Milo and the Calf

Category: Books

  • Review: Waid and Ross’s Kingdom Come

    Another in a long line of review written a million years ago (2007) for a now long defunct livejournal. Kingdom Come Mark Waid and Alex Ross I think this is supposed to be a sort of post, post “adult” graphic novel where we come full circle from the flawed superhero back to the super-super hero.…

  • Review: Stoessinger’s Why Nations Go To War

    This, and many other reviews posted recently originally appeared on a now long defunct livejournal account. I am posting it here as part of a project to bring all my related writing (whether worthwhile or not) under one roof. Why Nations Go to War Richard Stoessinger This classic of the undergraduate international relations course (where…

  • Review: Mieville’s Iron Council

    Iron Council China Mieville   This is the third book in Mieville’s works about the city of New Crobuzon, a vaguely steampunk alternative city populated by Mieville’s weird monsters and well drawn characters. Iron Council is, I think  the most overtly political of the three, including section radical union organizing, issues of race, gender and…

  • Review: Delany’s About Writing

    About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, & Five Interviews Samuel Delany I am a huge fan of the writer Samuel Delany. A writer at the heart of what I think the best of “new wave” science fiction, Delany has gone on to write memoirs, literary fiction, pornography, comics books and much else in between. Though…

  • Review: Nelson’s The Argonauts

    The Argonauts Maggie Nelson If you’re interested in parenting, gender identity, committed relationships, theory, love, sex, motherhood, queer theory or just gut wrenchingly good memoirs, you really should read Maggie Nelson’s the Argonauts. Conceived as a set of vignettes, the book tells the story first of Nelson’s marriage to Harry Dodge, a gender queer artist…

  • Review: Appiah’s Cosmopolitianism

    Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (Issues of Our Time) Kwame Anthony Appiah I read a fair number of think-piece-next-big-idea type books. Most of these have little to no staying power, either in the culture at large, or in my own head. Appiah’s conception of cosmopolitanism as described in this little book is different.…

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    Dah fuck with all the book reviews?

    I had coffee with an old friend earlier this week and he asked what was up with all the book reviews I’ve been posting. Perhaps a brief explanation is in order. Over the years, I’ve written short (and sometimes not so short) book reviews for a number of different livejournals, blogs, and websites. As part…

  • Review: Norton’s Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire

    Ed note: Like the many, many other reviews I’ve been posting here lately, this one was written for a now defunct live journal account. Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire Anne Norton Though the neocon movement seems more and more like a thing of history, this is a nice quick and easy read…

  • Review: Oakes’s The Ruling Race

    Ed note: this and the many other reviews I’ll be posting over the coming weeks come from a now long defunct livejournal and are posted here for my records and (hopefully) your enjoyment. The Ruling Race: A History of American Slaveholders Jim Oakes I know many smart people (people much smarter than me) who have…

  • Review: Kolchin’s American Slavery

    Ed. Note – this is one a 100 or so book reviews I wrote for a now long defunct livejournal. I’m posting it, and many others like it for my own records and hopefully your enjoyment. Name Your Link Peter Kolchin If you’re going to read one overview book on the history of slavery in…