About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Kate Andersen Brower
Mixed Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Parts of Taylor’s life, in spite of quotes from her letters and diaries, remain mysterious ... Although the book quotes many people, the anecdotes are oddly anodyne, adding up to saying that Taylor was amazing and incredible. Her vitality, if this book is to be believed, bordered on the superhuman ... So, does this book help us understand Taylor better? A little. Is it worth a read? Maybe.
Cara Robertson
Mixed Pittsburgh Post-Gazette \"Ms. Robertson writes well, and the book’s pace is lively ... [Robertson] does illustrate why the jury reached its not guilty verdict, and the reader will likely agree with that finding given what was revealed in court ... Legal scholars may enjoy reading about court maneuvering, but other readers may not. This reviewer found it difficult to keep straight the many people involved in the case. Plus, the courtroom theatrics obscure the chief mystery of the story: discovering who killed Andrew and Abby Borden.\
David Hepworth
Pan The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Mr. Hepworth’s main point is largely correct: Most of the artists who released top 10 singles in 1971, such as Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and David Bowie, to name just a handful, are still known to listeners born after 1982. However, his other points are too diffuse. He skips around in describing 1971, mentioning social trends, books, TV shows, movies, crime, fashion, table tennis, concerts, politics, technology, underground magazines, how who met whom, who was married to whom, who worked with whom, asides, opinions, trivia. Reading it is like trying to peer through a moving telescope, or making a meal of small bowls of candy. Just as the reader becomes interested in one topic, Mr. Hepworth shifts to another. And none of it is filling.
Emily Winslow
Pan The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The problem is that tenacity and everyday life make less compelling reading than action. Ms. Winslow does make some trenchant remarks about the human condition. But mostly, she details her interactions with the justice system, with select friends, and with her husband and children back home in England. These accounts aren’t boring — especially when she describes Pittsburgh — but they seem to have no direction, no point beyond the fact that they happened to her ... But mostly, she details her interactions with the justice system, with select friends, and with her husband and children back home in England. These accounts aren’t boring — especially when she describes Pittsburgh — but they seem to have no direction, no point beyond the fact that they happened to her.
Jill Leovy
Rave The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The author adeptly shows how murder affects families, causing an agony that intensifies with time and echoes through the generations ... The author makes clear that black people, in spite of negative feelings toward police, infinitely prefer formal justice to that of the street. In some unintentionally funny cases, drug dealers will call 911 and demand police action: 'My dope got ripped off! I want you to book him for robbery!' Ghettoside is a cogent, compelling account of black homicide in this country and well worth reading.