If you want a good basic understanding of the economic collapse, skip Wikipedia and read Tatiana Boncompagni’s  Hedge Fund Wives, where the novel is weak on emotional heft, it’s strong on research.
Boncompagni has worked as a journalist, and it shows. Hedge Fund Wives, her second published novel, is at times heavy on the “telling” and [...]

I’ve been reading a lot about experimental digital fiction in the past few years, and I have dug in my heels, and refused to consider the form. Fiction belongs in books, with paper pages and corners for dog-earring, and broken spines and the capactiy for being thrown across the room in disgust. I didn’t want to read [...]

 
 
An old friend and movie addict has just moved in to town. We both love Vince Vaughn, and I wanted some laughs, so we saw Couples Retreat.

It was very predictable, and the laughs were cheap. A lot of the jokes dragged on for way too long. (I had to wonder if an SNL writer were [...]

 
If September has you feeling nostalgic for college, or you’re just in the mood for great vocals, head to The Birchmere on Friday, September 25 at 7:30. The Harmony Invitational is hosting Boston’s Ball in the House, NYC’s Blue Jupiter, DC’s Cartoon Johnny, and Pittsburgh’s DoubleShot! for a night of award-winning a cappella. Each of [...]

 
The economy stinks, and conspicuous consumption is out. While the stock market has done very little to affect me personally, a girl has to make cuts where she can, and I have reduced my cinema attendance drastically. Thank god for Netflix. $10 a month gets me one DVD at a time, and unlimited access to [...]

With all due respect and affection to my esteemed colleague and dear friend Guy Friday, he’s out of his head! I take serious issue with his claim that people who don’t like Lady Gaga don’t know enough about her. I read her Wikipedia page months ago.I still don’t like her. Do I find her music [...]

 
A Happy Marriage, by Rafael Yglesias, was well-reviewed and I spotted it on a couple of lists of “great summer reads.” I concur, so long as “summer” does not mean, “beach.” Beach reading is something that makes you rub your feet together, cackle, grab whatever cold drink happens to be handy and toss it down [...]

The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger, is one of my favorite books, so I was both excited and nervous about the movie. Movies tend to slaughter the great books on which they are based, and I didn’t want to see that happen with The Time Traveler’s Wife. “Slaughtered” is too extreme a word to [...]