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Category Archives: Nonfiction – Education
A Review of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Beautiful Struggle
Earlier this year I reviewed Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new and highly-praised memoir Between the World and Me, and you can read my review of that book here. The Beautiful Struggle, published in 2008, is just as good. I read it in … Continue reading
Early Thoughts on David Denby’s Lit Up and on High School English in General
I’ve read almost nothing this week. I’ve been scrambling to finish some freelance jobs and other side work (bacon must be brought home, and so forth – preferably organic bacon), and I have several blog posts in progress, all of … Continue reading
Thoughts on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me (by Bethany)
I read this book in spite of its popularity, not because of it. I read it in a day and can’t quite imagine doing otherwise – this isn’t the sort of volume from which one can be easily distracted. In … Continue reading
Thoughts on James B. Woulfe’s Into the Crucible: Making Marines for the 21st Century (by Bethany)
This isn’t the sort of book that I can in good conscience “review.” I read it because a brief but important scene in the novel I’m writing takes place during the Marine Corps training exercise called “the Crucible,” and I … Continue reading
A Review of Richard Rodriguez’s Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father (by Bethany)
Richard Rodriguez’s memoir Hunger of Memory has been a favorite of mine ever since I first read it as a freshman in college. The American-born son of Mexican immigrants, Rodriguez wrote in that book about juggling two cultures: the close-knit, … Continue reading
A Review of Rick Steves’ Travel as a Political Act (by Bethany)
Up until recently, I worked at a chain of tutoring and learning centers in the Bay Area. Modeled on the Asian-style “cram school,” these centers offered one-on-one tutoring, SAT-, ACT-, and AP-prep classes, and other classes for younger students designed … Continue reading
PAT CONROY MONTH!, October Style: Thoughts on The Boo (by Bethany)
PAT CONROY MONTH! went by way too fast. I spent much of the month catching up on reviews of books I read over the summer, but I did read two of Pat Conroy’s books – The Lords of Discipline and … Continue reading
Happy Pat Conroy Day: A Review of The Water Is Wide (by Bethany)
So today is Pat Conroy Day in the city of Tulsa – the day that inspired us to declare September to be PAT CONROY MONTH! here at Postcards from Purgatory, where gleefully one-upping small midwestern cities is an important part of … Continue reading
Postcards From Purgatory 