) who did not believe the claims of the Indian Protection Agency that isolated tribes still exist!

More from The Observer....

Attention Female Filmmakers!

2008-06-19T16:07:00.004-04:00

In 2006, women comprised only 15 percent of all directors, executive producers, writers, cinematographers and editors working on the top 25 domestic-grossing films. Lifetime Movie Network is working to change those statistics by offering you, the next generation of female filmmakers, the chance to be discovered. Enter their Every Woman's Film Competition for the chance to have your short film shown on the channel and receive a cash prize of $5,000 plus the opportunity to attend networking events and festivals. Hurry, the deadline is July 8.

Bugs Passing Gas Might Help Us Live Better

2008-06-18T09:34:00.002-04:00

Silicon Valley hopes that bug poo is the future of gas. Bacteria could be the answer to the oil crisis, aming other things. Check out this very interesting article from the Times of London.

Medical Theatre of the Absurd: 25 Years of AIDS...

2008-06-12T19:42:00.008-04:00

...and It Still Boggles the Mind

This past week, the World Health Organization (WHO) admitted that there is no longer a "heterosexual" AIDS pandemic threat (Wow, really?). Yet "AIDS still remains the leading infectious disease challenge in public health."

Sound bizarre? You bet. Read on...

NOTE: Mainstream media outlets barely covered this announcement.

A Book for the Mind:
Science Sold Out by Rebecca Culshaw

Lost Tribes Discovered in Brazil

2008-05-30T12:46:00.005-04:00

The BBC has just reported that an "uncontacted tribe" was recently discovered in the Brazilian Amazon, near the Peruvian border.

More than half the world's 100 uncontacted tribes live in Brazil or Peru according to Survival International, a worldwide organization supporting tribal peoples and their human rights.

Photos taken by the Brazilian government during a flight over the area showed "strong and healthy warriors, women and children, six huts and a large planted area." The first flight seemed to shake the group on the ground. By the time the plane returned, most of the women and children had fled and those who remained had painted their bodies in red and black and broke out with arrows, which they launched at the plane.

More amazing photographs here and an interesting analysis here

"Telectroscope" Connects London, NYC

2008-05-29T12:46:00.001-04:00

Hello, London! Jolly good show, New York!
read on...

Buy Your Own Child for Only 300 Bucks!

2007-09-14T13:20:00.001-04:00

Well, just kidding. He's almost a child though....

Yesterday at the Wired Nexfest, David Hanson of Hanson Robotics showed off his pride and joy to groups of fascinated kids and adults. The object of all the attention? Zeno, an AI boy that has his own realistic facial expressions and mannerisms and who recognizes and remembers people's faces and names.

Zeno is named after, and based on, David Hanson's 18 month old son but has been in conception for the last 5 years. Zeno is technically still a prototype (he still has to be connected and positioned next to computers that communicate to him what expressions to make) but Hanson is hard at work on the little dude and plans to make Zenos available for people to buy within the next few years for around $200-$300.

Hanson sees robotics as artistic expression, and if you agree, then you'll admit that this is the epitome of art imitating life. The technology is truly fascinating and makes you wonder about what our world will be like in 50 years if everyone is walking around with robot kids (and robot girlfriends and boyfriends and bosses and friends even?) who look like them. Hanson might just be envisioning our future as such because he believes that the market for robot companions will be hot pretty soon. Some of the folks in Steven Spielberg's AI: Artificial Intelligence (rent this film if you haven't seen it. It's one of the best films of 2001) might beg to differ, however.

Check out the full story and video here.

Of course, if you're mildly creeped out by humanoid looking robots but still love technology and the marriage of art and science, and you have just a smidgen of tech geekiness in you, an awesome book to get you started is a brand new title called Making Things Talk: Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects.

And if you're majorly creeped out by robots and concerned about your future safety, this book is a must have: How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.

2007-07-08T15:53:00.002-04:00

Moore, Math, & Mouth Foam

Worth Your While to Watch:
Sicko by Michael Moore

Fascinating film and even more fascinating Web site complete with a "rate your insurance company" database of peeved customers. Say what you will about Michael Moore, but he does have an ingenious plan for health care in the United States.

Our boy Kurt Loder over at MTV News, however, isn't as cuckoo for Sicko as many are. In his scathing critique of the film, he brings up some valid points in his assertion that the documentary is somewhat deceptive and rife with half-truths, though Loder's own article is riddled with inaccuracies about some of the stories and people profiled in Moore's film, which suggests that Loder either has a short attention span in regard to watching movies and has poor comprehension skills (odd for a journalist), or he simply can't remember all of the details of a film he's just seen and just fills in the blanks with what seems to be convenient . Nonetheless, he does rightfully point out that the film's presentation of Canadian and European healthcare systems as wonderlands of medicine is not entirely accurate--a fact to which many Canadians and Europeans themselves would attest, even if the majority of them would probably never in their life trade their imperfect systems for our even more imperfect one.

Many other reviews of the film echo Loder's words (and often cite him directly). One review from James Fuller of the Twin Cities Daily Planet, however, is a bit different. He points out that most reviews are rather formulaic and ignore some of the most eloquent and rational parts of the documentary.

What Moore succeeded in doing with Sicko was to put a much needed spotlight on the insanity of American health insurance companies and to villify them to the point that anyone with a conscience who sees this film could not possibly believe that the U.S. insurance industry should be allowed to continue its madness and mayhem, nor that healthcare in this country should stay the way it is, which is sickening. The only question now is....what do we do and where do we begin? If we can spend hundreds of billions of dollars fighting wars in far off lands, why couldn't we instead spend that money securing our own borders and airspace and making sure every person in this country has excellent health care when they need it?

Other Stuff!

What You Should Be Reading If You're Not Already Reading It, And If You Have Already Read It, You Should Re-read It:
Secrets of Mental Math by Arthur Benjamin and Michael Shermer
A very practical book for anyone who wants to get good at math, or anyone who (strangely) just likes it. You don't have to be afraid of math anymore. Math can be fun! Did I just say that? Somebody smack me.
Most Interesting Commentary of the Week:
Keith Olbermann foams at the mouth over George Bush. Careful, he seems a little bit angry.

O.K., now stop thinking for a minute and let your mind have a funny...

Sadly Funny Story of the Week:

We love how the BBC puts that ultra subtle dry British humor spin on all its silly stories about the ridiculous aspects of life in the U.S.

Drive a Car With Your Mind

2007-06-28T19:46:00.002-04:00

The Associated Press recently released a story about Hitachi's development of a device that allows you to control the movement of electronic things by using nothing but your brain. The article also suggests that Honda may be looking to use similar technology to possibly develop cars that people can drive with their brains. How cool would that be? Very. I don't know how practical and safe, though. Imagine driving one of these next generation mindcars while listening to a Linkin Park album in your car or with two screaming kids kicking each other in the backseat. The roads could get quite ugly very fast (oh wait, we're in New Jersey...Fuggedaboutit!).

But seriously, the major focus of this technology seems to be in the direction of entertainment/personal use and also providing ways for people who are disabled to communicate and become more self-sufficient. It seems like something that could be very beneficial and practical to a whole lotta people, and the best thing is they won't have to insert any chips in your head.

Read all about it here.

Starbury, I Scream

2007-06-07T13:53:00.001-04:00

No kid (or adult) should ever again become so obsessed with name brand $150 tennis shoes to the point that they would rob at gunpoint or beat someone up for them. Stephon Marbury is doing his part to end the obsession with overpriced shoes and clothing, particularly among those who can't afford the insane prices that sneakers with somebody's name on them cost these days.

Last year, Marbury introduced his line of Starbury tennis shoes that look and feel just as snazzy and wonderful as the platinum priced superstar sneakers selling for hundreds of dollars at your local chain shoe store. Just a few months ago, Marbury introduced the Starbury II, which is hot. The cost for every shoe in the Starbury line is $14.98.

Many people have reacted with praise over the Starburys, but as with anything in life there are always what folks of the trendy persuasion would call "haters" who claim that the shoes are not as high quality as Nike and Adidas's walking dollar signs. Various inspections and analyzations have been done by journalists and labs, some claiming the shoes are just as good as the more expensive ones made by those other companies, others claiming that the materials are not as high quality, but all generally claiming that the shoes are certainly not poor quality and definitely a better value for the money than paying $150 for shoes that you're probably not going to wear for more than 6 months to a year, if that.

Marbury has said that he will wear the shoes in all the games he plays this season, and former ACC (best conference in college basketball) player and Maryland Terrapin Steve Francis even wears them in games. If they're good enough for a professional NBA player to play in, how could they not possibly be good enough for Joe Blow on the municipal court or Joey Blowey at recess at PS 12?

If there is a sports star anywhere who should be commended, cheered, and praised, it's Stephon Marbury-- for shaking up the system and creating socially responsible mindsets in a culture obsessed with image, materialism and greed, for being a good citizen concerned about the welfare of others, and for thinking outside the box. Very cool.

His idea was so innovative that Sarah Jessica Parker heard about it and decided to create a line of quality fashion called "Bitten" for women of all sizes, with much of it being $20 or less. Her philosophy is that "it is every woman's inalienable right to have a pulled-together confident wardrobe with money left over to live."

Starburys and the Bitten line are available exclusively at Steve & Barry's stores across the country. Their only store currently in the New York City area is at Manhattan Mall, on 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) between 32nd and 33rd Streets in Midtown. Yell and tell everyone you know!