Joseph Mackin on the art of the book review

"Reviewers interpret, declare, dismiss and augment--creating the discussion space that books need in order to live. Reviews are the oxygen books breathe."--Joseph Mackin

Book Reviews: What We Talk About When We Talk About Books

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MFA vs. NYC: America now has two distinct literary cultures. Which one will last? - By Chad Harbach - Slate Magazine

The following article is excerpted from the latest issue of n+1 magazine. This article is available online only in Slate.

‎"No one with 'literary' aspirations will expect to earn a living by publishing books; the glory days when publishers still waffled between patronage and commerce will be much lamented. The lit-lovers who used to become editors and agents will direct MFA programs instead; the book industry will become as rational—that is, as single-mindedly devoted to profit—as every other capitalist industry."

Will? Is it not to a considerable extent already so?

The author marks the boundaries of literary Brooklyn as DUMBO and Prospect Heights, but it is more accurate to draw its boundaries as a triangle that goes from Greenpoint in the northwest to Victorian Flatbush in the east to Red Hook in the southwest.

As a native New Yorker, Brooklynite, alumnus of a CCNY graduate creative writing program, poet/translator and fiction reviewer I am on the periphery of both literary cultures, and much of the article resonates with the ring of truth. However, in an era of government budget cuts I don't see MFA programs continuing to proliferate; indeed, they may prove vulnerable to the budget ax.

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The Power Of Failure

William D. Cohan's NY Times Op-ed article The Power of Failure discusses the importance of learning the lessons of life's failures and not overvaluing success.  

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KinkyJews' Ha! Ha! Hanukkah Cocktails and Comedy Show!

 

 

This year KinkyJews is holding their annual Hanukkah party at a comedy club. Some things will be the different (comedy show) and some will be the same as in previous years (a game of strip dreidle, traditional candle lighting, and eight raffle prizes).

 

 

Read the article on examiner.com

 

 

 

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Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Among the many things I am thankful for is the company and friendship of my friends both in real life and in cyberspace. Best wishes for a day of gratitude, feasting and families!

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Sunday afternoon 11/28 in Brooklyn: Jewish love songs with wine and chocolate - New York NY

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On Sunday afternoon, November 28th at  3pm Kane Street Synagogue in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn presents singer and pianist Lana Sokolov and saxophonist Sagit Zilberman in a performance of Jewish Love songs. 

 

Read the article on examiner.com

 

 

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One paragraph review of Erotomania: A Romance by Francis Levy

Erotomania: A Romance by Francis Levy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Erotomania is an engaging portrait of a sex addicted couple, their therapy with an ex-military couples counselor, and their recovery. James has Turrets Syndrom and priapism; Monica is a nymphomaniac. Can they find love and build a life together? Will they have anything in common should they recover from their sex addiction? This short novel combines high and low brow culture in a way that I find appealing but some other readers might find pretentious and crude. That a sixty-something year old man can have sex three or four times a day every day requires a suspension of disbelief; apart from that, I enthusiastically recommend it.

View all my reviews

 

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Judge Kimba Wood, Standing Up for Women - Jeffrey Goldberg - National - The Atlantic

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Judge Kimba Wood, Standing Up for Women

Nov 19 2010, 3:39 PM ET

This is incredibly charming and progressive on Kimba Wood's part (and real; we checked):

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Judge Kimba Wood was petitioned by an attorney for a “writ of possible simcha,” and had a superb response.

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Pictures - Libeskind Hanukkah Lamp Exhibition - New York NY

Jewish Museum menorah pics from A Hanukkah Project: Daniel Libeskind s Line of Fire exhibit. 

Hanukkah Lamp, Palestine (Israel) c. 1880-1930. Chiseled and painted limestone.

 

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The United Nations has removed a plea for lesbians, gays and bisexuals not to be executed in a narrow vote.

Countries vote to accept execution of gays

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Jewish Museum 11/19/10-01/20/11: Daniel Libeskind does Hanukkah - New York NY

 

In "A Hanukkah Project: Daniel Libeskind's Line of Fire"  40 hanukkiot (Hanukkah menorahs) selected by curator Susan Braunstein from The Jewish Museum's permanent collection of over 500 hanukkiot are displayed on a stand designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.

Read the entire article and view a slideshow of the exhibited hanukkiot.

 

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Apple - The Beatles - Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964

via apple.com

Apple has posted video of the Beatles' first ever U.S. concert in its entirety to celebrate their arrival on itunes.

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In 1938, Nicholas Winton helped 669 Jewish kids escape certain death from the Nazis. He never told anyone that he did this. While on ski trip in Switzerland, Winton took a detour in Czechoslovakia to help the children of refugees. Nazi Germany had recent

via givesmehope.com

In 1938, Nicholas Winton helped 669 Jewish kids escape certain death from the Nazis. He never told anyone that he did this.

While on ski trip in Switzerland, Winton took a detour in Czechoslovakia to help the children of refugees. Nazi Germany had recently annexed a large part of Czechoslovakia and the news of Kristallnacht, a violent attack on Jews in Germany and Austria, had just reached Prague.

Winton set up a rescue operation for the children, filling out the required paperwork for them to be sent to homes in Sweden and Great Britain. He had to raise money to fund foster homes for all of them, and then he sent 669 children away from Czechoslovakia on trains before the Nazis closed down the borders.

Winton told no one that he did this, not even his wife. In 1988, his wife found a scrapbook full of pictures of the children and letters from parents in their attic. She arranged to have Winton's story appear in newspapers.

Many of the children Winton saved went on the BBC television program, That's Life, to meet him for the first time since the war. They refer to themselves as "Winton's children".

Winton is now 101 years old and has received awards from Israel and the Czech Republic as well as Knighthood from the Queen of England in 1993.

via givesmehope.com

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Freshman GOPer: Hey, Where's My Health Care? | TPMDC

Maryland physician Andy Harris (R) just soundly defeated Frank Kratovil, one of the most endangered Democrats on Capitol Hill going into the November election. And he did it in large part by railing against 'Obamacare' and pledging to repeal Health Care Reform. But when he showed on Capitol Hill today for an orientation for incoming members of Congress and their staffs, he had a different question: Where's my government health care?

According to Glenn Thrush of Politico, Harris created a stir at the orientation meeting by demanding to know why he had to wait a month after he was sworn in in January for his government-subsidized health care to kick in. After responding in a huff, he even asked if there was some way he could buy into the government care in advance, seemingly thinking there might be a government program similar to the so-called 'public option' championed by progressive Democrats in 2009.

According to an unnamed congressional staffer quoted by Thrush, Harris stood up at the meeting "and asked the two ladies who were answering questions why it had to take so long, what he would do without 28 days of health care."

During the campaign, Harris told voters, "the answer to the ever-rising cost of insurance is not the expansion of government-run or government-mandated insurance but, instead, common-sense market based solutions that ensure decisions are made by patients and their doctors."

via tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com

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Fred Terna and Rebecca Shiffman: An oral history of a Jewish-American marriage

I interviewed Fred and Rebecca in August 2007 in their Clinton Hill, Brooklyn brownstone. I began the interview by asking how they met.

Read the entire interview on examiner.com

 

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City Tech Marks Kristallnacht with author Ann Kirschner Thursday Nov 11

 

City Tech will mark the 72nd anniversary of Kristallnacht and the 65th anniversary of the end of WWII on Thursday, November 11, 1 p.m., with Ann Kirschner, PhD, author of Sala's Gift: My Mother's Holocaust Story, and the presentation of humanitarian awards to Nobel Prize winner Günter Blobel, MD, PhD, and Interfaith Committee of Remembrance (ICOR) founder and chairman Jerry Jacobs. 

 

Read the entire article on examiner.com

 

 

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One-woman shows by Jewish dramatists Sivan Hadari and Mayo Simon - New York NY

New works by two young Jewish women dramatists will be performed at separate and unrelated Manhattan venues Thursday night November 11, 2010. Read more on examiner.com

 

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Jewish education 101: 90@190: Open Beit Midrash Mondays at Mechon Hadar

Do you have ninety minutes a week to dedicate to Jewish study? For the next four Mondays Mechon Hadar offers free classes on Monday evenings:

90@190: An Open Beit Midrash at Mechon Hadar

Read the entire article and view a sample lecture on examiner.com.

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Meet Jewish authors and artists at King Con, Brooklyn's comic convention - New York NY

This weekend enthusiasts and creators are gathering at the Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 Fourth Avenue between Union and President Streets in Park Slope, for King Con, the borough's first large comics convention, featuring fifty-plus exhibitors and top talent appearing in readings and panel discussions.

Read the entire examiner.com article and view a slideshow of illustrations and book covers by KingCon writers and illustrators.

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Sunday 11/7/10: Taste of Limmud or Israel/Jewish-American relations panel - New York NY

 

NYC Jewish events Sunday Nov. 7, 2010: Global Day of Jewish Learning and panel discussion on Israel/Jewish American relations. For details read the article on examiner.com

 

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What the fuck has Obama done so far

Check out this slideshow listing the accomplishments of the Obama administration I found at whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com

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Don’t Watch Cable News

Jonah Lehrer's critique of pundits and their predictions. 

“We need to cultivate the art of self-overhearing, to learn how to eavesdrop on the mental conversations we have with ourselves.”--Philip Tetlock

Read the article on wired.com

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Passion: Erotic Romance for Women | New York Journal of Books

 

The subtitle of the book under review (in which the missing adjective “Heterosexual” should modify the noun “Women”) implies a question: How does erotic romance for women differ from the equivalent genre for men? 

Read the entire review on nyjournalofbooks.com

 

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