Vegetarianism jeopardizes your status as an authentic left-con, but we are broad-minded so we will make an exception if you stay away from yuppie vegetables like arugula and hearts of palm.
As for Eastwood, obviously the heart of his oeuvre is in Dirty Harry and the Man with No Name, not his gestures towards artistic respectability.
>I'm really at a loss for interesting things to read right now. Would you
want to recommend a left-con book or two?>
One biggie I've been putting off is "The True and Only Heaven" by Christopher Lasch. Also try Tom Geoghagen, a labor lawyer. Kevin Phillips is an obvious choice.
There is also the literature on 19th century populism which I've talked about here before. Also there are Ishmael Reed and Stanley Crouch. Not included would be stuff by Rorty, Mike Kazin, and Eric Alterman, who while worthwhile in their own ways are merely traditional social democrats. Nor would I include the likes of Fred Siegel or Jim Sleeper, who lack the left in 'left-con.'
I don't care to get into the Mumia thing, except to say he seems not to have received a fair trial and ought to have one.
MBS