Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip-Hop Hustler by Ethan Brown (Anchor paperback). Hip-hop has a lot to say about crime, drugs and beefs; now Ethan Brown brings readers the lowdown on what actually went on as the big players of rap and hip-hop made their bones in the business. Brown’s mix of facts, description and interviews, which he infuses with his own observations, gives a very real feel to the story he is telling. He is able to mix with big names and bad attitudes, finding a nice balance between storyteller and historian. Brown’s writing brings this particular facet of the hip-hop world to life, making the names we know so well step beyond their star roles and into a depth of character. What’s most unnerving is that these rappers and singers aren’t only still on the streets, but their lyrics are speaking to our children more than we are. This isn’t a pretty story, but it’s well worth the read. – Samantha Gellar
Republican Like Me: Infiltrating Red-State, White-Ass, and Blue-Suit America by Harmon Leon (Prometheus paperback). Even white supremacists dine at mundane establishments like Applebee’s. Abortion clinic protests include some woefully undermedicated loons. What else is new? Unfortunately, not much in Leon’s collection of essays. Republican Like Me promises a delicious takedown of liberal enemies but delivers only the equivalent of a snarky note passed in eighth-grade homeroom. Sure, funny moments are inevitable when poking fun at liberals’ most justly ridiculed foes. But the overall tone isn’t much different from the attention-seeking pronouncements of a self-righteous high schooler who’s just discovered leftist politics. Yeah, the words sound good, but where’s the heart? Or for that matter, the meaning? For a successful example of a writer infiltrating the right wing, see Matt Taibbi’s Spanking the Donkey. Taibbi’s observations from working as a Bush campaign volunteer in Florida actually reveal more about his Republican subjects than his leftist mind-set.
This article appears in Dec 21-27, 2005.
