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    <title><![CDATA[WardSullivan's riffs]]></title>
    <link>http://www.riffs.com/user/WardSullivan/</link>
    <description>WardSullivan's recent reviews</description>
    <copyright>Copyright 2005 ATTAP Technologies Inc.</copyright>
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      <title><![CDATA[Hillary Rodham Clinton: Oh, Come ON.]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[She's not that bad and I'm not sure where all of this vitrol is coming from.&nbsp; Tell me, what's bad about being: smart; ambitious; ruthless; and experienced?&nbsp; I love Obama, but not to the point of being in favor of smearing Clinton.&nbsp; How about a double bill?]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/people/10346618/15430/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/people/10346618/15430/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[V for Vendetta (2005): An Aesthetic Arguement For Terrorism?????]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[This movie is a poorly acted, piece of garbage for the simple fact that it seems unaware of it's most interesting proposition: that sometimes terrorism is justified (that's what this movie is claiming, just to be clear).&nbsp; Now, THAT is a bold statement, and it is the sort of area that art ought to explore.&nbsp; The problem?&nbsp; This movie is simply an action movie, uninterested even in the ethos it is putting forward.]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/movies/10642901/15429/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/movies/10642901/15429/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Batman Begins: Better than Burton!]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[This franchise finally found itself with Bale and Nolan, and answers the question that's plagued Batman fans for years: he can do all this stuff, cause he's a ninja!]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/movies/10330840/15428/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/movies/10330840/15428/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation: Does this mean the best years are behind them?]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[Listen: biographies are too often tombstones on promising careers and I refuse to believe that any of these wonderful singer/songwriter's careers are over.&nbsp; But while the future is still being written, there is still a reason to read this interesting triple biography, which is that people could stand to be reminded where the songs of today originated.&nbsp; Also?&nbsp; Carole King is a nuthouse.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779447/15427/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779447/15427/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Certain Girls: Yeah Chick Lit!]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[Who knows how and when "chick lit" became a curse word?&nbsp; This is a wonderful book, and proudly owns that moniker: Flashing forward 13 years, the novel follows Cannie as she navigates
the adolescent rebellion of her about-to-be bat mitzvahed daughter,
Joy, and juggles her writing career; her relationship with her
physician husband, Peter Krushelevansky; her ongoing weight struggles;
and the occasional impasse with Joy's biological father, Bruce
Guberman. Joy, whose premature birth resulted in her wearing hearing
aids, has her own amusing take on her mother's overinvolvement in her
life as the novel, with some contrivance, alternates perspectives. As
her bat mitzvah approaches, Joy tries to make contact with her long
absent maternal grandfather and seeks more time with Bruce. In
addition, unbeknownst to Joy, Peter has expressed a desire to have a
baby with Cannie, which means looking for a surrogate mother.
Throughout, Weiner offers her signature snappy observations: (good
looks function as a get-out-of-everything-free card) and spot-on
insights into human nature, with a few twists thrown in for good
measure. She expends some energy getting readers up to speed on <i>Good</i>, but readers already involved with Cannie will enjoy this, despite Joy's equally strong voice.]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779446/15426/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779446/15426/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Terror and Consent: Must Read, Sadly]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[This incredibly balanced and braided analysis of the current war on terror, giving it both an historical context as well as a brave and bold analysis regarding how, exactly, America went about this war in the wrong way.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779445/15425/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779445/15425/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything: Sorry Eli!  Brady's the one we'll remember.]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[Great book for any football fan, even marginally interested in the unlikely trials of this methodical and precise (and sexy) passing machine.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779444/15424/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779444/15424/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Blood Kin: That old saw: Absolute Power corrupts etc.]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[You know, I really, really wanted to like this book, but it folds its promise a little too early in the game.&nbsp; For a more subtle writer on the same subject, one who does not bring attention to the prose but disappears inside of it, read Imre Kertesz.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779443/15423/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779443/15423/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Unaccustomed Earth: Lahiri tops herself with this new collection]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[I don't think anyone in his or her right mind would ever say that Jhumpa Lahiri was overrated as a writer, but people have said that she revisits the same subject over and over and that the overall effect of this repetition is numbness.&nbsp; Not true at all.&nbsp; Each of these finely crafted stories pack more emotional whollop than most novels, and offer up an engulfing reading experience.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779442/15418/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10779442/15418/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Human Smoke: Controversial, but important]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[This is revisionism at its most line-blurring, and brings up the ever-important question: who writes history?&nbsp; Baker can be a frustrating writer, certainly, but his intelligence is razor sharp, and he is purposefully pressuring people on their assumptions.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777134/15131/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777134/15131/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Skinny Bitch In The Kitch: What's wrong with the Joy Of Cooking?]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[Am I a prude, and outdated, for even saying that?&nbsp; But seriously, the trick to losing weight, if that is what you're interested in, is just to eat less than you normally do (PORTIONS people!).&nbsp; You don't have to join a cult, or adopt some strange group behavior, as this book seems to advocate.&nbsp; <br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777132/15130/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777132/15130/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell: Revolting]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[Ugh.&nbsp; I can't believe a book like this even exists.&nbsp; So unbelievably gross--he's everything that's wrong with the American Male.&nbsp; The problem, of course, is that he's a product as much as anything else, and every post against him only fuels his popularity.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777129/15128/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777129/15128/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[The Glass Castle: And I thought *my* family had problems]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[You won't be able to put this book down, and the subject matter, while depressing (needy familys, issues of homelessness and dependency), is also riveting and Walls has an eye for detail that novelist's would envy.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777128/15127/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777128/15127/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Three Cups of Tea: Tremendous]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[I can't think of a book I've read recently that makes me think: well, I've sure wasted *my* life.&nbsp; This is absolutely a wonderful read (and inspiring, if you can stomach a word like that)<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777127/15126/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777127/15126/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[The Translation of Dr. Apelles: Should be great, but tedious and boring]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[I went into this novel with the highest of hopes, since I loved Possession by AS Byatt.&nbsp; But what can I say?&nbsp; This book emphasizes style over substance, and suffers for it.&nbsp; I never once believed the love story at the center of the book, which, for me, was fatal.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777123/15125/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777123/15125/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[An Inconvenient Book: Why is this popular?]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[This kind of book is so tired, but there it is, on the NY Times bestseller list.&nbsp; Can anyone explain that to me?<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777119/15124/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777119/15124/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Liberal Fascism: Garbage.  But funny garbage.]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[This might -- *might* -- be a good present for that uncle you have who is always bugging you about being a liberal, just to let him know that while you love him, his ideas are just totally ridiculous.&nbsp; I mean, just look at the cover.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777117/15123/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777117/15123/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Beautiful Boy: Starbucks pick?]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[This book, admittedly beautiful, sad, and extraordinaryily well-written, has been selected as one of Starbuck's picks this year.&nbsp; Which seems like an odd couple, doesn't it?&nbsp; Meth addiction and coffee?&nbsp; You'd think they'd want to keep the specter of addiction as far away from Starbucks as possible, lest every coffee drinker decide *they* have a problem.&nbsp; <br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777116/15121/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777116/15121/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Christ the Lord: The Road To Cana: Interview with the Vampire?]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[...it's not, obviously, but you know what?&nbsp; It's better written than any of the Vampire chronicle books.<br>]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777114/15119/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/books/10777114/15119/</guid>
      
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      <title><![CDATA[Amy Winehouse - Back to Black: Worth the Hype]]></title>

      <description><![CDATA[I avoided this album for almost a year since it was so hyped and she was such a train wreck.&nbsp; And I'm sorry I did so.&nbsp; This is a great album, and great music. &nbsp;]]></description>
      <link>http://www.riffs.com/music/10715100/15117/</link>
      <guid>http://www.riffs.com/music/10715100/15117/</guid>
      
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