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From Rat's Notebook

December 2006

(Reprises our Home Page & Advertisements For Dec. 2006)

Archive Review Page


Editor's Notes by John Aiello
 
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InThis Issue...

 From Rat's Notebook
A column from The Editor on the San Francisco Giants' community-awareness events. Plus, Guest Columns from Criminal Defense attorney J. Tony Serra & retired judge Paul J. Aiello (who writes on border searches). Also a column on the recent violence in Bali by Australian economist Robert Leeson (co-written with professor Ian Chalmers).

 Features and Profiles
An interview with Dennis Franz on the conclusion of the NYPD Blue series. Plus, "Blood Fanatics" - featuring an essay on terrorism by attorney J. Tony Serra and original art by San Francisco artist Eric Ward. Also, a profile of Robert Blake and original fiction on The Fiction Corner. In addition, a meditation on Van Morrison in concert and an interview with his daughter, vocalist Shana Morrison (go to the July 2004 archives for the full text of each).With portraits of the Morrisons, Franz and Blake byWard (see Rat on Photography archives for more).

 Rat on Photography
Presenting San Francisco artist Amanda Eicher. Plus, coverage of Douglas Gilbert's photo-study on Bob Dylan. And five-star releases by Abrams Books (including Dan Nadel's "Art Out Of Time," as well as selections on John Loengard, Richard Avedon, Danny Shanahan and Salvador Dali).

 Rat on Fiction & Nonfiction
Featuring Edie Meidav's "Crawl Space" (John Aiello also interviews the author),Will Steger's "Painkiller" and Jose Canseco's "Juiced."Also featuring a review of "Generation Extra Large" about the epedemic of childhood obesity, in addition to a review of the ground-breaking "Internal Bleeding" (including an interview with its author, Doctor Robert Wachter).Plus "Shooters" by Abigail Kohn, "Tell The Court I Love My Wife" by Peter Wallenstein, the "Atkins Diabetes Revolution," "The Rosedale Diet," Lonely Planet travel guides, and a round-up of the best inrecently released audio books. Also of interest and importance on the Fiction Page: "Mortification'' by Robin Robertson,"Sopranos On The Couch," by Continuum author Maurice Yacowar, insightful new fiction by Laura Lippman and Reed Arvin, "Doubt" by Jennifer Michael Hecht and "Autumn Of The Moguls" by Michael Wolff. Scroll to the bottom of page for a special feature on James Gandolfini with an original portrait of the Sopranos star.

 On theCD Watch                                                  Featuring the Dylan/Scorsese masterpiece, "No Direction Home," the new Shana Morrison album "That's Who I Am," and brand new DVD releases from Eagle Rock Entertainment (featuring Van Morrison's first-ever DVD) and Music Video Distributors (including Dylan and Guitar Watson). Plus previous reviews of Aerosmith, Lara St. John,"The Passion Of The Christ" soundtrack, Bob Dylan at The Philharmonic and Johnny Winter. Also updates on Putumayo World Music, a review of Zade's new album, a look at the all-girl band Raining Jane, and interviews with Lara St. John and Eric Andersen.

 Industry News
New recommendations on TheER's Library Advisory; also a profile of John Wiley and Sons. And Elsevier's brilliant Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics.

 Rat on Reference
Textbook reviews in the primary academic areas of study, including in depth coverage of Medical Science,Criminal Justice, Consumer Lawand Pyschology.

 Plus: New features on theMusic (Michael Gray's Encyclopedia on Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Fats Waller) and Poetry pages; Celia's Restaurant in San Rafael, California, and South Beach Cafe in San Francisco; plus food-book reviews (including Emeril's Potluck) and a feature story on MVD Video on the Quick Picks page.

THE ELECTRIC REVIEW is an on-line book and music broadside dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts and academia. The magazine will offer monthly critiques of recent book and music releases, offering readers a broad sampling of material while presenting writers and musicians of all genres a more equitable chance for publicity.

In pursuit of this, reviews are written not so much in a formula style, but rather in a manner meant to stress the underlying themes of the material: our goal is simply to make the reader excited about the possibilities these books and records hold.

The need for the Electric Review is obvious and long over-due.

Artists, no matter how big the name, are at the mercy of the devious corporate politics that drive our mainstream media. Those writers with small publishers, or those whose work bears a "non-commercial" label, often receive no attention at all -- their efforts wholly undiscovered, their books wallowing in waste in putrid obscurity.

But the immorality of this system pierces still deeper: An artist held back from public view has, in reality, been intentionally silenced. His tongue's been cut out. It's a crime levied against our collective soul against our collective conscience. And this, then, brings us to the relevant mission of the Electric Review - to allow writers and musicians a platform through which to reclaim their voices, presenting them with the opportunity to be heard.

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The Electric Review focuses on all aspects of book publishing, and each "issue" of the Review contains critical analysis on books from various subject areas (including textbooks in allacademic fields). In addition, new authors and works of fiction are given special consideration as a means to promote books and writers who otherwise would be ignored by the conventional print media. The same approach is taken when reviewing music, as we attempt to expand the things you see and hear.

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 BIOGRAPHY: John Aiello has been a practicing journalist for over 25 years, with an abiding interest/expertise in the Beat Generation and post-20th century poetics. In the course of his career, he has published material on the fine arts (books, music, film and popular culture), in addition to science, psychology, biology, medicine, religion, business, law, government, the social sciences, the Constitution, civil rights, abuse of power by police, and corruption in the insurance industry (as a consultant). Educated at College of The Siskiyous, Southern Oregon State University and San Francisco State University, Aiello has published with the San Francisco Chronicle, (as well asthe San Francisco Examiner /Chronicle - Sunday Edition), Jack Magazine (with links to Big Bridge), McClure-Manzarek.com, Larry Keenan's Dead Beat Picture Gallery (introducing Keenan's photo feature), the San Francisco Daily Journal, the American Muse, the Siskiyou Pioneer, the San Jose Mercury News, Consumer Health Interactive,the Beat Page, the Auburn Journal, Auburn Journal Extra, the Mount Shasta Herald, the North Bay Bohemian,The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center's international website (for the complete article, see the link: www.ucsfhealth.org/adult/profiles/h.html), California Wine and Food, BookZen, North American Precis Syndicate, Taste California Travel, TNT's Drama Lounge, Chico News & Review, the Redding Record Searchlight, Wavelength Magazine, the Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He was also the National Correspondent for the American Muse and contributed significantly to both the magazine's genesis and evolution before it ceased operations in 2002. Additionally, countless reviews written by Aiello have been excerpted and used by publishers, authors and record labels in the course of marketing their products. Aiello's work is known among writers, publishers, literary agents and publicists who trust that his critiques will be fair-minded and thorough and his knowledge of the subject matter complete. Many well-established and award-winning authors have championed his work, including Michael McClure, Michael Baughman and Peter Sussman, as well as the late Herb Caen, the late Richard Hemp, the late Arthur Hoppe, the late Allan Temko and the late Allen Ginsberg. In the summer of 2001, Aiello retired from his position at the San Francisco Chronicle, having spent over 14 years working in the newsroom there. Presently, Aiello continues to publish The Electric Review (having launched the magazine in 2003), further showcasing some of his journalismin various print-based newspapers and on-line magazines throughout the country. In addition, Aiello ispreparing a book-length manuscript of his own poetry for commercial publication.

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From Rat's Notebook

FROM RAT'S NOTEBOOK is a column from the desk of the Editor, and content here will evolve naturally, according to the natural progression of the mind. In some issues, subject matter will parallel a general interest topic of the day: news items, music, literature, art; in other issues, perhaps a poem or a story whereby upon conclusion you rise up stark from your numb bed -- thinking.

More from Rat's Notebook...


NOTICE TO PUBLISHERS, RECORD LABELSAND WRITERS:

 The Electric Review makes every effort to offer a balanced and fair representation of books and music available to the public. Our goal is to offer a broad sampling of material from myriad sources in an attempt to broaden the scope of the reader’s interest. However, due to the sheer number of queries the magazine receives, we are not able to feature every single title that is submitted for review consideration, nor will we ever promise or guarantee coverage for an author or performer or publishing house.

Our policy is to review material based on The Editor's discretion, without consideration of the size of the publisher or the purported scope of an author's influence. Instead, our reviews arewritten based on merit as we seek to bring notice of the best books being published to our readers.The same system is in place for our coverage of music-related products. ~The Editor



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