Most Read This Week In American

[close] La cultura e la realtà americana. Una strana realtà, quella attuale...

[close] Started somewhat as a reaction to the British cozy mystery of the Agatha Christie style (think Murder She Wrote), there came a demand for something more real, action where the stakes were higher, the participants (good and bad) sleazier, the police on the take, the ladies fatal for any would-be patsy. Thus was born, largely in the 1920s, and often in the pulps (foremost among them Black Mask), the American answer to Sherlock Holmes, the genre that in turn became the basis for the film noir revolution of the 1940s. Our original big three writers in this genre are Dashiel Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and James M. Cain. This modest beginning spawned an international phenomenon with writers in other countries picking up the tropes, some adhering to original themes, others blending in other genres such as science fiction dystopia or urban fantasy, to craft a new literature known simply as noir. These writers and settings come from communities as diverse and complex as can be found throughout the modern world. Half our focus is on original hardboiled crime fiction, its formation in the middle third of twentieth century United States. The other half is on modern noir throughout the world as it has developed since. Join in on the fun as the outsider champion of justice tries to bring its criminal elements to account, won't you?

[close] "He had learned the art of storytelling in the Orient, where storytellers are highly regarded. Indeed, they are magicians and play with the souls of their listeners as a child plays with his ball." Herman Hesse Travel around the world from your living rooms by experiencing books, music, movies, and food from exotic locales and chatting about it. Explore at your own pace.

[close] Hey yall, I'm Romeo. Back two years ago, one of my teachers gave me a book called the New Jim Crow and told me that before too long I'd have the kind of influence to make a difference in this world. I read it cover to cover and couldn't stop thinking about it. I have read more books about the inadequacies that are tolerated and encouraged in the United States that allow a small number of people to exercise absolute control over the rest of us. Give a person a badge and a gun and they can get away with anything, at least until you murder a man on video and people finally start wiping the sleep out of their eyes and asking questions. This is not a black vs. white group. This is group for people who are frustrated by the way some individuals and groups are allowed to exist above the law and control those of us who are below it. I have read some amazing books during the quarantine and talked to alot of cool people here. I want to hear your ideas and try to build ideas with you on how we can make change happen and stick. Killing each other in riots won't work. I can't wait to hear your ideas. It's a cheesy quote for what we gonna try to do here, but I'm going to quote the original pimp Billy Dee Williams from The Rise of Skywalker about how I feel about this. Poe Dameron says to the Rebels, "I'm sorry my friends, I thought we had a shot but there's just too many of them." Radio crackles and then here's Lando saying, "But there are more of us, Poe. There are more of US." Poe looks up and there's thousands of ships flying in to fight. One Imperial looks at the other and says, "Where did we get all these craft from? They have no Navy." The other Imperial says, "It's not a navy sir, it's just people." That's us right now. Just people. But there are more of us. RL