Imaginary Weapons

Steven Aftergood calls my attention to a book called Imaginary Weapons, which sounds quite up the alley of folks on my friends list. I've already ordered a copy from the local library and I'm looking forward to this. A book like this satisfies two itchings: The first is pointing out the fallacies of the crazy military-industrial complex and the insanity of the Bush administration; the second is my love of fringe science and eliptony.

Not in Kansas Anymore

Not In Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How Magic Is Transforming America by Christine Wicker is a cute little book about a journalist who goes out and meets people who practice Hoodoo and other forms of magic and/or believe they're vampires, elves and werewolves. Its cute, and she does a good job of being friendly and open-minded about what is going on out there. She’s not a believer (well a little) and she’s not an outright skeptic so it’s a nice, low-key examination of several of the magical subcultures out there right now. A whole lot more readable than works by proponents (Gerneration Hex comes to mind) but don’t expect much depth here. A good quick beach read that most folks should give a few hours too.

I especially liked her treatment of the Salem scene. I think I know at least 3 of the people she interviewed.