Review by Gerard Martinez
By the time of his death in 1999, Wilt Chamberlain publicly claimed to have had sex with 20,000 women. If you do the math, that averages to 1.2 women per day, every day, starting at the age of 15. Or something like that. 2,000 is a more reasonable number, according to Chamberlain’s longtime friend and occasional lover, Lynda Huey. When privately questioned about the sensational claim, he responded, “What’s a zero between friends?” It gives you an idea as to what kind of man Wilt Chamberlain was: audacious and boastful, charismatic and egotistical, captivating and enigmatic. (more…)
Reviewed by Sonat Suer
“You should have realized it by now, but I still feel the urge to say it. You have no cosmic significance! Therefore, there is only one sensible thing to do. Let me tell you how to do it.”
These are the first sentences of The Book of Real and Imaginary Drugs (BRID), a detailed and systematic study of drugs and intoxication, written by one of the most original and obscure writers of our time. People who are familiar with the writings of Hede, usually know him as the writer of The Art of Intercourse With Intelligent Beings: A Case Study With Dolphins. BRID is very much in the same spirit. It is full of bold claims and irritating — or patently false– conclusions about the meaning of life. His style on the other hand, is quite different, being less sarcastic and more to the point than Intercourse. (more…)
Review by Sarah Caitlin Lavery
The term “chick-flick” is a staple in the vocabulary of the average American filmgoer; the two words alone are enough to ensure groans from males and fluttering eyelashes from girls tempting their boyfriends to join them in affirmations of girl-power. Sex and the City became a cultural phenomenon by following its specific formula, and cliché-ridden films like How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days reaffirm the chick-flick mantra. These girl are tough and independent, with fabulous jobs, even more fabulous apartments, and white-knights who unfailingly come to the rescue before all hope is lost. Though Lauren Weisberger’s novel The Devil Wears Prada is immersed in couture references and the excitement of Manhattan, it transcends the formulaic chick-lit genre. (more…)
Reviewed by T.J. Tranchell
Late last year, Stephen King gave us a short “crime” novel, “The Colorado Kid,” with no answers. This year, King does it again. His new novel, “Cell,” concerns a group of survivors after “The Pulse” a signal that goes out to every cell phone in the world and drives the receiver of the signal crazy. (more…)