Growing up in the ’80s I watched a fair number of daytime talk shows. The genre has almost completely disappeared, as rare these days as a soap opera, replaced by chat shows, cooking demos, and DIY home projects. The emphasis in the last twenty years has been on selling: actors hawk movies, lifestyle gurus sellContinue reading “Descent from Donahue”
Tag Archives: books
Adaptation
A certain number of movies released each year start as books. There is a segment of readers who view movie adaptations with disdain, quick to point out how the nuanced, interior experiences of reading are lost when translated to cinema. There is a flip side, too, when movies require a certain tension and palpable transformationContinue reading “Adaptation”
Trapped In A History
“You were born where you were born and faced the future you faced because you were black and no other reason. I know your countrymen do not agree with me about this… they do not know Harlem, and I do. For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped inContinue reading “Trapped In A History”
For The Defense
There is a subset of suspense in which a protagonist is asked to solve a crime involving someone they know. Often this is the premise for an amateur sleuth: a loyal friend is motivated to do a separate investigation when the police seem stalled. There are also books where the protagonist is a defense attorneyContinue reading “For The Defense”
Lenses
With the exception of a daytrip to Harlem when I was nineteen, my first experience of a black-majority community was a class I took in grad school on the theologies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. The instructor and half the class were African-American. The teacher, a Baptist minister, recontextualized the Christian religionContinue reading “Lenses”
Origins
I once knew a woman who hadn’t spoken to her family in twenty-five years. She described the death of her father as the greatest blessing of her life because it had allowed her to sever all ties with her abusive mother and her miserable childhood. When she talked about her origins, she was often vagueContinue reading “Origins”
Window Gazing
The picture perfect age of social media has resulted in a literary backlash of sorts. There is a plethora of books centered on pulling back the curtain on all the curation to reveal the dark side of domestic perfection. I’m not sure that any character is as widely used these days as the casual stalker.Continue reading “Window Gazing”
Voices
When I was in grad school, I arrived at an evening class to find my ordinarily approachable instructors in a different frame of mind. They sat, side by side, at the top of a circle of chairs that comprised the classroom. As the other students assembled and class began, they looked around at us withContinue reading “Voices”
A Cover Is A Promise
If you are a book person, chances are you have opinions on covers. They are the billboard calling to you, enticing you to look again. A single title can have multiple covers and with them convey different ideas. Look at two versions of Lori Lansens’ The Wife’s Tale: First, can you guess which one wasContinue reading “A Cover Is A Promise”
Judge A Book
I think it is undeniable that many people buy books based on cover art. It’s not even something new. Charles Dickens once said, “There are books of which the fronts and backs are the best parts.” I think we all know what he’s talking about. So what exactly is going on in the minds ofContinue reading “Judge A Book”
Books Smitten 