Books To Jump Up and Down Over
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (Bat Segundo interview with Murphy)
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (Bat Segundo interview with McClear)
War Archive
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The Bat Segundo Show: Adam Hochschild
Posted on June 1, 2011 | 1 CommentIn this whirlwind 40 minute radio interview, historian Adam Hochschild discusses To End All Wars, World War I, pacifism, and relativistic courage. -
Review: Lebanon (2009)
Posted on August 6, 2010 | No CommentsBack in March, The New York Times published a Michael Kamber essay in which Kamber took The Hurt Locker to task for its “realistic depiction.” While the film went on... -
![[This is the thirteenth part in an open series of reports from the New York Film Festival.] About a week ago, fearing that all of the films were turning my...](http://www.edrants.com/wp-content/themes/arras-theme/images/thumbnail.png "NYFF: Waltz with Bashir (2008)")
NYFF: Waltz with Bashir (2008)
Posted on October 6, 2008 | 2 Comments[This is the thirteenth part in an open series of reports from the New York Film Festival.] About a week ago, fearing that all of the films were turning my... -
An End to War?
Posted on August 25, 2008 | No CommentsReuters: “Iraqi Prime Minister Prime Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that an agreement had been reached in negotiations on a security pact with the United States to end any foreign... -
While the Rest of You Dwell on the Olympics and John Edwards…
Posted on August 8, 2008 | 1 CommentTimes: “More than a thousand civilians were reported to have been killed and large parts of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, were reduced to ruins as a conflict with... -
Covering War
Posted on June 18, 2008 | No Comments -
Bush Vows to Keep Human Costs Out of Gaze
Posted on November 9, 2007 | 2 CommentsHere’s the full set of photos. -
1.2 Million Dead — You Are Responsible for This
Posted on September 17, 2007 | 8 CommentsIntellience Daily: “When those responsible for the American war in Iraq face a public reckoning for their colossal crimes, the weekend of September 15-16, 2007 will be an important piece... -
Christ
Posted on September 2, 2007 | 6 CommentsSunday Times: “The Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national... -
…and now, the end is near…
Posted on May 25, 2007 | 1 Comment…and so we face the final curtain, ha ha ha… Thanks, Ed, for having us over. Send my people the clean-up bill. Everyone else: Have a nice Memorial Day weekend,... -
Today in Killer Robot Warfare
Posted on March 1, 2007 | No CommentsThe Register: “‘Team Warrior’, a killer robot manufacturing alliance led by General Atomics of San Diego, CA, announced yesterday that its Warrior Extended Range/Multi Purpose Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System (ERMP... -
An Important Segue
Posted on October 11, 2006 | No Comments655,000 Iraqis have died because of the war. 655,000. That’s more than the 400,000 who died at the Battle of Changping. That’s more than twelve times the number of casualties... -
Other NIE Conclusions: The White House is Located at 1600 Penn
Posted on September 25, 2006 | 1 CommentWashington Post: “The conclusion of U.S. intelligence analysts that the Iraq war has increased the threat from terrorism is only ‘a fraction of judgments’ in a newly disclosed National Intelligence... -
More on the Waziristan Deal
Posted on September 5, 2006 | No CommentsWashington Post: “Under the pact, foreign fighters would have to leave North Waziristan or live peaceable lives if they remained. The militias would not set up a ‘parallel’ government administration.”... -
Who Holds Bush Guilty?
Posted on September 5, 2006 | 7 CommentsGeorge Bush, September 26, 2001: “…it’s also a war that declares a new declaration, that says if you harbor a terrorist you’re just as guilty as the terrorist; if you... -
Well, There is a Popular Band Named Franz Ferdinand
Posted on July 19, 2006 | 3 CommentsNumber of Google News articles currently using the phrase “World War III”: 1,810 -
I Guess It’s Time for Monorail Diplomacy Then
Posted on July 19, 2006 | No CommentsSlate: “One problem right now is that the United States—the would-be shuttle diplomat—has long cut off relations with Syria and Iran, both of Hezbollah’s enablers (and thus potential disablers). If... -
“Hatred. It’s the Only Thing That Lasts.” — Charles Bukowski
Posted on July 19, 2006 | No CommentsLovely. (via Chekhov’s Mistress and This Space) -
Mission Accomplished
Posted on July 19, 2006 | No CommentsIraqi Death Count Rises Above 100 Per Day, Says U.N. -
Journalistic Kids These Days
Posted on April 11, 2006 | 15 CommentsDavid Halberstam on Iraq: “Halberstam, who has written about other presidential administrations and war decisions, isn’t sure he will write about Iraq. ‘Part of me wants younger people to write... -
Well, That Didn’t Go Very Well, Did It?
Posted on March 21, 2006 | No CommentsFrom this morning’s press conference with President Bush: THE PRESIDENT: Part of that meant to make sure that we didn’t allow people to provide safe haven to an enemy. And... -
Even More Abu Ghraib Photos
Posted on February 16, 2006 | No CommentsCarrie and others have alerted me to this Salon article (specifically, this archive) of additional cruelties being meted out on Iraqi prisoners, captured by photographs. Richard Nash writes in to... -
More Abu Ghraib Photos
Posted on February 15, 2006 | 4 CommentsHere. These were, of course, kept secret from the public. Disgusting. Definitely NSFW. I’m ashamed to be American. And I think I’m going to roll into a ball. Because if... -
American Beauty
Posted on February 14, 2006 | No CommentsPhotos of the first few microseconds of an atomic blast. (via Warren Ellis) -
Conversation from Deep Within the Pentagon — Last Night
Posted on October 27, 2005 | No CommentsHANK: All these millions of dollars they’re giving us. HAL: Billions, Hank. Billions. HANK: Alright, billions. HAL: I understand, Hank. It’s hard to maintain a little humility around here. But... -
Let’s Hope the Snorks Are Next
Posted on October 10, 2005 | No CommentsAnd all this time I thought UNICEF was intended to avoid profiling the advantages of war. -
No, Ari, It’s What Called Thinking Outside a Unilateral Political Paradigm
Posted on August 21, 2005 | 1 CommentAri Fleischer: “If you allow those who are the most vocal and most antagonistic to get a meeting with the president for fear that publicity will hurt you if you... -
Esquire — Blowing the Same Old War Trumpet
Posted on August 17, 2005 | 1 CommentThe July 2005 issue of Esquire celebrated “10 Men” — presumably, ideal men that other men (read: that pivotal 18-34 male demographic) can look up to. What was perhaps most... -
“Death by Asphyxia” is the New “Shot While Trying to Escape”
Posted on August 4, 2005 | No CommentsWashington Post: “Two days before, a secret CIA-sponsored group of Iraqi paramilitaries, working with Army interrogators, had beaten Mowhoush nearly senseless, using fists, a club and a rubber hose, according... -
Ain’t No Room for Culture in the New I-Rack
Posted on January 15, 2005 | No CommentsThe United States is now rivaling those who burned the Great Library of Alexandria as cultural destroyers. Having deliberately built a base upon Babylon, a new report from the British...