- Blind Boys, Berkeley Blue, Phone Hacks and Wozniak
Posted on 15 May 2013 in Books, Non-Fiction Reviews
The earliest phone phreak I’ve been able to identify was a young man who went by the nickname “Davy Crockett.” Back in the mid-1950s he figured out how to use a Davy Crockett Cat and Canary Bird Call Flute – a little 50-cent whistle they used to sell at Woolworth stores – to mimic a special tone that telephone operators used to communicate with one another. By imitating this tone he could place his own long distance calls for free.
- Critics’ Picks: Best Books of 2011
Posted on 11 Dec 2011 in Best Books, Books, Non-Fiction Reviews
Our book reviewers select the best books of 2011.
- Welcome to When You See Sparks, CLR’s New Music Blog
Posted on 10 May 2011 in Blog-Music, Music
We are pleased to announce the start of CLR’s new music blog. Ben Caro, a Los Angeles based writer, and Charlie Coffeen, a professional musician from Chicago, will be keeping you informed about all areas of the music world — concerts, albums, up-and-coming artists, as well as Charlie’s insights into life on the road and [...]
- Critics’ Picks: Best Books of 2010
Posted on 18 Dec 2010 in Best Books, Books, Non-Fiction Reviews
Our annual selection of noteworthy books.
- Welcome to The Fourth Wall, a New CLR Movie Blog
Posted on 04 Feb 2010 in Movies, Movies & TV
We’re excited about our first blog, The Fourth Wall which will provide a less formal and more immediate forum for our film critics, Julia Rhodes and William Bibbiani, to discuss movies and the movie industry with our readers.
- Critics’ Picks: Best Books of 2009
Posted on 14 Dec 2009 in Best Books, Books, Non-Fiction Reviews
Our annual selection of noteworthy books.
- Follow the California Literary Review on Twitter
Posted on 22 Jan 2009 in Anthropology
Readers can now receive our latest postings through our new Twitter account, calitreview.
- The Paintings of Tom Palmore
Posted on 20 Jan 2009 in Art, Art & Design, Nature
“There are a handful of original wildlife artists and the rest are members of the ‘elk in the meadow’ or ‘moose in the water’ schools. We are all influenced by society and by history, but you have to take those examples, put them through your own filter and make them your own.”
- X-ray Photographs of David Arky
Posted on 12 Jan 2009 in Art, Art & Design, Photography
Duane Michals expressed it well when he said, “Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.” An inner life is uncovered in the nature of x-ray photography and in the nature of the subjects.
- Stephen Baker Discusses The Numerati
Posted on 07 Jan 2009 in Business, Mathematics, Non-Fiction Reviews
“The Internet, of course, is a huge source of data. Every click and keystroke can be analyzed. Every movement we make with our cell phone produces data about our location, every call on the phone describes our circle of contacts. Credit cards paint our portraits as consumers. Growing numbers of security cameras track our movements in stores and city streets.”
- Black River Falls, Wisconsin, 1893: News Reports and Photos from Wisconsin Death Trip
Posted on 05 Jan 2009 in History, Non-Fiction Reviews, Photography
Tramps who were refused food at the home of John Ovenbeck in the town of Friendship, Winnebego County, entered the barn at night and cut the throats of 3 cows, which bled to death. A card attached to the horns of one bore the following message: ‘Remember us when we call for something to eat again’
- Critics’ Picks: Best Books of 2008
Posted on 28 Dec 2008 in Best Books, Biography, Books, Non-Fiction Reviews
CLR writers select the best books of 2008.
- What If a Large Asteroid Was Heading for Earth?
Posted on 02 Dec 2008 in Non-Fiction Reviews, Science
“But then an asteroid 6 miles across – that’s bigger than Mt. Everest! – slammed into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Yucatan Peninsula. The explosion was huge, setting fire to vast amounts of land, and creating a tsunami that must have scoured the Mexican and Texas coasts clean. It launched so much rock into the sky that they went on ballistic arcs, going up out of the atmosphere and then back down, setting fire to forests around the world.”
- The Drawings of Alfred Kubin
Posted on 17 Nov 2008 in Art, Art & Design
Kubin had something quite different in mind: with his hallucinatory incantations he was seeking to disturb the viewer; he felt driven to solve the riddle of humankind and creation in a spellbinding act.
- What’s Killing the Honeybees?
Posted on 04 Nov 2008 in Agriculture, Animals, Environment, Food, Nature, Non-Fiction Reviews
“So the bigger conclusion is that we have soaked our landscape in toxic chemicals, many of which can interact to form even more toxic compounds, and there is absolutely no regulation or testing of this mixing. Most beekeepers and researchers I’ve spoken with believe pesticides are one factor, working in conjunction with introduced parasites, viruses, bacteria, and fungi, and quite possibly with deteriorating living conditions for bees. Bees could handle one or two of these stressors, but not all of them.”
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