ContentBlog

My roommate and I started this blog mostly, I think, because we think we’re pretty smart people who have a lot to say about a lot of stuff. That, and we were really starting to get bored with just talking to each other about everything. I can’t speak for him, necessarily, but there’s really only so many times you can rant to a person about things that you mostly agree on. So we decided to expand the discussion to include other people–hopefully you find it at least somewhat interesting. That stuff will all be in the Politics or Miscellaneous sections of the site.

We’re also going to have a whole section of the site dedicated to book reviews. I’m getting pretty tired of limited reviews in newspapers about mainstream books. Most of the feedback you find in these things–”Florid prose!” “Stunning literary achievement!” or whatever else, you could have just found on the back of the dust jacket. And bookstore websites? The reviews you find there are tits on a bull. I found a review by a high school junior that pondered why the translator of de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” couldn’t find a way to make it “more to the point for those who have to read it.” Seriously? The translator’s job is to make this French book not French anymore, not to write Cliff Notes for US Government students. Long story short, I wanted to get a collection of book reviews together for you college students who want something good to read over the summer and maybe even during the school year, if you’re not too busy drinking and writing papers.

I work at a bookstore in addition to all the other crap I do with my life, so I get a reasonable amount of exposure to titles both new and old. I’d love to share my thoughts on them, and really, if there’s anybody who wants to write some reviews or contribute in other ways to our blog along with us, I’d be more than happy to hook you up with an account.

All you have to do is go to WordPress and create a username (click Sign Up Now! and then check the box “Just a Username Please” instead of “Gimme a Blog!”). Then send me an e-mail or a facebook message that includes the e-mail address you registered the user name under, and I’ll add you as a contributing author. Welcome to ContentBlog!