Take a photo of a barcode or cover
aimiller's Reviews (689)
Times Square Red, Times Square Blue 20th Anniversary Edition
Samuel R. Delany, Robert F Reid-Pharr
A really interesting read! Both essays work really well together in exploring Delany's points, and feed off one another in interesting ways. I think the analysis about networking and contact is kind of ALWAYS relevant, and definitely makes me want to have other people read this book and work through their expectations and what they're thinking about on the topic. I would love to see a response from a woman on the topic, because I don't know that his thinking about it necessarily sufficient here, or at the very least he leaves room for other folks to think and explore those concepts.
Some of it feels slightly random--the part where he talks about Althusser seemed to come out of nowhere and not be super relevant to the rest of it, though I do think he had some interesting points in that part--but overall I definitely recommend this. The more theoretical half (Times Square Red) did not feel like it was too dense to be accessible, and I think could be really useful for students to read. I know it provoked a lot of thoughts for me, and I will be returning to it in the future.
Some of it feels slightly random--the part where he talks about Althusser seemed to come out of nowhere and not be super relevant to the rest of it, though I do think he had some interesting points in that part--but overall I definitely recommend this. The more theoretical half (Times Square Red) did not feel like it was too dense to be accessible, and I think could be really useful for students to read. I know it provoked a lot of thoughts for me, and I will be returning to it in the future.
Soul Sister Revue: A Poetry Compilation
Cathy Linh Che, Ed Toney, R.A. Villanueva, María Fernanda Chamorro, Cynthia Dewi Oka, Candace Williams, Kamilah Aisha Moon, Kyle Dargan, Cynthia Manick, Yesenia Montilla, Mia King, David Tomas Martinez, Caits Meissner, R. Erica Doyle, Roberto Garcia, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Denice Frohman, Evie Shockley, Yadira De La Riva, Elana Bell, Rio Cortez, José Olivarez, Freida Jones, Keisha-Gaye Anderson, Patricia Smith, J.P. Howard, Jason Koo, Lynne Procope, Chris Slaughter, Peggy Robles-Alvarado, Noel Quiñones, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Yasmin Belkhyr, Hanif Abdurraqib, Jeremy Michael Clark, Safia Jama, Pamela Sneed, Cortney Lamar Charleston, Joshua Bennett, Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, Rico Frederick, Amber Atiya
I will say first that I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, and I am grateful to the publishers for the opportunity to read this.
This was a really solid collection of poetry by poets of color! There was a nice mix (as Manick points out in her introduction, done deliberately,) of established poets and newer voices. The "what is soul" questions seemed like an odd attempt to draw the collection together--I know they were part of the original reading series, but given that the poems themselves are not necessarily all about soul (or rather, there is little done to connect what soul means to the poets to the poems themselves,) it comes across as unnecessary? But still a really really good collection, and a great jumping off point if you're interested in reading more poets of color!
This was a really solid collection of poetry by poets of color! There was a nice mix (as Manick points out in her introduction, done deliberately,) of established poets and newer voices. The "what is soul" questions seemed like an odd attempt to draw the collection together--I know they were part of the original reading series, but given that the poems themselves are not necessarily all about soul (or rather, there is little done to connect what soul means to the poets to the poems themselves,) it comes across as unnecessary? But still a really really good collection, and a great jumping off point if you're interested in reading more poets of color!
Before I start, I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program, and I am grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
This was an interesting collection of pieces written by incarcerated men on death row, bookended by two essays by the editor, one of which sets up the collection and the latter of which offers some context around how the death penalty actually functions in the United States, which was helpful. Each author gets a series of his own essays in a row, which I think was an interesting choice, rather than moving thematically or anything like that. Some of the essays are super brutal, as they depict traumatizing events or the impact of that trauma (including multiple suicide attempts,) and some have a kind of looser form.
I think this is a decent introduction to the humanity of incarcerated people, especially those on death row, as well as a breaking of some stereotypes of who exactly is condemned to death in this country and how that system works. There are some aspects I think that go under-analyzed in a larger context, and the editor, although passionately advocating for the end of the death penalty, doesn't do much to take it a step further and discuss decarceration--maybe she doesn't feel that way, but I think the essays make it obvious that death row or no, prison is not a place for people, and that what is routine in these situations is deeply inhumane.
This was an interesting collection of pieces written by incarcerated men on death row, bookended by two essays by the editor, one of which sets up the collection and the latter of which offers some context around how the death penalty actually functions in the United States, which was helpful. Each author gets a series of his own essays in a row, which I think was an interesting choice, rather than moving thematically or anything like that. Some of the essays are super brutal, as they depict traumatizing events or the impact of that trauma (including multiple suicide attempts,) and some have a kind of looser form.
I think this is a decent introduction to the humanity of incarcerated people, especially those on death row, as well as a breaking of some stereotypes of who exactly is condemned to death in this country and how that system works. There are some aspects I think that go under-analyzed in a larger context, and the editor, although passionately advocating for the end of the death penalty, doesn't do much to take it a step further and discuss decarceration--maybe she doesn't feel that way, but I think the essays make it obvious that death row or no, prison is not a place for people, and that what is routine in these situations is deeply inhumane.
I received a copy of this book through the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing; I am grateful to the publisher for the opportunity to read this.
This book is the second in a series, though was advertised that you could read it as a standalone. I did want more of the world, or a little more structure--it felt like there were greater things going on that were maybe not relevant to the story that was being told, or would be relevant later but did not get much attention. I think it also could have been a little longer--as it is, it's under 200 pages (according to my search,) and some of the pacing is pretty fast. I think a younger teen might enjoy this, though, and some of the stuff around the magic is interesting.
This book is the second in a series, though was advertised that you could read it as a standalone. I did want more of the world, or a little more structure--it felt like there were greater things going on that were maybe not relevant to the story that was being told, or would be relevant later but did not get much attention. I think it also could have been a little longer--as it is, it's under 200 pages (according to my search,) and some of the pacing is pretty fast. I think a younger teen might enjoy this, though, and some of the stuff around the magic is interesting.
I didn't feel like I needed to have read this after I read it; I think the other work you encounter that talks about the panopticon does a pretty good job of summing it up, and I will be honest that I did not really understand the fragment on ontology. But I do appreciate the return to the text, and the introduction by Miran Božovič did a good job with the framework and exploring some of the points of the writings that I probably would have missed otherwise. If you're REALLY into like returning to the original text, or have other interests in Bentham's larger work (oops I don't) then obviously it makes sense for you to read this, but if you've already read the other works and are like "great" then you are probably okay on this one.
