Showing posts with label social criticism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social criticism. Show all posts

Friday, July 25, 2008

FlapCast: Helen Prejean

Installment #3 in the FlapCast series takes us back to an evening with Sister Helen Prejean. She visited us in February 2006 and gave one of the most powerful speeches I have *ever* heard to a packed house.

This was a truly memorable night for a bookseller: the community coming together to listen and interact for social change.

And, S. Helen, as you will hear, has that sweet-yet-angry Creole delivery that would make Lee Atwater and James Carville shiver with fear and respect.

Enjoy.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Two Quickies - The Shock Doctrine "trailer" by Naomi Klein & 52 Projects / Working for the Man by Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Both of these interesting finds come by means of exchange.


The Naomi Klein video comes recommended by Noel, whom I spoke with briefly at our Downer Ave shop last night. This book hit the shelves yesterday and seems poised to fly into the hands of a wide, discerning readership.















The 52 Projects link comes from the extremely
unpersonal (and admittedly amazing) Feedburner statistics. (Plug: subscribe to our feed, if you haven't already.) Say what you will about Williamsburg, but I am certainly a fan of spontaneous - or prescription-aided - public art. Make your community beautiful! 52 Projects is available now; Working for the Man will be in stores in November - but is, of course, available for pre-order now.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Deer Hunting with Jesus

This book has gotten two great reads from our booksellers:

"There is a war going on that is wreaking havoc on the lives of nearly one-third of all Americans. The victims of this war are the 35 million working poor. They work the hardest, get paid the least, and cannot get ahead no matter how much personal responsibility they take in their lives. They drink canned beer, praise the Lord on Sundays, and hail the fast cars speeding around an oval track—all the while being manipulated by conservatives and mocked by liberals. Deer Hunting with Jesus takes us into the lives of these folks with humor and respect, leaving you raging and passionate to fix the deepening canyon divide between the rich and poor."

-Stacie

"I can hardly describe how much I enjoyed Deer Hunting with Jesus, but it’s so good that I’m willing to try. Bageant’s writing style is lively an entertaining, sort of a mix between Molly Ivins and Southern story writer George Singleton. The book didn't preach to the choir like a lot of liberal examinations of society's ills, mainly because Bageant didn't just dismiss the mostly white lower class subjects in his book as ignorant fools, but really made an effort to understand why people barely getting by would vote into power politicians interested in giving tax cuts to the super rich. Again, great book!"

-John

With praise from our booksellers, and authors ranging from Studs Terkel to Sherman Alexie and Howard Zinn, this book warrants at least a thumb through at your local (independent) bookstore.

Check out this review; it's entertaining and insightful.

There are also some audio archive interviews at Joe Bageant's website.