i love how lot 49 takes a seemingly boring topic (couriers/the postal service/etc.) and turns it into this really gripping conspiracy story. this is definitely pynchon’s most accessible novel, so i would highly recommend it.

this is an amazing work of media criticism/cultural studies that address so many topics - from madonna (learn where “vogue really came from) to “selling hot pussy” to appreciation vs. exploitation… remarkable work on feminist and race studies. if she offends you or you think she’s just angry - get over it and really make an effort at this book.

although i didn’t have time to read all of this book, a lot of the essays in it were fascinating—both in their depth and in their new ways of looking at hiv/aids. my only complaint is that it feels somewhat dated now, but it’s nonetheless interesting to read critical work from a period when hiv/aids was a different reality.

this is an extremely powerful book that addresses the language used to describe “illness” and “disease.” i’m incredibly impressed by sontag’s deconstruction of the military metaphors (“fight the disease,” “kill the germs,” “virual invasion”) and how that affects the way people understand illness (“s/he was weak and got infected”) and so on. the book is remarkable compassionate and personal and i truly think it is a must-read for everybody so that we can change our perceptions of illness.

frankly, i didn’t think this book was as great as other people did… i’m not sure what i missed, but i just didn’t find it all that provocative or intriguing. maybe i should re-read it in the future or checkout some essays, too?

definitely more psychological and gothic than i expected. a great read.

we read this book for my “postmodern ethics” class and i loved it, though i think pretty much everyone else in the class hated it. the book expertly describes the ironic “bohemian bourgeoisie” culture that pervades cities, college campuses, etc.

it seems strange that a male author could attempt to construct a story about five girls. nonetheless, the fact that the story is told by a collective group of boys (a technique that really works well and that i’ve seen little of—a “we” narrator) makes it work. i hate to mention the film, but i must say it’s one of the best adapatations i’ve seen.

i’m slowly going through this book over a long period of time. this is kristeva’s book about the theory of “abjection,” which involves hating/despising something so much that something physically comes to represent the psychic pain it causes you—at least that’s how i’ve come to understand/interpret it.

kristeva is heavy on the psychoanalysis and this is a difficult book to get through, i think, but still rewarding its presentation of new and intriguing ideas.

what i love about bell hooks is that she is a literary critic who has moved beyond “literature as text” into “media as text” and delved into the world of media criticism. like her, my background is mostly literary theory, so reading her thoughts on madonna, camile paglia, malcom x, spike jonze, etc. come across as insightful and thought-provoking.