An Introduction To Great Summer Reading

An Introduction To Great Summer Reading

by Christine O’Leary RockeySummer is upon us as quickly as the smoke from your neighbor’s bar-b-que. Soon, it will be time to hit the beach, the mountains, and the backyard hammock with some of the literary inventions that have so recently come out. Unfortunately, if you go into your mainstream booksellers, you’re going to be hit by blow after blow of resurrected plots, mundane characters, and literary saccharine. While it’s true that one can always find some entertaining brain candy at your nearby local booksellers, computer technology and the Internet have finally made it possible to have access to truly great and unusual pieces of literature that have been passed by of late. Dozens, if not hundreds, of small presses have emerged that are finally able to take chances on subjects and authors that are avoided, if not downright suppressed, by the mass marketers of homogenized, pasteurized mental junk food that passes as modern American literature.

If you’re looking for quality reading this summer, here’s a few suggestions…

Not Fade Away
(William Keisling, Yardbird Press) – A delightful, tongue-in cheek novel on modern America — warts and all. Beginning as a satire on modern American Cold War spy novels, Not Fade Away brings us an examination of the post cold war era in which pop-culture and American politics are bound to collide. Our hero is a boy who thinks that he is Buddy Holly reincarnated — and has the guitar to prove it, opposing a general who has determined that it is his place in history to begin the next world war. What follows is a fast paced and subtly thoughtful yarn about American ideals and the clash of generational expectations.

The Big Mango
(Norman Kelley, Akashic Books) – The tropical island-nation of Misericordia has become a political and social powder keg, boiling with the suffering of its own people. In comes the protagonist of the story, Nina Halligan. She’s a street-smart African-American activist from the city of New York with a propensity to involving herself in dangerous places and dragging her loved ones in after her. This one’s fast moving and fun to read.

Rogue States
(Noam Chomsky, South End Press) – Rogue States is Chomsky’s best effort to date in examining the role of the modern super powers and their professed moral standards and to hold them responsible for their crimes and the actions that they commit in the name of democracy. Chomsky closely evaluates the United States and her allies as he carefully details their roles in the various world crises, including the Balkans, Central America, the Middle East, and others. He offers a ruthless dissection of the claims that have been made of humanitarian and legal high ground in national politics, and finds a real failure to support genuine democratic movements around the world.

The Bride Wore Black Leather … And he Looked Fabulous
(Drew Campbell, Greenery Press) – Proper etiquette for those times that you have no idea how where to start. How does one address letters to one’s lesbian sister and her lover? Which bathroom does a transgender use? How do you introduce your brother and his sex slave to someone? These rules of etiquette are not to be found in the usual sources, but they are available in this first book ever for and about the gay, lesbian, and transgendered communities.

If Only Things Were Different: A Model for a Sustainable Society
(Elizabeth Woods) – Although her ideas of a modern utopian society seem a little — okay, a lot — unrealistic at first, she settles down and gets to the heart of the present day question of developing a way of life that incorporates realism with sustainable lifestyles. Her arguments are well organized and solutions prove themselves realistic and well researched. This selection is a must read for those who need some ammunition in the fight to save our natural resources.

Charles Bukowski: Laughing with the Gods
(Fernanda Pivano, Sun Dog Press) – Well known Italian critic and author traveled to the U.S. for purpose of interviewing Charles Bukowski, a modern American literary icon and genius. The interview is surprisingly in depth and remarkably candid, revealing a man remarkably like and unlike, and his literary legend. It is beautifully written, with a genuine appreciation of the man and his singular literary style.

Jean Rhys Revisited
(Alexis Lykiard, Stride Publications) – This biography on the feminist critic and author brought to us in a powerful poetic language that does true justice to its subject. This book spares no truth about the fierce struggling of an author to survive, and eventually triumph.

Butchershop in the Sky: Premature
Ejaculations 1989-1999
(James Havoc, Creation Books) – A bizarre and gratuitously bloody compendium of the works of James Havoc, popular literary madman.

Virus: The Alien Strain

(David Jay Brown, New Falcon Press) – A frightening thriller that takes one on a journey through horror and into depths of madness. Aliens from a far star system have unleashed a deadly incurable virus that twists the mind into screaming hallucinations form which there is no way out, ironically finally offering the inhabitants of this world one final chance for salvation.

A Taste of Midnight: Vampire Erotica
(Cecilia Tan, Circlet Press) – The fourth volume in this series that is every bit as good as its predecessors. There has always been something seductive and alluring about the darkness surrounding the vampire mystique. The Erotic Vampire Series has once again sought out the best of erotic and dark fantasy writers to weave a spellbinding and erotic web of beauty, darkness, and erotic fiction. Cecelia Tan has been the editor of the three previous volumes of Vampire Erotica, as well as having dozen or so more volumes of science fiction and fantasy to her name. She is well on the way to becoming the foremost voice in dark fantasy today.

Technology of the Gods: The Incredible Science of the Ancients

(David Childress, Adventures Unlimited Press) – Author D.H. Childress brings us an astounding look into the world of ancient technology. Everything from computers in antiquity to the "flying machines of the gods." Childress examines the technology that may have been used in the mythical land of Atlantis, and gives weight to the theory that the Great Pyramid of Egypt was built in order to create some sort of gigantic power station. He details stories of ancient flight and possible technology that it involved; the use of electricity in the ancient world; megalithic building techniques; how crystal lenses and fire were used as gifts from the gods; as well as bringing evidence of various high tech weapons in the past.

Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind
and It’s Challenge to Western Thought
(George Lakoff, Mark Johnson Basic Books Press) – With the incredible progress of modern cognitive neuroscience and the advances in psycholinguistics, authors Lakoff and Johnson assert that it’s time to reevaluate Western Philosophy and it’s fundamental assumptions that have comprised its foundation since the advent of the radical dualism of Descartes. This book demands that we align philosophy with our knowledge of cognitive neuroscience and the unconscious. The authors unabashedly take modern philosophy to the mat in a challenging, unsparing evaluation of the fundamental assumptions of modern western philosophy. A must read for philosophy or linguistic aficionados.

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind: Julian Jaynes
(Princeton University Press) – Psychologist Julian Jaynes puts forth the paradigm that human consciousness is not an original trait in the evolutionary development of man, but is instead a learned response to an early response he identifies as a hallucinatory experience of early man to the voice of God.

An Age for Lucifer: Predatory Spirituality and the Quest for Godhood

(Robert C. Tucker, Holmes Publishing Group) – In this new book by Tucker we are shown a new type of human being—one who has decided to rid themselves of their own religious conscience in order to further their own gain. This new human is not driven by real spiritual drive, but is instead using religion to prey upon others and to elevate the self. These people essentially have created their own religion based on the concept of personal advancement. Tucker asserts that this new psychology is beginning to take hold in our public arena and attempts to explain this psychological phenomenon.

Martin Carter: Selected Poems
(Trans. Salvador Ortiz-Carbonares) Paul & Company Consortium, Inc. – One of the greatest of the Caribbean poets, first coming to light with his Poems of Resistance in 1954. His poems grow out of his experiences in the struggle against British colonialism, which eventually resulted in his imprisonment for his political activities. His is a rich, powerful voice that carries, retaining its wisdom and is vigor even now, long after the political experience is forgotten.

Patron Saint of Eyeliner

(Jeremy Reed, Creation Books) – English poet Jeremy Reed has a new collection of post-modern poetry for the millennium. He draws his inspiration from such a wide range of places ranging from pop culture, surrealistic art, and eroticism to modern gay icons. Here you’ll find an intensely imaginative world tripping down through the weird and the wild.

Home All Along
(Rupert Loydell, Stride Publications) – Poet Rupert Loydell is a well developed poetic talent hailing from England, though he is not unknown on this side of the ocean The distinctness of his thoughts and the development of his poetic form make him a poet well worth seeking out.