Non-Fiction | Raging Biblio-holism

Young Radicals: In the War for American Ideals

July 17, 2017 by Drew

The Short Version: In the 1910s, a constellation of young idealists thought that the world was headed towards the utopia they were envisioning. When World War One breaks out, they – and their still-young nation – must grapple with the cold realities of a world that might not be ready for them. The Review: What happens when the world around you turns out to be quite other than what you’d thought it was going to be? When your ideals are not […]

Categories: History, Non-Fiction • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, History, Jeremy McCarter, Non-Fiction, Politics, review, Socialism, US History, World War One, YOung Radicals

Moonglow

January 23, 2017 by Drew

The Short Version: A young man named Michael Chabon sits with his grandfather in the weeks before his death, hearing stories about his life. He takes these stories, in turn, and creates a narrative out of them – but, as he expresses at the beginning, the reader might do well to question how much is true and how much is fiction… The Review: The trickery begins before you’ve even started reading the book. Open it, flip page by page – […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Autofiction, Biography, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Indiespensable, Literature, Memoir, Metafiction, Michael Chabon, Moonglow, Non-Fiction, Reviews, Space, The Tournament of Books 2017

Sirens

January 6, 2017 by Drew

The Short Version: Novelist Joshua Mohr turns his attentions to non-fiction, specifically an account of both his years of substance abuse – and his discovery, after getting sober and having a daughter, that he has a literal hole in his heart. All before he turns 40. It’s complicated, complex, funny, and brimming with life – just like Josh. The Review: I started this book in a warm tub with a Glencairn glass of single malt scotch, my second of that particular night. […]

Categories: Memoir, Non-Fiction • Tags: Advance Review, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Joshua Mohr, Memoir, Non-Fiction, review, Reviews, Sirens, Two Dollar Radio

The Argonauts

December 14, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Part memoir, part theory exploration, part prose-poem, part theory creation – The Argonauts is the story of Maggie Nelson’s courtship with and marriage to Harry Dodge, her pregnancy, a country’s evolving mind on gender and sexuality, and a look at the theory that has created a single human’s worldview. The Review: There is such a joy in discovering something to be not only worthy of the hype, but worthy of continued generation of that hype. So it is with […]

Categories: Essays, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Poetry • Tags: 6, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, BookClub, Books, Essays, Favorites, Feminism, Gender Theory, Maggie Nelson, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Philosophy, Queer Theory, review, Reviews, The Argonauts, Theory

Future Sex

December 9, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Having turned 30 without settling into a committed relationship like she thought she would, Emily Witt takes the moment to take stock of our modern relationships – to each other, to sexuality in general, and to the way that technology has changed both. The Review: I had high hopes for this collection. As the jacket copy promises, we are at an intriguing and complicated moment in the history of sex, sexuality, gender, and love. Never before have so […]

Categories: Essays, Non-Fiction • Tags: Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Emily Witt, Essays, Future Sex, Non-Fiction, review, Reviews, Sex, Sexuality

The Care and Feeding of an Independent Bookstore

September 26, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: For Independent Bookstore Day 2016, Ann Patchett (perhaps the most famous independent bookstore owner in the world) adapted her Atlantic article as well as delivered two new pieces to encourage others in the care and feeding of such an exotic beast. The Review: I’m a sucker for an exclusive piece of literature, especially when it’s got its heart in the right place. This can most certainly be said for the first “A $6 Story” from the folks […]

Categories: Essays, Non-Fiction • Tags: A $6 Story, Ann Patchett, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Bookstores, Essays, Independent Bookstore Day, Independent Bookstores, Non-Fiction, Parnassus Books, review, Reviews, The Care and Feeding of an Independent Bookstore

Roundup, August 2016

August 31, 2016 by Drew

A monthly round-up of any books that didn’t get a full review! Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang 3 out of 5 The Short Version: On Nov. 1, 1988, four paper girls are doing their early morning route when they encounter strange creatures. What seems like leftovers from Halloween quickly turns out to be something else entirely: some kind of invasion from across time and space. So they fight back. The Review: I’m a sucker […]

Categories: Fiction, Graphic Novel, History, Literature, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi, Short Stories • Tags: August 2016, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Fiction, Frederic Morton, Graphic Novel, History, Judaism, Literature, Non-Fiction, Paper Girls, Rebecca Schiff, review, Review Roundup, Reviews, Roundup, Science Fiction, Short Stories, The Bed Moved, Thunder at Twilight

Multiple Choice

July 27, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Modeled on the Chilean Academic Aptitude Test, readers are instructed to take a multiple choice test covering reading comprehension, vocabulary, sentence structure, and more. The Review: I have the feeling that certain readers will find this book overly gimmicky or infuriating as hell. It is, of course, exactly what it sets out to be: a novel (or, well, a piece of literature) constructed in the form of a classic Scantron multiple choice aptitude test. There is no moment where the […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Alejandro Zambra, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Exam, Experimental, Experimental Fiction, Fiction, Fiction in Translation, Literature, Literature in Translation, Megan McDowell, Multiple Choice, Multiple Choice Exam, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Reviews, Test, The Great Vacation of 2016, Translation

A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal

July 20, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Kim Philby was the perfect spy. Educated, well-groomed, brilliant – it’s no surprise that he rose to prominence in MI6 during the Second World War and the ensuing Cold War conflict. What was surprising was that he was also working for the Soviets. For over thirty years, he maintained a double life and compromised nearly every major operation for the West. This is his story and the story of those who thought they knew him – but didn’t […]

Categories: History, Non-Fiction • Tags: A Spy Among Friends, A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, Ben MacIntyre, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, CIA, Cold War, England, Espionage, History, John le Carré, Kim Philby, Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, MI5, MI6, Nicholas Elliott, Non-Fiction, Reviews, US, USSR, World War II

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Tag: Non-Fiction