I am deeply disappointed in the quality of these two ERB books received from Amazon yesterday in my efforts to complete my collection of Burroughs’ novels. Both are noted as “Manufactured by Amazon.ca” in Bolton, ON. Production quality is poor, particularly in the designs and layout: they are more like
Continue readingTag: Book Reviews
Kersplebedeb: Breaking up Families: How Medical Colonialism in Canada is Retraumatizing Indigenous People [Fifth Estate]
[This review was originally published by Fifth Estate in Fall 2021. Fighting for a Hand to Hold is available on LeftWingBooks.net] Breaking up Families How Medical Colonialism in Canada is Retraumatizing Indigenous People by Marieke Bivar Fifth Estate # 410, Fall, 2021 a review of Fighting for A Hand to Hold:
Continue readingKersplebedeb: ‘The Dawn of Everything’ gets human history wrong [ClimateAndCapitalism.com]
[This post originally appeared on ClimateAndCapitalism.com on December 17, 2021. The Dawn of Everything is available for purchase at LeftWingBooks.net] Is inequality inevitable? Is freedom just a choice? Two materialist critiques of a widely-praised book. Introduction It’s not often that a book by radical authors gets reviewed — let
Continue readingKersplebedeb: Letters of life from slow death row – A Book Review by David Gilbert
Inside prison, Tiyo Attallah Salah-El was a jazz musician, writing music and organizing in-prison shows in addition to his work helping fellow prisoners access quality education. A review of ‘Pen Pal: Prison Letters from a Free Spirit on Slow Death Row’ by Tiyo Attallah Salah-El by David Gilbert David Gilbert is in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Book Review: Politics Without Stories
David Ricci’s Politics Without Stories was released in the midst of an election campaign which upended many assumptions about U.S. politics. But it nonetheless offers a plausible explanation for much of the U.S.’ political environment as it’s continued to evolve – while leaving open what strike me as interesting questions
Continue readingIn This Corner: Book review: I Must Say, by Martin Short.
Have you ever read a biography and wished that the author was your friend, a guy you could call up and shoot the breeze with, or hang out with at his place? That’s the way I feel after reading Hamilton-born comic Martin Short’s alternately hilarious and heart wrenching book, I
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Bart’s Books: Stephen Harper, Episode II
“On any day, [Harper] has a choice, he can do the big conservative thing that would be the end of his career, or he can do some of the small conservative things that won’t.” I’ll save you the trouble of reading the rest of this book review – if you
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Bart’s Books: The Michael Ignatieff Experiment
“I had made myself into a politician, and I didn’t much like what I was becoming.” On my Christmas reading list this year was Michael Ignatieff’s latest book, Fire and Ashes, which takes the reader from the moment “the men in black” recruited him to come back to Canada, to
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Iggy Returns
Everywhere you go these days, there’s Michael Ignatieff. I’ve even seen him walking around Yorkville twice within the past month. For those who miss seeing Ignatieff’s face on every third commercial, you can read some juicy nuggets from his new book here, an excerpt on how he handled defeat here,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Book Review: The Blaikie Report
Among other highlights of the Saskatchewan NDP’s leadership convention this month, I was able to meet and chat with longtime NDP MP (and later MLA) Bill Blaikie, who attended in large part to introduce party members to The Blaikie Report. And I appreciate the opportunity to review the book –
Continue readingBoreal Citizen: Book Review: Too Much Magic
While I enjoy reading the works of James Howard Kunstler, I’m always hesitant to talk or write about them. His low-tech vision of the future seems too far out there…his predictions too cynical, his outlook too pessimistic. And then a news story will grab my attention and make me wonder
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