notanotherbookreview

 “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean” Regeneration Theatre, November 2017 "I think the play is interesting and, in some ways, ahead of it’s time. It tries to cover a lot of issues; perhaps too many. But that is so brave for the late 1970s. Some of the attitudes seems dated, but overall the themes of acceptance, and forgiveness make me feel we should have hope. These women are in a very traditional and conservative environment, and if the most religious and bigoted among them can accept this great change in someone she knows, then anybody can. Or at least I would like to believe so. And that is the main reason I wanted to explore this piece in an age of gender fluidity, fighting against prejudice and traditionalism."  --Barnaby Edwards (Producer) I love that this theatre's focus is on re-examining shows that were influential and even controversial in their times. Looking at them through a 2017 lens reveals a different perspective.  I had...

"[Elizebeth Friedman] was a tireless and talented code breaker who brought down gangsters and Nazi spies...a fascinating swath of American history that begins in Gilded Age Chicago and moves to the inner workings of our intelligence agencies at the close of WWII."  — Los Angeles Times I am joining the praise for Jason Fagone's excellent nonfiction, THE WOMAN WHO SMASHED CODES: A True Story of Love, Spies and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies. Elizebeth Smith Friedman's story is as unlikely as real life and full of surprises--outlandish and entirely plausible. Her impressive achievements were of course co-opted by male authority. An old story, but among those men was J. Edgar Hoover, whose gumshoes could track gangsters though not the boats of rum runners.  He had no unit skilled at decrypting codes, though the coast guard did. Elizebeth's rare skills and the unit she trained, invisibly brought down the profiteers. Then her group...