Oakland Review of Books
Calendar of Events
Gaze into the week ahead
The Place We Come Back To
by Sarah Wheeler
A review of a book by someone who has given us money
by Aaron Bady
Six people you meet in Oakland while reading Manuel Betancourt’s “Hello Stranger”
by Marthine Satris
Infinity Plus One
by Pauline Kerschen
Unpaid Debts
by Megan Wachspress
Why we're sponsoring the Oakland Review of Books
by Brad Johnson
I sold my body to save my mind
On the Waterfront: Art at Work at Tamarack on January 24
Talking Greatness to Death
by Aaron Bady
We Get There Eventually
Noir City Film Festival, Grand Lake Theater, later than I'd like on Jan 20
Hatspotting
by Hanne Williams-Baron
We look down at our hands wondering why God gave us these if we weren’t using them to fight
Vigil for Renee Good, Fruitvale, a couple weeks ago
West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Counterprogramming
Makibaka, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (in the west bay), this past weekend
Mysteries and Exes
New Years Poetry, Bathers Library, January 3rd
Sad for New Year's
by Pauline Kerschen
Oakland Flocks
by Katie DeCarlo
Introducing the Oakland Review of Books Syllabus
How do you really know this place?
Whipped Votes
by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Surveilling the Seen
by Aaron Bady
Dressed Paper
East Bay Print Sale, Max’s Garage Press, Thursday
What did Mark Twain think of Oakland?
by Aaron Bady
Date Night at Coast Guard Island
Date Night, Coast Guard Island, Before 9:30
Open Thing Bleeds into Another
Works in Progress, Local Economy, a couple weeks ago

Vibe reports

An Underdressed Night at the Symphony
An Underdressed Night at the Symphony: Faye Webster, The Paramount, a couple weeks ago
What is a vibe report?
What is a vibe report?: We're glad you asked!
Nature will do it
Nature will do it: Tarantula mating season, Mt. Diablo, a week before Halloween
The Party, the Afterparty, and the Pizza
The Party, the Afterparty, and the Pizza: Transit Fundraiser, Cellarmaker, two weekends ago
Convergence of Winter
Convergence of Winter: Ladybugs, Stream Trail, Sunday
More vibes

Oakland Quote Generator

Reviews

But even if a university can be many things, and occasionally still might be, the one thing that a University like Berkeley’s mostly is, and will be, always and forever, is a pile of capital.

War is Over (Because UC Wants it) • Aaron Bady •

Until recently, Huchiun Park was too new for street view to show you anything but the recently emptied space it was built on. Its young trees are still too small

Recently Cleared • Aaron Bady •

After I had sent a few customers home with Cassandra, I started to feel a bit uneasy. Should I be warning them? Am I obligated to tell adults to brace themselves? Isn’t everyone a little bit mentally ill? Call of the void, that’s a thing we all have, right?

Cassandra at the Abyss • Elizabeth Freeman •

If I got covid at a 9/11 film festival, the embarrassment alone would kill me.

“I assume we’ll be here again next year” • Xander Lenc •

How is Future Man—who looks like a pirate these days—STILL from the future? He’s still the only person in the world who plays the instrument he invented.

Left of Old • Aaron Bady •

It feels as though the concrete substrate of Oakland has followed you inside the venue.

A bright streak over the grass, where the toadstools grow • Pauline Kerschen •

Everyone will have a job, and there will be a job for everyone. Everyone will fit somewhere.

All hands • Tommy Craggs •

Please don’t be the fifth person he’s bitten tonight! He draws blood.

Release party for “Unsolicited Drawings of Unsolicited Dick Pictures”: an unsolicited report •

Little Free Libraries do not have card catalogs, so there is no way of knowing anything about their provenance.

Weeding out Nicholson Baker • Aaron Bady •

Oakland Syllabus

ab\O/ut

Oakland Review of Books, ORB to those in the orbit, is an exercise in counterprogramming. Like Oakland itself, we’re doomed to define ourselves by what we are not, but with a chip or two on our shoulders, we make that into a virtue. What is ORB? As an answer, “What’s the opposite of Nextdoor" will do, if all we have is a sentence. But for a fuller introduction, just look to each word of our name …

Pitch Us!

We are a new publication in Oakland, and we are fully of Oakland but not exclusively about Oakland. We’re seeking pitches for pieces of all kinds right now—essays, reviews, interviews, conceptual art masquerading as journalism, maps, pranks. And of course, we’re interested in books, in how they move through the world and illuminate it (or obscure it), reading Oakland in books and on reading books in …