Category: Current Events

  • Facing the challenges of our times

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson STARDUST AND SCAR TISSUE: Rambles, Ruminations and the Search for an Authentic Culture of Life. By Mick Scott. Opine Press, an imprint of Press 53. 201 pages. $19.95, paperback. Reading Stardust and Scar Tissue, Mick Scott’s new collection of essays, is good for the soul in these challenging times. First,…

  • Playing for keeps

    Yeah, we know Vladimir Putin is a bad guy. But do we know all the ways he is bad? Paul O’Connor takes a look at a book that lays out some things you probably didn’t know. Very interesting things.   Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor   FREEZING ORDER: A TRUE STORY OF RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING,…

  • Saying the right things, doing the wrong

    Paul O’Connor takes a look at a sobering, thought-provoking book about a highly  influential global management and consulting company. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor WHEN MCKINSEY COMES TO TOWN: THE HIDDEN INFLUENCE OF THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL CONSULTING FIRM. By Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe. Doubleday. 386 pages. $29.75. Also available as an audiobook from…

  • All that glitters…

    Paul O’Connor reviews a disturbing true-crime story that shines a light on the dark side of some usually well respected institutions. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor BAD CITY: PERIL AND POWER IN THE CITY. By Paul Pringle. Celadon Books. Hardcover. 304 pages. $29.99, hardcover. Also available from Macmillan Audio, read by Robert Petkoff. 9 hours,…

  • A powerful look at how “we” got here

    Bob Moyer reviews a book about black performers in America – and a great deal more. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer A LITTLE DEVIL IN AMERICA: Notes in Praise of Black Performance. By Hanif Abdurraqib. Random House. 300 pages. $27. This book is much greater than the sum of its pages. Hanif Abdurraqib has created…

  • Through a screen, darkly

    From time to time, my younger son, a Navy officer, contributes a review. This one is particularly timely, not to mention thought-provoking. Reviewed by Lt. Samuel Brinson LIKEWAR: The Weaponization of Social Media. By P. W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 416 pages. $28 Over the last few years, the internet and…