This review seemed especially perfect coming on the heels of Dustin's Srl of the faces of NPR the other day. --Tu
The basic thesis of The New Kings of Nonfiction is that non-fiction is an art, not just a tin can in which you store facts. It Can Be Fun To Read, Y'alls. I will drink to this thesis, since reviewing books is technically non-fiction and I try to make it, more than anything, fun to read.
This book is a bound copy of Ira Glass' pile of non-fiction he gives to aspiring nonfictionists as examples of What To Do. Because they are all indicative of one man's tastes, though written by many different brains, they all have a definite feel to them. They aren't siblings but they are certainly kissing cousins. At least they are the hot cousins.
Chuck Klosterman's "interview" with Val Kilmer is excellent, because...
The basic thesis of The New Kings of Nonfiction is that non-fiction is an art, not just a tin can in which you store facts. It Can Be Fun To Read, Y'alls. I will drink to this thesis, since reviewing books is technically non-fiction and I try to make it, more than anything, fun to read.
This book is a bound copy of Ira Glass' pile of non-fiction he gives to aspiring nonfictionists as examples of What To Do. Because they are all indicative of one man's tastes, though written by many different brains, they all have a definite feel to them. They aren't siblings but they are certainly kissing cousins. At least they are the hot cousins.
Chuck Klosterman's "interview" with Val Kilmer is excellent, because...
- 4/15/2011
- by Tamatha Uhmelmahaye
I have always been fascinated by space exploration, and it has always been my biggest dream to fly into space. That dream is equal parts unlikely and common, but it has held true for over twenty years. When my son was three, he told me he wanted to be an astronaut and gave me a sticker with a rocket ship on it, in case we needed a ticket to get on the ship. It is still stuck to my bedside lamp shade, and every day it reminds me not only of how sweet he is, but also how going into space is an adventure that excites the imagination.
Mary Roach has written an number of books about interesting topics that aren't generally produced for the general reading public, including death (Stiff), sex (Bonk), and the afterlife (Spook). She seems to follow her intellectual curiousity into researching these subjects, and then...
Mary Roach has written an number of books about interesting topics that aren't generally produced for the general reading public, including death (Stiff), sex (Bonk), and the afterlife (Spook). She seems to follow her intellectual curiousity into researching these subjects, and then...
- 1/22/2011
- by Tamatha Uhmelmahaye
Can I tell y'all something? I hate the term "hump day." Really, truly, passionately. It doesn't sound sexy, or appealing, it just sounds like a bad time at a middle school dance or what you call a day when your male dog is particularly amorous towards part of your body or an inanimate object. And I hate that every Wednesday I inevitably hear it. It just makes me feel icky. And then makes me feel like I have no sense of humor. That's my little confession for the evening. Here's your Wednesday night TV:
8:00pm: "American Idol" on Fox. Two hour tenth season premiere. The kinder gentler version with Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez debuts. I hope it fails miserably and puts this damn franchise out of it's misery. When was the last time the winner went on to become a legitimate star anyway? I can never keep straight...
8:00pm: "American Idol" on Fox. Two hour tenth season premiere. The kinder gentler version with Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez debuts. I hope it fails miserably and puts this damn franchise out of it's misery. When was the last time the winner went on to become a legitimate star anyway? I can never keep straight...
- 1/19/2011
- by Intern Rusty
I'm always bewildered by how much Mondays still manage to suck even when you're basically unemployed. It's like some kind of Pavlovian conditioning that even when you can sleep in, spend the whole day in pajama pants, and your most strenuous decision is what to heat up for lunch, you're like "Goddammit, it's Monday." But not this week, because this week is Shark Week! So it's not just another Monday, it's another opportunity to watch sharks being totally terrifying and awesome. Here's your Monday night TV:
8:00pm: "The Bachelorette" on ABC. Sixth season finale.
"Lie to Me" on Fox
"Video Games Live" on PBS. My siblings saw this a couple years back when it was in Philly and both of loved it. It's an orchestral show that performs music from popular video games, everything from Super Mario Brothers to Zelda to Halo. Sadly, it does not feature live action...
8:00pm: "The Bachelorette" on ABC. Sixth season finale.
"Lie to Me" on Fox
"Video Games Live" on PBS. My siblings saw this a couple years back when it was in Philly and both of loved it. It's an orchestral show that performs music from popular video games, everything from Super Mario Brothers to Zelda to Halo. Sadly, it does not feature live action...
- 8/2/2010
- by Intern Rusty
Participatory journalist Mary Roach has made a tidy career for herself from breezy pop-science books with one-syllable titles: Stiff (what happens to cadavers?) and Spook (how do you investigate the afterlife?). But with her latest work, Bonk: The Curious Coupling Of Science And Sex, Roach might just have found the book she was born to write. Her fearless (or is that shameless?) style perfectly suits this exploration of sex in the laboratory, both historical and contemporary. From Kinsey to Viagra to coitus in an Mri machine, Bonk reveals with incessant good humor how little we know about our basic reproductive drive, and how difficult it is to design experiments to find out what we might want to know. For example, one area of scientific ignorance is the chemistry of female ejaculate. Various researchers have reported that it's identical to urine, or that it has compounds related to semen, or...
- 5/8/2008
- by Donna Bowman
- avclub.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.