The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings by James Baldwin
2010 collection of [some of?] Baldwin’s uncollected short pieces
Tag: USA
American Vampire #1 by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque & Stephen King
a comic book that’s errr fine i suppose
No Quiet Water by Shirley Miller Kamada (summary)
an important topic, at least?
Protected: No Quiet Water by Shirley Miller Kamada (full review)
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Weird Fucks by Lynne Tillman
great very short book that never gets *that* weird
Nuclear War in the UK by Taras Young
the history of an apocalypse that never happened (yet)
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
we cannot equate hope with idiocy and expect to ever be happy
Black American Psycho by Ernest Baker
solid novel recommended in Only Americans Burn In Hell
Do Every Thing Wrong!: XXXTentacion Against The World by 😇 Jarett Kobek 😇
an extensive discussion re the weighty themes raised by this book
Only Americans Burn In Hell by 🙏 Jarett Kobek 🙏
if you’re not reading Kobek you’re not reading
The Autobiography of Malcolm X with Alex Haley
some thoughts on reading one of the 20th century’s most important books
ATTA by 🙏Jarett Kobek🙏
anti 9/11, anti Richmond, pro Jarett Kobek
The Future Won’t Be Long by 🙏Jarett Kobek 🙏
one of the best normal books you’ve never read
The Evidence of Things Not Seen by James Baldwin
it’s not Baldwin’s best, but it’s better than most books by everyone else!
The Yellow House by Sarah M Broom
boooorrrrriiiiinnnggg
POETRY MONTH: The Nancy Reagan Collection by Maxe Crandall
i read some poems on the backlot throat goat
Middle Passage by Charles Johnson
middling swashbuckling adventure
My Volcano by John Elizabeth Stintzi
a failure of intent
Another Country by James Baldwin
another hagiography on Baldwin as scott packs up his north american life
Jarett Kobek & the Zodiac Killer (Motor Spirit & The Hunt for Zodiac)
two new books from Jarett Kobek about CRIME CRIME CRIME
On The Beach by Nevil Shute
repression at the end of the world
The Letters of Mina Harker by Dodie Bellamy
an excellent – near flawless – novel
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
struck down by covid, scott crawls into a classic novel
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
a hyper-cautious novel about archetypes avoids offence but also characterisation
Clotel or, the President’s Daughter by William Wells Brown
excellent, significant, 19th century anti-slavery novel
The End of Obscenity by Charles Rembar
interesting book of the legal history of removing literary censorship
Zora Neale Hurston (and a state-mandated medical exam)
in which the canadian state tests me for TB & syphilis
Joan Didion: The 1980s & 90s (PART THREE)
i cannot read myself happy
Joan Didion: The 1980s & 90s (PART TWO)
if u see a dead racoon at the side of the road
As We Have Always Done by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
powerful academic text on the impossibility of decolonisation within capitalistic structures
Four Repeater Books (two I recommend)
two excellent books, two not excellent books
on sleaze via Saul Bellow
sleaze is not a synonym for prurience
Four Short(ish) Novels from 2020
can’t stop reading / can’t start doing anything else
Fictionalising Fascism
don’t be stupid, be a smarty / read fiction ’bout the nazi party
Valentino and Sagittarius by Natalia Ginzburg
the lockdown continues and nothing changes
50 Words on Each of the Essays in Joan Didion’s Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Yes, it’s here, the new (new?) Joan Didion, so to celebrate I’m going to give a tiny tiny tiny commentContinue Reading
James Baldwin Threeway
baldwin, baldwin, baldwin
Sharks In The Time of Saviors [sic] by Kawai Strong Washburn
but sharks are evil, right?
Surrender by Joanna Pocock
big post on privilege, re-wilding, ageing; a phenomenal read
Tender Omnibus
exceptional omnibus from NY publisher Tender Buttons
Cane by Jean Toomer
ok toomer
In the House of My Father by Hiwot Adilow
another kooky blog post
Native Son by Richard Wright
surprisingly good protest novel; thoughts on UK election result
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
great early[ish] essays from one of america’s best
People I’ve Met From The Internet by Stephen van Dyck
an essential contemporary memoir
Most of my Heroes Don’t Appear On No Stamps by Ran Walker
brief comments on a collection of kwansabas
John Barleycorn by Jack London
1914 memoir about alcoholism that oozes big denial
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
I read another great, serious, time travel novel
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
a solid, if unambitious, novel from a major contemporary voice
Human Tetris by Vi Khi Nao and Ali Raz
a great, new, collection of short poems about love ‘n’ sex
Triumph Of The Now 