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Rating: 
Summary: Nasty political book disguised as composition book
Review: It's not often I give out one star ratings but this book deserves it. We are reading through this book in my College English Freshman Composition class, and I'm going to have to trudge through it. It's supposed to be about effective writing and reading but really it's just a vehicle the authors use to force their nasty politics onto unsuspecting young students. Whats politics? Why left-wing, "liberal", democrat politics of course, is there any other kind allowed in college these days? (The word "liberal" is officially a misnomer as it has nothing to do with liberty any more). Now, if you are on that side of the political spectrum that is absolutely fine with me, hey maybe I even share some of those opinions, but does it belong in a classroom about effective writing? The anti-white tone of the book seeps out of every page, and forget it if you're a young white male in this class; you're going to be squirming in your seat. Again, if you're anti-white male, fine, but does that attitude belong in a classroom filled with many young, vulnerable white males concerned foremost with getting good grades? My teacher likes this book obviously, but of course she would she's not white, nor male, and her political beliefs leak out of her during class lectures because she can't help it. The authors of this book are obsessed with race, and almost every page reeks of their racism (or guilt). They should be absolutely ashamed of themselves and the only saving grace is that this book ranks really low on the Amazon sales charts.
Rating: 
Summary: An Exceptional Reader
Review: This is the best reader I've seen for composition students--it could be used for classes in popular culture as well. The selections are both interesting and thoughtful, with quite a depth in their analyses of various topics. Students will find immediate applications to the ways they think about themselves and the world. Similarly, the commentaries are as well-written and interesting as the choice of articles (and worth reading by themselves, even). The questions and projects at the end of each section offer a wide range of ideas, from everyday classroom questions to more challening projects.
Rating: 
Summary: Learn how to examine pop culture with an open mind.
Review: Uncommon Threads has been a great book. It combines many genres: short stories, magazine articles, a film still, poetry, lyrics, advertisements, and cartoons to enable one to look deeply into pop culture. This book will help one examine and analyze pop culture with an open-minded approach. Moreover, for most topics discussed, more than one view-point is presented, which allows one to form an opinion on a topic with a better understanding. Also, the open-ended discussion questions following the texts within the book make one think about things in many different ways. For example, I have learned to examine advertisements from many different angles. It's amazing what words are to be interpreted from an advertisement. Furthermore, many contemporary issues are discussed in Uncommon Threads; such as, Nature Vs. Nurture, Self Identity, Family Values, defining culture, life styles, attitudes, love and conflict, the American Dream, Genders' affect on heroism, Fashion and Spirituality, advertising and values; and dying and healing. All of the topics discussed seem to have no connection, but somehow all of the topics are intertwined. For instance, how is love and conflict, or romance and capitalism connected? From reading the texts in Uncommon Threads, many seemingly unconnected thoughts become intertwined.
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