I bought this book after seeing a glowing review in the New Yorker. It's the story of a hoax that took place in the early part of the nineteenth century. It's full of great information and wonderful anecdotes. The story itself is fantastic. That this could have ever happened is beyond belief. For people interested in something out of the ordinary, you won't be disappointed.

This volume from Paradox Press gives you a wonderful illustration of the history of gang warfare. See the forerunners of today's Crips and Bloods! You'll love all the art, and the writing is good, too.

This is another book review by Wolfie and Kansas, the boonie dogs from Toto, Guam. "The Big Book of Thugs" contains vignettes by 57 different comic artists about notorious gangs and mobs. We read this book because we heard there was a section about a gang called "the Hounds". It turned out that "the Hounds" was simply a name for a human gang. However, dogs do play a role in some of the stories in this book. A canine trained to snatch purses was an early member of the Crazy Butch Gang. The "emperor" of the Highbinder Society used dogs as bodyguards. We think these examples just show that there is no such thing as a bad dog. There are only good dogs trained by bad humans. . . . The art in this book is outstanding. The book is in black and white, but that is not a problem for relatively color blind animals like ourselves. Another big plus is that, unlike two of the four other Paradox Press "Big Books" that our noncanine animal companion ordered on the net or by mail, "The Big Book of Thugs" was not missing several pages in the middle

This choppy, helter-skelter look at life in a decayed, forgotten tenement on Avenue A in New York, mostly centers on Jo-Jo (the narrator...usually) and his attempts to not only provide stability for his wife and newborn child, but also for the uneasy community that has formed, mostly illegally, in his building and the building next door (people can literally jump through windows, from building to building. they are that squeezed together).

Unfortunately, Jo-Jo has taken up in a community where arson is considered to be an acceptable way of driving away unwanted tenants, people who don't fit in--like a key troublemaker, DeJesus, who resents the gentrifiers who have moved in and are trying to establish a new order. Also, drugs never seem far away from this somewhat squalid environment; many of the pushers that swarmed the neighbourhood were driven off with baseball bats, but they could at any moment try to gain their previous foothold, and they also may be coming around to exact revenge, just one of Jo-Jo's many headaches as he becomes a sort-of leader of his building. Thirdly, gossip lines are a double-edged sword amongst all the restless, poverty-stricken tenants; much of the text of this novel is snippets of tense conversation, as the characters all interact in their own little world of rumour: Is so-and-so selling drugs out of her apartment? Is that troublemaking son of you-know-who back from South America? Did what's her name really walk out on her husband and set up just a few doors away, with _______? The community stays self-aware and conscious of its state, but privacy is out the window (which, again, doesn't lead much of anywhere), and grudges fester, sometimes spurred by misunderstanding and miscommunication.

Each chapter of the novel does bring forward the overall plot--involving the ever-changing dynamic between more than twenty lost souls surviving in an otherwise abandoned environment, where, actually, not much changes at all. But within each chapter, scenes are quick, chopped to bits, often giving just a glimpse of a slice of life. Collectively, it all works to form a bleak, but fairly compelling, pattern--and it's hard not to like Jo-Jo and his family from early on. The here-and-now portions, jagged as they are, are further broken up by many scenes that represent Jo-Jo flashing back to moments in his past, often so far back that we get to know about his extended family, especially his grandmother who first lived in the neighbourhood in 1903 (we see that much has changed since then). Eventually, Jo-Jo's grandmother returns to the Avenue, and we get to see her shocked reaction.

The ending is too quick, and not distinguishable from the rest of the book, except for one fast tragedy that seems tossed in for shock-value. Maybe this is part of the point, but on an emotional level, I found the finale unsatisfying and rushed. I was left having to forget about these characters and leave them to their spirit-numbing plight. A harsh tactic used by the author, and although I never expected a rainbow with a pot of gold to appear near Jo-Jo's building, I felt slightly cheated at the end. Out with a whimper.

I just finished working on a feature film based on this novel. It was a great experience. After I read the script, I read the book. Both are powerful, emotional, truthful and moving. The movie is going to be a wonderful piece of work. The book already is.

I really like this book. It's not like any other book I ever read. It is compelling all the way through. The title comes from a Dead Kennedy's song, and I didn't know what to expect when my friend gave it to me and said I had to read it, but it gets you into the struggle and lives of regular people on the lower edge of society who don't have much money or power or anything. It's up to the minute in that way, and political too, but what it really has that makes it special is that it has a rhythm in the writing that's almost like a song and makes you just keep reading and reading. It's really hard to put down. And there's such a wide array of crazy characters, both the heroes and villains, the author makes you see what they're up against, and how they fight each other, but it's really some one else they should be fighting. I think this is an important book. It's full of humor and insight, and it really makes you think.

Edited by William O. Einwechter and containing chapters by some of the Christian Right's most unstable extremists, Explicitly Christian Politics is nauseating. Attempting to deny what Christ said about his kingdom not being of this world, these devils would substitute Christ's heavenly kingdom for their own dictatorship.

The book's premise is straightforward: Jesus Christ is both Creator and King, and therefore all of life, both private and public, is subject to the author's interpretation. That is, the authors are pretending to be god. The implications of this should be obvious, but alas are not: today 1/2 of the U.S. Senate would sleep soundly at if the reigns of goverment were turned over to Pat Robertson- or, e.g., if John Ashcroft were to become attorney general.

Every ideology is inherently hubris, since it inevitably makes assumptions concerning creation and the nature of reality and the source and meaning of right and wrong.

Hopefully Americans will learn of the diabolical nature of these Reconstructionist theocrats before it's too late.

Edited by William O. Einwechter and containing chapters by some of the Christian Right's most distinguished thinkers, Explicitly Christian Politics is an impressive read. Attempting what is today unheard of -- an approach not only to political issues but also political theory that is rooted entirely in Christian thought -- it succeeds in making its case in a consistently scholarly fashion that is still light enough to entertain and to reach virtually any lay reader.

The book's premise is straightforward: Jesus Christ is both Creator and King, and therefore all of life, both private and public, is subject to His rule. The implications of this should be obvious, but alas are not: modern society becomes hysterical at the very thought of anything which might, in modern terms, "mix politics with religion." Of course this hysteria is nonsense. Every ideology is inherently religious, since it inevitably makes assumptions concerning creation and the nature of reality and the source and meaning of right and wrong. But the Christian religion and its trappings are out of vogue in this century, while the cults of the all-powerful state and the relativistic individual reign supreme, and it should surprise no one that the acolytes of the modern polytheism should seek to silence the ancient monotheism at every opportunity.

So just what are the implications of a consistently Christian political theory? Perhaps it is best first to understand what the implications are not. While the authors call for a Constitutional amendment recognizing Jesus Christ as Lord and as the Source of its life, liberty and law -- much the same as almost every other Western nation has -- they emphatically do not call for what moderns refer to as a "theocracy". "Theocracy," which is to say, rule by God, already exists: Christ's kingdom is "not of this world", and He rules the affairs of men no matter what they do or say. Rather, the authors believe a consistently Biblical social theory requires a separation of church and state, that the two institutions, along with the family, are ordained by God and meant to operate in very different spheres. They do not call for the submission of government to the church, or any earthly clergy: what they want is conformity of civil life, and indeed of civilization, to the teachings of Christ.

In practice, this means that the authors do not favor a change in the form of American government; they favor a change in its character and beliefs. It is an ideological and spiritual revolution they seek, not a revolution of the modern sort, and it is entirely based on principles familiar. The authors stake the claim of Jesus Christ's rights as King, but do not call for an Earthly king to rule in His stead; instead, they call for repentance and conversion on the part of those who do rule on Earth -- the electorate -- and for the election of leaders who will faithfully discharge their Constitutional duties not as faithful humanists or faithful Marxists but as faithful Christians.

And what does leadership as a faithful Christian mean, aside from not committing adultery, not breaking campaign promises, and not selling secrets to the Chinese? Well, actually, it means a change in worldviews, just as did the shift from the old order to New Deal statism in the 1930s. The authors take time to explore the Christian foundations of liberty in the modern world, noting correctly that of all the ideologies in history, only Christianity produced modern political and economic freedom. They detail the depravity which results (and which has resulted) from an abandonment of absolute right and wrong, and show why no adequate legal standard -- and certainly no truly free one -- can be built apart from the standard of Scripture. They trace the free market's roots in Biblical law and show why government must be both very small and very unintrusive. They offer a completely new paradigm for education, and call for reason over "sentimentalism." In short, they address, and address well, most of the vital issues of the day.

One cannot come away from Explicitly Christian Politics without a deepened realization of the religious nature of the "isms" of our time and the abysmally bad politics that flows from them; likewise, one cannot read this volume without an appreciation for the fact that these Christians have devised a better model. Quibble with the details all you like: Explicitly Christian Politics is nothing short of the rebirth of a vital Christian social theory, far beyond the "me-too" pluralism of the Christian Right to date. There's something special here. it is very clearly not going away.

Copyright: Rod D. Martin, 8 May 1998.

I read this book in one afternoon. I didn't want to put it down, becasue I was eager to get to the bottom of it all. Unfortunately, there is no bottom! Except for "Joey One Way", who I assume is Rose's fantasy of himself, there is no development of the other characters in the book. Resultingly, there's no real story.

Pick up a copy of "Kill, Kill, Faster, Faster" and you will finish in a day or two. Not just because it is a short read, but because Rose skillfully moves you between at least four separate worlds: Joey's past as husband, father and murderer; his experiences in prison; his present as a writer for a "gritty" TV crime series and a sometime violent criminal; and a future waiting for him that I won't reveal so as not to ruin a surprising ending.

Joey is a convict and an ex-heroin abuser who killed his wife in a jealous rage and has spent the last seventeen years in prison. While incarcerated he survives through a readiness to defend himself against assailants. He also succumbs to the sexual advances of a cellmate. It is this cellmate, however, that encourages him to make use of his time in prison by writing. Joey completes a script that makes it to the outside world and is a sensation. An established TV executive, Markie Mann, arranges for Joey to be released from prison with the idea that the writing ex-con will "juice up" the scripts for his shows.

Joey soons begins an affair with Fleur, the producer's wife. Fleur is a French woman who has herself spent time in prison for prostitution. She is attracted to Joey from the start and immediately sets out to seduce him. The lovers encounter an obstacle, however, because Joey is unable to consistently achieve intercouse with Fleur. The years in prison witnessing and participating in acts of violence and sexual liaisons have taken their toll. Fleur sticks with Joey for more than three months and the two of them develop a genuine love. This tenderness comes through rather subtly because Joey's wants are what necessarily take center stage in this novel. Those wants are a reconciliation with the twin daughters that he left behind and a hope to avoid the heroin that calls from every corner.

Rose is superb at presenting Joey's desperation. The ex-con is against the clock and Rose never lets us forget it. The novel covers the three months in Joey's life beginning with the limousine that picks him outside of prison in upstate New York and ending with his ultimate fate. Joey's life on the outside is rarely easy. He sleeps in a half-way house at night, and must confront his former mother-in-law in order to make contact with his daughters. At the office Markie and other writers mutilate the scripts that Joey sends them. To further complicate Joey's ability to cope, Markie has his own erotic adventures planned for his "discovery".

Rose's writing is suspenseful and brings to mind the sparsely effective prose of Manuel Puig. Rose writes from Joey's viewpoint and in his voice. The author is mostly effective in bringing this off, but occasionally Rose's erudition peaks through Joey's discourse. A minor flaw in an excellent work.

Rose also provides an insight into the creative process worth at least a dozen graduate papers. The script that earned Joey's release from prison results from the contribution of several of his fellow convicts. Joey freely admits this. His own contributions to the TV show, however, are erased altogether when his name is not included among the credits.

A fantastic book. Fast paced, energetic. Some of the comments about lack of plot or story-line are probably true. So what? This book is probably in my personal favourites top-20 along with Richard Hell's "Go Now", Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club' and most books by John Fante and Charles Buckowski. Looking forward to his next book...

The editor, Andrew Ross, describes this book as "an expanded edition" of a special issue of the journal "Social Text". Potential readers should be warned however that it is also an expurgated edition, from which Alan Sokal's celebrated parody of of recent socio-cultural jargon has been suppressed. One understands Professor Ross's chagrin at the cruel and unusual joke that Professor Sokal practised on him. However, the unadvertised deletion of Sokal's contribution is a hoax on the buyers of "Science Wars" who naturally expect to find in it the one item of the original publication that has received worldwide attention.

The subsequent reviewer found the current tome missing in scholarship, merely by not having reprinted Sokal's piece from the social text issue of the same name (science wars). If one cared to read through the book, however, one would notice a number of quite specific reasons for this: among these that the book is meant as a counter argument to Sokal, Levitt & Gross's readings of their fave foe: pomos and other dangerous 'leftists' (what does this mean?). It is no secret that these authors are fired by a profound hostility and unwillingness to engage with the material with which they are dealing. This has already been shown ad nauseam in the litterature (see for instance Callon's review in social studies of science). Nevertheless this book stands as a nice response to some of the worst nonsense that has come out of the sokal/gross tradition. Specifically one should not miss Hart's devastating analysis of Gross et al's 'scientific neutrality' and their analytical abilities in Higher Superstition. Other pieces such as Mike Lynch's are good too; some however, are merely perpetuating the current stand off in a nasty 'war' (among these both of Ross's pieces). So is this review, I presume. That said, I should stop. Read both sides before you judge, you might get to know a good bit about rhetorical wars from the putatively neutral and objective scientists (sokal, gross, koertge etc).