I have to be honest. I really didn’t like this book. My first memory of it was from an English professor at Sauk Valley College, circa 1978 gushing over how unbelievably good it was. I resolved to read it someday, and after hearing repeated reverential praises for this masterful moving book, I finally got around Read More …
Tag: Book reviews
Book review: Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man’s First Journey to the Moon
This is not the personality driven, author showcase of a “The Right Stuff,” nor the tense drama of an “Apollo 13.” It was something of a mix of the two, an introduction to the personalities that were involved in the Apollo 8 mission to the moon alongside a description of what a tremendously difficult team Read More …
Book Review: Divine Fury
The best part of Divine Fury is the final 30 pages, wherein McMahon reflects on the impressively diverse and thorough research that is reflected in the rest of his discussion of the nature of “genius” and how our understanding of it has changed over the course of the centuries. In his epilogue, he reflects on Read More …
Book Review: Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind
I was expecting this to be a lesson in evolution. and anthropology, especially regarding the origins of humans, and it was that – but in ways I never expected. Beginning with a review of the science about humankind’s origins, Sapiens does a wondrously thought-provoking job of showing what evolutionary success really means for species like Read More …
Book Review: Season of Lies
Season of Lies is a tremendous followup to Hetzel’s first book in this series. It brings back the key characters and manages to realistically draw them into a new drama that mixes a new World Series bid, celestial mysteries, a presidential race, divisive politics and a tender love affair. It’s a creatively told story that Read More …
Book Review: Five-Carat Soul
This book was a reminder of the particular pleasures of the short story. Some of the stories in the collection aren’t that short, really, but all were manageable in a single sitting and were compact, complete works. And a really nice effect in a book of this type is the range of emotions and the Read More …
Book Review: A Study in Scarlet
I’ve read only a few Sherlock Holmes stories but am of course familiar with various twists and turns the myth has taken in movies and pop culture. But this was a singularly enjoyable experience to tap into the origins of the myth and see Holmes and Dr. Watson “in the raw,” as it were. I Read More …
Book Review: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
This is an excellent, well-detailed biography in the tradition of Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs.” And the comparisons clearly extend beyond the simple scope of the works, but to the great similarities between the two subjects. Vance makes periodic references to the two icons throughout the book, and there’s an especially interesting discussion about the differences between Read More …
Book Review: Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
OK, on GR’s five-star scale, I have to give this book a six. It’s not quite at the literary and narrative level of Mutherjee’s “The Gene,” but it’s definitely a must-read. Of course, you first have to read Harari’s first book, “Sapiens,” which I said actually should be the standard history text for all high Read More …
Book Review: Deadeye Dick
I first read this book 30 years ago and had categorized it as sort of a typically delightful Vonnegut book but not among his best. I might still say that after this second reading but doing so only emphasizes the greatness of Vonnegut’s wit and imagination. I read a description of the book that describes it Read More …