Tag Archives: American Studies

The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome by John F. Wasik

American Literature June 10, 2009 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: Subtitled “Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream,” this book analyzes the housing crisis and reflects upon ways that America can move forward with affordable, environmentally sustainable architecture. Review: The Cul-de-Sac Syndrome is a good companion piece to James Howard Kunstler’s A Geography of Nowhere. Author John F. Wasik offers a cogent overview of the current housing crisis along with an analysis of the unsustainability of the current fads in American housing. He explains trends in environmentally conscious architecture and building, and offers his ideas…

Christless Christianity by Michael Horton

American Literature June 5, 2009 Superfast Reader 5 Comments

Synopsis: An examination and critique of the current state of Christianity in America, which shows the pervasive influences of Pelagianism and Gnosticism–these heresies are closer than you think. Review: Michael Horton had me at “Joel Osteen.” I was blown away by the incisiveness of Christless Christianity, a stunning work that made me so, so thankful to be attending a church deeply rooted in Reformation orthopraxis. The first section of the book deals with the prosperity gospel, looking at Osteen and others of his ilk who…

Our Babies, Ourselves by Meredith Small

American Literature August 1, 2008 Superfast Reader 6 Comments

Synopsis: An exploration of how parenting styles around the world bring into question our definition of normal infant behavior. Review: I was familiar already with a lot of the content of Our Babies, Ourselves, because Meredith Small’s findings crop up in a lot of literature on attachment parenting. However, it was still well worth reading because she delves so deeply into issues of evolution, natural selection, biology, and human development to demonstrate why parenting styles vary across cultural lines. She looks at tribes like the…

The Starter Marriage by Pamela Paul

American Literature March 28, 2008 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: An overview of the recent phenomenon of marriages that end before they reach the five-year mark. Review: I hate books that never tell you more than what you read in the title. I generally enjoy books like this, as I’m keenly interested in human behavior and social trends, but this book really didn’t do it for me. I never felt like Paul’s interviewees came alive, and as a result I wasn’t sucked into the drama of their lives. I gave up on it 2/3…

The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe

American Literature October 28, 2007 Superfast Reader 4 Comments

Synopsis: 3 young women meet in the typing pool at Fabian Publishing, 1952, hoping for love and finding that life has more to offer than they ever imagined. Review: I haven’t done much rereading since starting this blog, mostly thanks to the TBR tsunami that Bookmooch yielded out of a few boxes of discarded books my mom cleaned out of her house and sent to me. My reading life has been consumed by a tyranny of the new, but sometimes an old friend is just…

Last Night in Paradise by Katie Roiphe

American Literature August 8, 2007 Superfast Reader 7 Comments

Synopsis: A look at sexual mores in the age of AIDS. Review: I like a good polemic as much as the next person, particularly when it involves people having lots of sex, mostly because I always feel like that’s nice work if you can get it. Last Night in Paradise isn’t hard-hitting investigative journalism as much as it’s an apologia for all the sex that Roiphe and her friends had in the 80s and 90s: “look, we may have slept around but we are always…

Who Stole Feminism? by Christina Hoff Sommers

American Literature April 24, 2007 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: Hoff Sommers debunks “gender feminism” and the scare tactics its proponents use to promote their radical agenda. Review: Susan Faludi’s Backlash came out when I was in college, and had a tremendous impact on me. Today, I consider myself a feminist with reservations. I’ll speak out wherever I can against injustice against women, but where feminism aligns itself with the culture of death in our society I stop being a supporter. My feminism has grown into a hatred of injustice against all who are…

Unprotected by Anonymous, MD

On Reading April 4, 2007 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: A survey of the state of affairs in campus counseling, presenting the argument that sexual activity is being left out of the equation with disastrous results. Review: The full title, Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in her Profession Endangers Every Student, offers a very good sense of the writer’s agenda, and she provides a great deal of evidence to support her claims. The term “political correctness” seems designed to tip off the right that she’s “one of us,” but really it’s…

Stiffed by Susan Faludi

American Literature December 26, 2006 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: An essay-driven look at various crises facing American men.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

American Literature November 25, 2006 Superfast Reader 9 Comments

Synopsis: A brainy high school senior narrates the events that led to the death of her charismatic and disturbed teacher. Review: I stayed up until 1:30 am last night blazing through the last 200 pages of the book, in a state of amazement (and not a little jealousy) over the superb plotting Pessl married to her delicious prose and intriguing characters.

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