Evergreen Review Publishes Book Review for The Guys Who Spied for China
The Evergreen Review holds a special place in my heart. Along with its book publishing division, Grove Press, from the mid-century on, intrepid visionary, alias the publisher, Barney Rosset, brought forth to this nation a tremendous selection of cutting edge literature. This was literature that few back then would dare publish. Even today many of [...]
When the Big Speech is Over: The Post Mid-Term Elections and a Brand New Round of Truth Speak
I have long been suspicious about the adamancy of true believers. It’s not nice at times, and it definitely reveals my own impatience and in fact even snobbery, but nevertheless, when I hear people utter parroted news speak I realize sooner or later they will issue a new incantation explaining away either the limitations of their previous thoughts, [...]
Close Encounters With the Tea Party of Beverly Hills
You don’t often think of the City of Beverly Hills and the Tea Party in one sentence. But, nevertheless, there they were in some odd form of cosmic convergence, demonstrating to the more ardent supporters and the merely curious that populist outrage can emanate from one of the more expensive zip codes in the United [...]
The People We Love to Hate
Not long ago, on one of the book blog sites, some guy went out of his way to tell me how indifferent he was to my work. I responded once and asked him if he was so indifferent than why did he go out of his way to tell me. I thought if he had [...]
The Planet of the Wanton Geriatrics
Life can be cruel at times. Life can be filled with contradictions. Contradictions that become paradoxes in our day-to-day lives and as the years progress leave us wondering, what the hell happened? The cruelty part is that there is no going back, no modifying the order of things or adjusting priorities. Despite all good wishes and inspiring messages [...]