4
POPSFranken-Pets: A total loss of perspective
I'm going to have to start by saying I love people, and I love animals, I even love people who own animals. I've had pets myself, and I'm not attacking you personally when I say... THIS IS TOTAL INSANITY!!!! People who are obsessed with anthropomorphizing domesticated animals are really starting to freak me out. (Consider the wing-nuts who care for feral cat colonies even though they decimate the local ecosystem, and in Texas, kill off endangered species!) At a certain point we have to consider the situation realistically and draw some boundries, because it seems like our love could very well qualify as animal cruelty. After all, isn't treating an animal like a human, and placing upon it the expectations and burden of fictive human emotional relationship really unfair to the animal? Look at what we've done to them in the name of our narcissistic obsession! We are destroying them to satisfy our own emotional needs. Don't be cruel to your cat: be realistic.
0
POPSChicago Sun: New focus on women authors Other major changes under Ms. Reed: "I do more graphic novel, food, and music books because I realize these appeal to different audiences. I also added poetry and politics to the types of books we review. I experimented with themed sections. My main thrust has been in highlighting local authors and mainstream authors who come to town. We do a lot more interviews with authors now and I encourage our reviewers to take an attitude. I want our section to be entertaining and engaging even if readers don't go out and buy all the books we review.... I encourage our reviewers to take strong points of views. We are a tabloid so we feel we're entitled to have some fun. I've insisted that reviewers' taglines be somewhat clever and funny. I've found that full-time freelancers often can't break out of the mold and the volleying of plot developments. I want my reviewers to write essays about books, not plot points."
0
POPS3 Books on Male Sexuality... and Splooge --Chronicle, 9/07 Reviewer Camille Paglia has been called a "feminist that other feminists love to hate," a "post-feminist feminist," and one of the world's top 100 intellectuals. She describes three very different books on male sexuality, with thoughtful criticisms of each. I quoted from "Sperm Counts: Overcome by Man's Most Precious Fluid" by Lisa Jean Moore, simply because it's a funny passage. The other two books are Murat Aydemir's "Images of Bliss: Ejaculation, Masculinity, Meaning" and Angus McLaren's "Impotence: A Cultural History".
0
POPSPatron Removes Kids' Sex Book From Library--PW, 9/07 Karkos could have challenged the book through a formal process within the library and its board--and thus allowed the community to participate in deciding the fate of the book. Instead, she took it into her own hands to decide for everyone what is moral and what books should be available. By holding every copy of the book, she prevents anyone else from reading it and forming their own opinions. Regardless of the content of the book, Karkos' actions fly in the face of civil society and its crucial community aspects.
0
POPSDeath of the Short Story, Buzz Balls & Hype, Jun 2007 Henkin makes a great point: short stories are perfect for the short attention span. So why aren't they selling? I often try a new author by reading her short stories. I know that an author's short stories may be very different from a novel, as the different lengths require such different approaches. But often reading the short stories is an easy intro to someone's style.
0
POPS"Girly" book covers discourage boys--Times, 9/07 The article highlights a couple of books with plots that should appeal to boys. It's a pity they're given bright pink covers. Surely that increases boys' resistance to reading, and especially their resistance to reading books with female protagonists. (For more on that, see: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1494932,00.html and: http://www.readforpleasure.com/2007/09/why-women-read-more-than-men-or-not.html
0
POPSSalon on Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" A perceptive article. It's interesting that Miller mentions the placeholder theory, which holds that writing a flat character lets the reader insert him or herself into the role. That's an old theory and dated in some ways, but it's possible that teenagers do at times insert themselves into stories, imagining themselves as central characters.
0
POPSEast African Views on Sci Fi, 9/07 I'm intrigued with the developing world's view of western sci fi. Our technology-centric culture, and our western mythologies, must sound foreign in more ways than one. (Note that this article is actually from Kenya, one of the more developed African nations, with strong universities and reasonable internet access.)
1
POPSHarry Potter doesn't increase kids' reading -NYTimes Jul 2007 Kids read if their parents read. And most adults don't read. I found some horrifying statistics on how little people read--and how reading dwindles as people age. Adults actually read less than kids do. Great example, huh? http://www.readforpleasure.com/2007/01/how-much-do-we-read.html
0
POPSAZA And you thought the animals were cared for my no accounts lol
1
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update