Eating Animals - Book Review

Published Sept 2010

Eating Animals - Jonathan Safran Foer B
The Truth About Meat

Being a vegetarian, I thought it was important to read Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals. Foer, author of the novels Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, was motivated to write this (his first non-fiction) book because of the impending birth of his son. Within the first few pages Foer writes, "Feeding my child is not like feeding myself: it matters more." He also goes on to claim that Eating Animals "is not a straightforward case for vegetarianism." However, if you ever considered vegetarianism this book will provide plenty of ammunition for going veg.

In the book Foer consciously tries not to be preachy or heavy-handed. He includes a variety of opinions and viewpoints. He applauds small family farms who strive to treat their animals humanely in life and in death. But, Foer also reveals a lot about factory farming and it's hard to get past that cringeworthy systematic abuse and torture of animals. Not to mention the destructive effect factory farming is having on the environment. Eating Animals is not a straightforward case for vegetarianism. Foer knows that most people will never give up meat (he's had his own struggles). Not eating animals is a personal choice. Whether you are considering a vegetarian lifestyle or not, this book should make you think twice about the face on your plate.

The First Bad Man - Book Review

 

Published Jan 2015

The First Bad Man - Miranda July A-
Her First Great Novel
 
What can I say about Miranda July? She is truly one of a kind- a visionary artist. The First Bad Man, her first novel, is deliciously odd, surprisingly sexual, devastatingly smart and laugh-out-loud funny. Highly recommended for those who like their fiction a little weird and a little deviant.

Additionally, check out the link below - a review by Lauren Groff of the New York Times.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/books/review/the-first-bad-man-by-miranda-july.html?_r=0

While We're Young - Movie Review

While We're Young  (R) 97 mins B-
Generation Gap

Starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver, Brady Corbet, Adam Horowitz, Maria Dizzia and Charles Grodin

Noah Baumbach's latest film, While We're Young, hits close to home. Similar to the Ben Stiller character, I am a childless fortysomething who feels terminally young and increasingly irrelevant. But, unfortunately for this film, it follows a string of films directed by Baumbach that I personally love- Frances Ha, Greenberg, Margot at the Wedding, and The Squid and the Whale. While We're Young is entertaining, occasionally funny, and worth a trip to the theatre. However, it feels like it's missing that proverbial "something" and lacks the emotional connection I had with Baumbach's prior efforts.   

Carrie & Lowell - Album Review

Released March 2015

Carrie & Lowell - Sufjan Stevens A
We're All Gonna Die
 
I was driving around and listening to Carrie & Lowell, the latest album from Sufjan Stevens. I felt like I was in a cool indie film and the music was my soundtrack-introspective, beautiful and bittersweet. However, the autobiographical narrative of the album is not so whimsical. Titled after his mother and stepfather, Stevens' mother apparently battled mental illness and died of cancer in 2012.

Carrie & Lowell made me think of my mother and her mortality- it affected me, it made me feel less alone - and that's what great art does.

Favorite tracks: Death with Dignity, Should Have Known Better, All of Me Wants All of You, Fourth of July, The Only Thing, and Carrie & Lowell