Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Price of Admission

The Art of the Steal is not only a superbly crafted documentary about high crimes by the rich and powerful, it is also an inside look at the ruthlessness of the philanthropy industry exemplified by the notoriously duplicitous Pew Charitable Trust. For art devotees as well as champions of the underdog, the film is an inspirational story as an expose well done. For anyone who has been trampled on by benefactor bullies like the Pew oil magnates and their money grubbing offspring, seeing this misanthropic bunch of scoundrels get their comeuppance is well worth the price of admission.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Felony and Mayhem Press

My fear is not that I shall one day look back on the last half-dozen years as dreary and utterly wasted. My fear is that one day I shall look back on them as the best days of my life.

--The Herring Seller's Apprentice by L.C. Tyler

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Black Mamba Boy

Black Mamba Boy, a novel by Nadifa Mohamed, is a stunning debut.

Monday, September 06, 2010

The Siege of Shangri-La

In the six centuries preceding the British invasion of Lhasa in 1904, fewer than two hundred Europeans had managed to penetrate Tibet's diplomatic isolation and return home to write about their travels.

--The Siege of Shangri-La by Michael McRae