Patrick Flanery just released a new novel titled I Am No One which focuses on the Truman Show question of whether or not our lives are being observed by some grand overseer. We all know at least one person who is paranoid by government surveillance, you can spot them by the unnecessarily bright piece of tape over their laptop’s web cam. The main thesis of Flanery’s book however, is that government surveillance may have a psychological effect on the citizenry that we were not expecting. Without making the conversation political, he points out the expansive nature of the state and how it has effected the …
British actress Louise Linton spent her gap year, an academic year between secondary school and higher education, in Zambia . She decided to publish a memoir about her experiences and titled it In Congo’s Shadow. Since the release of the book, she has received intense backlash from the people of Zambia who have pointed out numerous factual errors in her memoir. Zambians and non-Zambians alike have also criticized Linton’s overall condescending tone throughout her memoir. Image courtesy of https://n.pr/29tnJoM The most forthright criticism from the Zambian people is that Linton is out right wrong about simple historical claims she made in the memoir. Linton …
It is 2016 and almost every day there is a new story that shows how diversity is becoming more and more common in all aspects of life. Gender norms are being shattered. Women and men are experiencing liberation from the traditions forced upon us by Judeo-Christian values. During this time of social progress, we are still dealing with the propagation of potentially harmful gender stereotypes in litreature. It is important that we observe and discuss how gender is portrayed and whether or not such portrayals are harmful to progressive values. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James Book Buttons Embed ISBN: 9780345803481 Anastasia …
Economic theory has been a major player in this election year. We have Bernie Sanders advocating for Democratic Socialism and Donald Trump advocating good business practices, whatever that means. Behind these two symbols are millions of people who truly believe that their particular theory is right. The problem however, and possibly the problem with democracy itself, is that the majority of voters aren’t fully aware of what exactly they are advocating. This is why reading is so important. It is an exercise in calming the mind down, attempting to put away our biases, and engaging new material that may or may …
Ben Winters just released his new book Underground Airlines. The book is a fictional account of America if the Civil War never happened. The main character is a bounty hunter named Victor who was once a slave. After making a deal for his own freedom, Victor ironically earns a living by hunting down escaped slaves and returning them to their owner. As he began writing his book, Winters struggled with the idea of being a white author writing about slavery. He stated in an interview with the New York Times that, “I had reservations every day, up to the present day, because the subject …
