Review: ‘An American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst’
Only the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh, Jr. could match the sensationalism of Patty Hearst’s seizure from her Berkeley apartment
5
Mal Warwick
Recent Stories
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Book review: ‘David Brower’ by Tom Turner
A review of David Brower: The Making of the Environmental Movement, by Tom Turner; published by the University of California Press
Book review: ‘Custer’s Trials’ by T. J. Stiles
A review of Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America, by T. J. Stiles
Book review: When elections mattered a lot
A review of Game Changers: Twelve Elections That Transformed California, by Steve Swatt, with Susie Swatt, Jeff Raimundo, and Rebecca LaVally; foreword by Bruce E. Cain; published by Heyday
Wine, wine everywhere, and not a drop to drink
Mal Warwick, who regularly contributes book reviews to Berkeleyside, calls Frances Dinkelspiel’s ‘Tangled Vines’ “a great read,” and “crammed with fascinating characters.” He gives it five stars.
Robert Reich has ideas on how to save capitalism
Book reviewer Mal Warwick thinks Robert Reich’s new book is “brilliant,” and “cogently and compellingly” explains complex economic issues. But while Reich is funny in person, ‘Saving Capitalism’ doesn’t contain a lot of humor, says Warwick. He still gives it five out of five stars.
Karen Paget’s ‘Patriotic Betrayal’ is a monumental work
If you’re old enough, think back to the 1960s, that decade of endless turmoil and revelation. Though the CIA had been established in 1947, it wasn’t until 1962 that the agency came to the attention of most Americans, as a result of its disastrous handling of the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Five years later, another CIA scandal broke: a carefully researched article in Ramparts magazine revealed that the agency had been funding the US National Student Association (NSA) for many years and turning many of its leaders into spies.
Best Books of 2014: Chosen by local authors, Berkeleyside
Every year Berkeleyside puts together a list of the best books the editors have read. We generally ask local authors and literary-minded folk to contribute their picks. This year we decided to mimic the format used by The Guardian newspaper in Britain, and that meant asking everyone to limit their selections to two books apiece – a difficult task, we found. Here, then, is our selection of the Best Books of 2014.
Politics and prose are all in a day’s work for Erik Tarloff
When the bestselling author Erik Tarloff turned up for an interview at Berkeley’s Elmwood Café in July, he had left an empty house. His wife, Laura D’Andrea Tyson, the former economic advisor to President Bill Clinton and a professor at the Haas School of Business, was in Aspen consulting with U.S. leaders. Tarloff had remained behind at their Berkeley home as he prepared to depart for Stockbridge, Mass., where the Berkshire Theater Group was gearing up to perform his new play, “Cedars.”
Why do people spend more than they can afford?
“Income inequality forces people of lower or middle income to spend more than they can afford on housing, clothing, and sometimes even food — “
The best books of 2013, as chosen by Berkeleyside editors
We love books at Berkeleyside, whether in traditional format or as e-books. At the end of 2013, and as a possible spur to your holiday book buying, here are our favorite books of the year (not all were published in 2013, but they were our best reads).
