Culture Books - Page 14

Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players

Stefan Fatsis

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 106 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Stefan Fatsis, a Wall Street Journal reporter and National Public Radio regular, recounts his remarkable rise through the ranks of elite Scrabble players while exploring the game's strange, potent hold over them -- and him.
Scrabble might truly be called America's game. More than two million sets
are sold every year and at least thirty million American homes have one. But the game's most talented competitors inhabit a sphere far removed from the masses of "living room players." Theirs is a surprisingly diverse subculture whose stars include a vitamin-popping standup comic; a former bank teller whose intestinal troubles earn him the nickname "G.I. Joel"; a burly, unemployed African American from Baltimore's inner city; the three-time national champion who plays according to Zen principles; and Fatsis himself, who we see transformed from a curious reporter to a confirmed Scrabble nut.
He begins by haunting the gritty corner of a Greenwich Village park where pickup Scrabble games can be found whenever weather permits. His curiosity soon morphs into compulsion, as he sets about memorizing thousands of obscure words and fills his evenings with solo Scrabble played on his living room floor. Before long he finds himself at tournaments socializing -- and competing -- with Scrabble's elite.
But this book is about more than hardcore Scrabblers, for the game yields
insights into realms as disparate as linguistics, psychology, and mathematics. WORD FREAK extends its reach even further, pondering the light Scrabble throws on such notions as brilliance, memory, competition, failure, and hope. It is a geography of obsession that celebrates the uncanny powers locked in all of us.

No Disrespect

Sister Souljah

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Total reviews: 113 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Harsh realities 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Sistah Souljah created an honest look at the truths of society. To call her a racist for being honest reporting her realities and what she has witnessed in her work and service to communities is mere ignorance. I do not fully agree with every word Sistah writes. However, I commend her honesty, her openness, and her consciousness.

The book is a must read regardless if one agrees or disagrees. It is not to be used as a life manual. It is to be used as a mirror, or a stepping stone. If you are the person she regrets being or you want to elevate to another level the book will give you insight that may not be easily found in accessible literature.

Editorial Review:

Rapper, activist, and hip-hop rebel, Sister Souljah possesses the most passionate and articulate voice to emerge from the projects. Now she uses that voice to deliver what is at once a fiercely candid autobiography and a survival manual for any African American woman determined to keep her heart open and her integrity intact in 1990s America.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

What's Science Ever Done for Us?: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe

Paul Halpern

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A playful and entertaining look at science on The Simpsons

This amusing book explores science as presented on the longest-running and most popular animated TV series ever made: The Simpsons. Over the years, the show has examined such issues as genetic mutation, time travel, artificial intelligence, and even aliens. "What's Science Ever Done for Us?" examines these and many other topics through the lens of America's favorite cartoon.

This spirited science guide will inform Simpsons fans and entertain science buffs with a delightful combination of fun and fact. It will be the perfect companion to the upcoming Simpsons movie.

The Simpsons is a magnificent roadmap of modern issues in science. This completely unauthorized, informative, and fun exploration of the science and technology, connected with the world's most famous cartoon family, looks at classic episodes from the show to launch fascinating scientific discussions mixed with intriguing speculative ideas and a dose of humor. Could gravitational lensing create optical illusions, such as when Homer saw someone invisible to everyone else? Is the Coriolis effect strong enough to make all toilets in the Southern Hemisphere flush clockwise, as Bart was so keen to find out? If Earth were in peril, would it make sense to board a rocket, as Marge, Lisa, and Maggie did, and head to Mars? While Bart and Millhouse can't stop time and have fun forever, Paul Halpern explores the theoretical possibilities involving Einstein's theory of time dilation.

Paul Halpern, PhD (Philadelphia, PA) is Professor of Physics and Mathematics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and a 2002 recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He is also the author of The Great Beyond (0-471-46595-X).

Yanomamo (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology)

Napoleon A. Chagnon

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Classic example of exploitation of a native people 1 out of 5 stars.
16 of 30 people found this review helpful.

This (so called) interactive CD is a classic example of 2 unfortunate characteristics of Western anthropology: 1) It sees human beings as specimens to be examined, filmed, held up for cultural di-section, for the interest of westerners with no intention of doing good for these people; 2) It inevitably skews the perception of the culture it depicts. Obviously there are degrees of accuracy with any ethnographic description, but in this case we are left with a very distorted picture. For example, we are not told that the Yanomamo have for decades now been willingly seeking and embracing different methods of conflict resolution - rather than killing each other, resolving issues like who "owns" a woman by negotiation rather than by killing those who disagree with you. Many of these constructive and helpful developments, which the yanomamo have embraced of their own free choice (having had a gut-full of the alternative) were introduced by well-meaning missionaries, and yet it seems the anthropologists want the yanomamo to stay frozen in time and keep killing each other. Meanwhile, Chagnon and others go merrily on their way making big $ out of depictions like this and trying to stop missionaries (and others) from helping these people to help themselves.

For a genuine "insiders" view, see Mark Ritchie's "Spirit of the Rainforest" and discover how the Yanomamo themselves view the arrival of anthropologists with films and notepads, and missionaries with new ideas.

It is naive to think that as an anthropologist you can enter a society to observe it, and the act of observation itself not impact that society. In Ritchie's book, for example, you will see how parts of the footage for this CD were obtained (and how for example they scolded a lady for walking onto the set with clothes on - most Yanomamo were by this time wearing clothes of their own accord ("Who wants to keep getting bitten by bugs?") and yet the anthropologists wanted them to stay naked, at least for the film if not forever.)

I give this CD a good score for interactivity and nice graphics and footage, but I give it a zero in terms of any benefit it has brought to the Yanomamo. (You can read in the updated edition of Ritchie's book what the reaction was of a Yanomamo village leader who actually viewed the CD for himself).

So get the CD if you want to see villagers killing each other, but get Ritchie's book if you want to understand the Yanomamo.

Editorial Review:

Based on the author's extensive fieldwork, this classic ethnography, now in its fifth edition, focuses on the Yanomamo. These truly remarkable South American people are one of the few primitive sovereign tribal societies left on earth. This new edition includes events and changes that have occurred since 1992, including a recent trip by the author to the Brazilian Yanomamo in 1995.

Regarding the Pain of Others

Susan Sontag

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

"the ethical value of an assault by images" 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

In her On Photography, which appeared 35 years ago, Susan Sontag worried that the public's continuous exposure to horrific photos of the violence of war might backfire. The purpose (or at least one of the purposes) of such photos is to rouse opposition to the cruelty of war. But the continuous publication of them can surfeit and benumb, encouraging instead public passivity.

In her Regarding the Pain of Others, Sontag rethinks this claim (even though it's now become received wisdom), suggesting that such photos in fact haunt us. True, our attraction to images of suffering can be prurient (Plato, in the Republic, was the first to catalog this human curiosity). The way in which a photo of suffering is framed, moreover, can transform it from an object of horror into one (primarily) of heroism. But notwithstanding these and other manipulations, photos of war victims remain what Sontag calls "emblems of suffering" that awaken us to the fact that the violence of warfare is very real indeed, and that we may be complicitous in it, notwithstanding the fact that, as "spectators," we are far removed from the imaged violence. Photographs shouldn't be "supposed to repair our ignorance about the history and causes of the suffering [they] pick out and frame." But they are effective "invitation[s] to pay attention" (p. 117). Viewing photographs of suffering is no substitute for hard thinking about war, murderous violence, and our moral responsibilities. But photos can spark and fuel such reflection (p. 103). For those of us who will never have firsthand experience of the horrors of war, this vicarious exposure can be a moral catalyst. That we can turn away from such photos does nothing to "impugn the ethical value of an assault by images" (p. 116).

Like all Sontag-authored extended essays, this one is so rich in ideas and insights that at times it seems (but ony, I believe, seems) to ramble. Along the way, Sontag discusses the history of war photography, the ethical dilemma of merely "looking at" atrocities rather than doing something about them, the French school of "the spectacle" founded by Guy Debord and made "respectacle" by Baudillard and Bataille. Chapter headings would be profoundly helpful here, as well as an occasional summary. But Sontag presumably wants to provoke thought in her readers, and hesitates to provide roadmaps.

Moreover, accompanying photographs would be helpful, especially since Sontag refers to a good baker's dozen to illustrate her arguments. The curious thing--and perhaps this was her point--is that any educated reader is likely to form an immediate memory image of the photo under discussion. We are, indeed, haunted by such photos.

An intriguing, genuinely thought-provoking book--and thought-provoking books are rare these days.

Editorial Review:

From Goya's Disasters of War to news footage and photographs of the conflicts in Vietnam, Rwanda and Bosnia, pictures have been charged with inspiring dissent, fostering violence or instilling apathy in us, the viewer. Regarding the Pain of Others will alter our thinking not only about the uses and meanings of images, but about the nature of war, the limits of sympathy, and the obligations of conscience.

The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History

Dan Karlan, Allan Lazar, Jeremy Salter

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Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

From Santa Claus to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from Uncle Sam to Uncle Tom, here is a compelling, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining compendium of fictional trendsetters and world-shakers who have helped shape our culture and our lives. The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived offers fascinating histories of our most beloved, hated, feared, and revered invented icons and the indelible marks they made on civilization, including:

# 28: Rosie the Riveter, the buff, blue-collar factory worker who helped jump-start the Women's Liberation movement

# 7: Siegfried, the legendary warrior-hero of Teutonic nationalism responsible for propelling Germany into two world wars

# 80: Icarus, the headstrong high-flyer who inspired the Wright brothers and humankind's dreams of defying gravity . . . while demonstrating the pressing need for flight insurance

# 58: Saint Valentine, the hapless, de-canonized loser who lost his heart and head at about the same time

# 43: Barbie, the bodacious plastic babe who became a role model for millions of little girls, setting an impossible standard for beauty and style

Intercultural Communication in Contexts

Judith N. Martin, Thomas K. Nakayama

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

intercultural communication in contexts 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book makes very interesting reading not only as a text book, but as general reading material. It makes the reader think about how communication is affected by culture and opens the mind to deeper thoughts about who we are.

Editorial Review:

This text addresses the core issues and concerns of intercultural communication by integrating three different perspectives: the social psychological, the interpretive, and the critical. The dialectical framework, integrated throughout the book, is used as a lens to examine the relationship of these research traditions.

Society of the Spectacle

Guy Debord

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This should be required reading for first years. 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I haven't read any of the other translations of this text, however, this one reads quite fluidly.

The scope of the book sets the tone for one's consideration of contemporary events and societal relations. As research for a project on collaboration amongst individuals, the book was helpful in demonstrating that many forces are at work and are behind everything that exists in the world. This relates to collaboration in that each of us in a collaboration brings different histories to the table. The book also helps to illuminate the notion of the impossibility of non-collaboration. Even if the individual is from birth completely independant of others (which of course is quite improbable) their very existance comes into being through the cooperation of at least two separate forces (eg. the parents).

Debord shows us that the (two or more) forces which have led us to this point in history have done so, whether willingly or otherwise, together.

Editorial Review:

The Das Kapital of the 20th century. An essential text, and the main theoretical work of the situationists. Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960's up to the present, the volatile theses of this book have decisively transformed debates on the shape of modernity, capitalism, and everyday life in the late 20th century. This is the original translation by Fredy Perlman, kept in print continuously for the last 30 years, keeping the flame alive when no-one else cared.

Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics: Manga, Graphic Novels, and Beyond

Jessica Abel, Matt Madden

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Wanna' Make Comics? Start Here... 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

I brought an advance copy of this book into a college illustration class I teach. The class was quite impressed. In fact, two students went onto Amazon online and bought it instantly. Usually I discourage shopping during class, but Drawing Words and Writing Pictures is an answered prayer for the aspiring comics artist.

This is an ideal text for a 15-week class in comics. It also has guidance for starting an informal collective class. It includes suggestions for the stereotypical solitary artist, who the authors are gracious enough to refer to as ronin. There is a wealth of info on the narrative process, page design, lettering, pens, and even Photoshop scanning advice.

The authors' individual web pages present a lot this DIY info, so search out their sites, see if their philosophies appeal to you. The book contains multiple perspectives from two remarkable artists. Matt Madden is into "formalist" styles, working within Houdini-like constraints. Jessica Abel's La Perdida is one of the great masterpieces of the long-form graphic novel.

From George Herriman to Robert Crumb, Charles Burns, to Kaz and John Porcillino, the book is crammed with a diversity of styles. Wide-ranging and inclusive, no matter what one's preferred comics style, from manga to superhero to alternative, you will find something to like here.

Instructors will find the bibliography alone is worth the price of admission, I teach a seven-week college comics course each fall. My plan is to email the students over the summer, tell them to get this book and get started on the exercises. The ronins will get a head start and their classmates will lose face.

Scott McCloud's Making Comics is also a valuable college course text for serious students, who have some background in reading comics and thinking critically about the artform. Drawing Words and Writing Pictures, however, has practical exercises for students at any level. Highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

"A gold mine of essential information for every aspiring comics artist. Highly recommended." --Scott McCloud

Drawing Words and Writing Pictures is a course on comic creation – for college classes or for independent study – that centers on storytelling and concludes with making a finished comic.  With chapters on lettering, story structure, and panel layout, the fifteen lessons offered – each complete with homework, extra credit activities and supplementary reading suggestions – provide a solid introduction for people interested in making their own comics.  Additional resources, lessons, and after-class help are available on the accompanying website, www.dw-wp.com. 

The Forest People

Colin Turnbull

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Forest People -- Colin M. Turnbull's best-selling, classic work -- describes the author's experiences while living with the BaMbuti Pygmies, not as a clinical observer, but as their friend learning their customs and sharing their daily life.

Turnbull conveys the lives and feelings of the BaMbuti whose existence centers on their intense love for their forest world, which, in return for their affection and trust, provides their every need. We witness their hunting parties and nomadic camps; their love affairs and ancient ceremonies -- the molimo, in which they praise the forest as provider, protector, and deity; the elima, in which the young girls come of age; and the nkumbi circumcision rites, in which the villagers of the surrounding non-Pygmy tribes attempt to impose their culture on the Pygmies, whose forest home they dare not enter.

The Forest People eloquently shows us a people who have found in the forest something that makes their life more than just living -- a life that, with all its hardships and problems and tragedies, is a wonderful thing of happiness and joy.