RaveThe Christian Science Monitor\"... a powerful, up-close look at the criminal, political, and economic forces that can erode a community. But Rubinstein makes it clear this story isn’t just about Denver. It’s about the nationwide spread of the Crips and Bloods from their birthplace in southern California. It’s about the distribution of crack cocaine and the creation of new opportunities for dealers in impoverished neighborhoods. It’s about laws that disproportionately target Black Americans ... It’s a complicated history, but Rubinstein makes it compellingly readable. If you want to understand the origins of the violence ravaging many urban areas and the challenges faced by one man trying to stop it, read The Holly.
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Caitlin Moscatello
PositiveThe Christian Science MonitorIt’s a tribute to Moscatello’s skill as a writer that she can make topics like fundraising and myriad other facets of campaigning interesting. And the story she tells is a much needed on-the-ground account of the obstacles women entering politics face, and the victories that are possible. Readers of See Jane Win will be fascinated, enlightened, outraged and, ultimately, inspired.
Dorian Lynskey
PanThe Christian Science MonitorUnfortunately, despite some key insights and the wealth of history in its pages, this book is not what Orwell’s last and most famous novel deserves. The Ministry of Truth is a superficial, scattered account of the authors and books that provided a context for 1984 and the events that helped make Orwell the artist who could write it, with none of the depth that Orwell, his times, or the novel deserve. Lynskey commands an impressive knowledge of the literary culture of the period, which he puts on full display to provide a sense of the artistic cross-pollination that helped Orwell write his dystopian novel. However Lynskey’s passages on pre-1984 authors and speculative fiction will try the reader’s patience with their length and on occasion their irrelevance ... Lynskey would have done better to write in more detail about the lived experiences that provided Orwell with material for 1984 ... The failures of The Ministry of Truth are doubly frustrating because Lynskey is clearly a talented writer. His chapters on 1984’s life after Orwell’s death...are fascinating. And the parallels he draws between the propaganda of Oceania and the alternative realities created by the Trump administration are truly chilling. Unfortunately the better parts of The Ministry of Truth aren’t enough to redeem its flaws.
