Hey, it's Michael Moore! Turns out he's got a new movie, titled Capitalism: a love story. I doubt I need to tell you much more. RottenTomatoes gives it a 74%, with 31 reviews. A favorite is from the NYPost:
‘CAPITALISM: A Love Story" sounded like my kind of film. I had heard Michael Moore found some exciting new historical footage, and I was picturing hot, steamy love scenes featuring Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan writhing atop piles of gold coins.
Imagine my disappointment....
We've also got Esquire magazine's A. J. Jacobs, the guy who wrote The Year fo Living Biblically. His newest is The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment -- here's from Kirkus (via B&N):
Esquire editor at large Jacobs (The Year of Living Biblically, 2007, etc.) continues his unique brand of immersion journalism. The swift-moving collection holds together well, and though the author cultivates the persona of a nebbish, his style is crisp and often laugh-out-loud funny. He examines his love for organizing his days via archaic or eccentric principles, regardless of the confusion inflicted on friends, acquaintances and his long-suffering wife. "I've tried to understand the world by immersing myself in extraordinary circumstances," he writes, and admits the addictive nature of the process, rather than the results. He capably translates these journeys into wry comedy, although he claims that "making life better in the end" is his secondary goal. Some of the participants in his experiments, however, may disagree... Each chapter-some of which previously appeared in Esquire-is followed by a "Coda," in which Jacobs assesses the experiment and its aftermath. A lightweight but endearing and nimble look at how pursuing absurd extremes can illuminate the more mundane aspects of contemporary existence.
There's lots of stuff out there, generally appreciative (his wife gets some praise as well). Alas, a piece on 'gimmick books' includes this:
The king of the Gimmick Book is Esquire magazine writer A.J. Jacobs. The title of his forthcoming book -- "The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment" -- gets at his approach. The New York-based Jacobs, whose nasally voice has been compared to Arnold Horshack's from "Welcome Back, Kotter," swears he's not a cynical opportunist.
I'll give him the not-cynical part -- I know some artistes myself -- but, um... I hope that bit about his voice is hyperbole.
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