august 2004

click here for permalink August 17, 2004

I'm a big fan of reviews; I love reading about movies I don't plan to see and books I don't plan to read — almost as much as I love reading about books and movies I love (or hate) and comparing everyone else's interpretations with mine...

This week I read two reviews of the recently released novel Checkpoint, which follows a fictional dialog between two friends, one of whom is planning to assassinate President Bush (the other, naturally, plans to talk him out of it). The reviewer at CNN.com was cautiously complimentary, first disclaiming the subject matter then congratulating the author on his timeliness and finally lauding him as a "master propagandist" (it's high praise if you consider the source).

Charles Taylor, reviewing Checkpoint for Salon.com, offers a scathingly thorough counterpoint which is introduced nicely by the following excerpt:

"There has been no other period in my life — not during Watergate, not during Iran-Contra or the rest of the Reagan administration — when picking up a morning newspaper seemed like such an invitation to begin your day in a state of crippling rage. The wish to know the worst has to fight it out daily with the desire to get through the day, to work, to spend time with your loved ones, to experience pleasure. There are people I know, not silly or shallow people or people easily given to anger, who cannot look at George W. Bush without simmering with rage."

Body as BillboardFor those of you who are simmering silently, unable to spew your political views on CNN or Salon, you may have some things you want to get off your chest... Of course, you could put a few choice words on it instead. Check out Body as Billboard and my new favorite campaign slogan.