Tag Archives: Society and Culture

The KunstlerCast

Posted on November 9, 2011 by smellincoffee

The KunstlerCast: Conversations with James Howard Kunstler …the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl. © 2011 Duncan Crary, James Howard Kunstler 300 pages James Howard Kunstler is a journalist turned social critic and the author of numerous books, most prominently The … Continue reading →

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You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train

Posted on March 26, 2011 by smellincoffee

You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times© 1995, 2002 Howard Zinn224 pages Howard Zinn not only taught history: he helped make it. The product of a working-class family in New York, Zinn left … Continue reading →

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Travels with Charley

Posted on July 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

Travels with Charley in Search of America© 1962 John Steinbeck246 pages Author John Steinbeck is perhaps most famous for The Grapes of Wrath, the story of the displaced Joad family who travel to California from their home in  Oklahoma in … Continue reading →

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Weapons of Satire

Posted on June 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist Writings on the American-Phillipine War© 1992 Mark Twain; edited by Jim Zwick.256 pages Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword; He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger’s wealth is … Continue reading →

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The Iron Heel

Posted on May 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Iron Heel© 1907 Jack London354 pages (Mysteriously, my public library’s 1907 copy of this book has survived a century of use, although its tattered pages testify that the years have been harsh on it. If it ever had a … Continue reading →

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The Road to Wigan Pier

Posted on March 21, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Road to Wigan Pier© 1937 George Orwell191 pages, including forward for members of the Left Book Club.  (My own copy: I adore tattered old paperbacks.)        I read this primarily for a European history class taught by … Continue reading →

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Letter from the Birmingham Jail

Posted on March 17, 2010 by smellincoffee

Letter from the Birmingham Jail © 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. 35 pages Don’t say it can’t be done: The battle’s just begun Take it from Doctor King, You too can learn to sing, So — drop the gun! (Pete … Continue reading →

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The Geography of Nowhere

Posted on February 24, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Geography of Nowhere: the Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape© 1993 James Howard Kunstler303 pages Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tacky Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same There’s a green one, … Continue reading →

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A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

Posted on February 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

A Power Governments Cannot Suppress © 2007 Howard Zinn 293 pages This year I have become convincted that democracy is not something that happens at the ballot-box but on the streets. It consists in mass movements forcing the institutions that … Continue reading →

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Red Emma Speaks

Posted on February 4, 2010 by smellincoffee

Red Emma Speaks: An Emma Goldman Reader© 1973, 1996 ed. Alix Kates Shulman464 pages           Emma Goldman was an incorrigible political activist and social critic during the Gilded Age, speaking out against nearly everything society held dear – the government, capitalism, … Continue reading →

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