book

Book Review: Turkmeniscam

June 4, 2009

I don’t know about you, but I always love a good story about how the U.S. government screws over its constituents. Turkmeniscam by Ken Silverstein (journalist and fellow Jew) promises such a story and delivers with style. The subtitle, “How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship,” says it all. The amount of corruption that Silverstein uncovers in the United States government is alarming.  He starts with the background of the fallout against Jack Abramoff and other lobbyists ...

2 comments

Book Review: Sashenka by Simon Montefiore

May 14, 2009

When I was little, and even through today, my mom used to tell me, “Don’t be so serious, Klara Tsetkin!”  Who, of course, was a feminist and very political woman, subsequently banned in exile to the Soviet Union, where she died. I was never really as hardcore as she was, but I was very serious in my belief of equality for women in everything that encompassed short of calling myself a feminist. Well, Sashenka (diminutive of Alexandra in Russian) Zeitlin ...

4 comments

Quickie Book Review: The Golden Veil by Kim Wilkins

April 21, 2009

What it’s about: Two worlds, one is today’s, the other is the place where all pre-Christian Russian mythology has gone Why it’s good: Very pressing plot, complicated characters, an intricately researched Russian culture Why it’s bad: Too short! Moral of the book:Still important to leave a lil’ somethin’ somethin’ for the domovoi Will I like it:  Yes, if you love fantasy and mythology, combined with Russian culture

3 comments

Quickie Book Review: Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany

April 7, 2009

What it’s about: Serious Egyptian college students in America ponder their future in a post 9-11 America Why it’s good: Shows multi-faceted face of Egyptian society and gives a peek into Egyptian culture, particulalry in the face of xenophobic Americans. Also tackles womens’ issues in Egypt. Why it’s bad: Has several indistinguishable characters and no seeming ending goal, making the reader feel deprived, author dismisses all Zionism as evil, even though Jews are supposedly “ok” Moral of the book: Don’t ...

0 comments

Next Entries →

{ }