Review by Bill Svoboda

This is like watching a medley of "Eraserhead" along with other David Lynch films -intercut with "Helter Skelter"....or rather, it's like a dream of watching them-an uneasy, weird, sometimes funny dream that trembles on the edge of a nightmare.

Review by Meg Duke

Published in 2001 from a lecture given in 1998, this book gives one hard slap of historical context to any American (manipulated by the mass media) worried about "terrorism" --> which neither the government nor the media defines

Review by Meg Duke

Art so beautiful it kept me reading despite the underwhelming and plotless storyline. Classic loss-of-innocence story, the highlights being interesting/grotesque representations of capitalistic society, its ability to cloak the means-end relationship, and a caricature of those who control it.

Review by Meg Duke

Enticing art style + disturbing storyline = extremely engaging

Review by Ruth Davidson

Overall this is a fun read that makes a lot of interesting points about why protests do and don't "work." The theme that really resonated with me is that context matters when weighing different strategies for public protest-picking the right strategy is impossible without considering social contexts such as likely media coverage and the race/class/gender of the participants. This book was originally a Ph. D. thesis, and parts of it read like one-heavy on the jargon, though the author does take pains to define their terms well.

Review by Ruth Davidson

I loved this compilation-the analysis by the editor Teodori is a reminder for those of us not alive during the 60's that it was hard to see where things were headed politically in 1968-1969. But the real value of this book is simply that it's got so many essays and transcripts of speeches by historical figures such as Stokeley Carmichael. It's always illuminating to see primary sources and reflect on how and why things get misrepresented in historical analysis.

Review by Meg Duke

radical prophetic hypnotic linguistic magic

Review by Aidan Fay

I read this in 2 hours or less and it was time very well spent. It made me inspired to work hard in creative ways but also to respect the power of my autonomy and ability to say "no" when people "force" hard work upon me. Kind of a merging of all the good aspects of the philosophies of the counterculture and the dominant culture in relation to work and education. It suffers in that it still kind of revolves around makin money and success stories of naturally highly motivated people instead of finding the success in initial failure, but it still vibes high if you know how to extract the good stuff.

Review by Danny Canham

Both sequel and prequel to the original series, this standalone story bookends the narrative arc of Dream's adventures. It's probably my third favorite entry after Brief Lives and World's End. Filled with the kind of beautiful, vibrant art and fantastic storytelling most of us have come to expect from Gaiman and his collaborators, it's a stunning collection

Review by Bill Svoboda

This is a solid 4 star-except for the 2019 intro. In his intro, Iain McKay spends 89 pages saying exactly what Voline goes on to say in the main section of the book- and Voline's prose, as well as his arguments are clear, forceful and easy to read. This is a book that would benefit so very much from a current day exploration of (relatively) non-ideological matters of viewpoint, context and nuance (example: the conflicted role of the SRs)-instead, McKay spends it "beating a dead Bolshevik". In regards to the main text of this book, anyone seriously interested in 20th century history or leftist ideology will want to at least skim parts of it (one of the great advantages to reading non-fiction is that it can be read "out of sequence", skimmed and or read in small bits and pieces). One of these small pieces-Voline's conversation with Bukharin- pp. 244-245, was, for me one of the most revealing parts of the entire book. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Trying so hard to look over our shoulders, we march backwards into the future.

Review by Bill Svoboda

Yet another "3.5 stars". "Cloud Atlas" is not as good as David Mitchell's later novel "Bone Clocks". It is NOT that David Mitchell is a bad writer ("Bone Clocks", for instance has some amazing and memorable chapters)-but so far, he has problems (structural and otherwise) with his novels-and ends up with a finished product that is less (as opposed to greater) than the sum of it's parts. This was a rare case where I thought the movie was arguably better than than the book. Kim Stanly Robinson's "The Years Of Rice And Salt" covers very similar territory and does it much better (so maybe the Alt.Lib should get a copy?!)

Review by Ryan Schafer

Hellboy is my latest addiction. Chalk full of zany reinterpretations of obscure folklore, european mythos, and history, it's brilliant and imaginative and original. This series has more in common with the Sandman, Preacher, and Swamp Thing than with superhero franchises like Daredevil or Batman. I devoured the first 9 volumes and then discovered that we did not have the 10th! Hope you all will give the series a try and consider the merit of adding the rest to our collection ;)

Review by Future Man

Arcana: Musicians on Music is an incredible collection of essays by many great modern composers and improvisers of the American avant-garde. Edited and including a preface by John Zorn, this collection includes a sprawling array of writings, including a piece by Marc Ribot disparaging the technical short-fallings of the guitar, an essay on silence by pianist Anthony Coleman, who was featured in the recent installation of our Future Jazz series, and an essay and set of notated exercises by Bill Frisell, which are as minimal yet profound as his guitar playing.

Review by Bill Svoboda

"Hippie", and to a lesser extent, "Modernist" are both pejorative terms- moreover, they are somewhat mutually exclusive- but I guess this contradiction is part of the appeal of this particular "brand". Not being an expert in either brands , graphic arts or museum curation/art world politics, this book was puzzling to me. But apparently this brand has some real economic value in that it has already been picked up by the world of high fashion, as well as causing a nice buzz in art circles. It just seems foreign and rather arbitrary -a catchy and certifiably saleable idea which lacks cohesion and probably makes a lot more sense to a graphic designer than to someone trying to radically restructure our dysfunctional society. I found some interesting things in this hodge-podge , but to me, (a "hippie utopianist") the whole was less than the sum of the parts.

Review by Future Man

The End is a quiet moment in existential questioning following the death of a loved one. The improvisational and direct style of the writing and drawing carries with it the fresh impact of the moment a feeling surfaces, and makes this a powerful work which elegantly translates the feeling of loss and the subsequent journey to acceptance.

Review by Future Man

The Perineum Technique is a cleverly drawn realist fiction exploring the disturbing way that technology is so frequently used in sexual courtships and the ways that intimacy develops in a world of hyper-connectivity. Told in the same casually dark style characteristic of their other work, this is a great addition to the English translations of French comics duo, Florent Ruppert and Jérôme Mulot.

Review by Danny Canham

The softness of a watercolor art style belies the macabre in this short graphic novel by Grant Morrison. God is found dead and everyone is looking for the truth at the heart of the matter. Part allegory, part pataphor, Morrison blends philosophy and theology in a small town neo-noir setting to question reality itself. It was a fun, quick read, but unlike some of Morrison's longer works,, it feels like it's missing some of the depth it deserves to really explore the subject matter. Muth's art playfully weaves together the mystery play within the mystery and matches the darker tone of the story overall.

Review by Kristal McKinstry

I haven't read it, but hearing an hour long interview of him speak on the subject suggests he has great insight from both mystic and pure scientific realms.

Review by Roar RAWWRRR

Capacity is an excellent narrative of a metaphysical journey to access the many possibilities of imagination within one self without going crazy in the process. The not going crazy part is key. Interweaving biographical elements with delicious 4th wall breakdowns to include the reader in the story arc and, seasoned throughout with 7 compilations of short stories, Theo Ellsworth might just be looked back at in history as one of the greatest writers and illustrators of our time and this book is certainly one that can be used to establish him as such. Highly reccomend for anyone who enjoys graphic novels and the creative process to read thia.

Review by Nathaniel Kidd

CS Lewis's clear and soft-spoken presentation of the core doctrines of the historic Christian faith for a 20th C audience has rightly gained a reputation as a modern classic within Christian literature. Unfortunately for readers in our circle, Lewis's doctrine and memory has been appropriated primarily by the rather tasteless form of the Christian faith that easily and uncritically accommodates the Powers and Principalities of postwar capitalism, and that may taint the force and appeal of his argument. A partial remedy, perhaps, may lie in appreciating Lewis within his historical context. We should remember, after all, that Mere Christianity began as a series of radio broadcasts on the BBC during WWII, endorsed by the British government as a way of consolidating national morale in an especially dark and difficult time. In this view, I like to think of Lewis as resourcing a theology of resistance: hiding out in underground bunkers during Nazi air-raids to proclaim that there is a ground for hope, and that the resistance is not in vain. You won't get that from a superficial reading of MC, but it's there, just beneath the surface. That said, I think that our readers might better appreciate some of Lewis's other works: his fiction, in particular -- his Space Trilogy, for instance, and his famous, young reader oriented fantasy, the Narnia series. His retelling of an ancient myth in "Till We have Faces" is also extraordinary, although somewhat subtle. It is in these contexts where the scope and power of his imagination are more readily at play, although the theological engine articulated in MC and some of his other prose works is always present. It has become extremely unpopular in modernity and postmodernity to root one's social and artistic imagination in the historic, canonical orthodoxy of Judeo-Islamo-Christianity. In most circles, being a heretic is almost a prerequisite for being taken seriously -- it is, in effect, the new orthodoxy. But the ongoing interest in Lewis and his works stands as an icon of the enduring power and appeal of theology in its classical form -- as well as its continuing fecundity in underwriting imaginative alternatives to the oppressive and horrific systems of modernity. We are empirically justified in expecting, after all, that a story that proved capable of sustaining the human soul through the convulsive terrors of the first half of the 20th C, will likewise prove to be of value anticipating the apocalyptic terrors that await us in the first half of the 21st.