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TN Read-Along #17: And I Don’t Want To Live This Life Discussion Thread
February 26, 2013 – 3:28 PM | 12 Comments
TN Read-Along #17: <I>And I Don’t Want To Live This Life</I> Discussion Thread

Alas, I can’t do a live chat after all; so sorry! Deadlines have intruded, as they tend to do.
I did finish And I Don’t Want To Live This Life, though, and I really felt for …

TN Read-Along #17: And I Don’t Want To Live This Life
February 18, 2013 – 11:13 AM | 12 Comments
TN Read-Along #17: <I>And I Don’t Want To Live This Life</I>

UPDATE! The discussion thread will open Monday 25 February. Vote below on whether/when you could do a live chat — and add any scheduling issues (i.e., “I’m west coast and couldn’t do it at 7:30 …

Tomato Nation Read-Along #17: Poll
January 31, 2013 – 5:19 PM | 3 Comments
Tomato Nation Read-Along #17: Poll

Or, “Time to hack this pile of Christmas books down to a manageable size.” It’s a fiction/true crime/pop culture fest…with some overlaps there (Bourdain is the first and last things; Spungen is the last two …

Elsewhere in the Tomatoverse: Carrie, commercials, Kingles
January 31, 2013 – 10:49 AM | 8 Comments
Elsewhere in the Tomatoverse: Carrie, commercials, Kingles

On The Blotter, I talked about the ambiguity of Zodiac‘s ending with Matt Zoller Seitz and Mike D’Angelo, and reviewed an excellent Jack the Ripper book. (Coming soon: a “compleat Betty Broderick” line-up from me and …

Blood and Honor: Listening to the Crow
December 17, 2012 – 12:42 PM | 15 Comments
<I>Blood and Honor</I>: Listening to the Crow

“Bruno was the consummate racketeer. Scarfo, on the other hand, was a gangster.”
The crime
It’s about the self-destruction the Philly mob, so: pick your felony. But implied also is a metaphorical crime, an affront to the …

Half a Life: When too much is enough
November 20, 2012 – 9:52 AM | 2 Comments
<I>Half a Life</I>: When too much is enough

It’s written too well, Half a Life. And that’s understandable. Darin Strauss’s “memoir” — a poor fit, that word, but the closest available — concerns the death of a girl half (his) lifetime ago; Celine …

TN Read-Along #16: Jesus Freaks Discussion Thread
October 15, 2012 – 7:11 PM | 27 Comments
TN Read-Along #16: <I>Jesus Freaks</I> Discussion Thread

I apologize for not posting the discussion thread sooner, but 1) I spent the morning writing what feels like half the content on the internet and 2) I haven’t finished the book yet, because every …

TN Read-Along #16: Jesus Freaks
October 11, 2012 – 9:30 AM | 7 Comments
TN Read-Along #16: <I>Jesus Freaks</I>

Update, 11 October, 3 PM: We’ll be at the Sackett, unsurprisingly located at 661 Sackett St. between 4th and 5th Aves., Brooklyn. It’s the shortest of hops from the outbound R train, or take anything …

Tomato Nation Read-Along #16, Special Blotter Edition: Poll
September 24, 2012 – 11:26 PM | 10 Comments
Tomato Nation Read-Along #16, Special Blotter Edition: Poll

By request of a few readers, an all-crime selection of potential Read-Along books. I tried to give you a good range of crimes — arsons, assassinations, Mafiosi, paper-hangers — but as you may or may …

11 Things I Learned From Manchester’s The Death of a President
August 31, 2012 – 3:59 PM | 10 Comments
11 Things I Learned From Manchester’s <em>The Death of a President</em>

The President is supposed to stand still during “Hail to the Chief,” and/or salute the flag. (27)
“At Brooks Kennedy had tried to rest briefly in the Lincoln while the First Lady made her farewells. Harassed …