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Indian Express
5 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
Where humanity ends in Palestine, a writer offers his library in exchange for food
Asentence is not a loaf of bread, releasing steam as it is torn apart and dipped into fresh olive oil and zaatar. A beautiful metaphor offers little where the fragrance of a fresh meal is in danger of becoming a memory, and even the coldest can of beans does more for a hungry stomach than any word in any language can. And so, Omar Hamad — pharmacist, tailor, writer and eyewitness to the death and starvation in Gaza — shares an appeal on social media, offering his library in exchange for a sack of flour. Because what place do books have in a land where access to food is now wielded like a weapon? 'I once plucked roses from language,' Hamad recalls in a short essay on LitHub. But even for a writer, books can qualify as a necessity only when the sharp edge of hunger is sheathed — not when there are mouths to feed, wounds to salve, bodies to count. Twenty-one months of conflict have made Gaza, as United Nations officials have reported, 'the hungriest place on Earth'. From rice to lentils to baby formula, even the most staple of foods have been made scarce by Israeli blockades and reports emerge every day of desperate, hungry people being crushed to death by others who are just as famished and just as desperate, begging for relief at aid hubs. This is the double tragedy of Gaza where, for millennia, olive trees and poetry grew in equal profusion. Literature may be immortal, but for an entire population that faces starvation, books, too, have been reduced to mere possessions, emergency currency to be exchanged for food. The cultural devastation of Gaza since October 2023 is heartbreaking, with libraries, museums and ancient cultural sites destroyed by bombing. But as hunger stalks through the Strip, there will come a time when the world must reckon with a greater, incalculable loss.
Hamilton Spectator
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Book Review: Critic Maris Kreizman charts her political awakening in smart, funny essay collection
Maris Kreizman always loved books and TV. As a self-described ambition monster, she once thought that if she worked hard and played by the rules, she would land her dream job in publishing and live happily ever after with a house, husband, good health insurance and fat 401(k). Well, she got the husband and with him, the insurance. But alas, the rest was not be. In her debut essay collection, 'I Want to Burn This Place Down,' the 40-something book critic, columnist for Lit Hub and erstwhile podcaster recalls a series of mini-awakenings in college and the New York publishing world in the 2000s that shook her faith in the American dream of her boomer parents. 'Common wisdom has it that people grow more conservative as they age,' she writes. 'I'm the opposite, having moved further and further left with every year, growing more progressive as I, a straight cisgender white woman from a middle-class background, learn all the ways the world is rigged in my favor, even as I myself have been severely let down by the status quo.' In the essay 'She's Lost Control Again' she writes with barely suppressed fury about how her lifetime struggle with Type 1 diabetes opened her eyes to the reality of the broken health care system, which 'creates chaos for those without copious economic resources,' forcing people to turn to GoFundMe to pay for their insulin. In a sweeter, more nostalgic register, she reminisces about her great-great-uncle Barney's iconic clothing store in Manhattan and what it taught her about the predatory world of capitalism on steroids. She also considers her relationship with her older twin brothers, with whom she shared a love of cop shows. But while her faith in policing was deeply shaken by the murder of George Floyd and other police abuses, they ended up becoming cops with conservative views. The title of the book hails from the final season of 'Mad Men.' After Peggy and Joan have spent years 'clawing their way to the middle' of their ad agency, it is bought out by a bigger firm whose new owners treat them with sexist contempt. After their first meeting, Peggy asks Joan if she wants to get lunch. To which Joan replies, 'I want to burn this place down.' Kreizman brings that incendiary tone to parts of the book, but others are infused with deep affection for her family, Jersey roots, geriatric pug Bizzy and life partner Josh. If you like her sassy voice, check out an earlier work, 'Slaughterhouse 90210,' which paired passages from serious literature with pop culture images. In these troubled times, it's sure to make you laugh. ___ AP book reviews:
San Francisco Chronicle
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Book Review: Critic Maris Kreizman charts her political awakening in smart, funny essay collection
Maris Kreizman always loved books and TV. As a self-described ambition monster, she once thought that if she worked hard and played by the rules, she would land her dream job in publishing and live happily ever after with a house, husband, good health insurance and fat 401(k). Well, she got the husband and with him, the insurance. But alas, the rest was not be. In her debut essay collection, 'I Want to Burn This Place Down,' the 40-something book critic, columnist for Lit Hub and erstwhile podcaster recalls a series of mini-awakenings in college and the New York publishing world in the 2000s that shook her faith in the American dream of her boomer parents. 'Common wisdom has it that people grow more conservative as they age,' she writes. 'I'm the opposite, having moved further and further left with every year, growing more progressive as I, a straight cisgender white woman from a middle-class background, learn all the ways the world is rigged in my favor, even as I myself have been severely let down by the status quo.' In the essay 'She's Lost Control Again' she writes with barely suppressed fury about how her lifetime struggle with Type 1 diabetes opened her eyes to the reality of the broken health care system, which 'creates chaos for those without copious economic resources,' forcing people to turn to GoFundMe to pay for their insulin. In a sweeter, more nostalgic register, she reminisces about her great-great-uncle Barney's iconic clothing store in Manhattan and what it taught her about the predatory world of capitalism on steroids. She also considers her relationship with her older twin brothers, with whom she shared a love of cop shows. But while her faith in policing was deeply shaken by the murder of George Floyd and other police abuses, they ended up becoming cops with conservative views. The title of the book hails from the final season of 'Mad Men.' After Peggy and Joan have spent years 'clawing their way to the middle' of their ad agency, it is bought out by a bigger firm whose new owners treat them with sexist contempt. After their first meeting, Peggy asks Joan if she wants to get lunch. To which Joan replies, 'I want to burn this place down.' Kreizman brings that incendiary tone to parts of the book, but others are infused with deep affection for her family, Jersey roots, geriatric pug Bizzy and life partner Josh. If you like her sassy voice, check out an earlier work, 'Slaughterhouse 90210,' which paired passages from serious literature with pop culture images. In these troubled times, it's sure to make you laugh. ___
Winnipeg Free Press
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Book Review: Critic Maris Kreizman charts her political awakening in smart, funny essay collection
Maris Kreizman always loved books and TV. As a self-described ambition monster, she once thought that if she worked hard and played by the rules, she would land her dream job in publishing and live happily ever after with a house, husband, good health insurance and fat 401(k). Well, she got the husband and with him, the insurance. But alas, the rest was not be. In her debut essay collection, 'I Want to Burn This Place Down,' the 40-something book critic, columnist for Lit Hub and erstwhile podcaster recalls a series of mini-awakenings in college and the New York publishing world in the 2000s that shook her faith in the American dream of her boomer parents. 'Common wisdom has it that people grow more conservative as they age,' she writes. 'I'm the opposite, having moved further and further left with every year, growing more progressive as I, a straight cisgender white woman from a middle-class background, learn all the ways the world is rigged in my favor, even as I myself have been severely let down by the status quo.' In the essay 'She's Lost Control Again' she writes with barely suppressed fury about how her lifetime struggle with Type 1 diabetes opened her eyes to the reality of the broken health care system, which 'creates chaos for those without copious economic resources,' forcing people to turn to GoFundMe to pay for their insulin. In a sweeter, more nostalgic register, she reminisces about her great-great-uncle Barney's iconic clothing store in Manhattan and what it taught her about the predatory world of capitalism on steroids. She also considers her relationship with her older twin brothers, with whom she shared a love of cop shows. But while her faith in policing was deeply shaken by the murder of George Floyd and other police abuses, they ended up becoming cops with conservative views. The title of the book hails from the final season of 'Mad Men.' After Peggy and Joan have spent years 'clawing their way to the middle' of their ad agency, it is bought out by a bigger firm whose new owners treat them with sexist contempt. After their first meeting, Peggy asks Joan if she wants to get lunch. To which Joan replies, 'I want to burn this place down.' Kreizman brings that incendiary tone to parts of the book, but others are infused with deep affection for her family, Jersey roots, geriatric pug Bizzy and life partner Josh. If you like her sassy voice, check out an earlier work, 'Slaughterhouse 90210,' which paired passages from serious literature with pop culture images. In these troubled times, it's sure to make you laugh. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. ___ AP book reviews:
Associated Press
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Book Review: Critic Maris Kreizman charts her political awakening in smart, funny essay collection
Maris Kreizman always loved books and TV. As a self-described ambition monster, she once thought that if she worked hard and played by the rules, she would land her dream job in publishing and live happily ever after with a house, husband, good health insurance and fat 401(k). Well, she got the husband and with him, the insurance. But alas, the rest was not be. In her debut essay collection, 'I Want to Burn This Place Down,' the 40-something book critic, columnist for Lit Hub and erstwhile podcaster recalls a series of mini-awakenings in college and the New York publishing world in the 2000s that shook her faith in the American dream of her boomer parents. 'Common wisdom has it that people grow more conservative as they age,' she writes. 'I'm the opposite, having moved further and further left with every year, growing more progressive as I, a straight cisgender white woman from a middle-class background, learn all the ways the world is rigged in my favor, even as I myself have been severely let down by the status quo.' In the essay 'She's Lost Control Again' she writes with barely suppressed fury about how her lifetime struggle with Type 1 diabetes opened her eyes to the reality of the broken health care system, which 'creates chaos for those without copious economic resources,' forcing people to turn to GoFundMe to pay for their insulin. In a sweeter, more nostalgic register, she reminisces about her great-great-uncle Barney's iconic clothing store in Manhattan and what it taught her about the predatory world of capitalism on steroids. She also considers her relationship with her older twin brothers, with whom she shared a love of cop shows. But while her faith in policing was deeply shaken by the murder of George Floyd and other police abuses, they ended up becoming cops with conservative views. The title of the book hails from the final season of 'Mad Men.' After Peggy and Joan have spent years 'clawing their way to the middle' of their ad agency, it is bought out by a bigger firm whose new owners treat them with sexist contempt. After their first meeting, Peggy asks Joan if she wants to get lunch. To which Joan replies, 'I want to burn this place down.' Kreizman brings that incendiary tone to parts of the book, but others are infused with deep affection for her family, Jersey roots, geriatric pug Bizzy and life partner Josh. If you like her sassy voice, check out an earlier work, 'Slaughterhouse 90210,' which paired passages from serious literature with pop culture images. In these troubled times, it's sure to make you laugh. ___ AP book reviews:
