Volume I, Issue 15
September 15 - September 22, 1997

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Unidentified Light Reading
A bumper crop of UFO books reveals the weirdest creatures of all...us. [2]
Christopher Weir

Literary Conceit
Gay writer David Leavitt's dangerous, near-perfect self-mythology gets the read-through. [3]
Blake de Pastino

Snake Oil Cures Turbulent Instinct
A collection of writings, edited by Gene Fowler, gives a fascinating look at medicine and pseudo-medicine in the Old West. [4]
Jesse Sublett

Eros, Apes, and Troubled Ireland
A critical look at the latest literary offerings. [5]
edited by Leonard Gill

Speed Reader
Tijuana Bibles by Bob Adelman; Wild Justice by Michael Lieder & Jake Page; Get Back: The Let It Be Disaster by Doug Suply; Circle of Love Over Death by Matilde Melibovsky. [6]
Blake de Pastino, Julie Birnbaum, Angie Drobnic, Tracy L. Cooley

Nom De Plumage
Kenn Kaufman tells a fascinating tale of how he spent his youth criss-crossing the country in an attempt to capture a bird-watching record. [7]
Gregory McNamee

Media Mix
O'odham poet and linguist Ofelia Zepeda offers a marvelous new hand-printed book and CD package. [8]

Now What?
Love to read? Need some clever ideas? Our library of resources and staff picks are guaranteed to turn on plenty of mental light bulbs via your electrified eye sockets. [9]

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Talk Back
Our online BBS is just like the Algonquin Round Table, only electronic, sober, and without all the famous people.

I mean, look at these UFO books. The Roswell Report: Case Closed? UFO Crash at Roswell: The Genesis of a Modern Myth?? Give me a break! I don't care if the first book is by the Air Force and the second one's by anthropologists. These two-titlin' UFO authors have been abducted by a little grey something called D-E-C-E-I-T!

And then there's Gene Fowler's anthology about 19th-century quacks, Mystic Healers & Medicine Shows: Blazing Trails to Wellness in the Old West and Beyond. Which is it, Gene? A book about mystic healers and medicine shows, or a book about blazing trails to wellness in the Old West and beyond? You can't have it both ways!

Don't even talk to me about Dark Eros: Black Erotic Writings, from editor Reginal Martin. Look, Reggie, Dark Eros is a terrific title all by its lonesome. Don't you trust people to pick the book up and find out for themselves what it's all about? What do you think the back sleeve's there for?! Wake up, man!

Then there's Get Back: The Let It Be Disaster. By cheating, authors Doug Suply and Ray Schweighardt managed to get a bonus Beatles song title into one book title. Oooh, that gets under my skin! Isn't one Beatles tune enough for you guys?! Didja have to plunder two?!

I'm miffed! I am Peeved Beyond Belief: Worm Gets Angry! I don't want to talk anymore. Here's the rest of this week's book reviews:

• Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufman

• Arkansas (a short story collection) by David Leavitt

• Great Apes by Will Self and Down the River by Edna O'Brien

• Bob Adelman's Tijuana Bible, Michael Lieder & Jake Page's Wild Justice, and Matilde Mellibovsky's Circle of Love

• the playful penmanship of the 5 x 5 Singles Club