Posts Tagged Essays
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March 3, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Gabrielle Union: We’re Going To Need More Wine
We’re Going To Need More Wine: Stories Gabrielle Union Dey Street Books A memoir – in stories, We’re Going To Need More Wine is candid, well written. It’s both funny and heart-breaking. You know Gabrielle Union from so many movies and TV shows – but she was the ugly duckling at school, or so she […]Archive
January 14, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
PressPatron on Off The Tracks: Click to Donate and Support
As of today you’ll notice PressPatron on Off The Tracks, a banner button asking you to donate (if you wish) and a button in the side bar which tells you more specifically:Archive
December 13, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib: They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us
They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us: Essays Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib Two Dollar Radio I don’t mean this to sound at all trite, I mean it as a huge compliment – even if it might feel a forced comparison, but Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib’s work here in this book of profoundly moving, politically urgent, poetic essays reads […]Archive
December 3, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Ben Greenman: Dig If You Will The Picture – Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince
Dig If You Will The Picture: Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince Ben Greenman Henry Holt and Co. Beginning at the end – the sad, sudden end – Ben Greenman’s book about Prince is a celebration of his life and music, of what made him so special; written – unashamedly – […]Archive
November 21, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Rebecca Solnit: The Mother of All Questions
The Mother of All Questions Rebecca Solnit Haymarket Books When I was reading Men Explain Things To Me it was in the wake of the breaking of the Cosby scandal. What a sad, prescient, serendipitous and truly appalling thing it is to have this fantastic ‘sequel’/companion volume and to be reading it in the wake […]Archive
November 9, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast: Episode 89 – Kirsten McDougall
Welcome to episode 89 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and Le Petite Chocolat. Here I had a chat with Kirsten McDougall. She is a writer, publicist and literary manager. We discuss her various roles and talk about her two books, The Invisible Rider and Tess. The Invisible Rider is a 2012 release, […]Archive
September 23, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Timothy Snyder: On Tyranny – Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century Timothy Snyder Tim Duggan Books; 1st Edition Timothy Snyder, Professor of History at Yale Univeristy and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, breaks down big concepts into easy-to-digest bites here in a deliberately taut, concise set of fragment-essays that offers a geo-political, historical […]Archive
July 19, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Andrew McCarron: Light Come Shining – The Transformations of Bob Dylan
Light Come Shining: The Transformations of Bob Dylan Andrew McCarron OUP USA What’s that theory? The more books written about a particular subject suggests how little is really known? You’d easily apply that to Dylan – each year turning out more and more books with dubious angles; his 5th grade friend interviewed, exes, journalists who […]Archive
July 11, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Joan Didion: South and West
South and West: From a Notebook Joan Didion Knopf; First Edition edition “We tell ourselves stories in order to live”, Didion famously wrote. Here you could imagine a wag in her publisher’s office suggesting “We sell stories in order to make a living” – for this slim volume, this set of notes “from a notebook” […]Archive
November 22, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
On: Essays – Intro Notes from the LitCrawl Essays Session (Sat, Nov 14, 2016)
I was asked to be the MC to a LitCrawl event, introducing a panel of great essay writers. These are my notes. A few thoughts on essays and essay-writing and what I like about the form. As well as notes to introduce each speaker. First of all my name is Simon – I don’t like […]Archive
October 18, 2016 by Simon Sweetman