Who knew that Matthew McConaughey’s foray into romantic comedy–a most dreadful film genre to most critics–would be so sociologically and culturally relevant? In Dr. Leonard Sax’s Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men (2009), he argues that McConaughey’s Failure to Launch is a gem of a movie in that it reflects an American epidemic of men who are underachieving and who seem to be perfectly accepting of that fact. According to Dr. Sax, the United States has been experiencing a […]
No Place Like Home
The House on Mango Street is a short novel about a year in the life of a Mexican American adolescent named Esperanza. She and her family (parents, two older brothers and a younger sister named Nenny) have moved into a house of their own in Chicago for the first time. In a series of vignettes, Cisneros paints a deeply moving picture, or series of pictures, of life on Mango Street and of Esperanza’s hopes and fears. Cisneros’ background as a poet comes through in her […]
A book almost as long as the actual French Revolution.
I have no idea (off the top of my head) how long the French Revolution lasted, but I know it was a while (I’m a product of the American education system. We learned about the fact that the French Revolution happened, but that’s about it. I don’t recall any details, or I didn’t until I read this book). Anyway, I’d heard good things about Hilary Mantel, so I thought I’d work my way through her ouvre, starting with this one. Oof. I enjoyed the book, […]
Lady, you’re Cheryl Tunt on Archer and Kitty on Arrested Development
Having seen a number of other Cannonballers already reviewing this one, I got curious, and it made for a nice break in between all the fiction I normally read. As a fan of romantic comedies, in many of which she has played a supporting character, not to mention my love of Arrested Development and Archer, I know exactly what I know Judy Greer from. I did have to look up her complete filmography on Wikipedia, though (not IMDB, no matter how many times they get shout-outs in Greer’s […]