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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: a history of Nazi Germany (Thirtieth Anniversary Edition) by William Shirer

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Nazi Germany.  Hitler.  The SS.  The names bring up connotations ranging from the cinema of Steven Spielberg and Mel Brooks to tasteless political posters at town hall meetings and anti-war protests.  In the eternal words of stand-up comic Bill Hicks: “We’re going in for God and country and democracy and here’s a fetus and he’s a Hitler.”  In our modern age, we have called whatever enemy of convenience a Hitler.  The same phenomenon throughout history with different groups of people thinking the Antichrist was Nero, the Pope, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, FDR, Ronald Wilson Reagan, Ayatollah Khomeini, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, … Continue reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: a history of Nazi Germany (Thirtieth Anniversary Edition) by William Shirer

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Legion (Horus Heresy, Book 7) by Dan Abnett

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Can Dan Abnett save the franchise? After the underwhelming Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon, the Horus Heresy series is in desperate need of revival.  None is better equipped to revive the flagging franchise than the prolific Dan Abnett.  Abnett, author of Eisenhorn, the Ravenor series, the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and other titles for Marvel and Doctor Who, has the rare gift to write well and to write a lot.  Like the space fantasy version of William T. Vollmann, he churns out full-length novels at a ridiculous rate. In Legion, Abnett throws the reader into a desert landscape, a war … Continue reading Legion (Horus Heresy, Book 7) by Dan Abnett

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Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, by William Stolzenburg

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On the tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, ecology professor Robert T. Paine threw starfish into the sea.  In Alaska, killer whales preyed on sea otters.  In the northern forests of Wisconsin, massive deer herds mowed down several species of wildflower.  What do these disparate actions have in common?  In Where the Wild Things Were: life, death, and ecological wreckage in a land of vanishing predators, author and nature columnist William Stolzenburg explores what happens when top-tier predators go extinct.  Discussing several case studies, ranging from the tiny starfish to the polar bear-eating killer whale, Stolzenburg shows the ecological devastation following … Continue reading Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators, by William Stolzenburg

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Book Review: Descent of Angels (The Horus Heresy, Book 6) by Mitchel Scanlon

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The Horus Heresy series continues in its sixth installment, Descent of Angels, written by Mitchel Scanlon. The series makes a major reversal with this series. Scanlon has written previous novels for the Black Library, but his work involves the Warhammer brand, the epic fantasy sister ‘verse to the space fantasy of Warhammer 40K. Unlike previous volumes, the action occurs on one planet under circumstances one could label “low-tech.” Descent of Angels begins with an original story, telling the tale of how humanity settled on the planet Caliban.  The settlers became separated from the rest of humanity because of warp storms … Continue reading Book Review: Descent of Angels (The Horus Heresy, Book 6) by Mitchel Scanlon

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Gravity’s Rainbow (1973) by Thomas Pynchon

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“unreadable, turgid, overwritten and obscene.” — Pulitzer Prize board. Scenario: Imagine you’re a peasant, wallowing about the mud, occasionally getting hassled by men in armor alleging they are kings because some lass threw a scimitar at him, and you’re late for the biweekly meeting of your anarcho-sydiclist commune. Perhaps you’re name is Dennis. Life is a constant struggle involving mud, plague, and rampaging Crusaders lopping the heads off random farmers. Your daily routine of mud farming is disrupted. Out of nowhere, an day-glo painted SR-71 Blackbird, piloted by a figure reminiscent of Donald Sutherland’s character from Kelley’s Heroes and co-piloted … Continue reading Gravity’s Rainbow (1973) by Thomas Pynchon

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Vineland and the Pynchon Canon: A Critical Appraisal

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Introduction: “The bums lost.” The Big Lebowski: Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski. Condolences. The bums lost. My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski? The Dude walks out and shuts the door. The Big Lebowski: The bums will always lose! Brandt: How was your meeting, Mr. Lebowski? The Dude: Okay. The old man told me to take any rug in the house. The Big Lebowski (1998) – Los Bros. Coen In 1990 saw the publication of Vineland, by Thomas Pynchon.  The novel concerned the … Continue reading Vineland and the Pynchon Canon: A Critical Appraisal

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Fulgrim (Horus Heresy, Book Five) by Graham McNeill

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The epic tale of the Horus Heresy continues in Fulgrim, the fifth volume of a planned twelve-volume cycle in the Warhammer 40K series. In the previous book, Flight of the Eisenstein, Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro flies to Terra to warn the Emperor of Mankind of heresy. Not just any heresy, but heresy led by Warmaster Horus to overthrow the Emperor. Fulgrim tells a story parallel to the events of Eisenstein, eventually meeting up where the previous volume left off. The Fulgrim of the novel is the Primarch of the Emperor’s Children, a Space Marine legion priding itself in its fighting perfection. … Continue reading Fulgrim (Horus Heresy, Book Five) by Graham McNeill

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An Adultery (1987) by Alexander Theroux

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Alexander Theroux’s name returned to the news with the publication of Laura Worholic; or, The Sexual Intellectual. The 878-page work can be intimidating to readers, especially those unfamiliar with Theroux’s bombastic, encyclopedic, maximalist style.  A gateway to his larger works would be An Adultery, written more than two decades earlier and less than half the length of Laura Worholic.  The writing is as straightforward as the slip of a plot. Painter Christian Ford loves Farol Colorado.  Farol is married and Christian is going out with Marina.  Complications ensue.  While the adulterous male narrator may be one of the most clichéd … Continue reading An Adultery (1987) by Alexander Theroux

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The New Comics Anthology (1991), by Daniel Clowes (editor)

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A stunning collection of comix, from the punk funnies to foreign voices and places in-between. Published in 1991, the chorus of independent voices range from Harvey Pekar to Gary Panter to Art Spiegelman to Chris Ware and Los Bros. Hernandez. Before the publishers marketed the heck out of the term “graphic novel” and prior to Maus legitimizing the genre to cautious, middlebrow, suburban white people, this anthology stood out like a lighthouse in the storm of Reaganomics, Cold War paranoia, and the tights-and-capes crowd. The ensuing decade has seen these artists become more and more mainstream, which isn’t necessarily a … Continue reading The New Comics Anthology (1991), by Daniel Clowes (editor)

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