Book Review: China Dolls by Lisa See It is 1938, the tail end of the Great Depression, and San Francisco is trying to shake off its blues with a World’s Fair on Treasure Island. They’re going to need a lot of employees for that, and the prospect of a job draws Grace Lee all the… Continue reading Book Review: China Dolls
Tag: China
Book Review: The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation
Book Review: The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation edited by Don Ball This thick pamphlet is a collection of essays by literary translators on the art of translation. It’s a product of the National Endowment for the Arts, and is available from them as a free download (or in paper form at NEA… Continue reading Book Review: The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation
Book Review: Jewish Noir
Book Review: Jewish Noir edited by Kenneth Wishnia Many of the themes of noir fiction, alienation, hostile society, darkness and bitter endings, resonate with the experience of Jewish people. So it’s not surprising that it was easy to find submissions for an anthology of thirty-plus noir stories with Jewish themes. (Not all of the authors are… Continue reading Book Review: Jewish Noir
Book Review: Herblock’s Here and Now
Book Review: Herblock’s Here and Now by Herbert Block Shortly after reviewing Herblock at Large, I discovered this volume in the local used book store. It was published in 1955, and contains many of Mr. Block’s political cartoons from the early 1950s. This included his Pulitzer-winning Joseph McCarthy work; Herblock appears to have actually coined the… Continue reading Book Review: Herblock’s Here and Now
Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition
Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition edited by Judith Merrill This 1960 book features a selection of speculative fiction short stories published during the 1958-60 time period. Editor Judith Merrill provides an introduction about the concept of wonder, chatty introductions to each story (she doesn’t think much of Kingsley Amis as a… Continue reading Book Review: The Year’s Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition
Book Review: The Deaths of Tao
Book Review: The Deaths of Tao by Wesley Chu Note: This is the sequel to The Lives of Tao and this review may contain SPOILERS for the previous volume. Millions of years ago, the Quasing crashed on Earth. They could not survive in Earth’s atmosphere, and were forced to piggyback inside the native lifeforms. They managed… Continue reading Book Review: The Deaths of Tao
Manga Review: Ranma 1/2
Manga Review: Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi Soun Tendou, a widowed martial arts instructor in the Nerima suburb of Tokyo, has three daughters: gentle Kasumi, cunning Nabiki and fiery Akane. They are surprised to learn one day that their father made an agreement with his old friend Genma Saotome to marry one of them to… Continue reading Manga Review: Ranma 1/2
Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo
Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo by Canfield Cook Squadron Leader Robert “Lucky” Terrell has at last gotten his small group of RAF Stratohawk fighter-bombers to China. There’s a small problem–the Japanese launched a major offensive while our heroes were enroute, and the airfields they were planning to use have been overrun. Only one badly… Continue reading Book Review: Springboard to Tokyo
Book Review: Headstrong
Book Review: Headstrong by Rachel Swaby This is a collection of short biographical sketches of women who made advancements in various scientific fields. According to the introduction, it was inspired when the New York Times ran an obituary of Yvonne Brill that listed her home cooking as her most important accomplishment, followed by being a wife… Continue reading Book Review: Headstrong
Comic Strip Review: The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Ten: The Junior Commandos
Comic Strip Review: The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Ten: The Junior Commandos by Harold Gray Little Orphan Annie was one of the all-time great comic strips, debuting in 1924. The story centered on a plucky orphan girl with curly red hair (which was considered unattractive at the time) and her attempts to get by… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: The Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume Ten: The Junior Commandos