Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

…is Vallejo still at the point of having to declare bankruptcy, which has been blamed in large part due to its union-negotiated contracts with the police and fire departments? Why is there no ongoing mention of it in local, state, or national media? With the exception of the ongoing reports posted by the Vallejo Independent Bulletin [...]

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The first sentence from Norman Mailer?Äôs final novel ?ÄúThe Castle in the Forest?Äù is ?ÄúYou may call me D.T.?Äù I used to sign correspondence as ?ÄúD.T.?Äù; this fact has no bearing on the narrative or quality of Mailer?Äôs novel, it is only trivial information about my past. A reference to ?ÄúCall me Ishmael?Äù from Herman [...]

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?ÄúChina Dolls?Äù by Michelle Yu & Blossom Kan The gal pal theme has long been a literary favorite with such classics as Amy Tan?Äôs ?ÄúJoy Luck Club?Äù (1989), Terry McMillan?Äôs ?ÄúWaiting to Exhale?Äù (1992), and of course, Candace Bushnell?Äôs ?ÄúSex and the City (1997).?Äù Written by cousins Michelle Yu and Blossom Kan, ?ÄúChina Dolls?Äù is [...]

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?ÄúThe I Chong: Meditations From the Joint?Äù by Tommy Chong Not often does one classify Tommy Chong, legendary comedian of the famed Cheech and Chong 1970?Äôs duo, as an Asian American author but ?ÄúThe I Chong: Meditations from the Joint?Äù deservedly places its spine on the shelves of the Cultural Studies section of bookstores. Having [...]

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?ÄúGod of Luck?Äù by Ruthanne Lum McCunn It can be difficult sometimes to read a book so well-written that it quantum leaps its reader on board a packed 19th century slave ship amidst the muck of brutality on the high seas, the putrid smell of rotten meat, and the queasiness and suffocation of a tumultuous [...]

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In his latest novel, Spook Country, William Gibson takes another step away from science fiction, yet continues his cyberpunk themes. Widely hailed as the soothsayer of cyberspace, up until 2005?Äôs Pattern Recognition, Gibson?Äôs works were always set in a morally decadent future, laid to waste by rampant technology and corporate encroachment. Continuing down the side [...]

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The 12th Annual Petaluma Poetry Walk is scheduled this Sunday, September 23rd. As always, it starts at noon, though this year, the first venue will be Jungle Vibes, 136 Petaluma Boulevard North (next door to where it has traditionally started, for those of you who have attended before.) I asked Geri Digiorno, founder and director [...]

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The hard back U.S. edition of the novel Woken Furies by Richard K. Morgan was published in 2005. The soft cover version was finally released this year. In Morgan?Äôs literary universe, a copy of one?Äôs mind is kept backed up on a sub-cortical implant located in the neck. In the event of death, those with [...]

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In a benefit for the Petaluma Poetry Walk on July 1st, San Francisco Poet Laureate and visual artist Jack Hirschman and his wife, poet and visual artist Agneta Falk read at Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater after opening act, Baba Shibambo, played a short set of South African Marimba Dance Music. Agneta Falk, the internet tells me [...]

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In Richard Silberg?Äôs “Deconstruction of the Blues” (2006) I was struck by how many of the poems needed this poet to write them. That is to say, Silberg deserves high praise for deep self-awareness of voice, for a mature understanding of a unique place within our community of thoughtful expression. ?ÄúStilts?Äù, the collection?Äôs opening, and [...]

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One of my father’s many trades¬?growing up in the Lodz getto¬?was as book binder. Not that he was a great lover of buying finely bound books; (it was better to check them out at the library.) I’ve more then made up for his lack of interest. You could tell Tim James, owner of Taurus¬?Bookbindery in¬? [...]

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