Nicaragua June 1978 -July 1979
Susan Meiselas
Aperture
[Street: September 2008]
The images held within the pages ofthis book are astounding. They often leftme wondering how in the hell Meiselasmanaged to capture them withoutbecoming a casualty of the civil war shewas documenting. Originally publishedin 1981, the photographs in this bookdocument the combustible state ofNicaragua from June 1978- July 1979.Luckily, they never glorify the violencethat they depict. Some of the imagescontained within are almost surreal."Cuesta del Plomo" is almost paradiselike with its green rolling hills and brightblue skies, except that the location wasregularly used by the National Guard toassassinate citizens, and the remainsof a blown up body consume the lowerhalf of the photograph. Then there is theimage of a Sandinista hurling a Molotovcocktail over the walls of the NationalGuard's headquarters that made mewonder how Meiselas was so lucky tocapture that precise moment. Thesephotos show the violence on both sides,but never seem to make a statement asto which side was right. It's as amazingas it is horrifying. – Jeanette Moses

Things Grandchildren
Should Know
Mark Oliver Everett
Thomas Dunne Books
[Street 10.08]
What is it about memoirs? It seems thatevery person out there has to explain tous how their good for nothing childhoodhas made them into the fabulous andamazing person they are today. Sure, Imay have dabbled in some "feel sorryfor me" story telling myself, but I wouldnever go out of my way to write a wholenovel about it. Now if I was the frontmanof themidninetiesbandEels I would think it was necessary forthe public to know about my unfortunateteenage angst that led me to myfame... Yeah, right. The story starts offa tear-jerking description of a lonely boywho found his father (who of coursehe never really got to know) dead. Hissister is a suicidal drug addict and hismom is just the most amazing personyou have ever met. Should I go on, ordo we all know how it ends from there?My unsympathetic view doesn't justcome from the fact that Everett followedstep by step the recipe on "How toMake a Memoir" (no, that doesn't reallyexist). Additionally, between everymisfortune he mentions, Everett namedrops a few producers, a few big celebrities,record labels and oh, best of all...lyrics to some of his most "precious"songs. This all seems a little fishy, asthough he's trying to prove to us that,yes, he really does matter. Everett alsolikes to make the point that his music isfar more progressive and unique thananything of his contemporaries. I smella pretentious musician who misses hisfifteen minutes of fame. –Lyuba Basin

War Is Only Half TheStory: The AftermathProject Volume 1
Jim Goldberg, Wolf Bowig et al
Aperture
[Street: June 2008]
Is it possible to be classic and contemporary?Because that's the only way Ican describe the photography of JimGoldberg. Goldberg's had his ownstyle of photography since way backwhen (the 70s) and even his old stufflooks good today. Goldberg's style,for those unfamiliar, is classified asdocumentary photography. However,Goldberg is attracted to other mediumssuch as writing and collage. He tendsto have his subjects write notes or drawon the actual photograph. For example,one photograph in this book has thewords "My life is sick because of whatthey did to me" written on it (in Russian,actually). Being a fan of Mr. Goldberg,I was excited to review this book, but,I was a little let down. Sure, there area lot of good photos in here from hisrecent project about Eastern Europeanmigration, The New Europeans. Butmost of those photos were also in thatfree magazine that RVCA clothing produces,so I'd already seen them. Also,Jim Goldberg only had a small sectionof the book. The rest of the book waslittered with what looked to me likestudent work. Don't get me wrong, thisbook has some good photographs init, especially if you like documentaryphotography or social commentaryphotography. However, if you're buyingit because you're a fan of Jim Goldberg,I would suggest you wait until his nextbook project, The New Europeans,comes out. –Sam Milianta