The Minds of L. Ron Hubbard and Other Idiots: A Review of “Going Clear”

Whether or not these people are or were somehow crazy doesn’t concern me. What concerns me is the possibility that they were much simply dumb, and moreover that there are many people out there who are not merely dumb, but worse: content with being dumb. But far worse than even stubborn stupidity is the way the rest of us are content with tolerating and appeasing it. Sure, some people are passive; they wouldn’t hurt a fly. Others, however, are much too ambitious for passivity, for the obscurity of all the shadow around the spotlight—and they are the ones with the most alarming, most frightening potential. Continue reading →

The Hole He Left Behind: A Review of “Both Flesh and Not”

Much like the travesty of me and Hitch, my newfound hero of journalism and intelligent conversation, I hadn’t known anything about the late David Foster Wallace before his death (by hanging, in 2008). I hadn’t read any of his novels, and admittedly, given my aversion to even literary contemporary fiction, I likely won’t any time soon (at this stage, … Continue reading →

The Invisible Continent and the Post-Racial Myth: A Review of “Of Africa”

To review a book about Africa while knowing very little of Africa is at once a gift and a curse. My response, both in writing and in thought, is by default, limited in breadth and in depth; I happen to be suspended at a distance better suited for lobbing the broader, flimsier generalizations typical of … Continue reading →

The Remarkably Unremarkable Tiffanie DiDonato: A Review of “Dwarf”

Prior to Dwarf: A Memoir, the only book I ever bothered to read about “little people” was The Hobbit. Unlike The Hobbit, Dwarf is not epic medieval fantasy, nor is it about hobbits or “actual” dwarves, neither of which exist … I think. It’s rather a biography of a real“little person”: one in whom we observe more or less obvious signs … Continue reading →

A Liberal Encourages Conservative Secession: A Review of “Better Off Without ‘Em”

The first book I reviewed for PolicyMic was America, You Sexy Bitch (AYSB) by conservative Meghan McCain and liberal Michael Ian Black. Politically at odds with each other, the Senator’s daughter and the stand-up comedian take a road trip across the continental United States to learn about America. One of their stops was in Texas; on their way, McCain remarks … Continue reading →

Weirdly Wired Woman: A Review of “Vagina”

[Puns are almost completely unavoidable when discussing a book about vaginas, so please bear with me—and pardon any accidental (and purely coincidental) misspellings of “come”.] When I was in elementary school (before I could figure out my dad’s overly simplistic codes for the parental locks and watch “Skinemax”), I’d stay up late to watch Howard Stern on … Continue reading →

Liberal Democracy and Public Stupidity: A Review of “Defending Politics”

Last May, well before I started reviewing books for PolicyMic, Oxford University Press published Defending Politics: Why Democracy Matters in the Twenty-First Century by Matthew Flinders, a politics professor at the University of Sheffield. I only discovered it last Saturday while browsing the shelves at B&N, and I ended up buying it on impulse. I just had to. Though it may … Continue reading →

Barack Obama, Jerk-in-Chief: A Review of “The Price of Politics”

In an appealing 381-page package that reads like 80 pages, legendary investigative journalist Bob Woodward narrates the political fighting over federal spending and tax policy, as well as the controversial (mis) management of the U.S. economy, by both the executive and legislative branches between 2009 and the summer of 2012. Delving into one fascinating turn … Continue reading →

Hitch’s Last Words: A Review of “Mortality”

This book is new territory for me in two ways. When I read Mortality, the last and unfortunately unfinished book by the late, great Christopher Hitchens, not only am I reading words written on a deathbed, but I—a book reviewer—am pretty ashamed to say that it’s also the first and, so far, only book of his that I’ve … Continue reading →

The Age of Assholes: A Review of “Ascent of the A-Word”

In many ways, ours is the Age of Assholes. Before we know it, we millennials will be marching into our 30s, and more and more of the people we’ve been raising up to celebrity status in recent years, (the high profile role models we’ve created) turn out to be self-centered, narcissistic phonies. In a word, assholes. … Continue reading →