I have read a lot about the Revolutionary War and the founding of the United States, and but for a powerful description of the Incident at Weehawken in the first section of Joseph Ellis’s Founding Brothers, Hamilton has always seemed to play a role somewhere in the wings – the egotistical near-monarchist who nobody liked. Read More …
Tag: Book reviews
Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
This is a very interesting story, well told. It features a fascinating, if somewhat confusing at times, array of characters, including a transgender protagonist, a courageous freedom fighter, an orphan adopted and raised by loving though unorthodox women, a renowned TV journalist and many more. Set in modern-day India and Kashimir, it has a wide Read More …
Book Review: Leonardo Da Vinci
I must confess to some minor disappointment in this book. I don’t know much about Da Vinci and have been looking for an opportunity to learn more. Isaacson’s biography was excellent in part of that goal but incomplete. The book would be better titled “The Works of Leonardo Da Vinci”, for it does an exceptional Read More …
Book Review: News of the World
The prose and descriptions in this story from post-Civil War America are strongly reminiscent of Larry McMurtry. But this is a wholly original story. There is nothing derivative about it. The plot centers around an aging veteran of several conflicts – dating back to his participation in the War of 1812. At 71, he has Read More …
Book Review: A Life in Parts
The problem with this book is that there’s so much great material to work with. Cranston could have written 280 pages on his experiences as Walter White alone. That part is clearly the one that he’s most proud of, and fans of his work would be eager for more details, especially after the stirring scene Read More …
Review of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ by J.D. Vance
As usual, I’m a couple of years behind in getting to this book, which some people seem to view as some sort of cultural touchstone. To the degree that it portrays a family living in a kind of cultural backwater – both geographically and symbolically – Hillbilly Elegy is interesting enough. Vance’s description of his Read More …
Review: Barkskins by Annie Proulx
I hardly know where to begin in talking about Barkskins. For the concept, imagination and construction, pick your superlative. It’s a masterpiece. The way Proulx weaves through the centuries of the lumber industry with depth and insight while simultaneously interweaving poignant human and historical stories is an achievement almost beyond description. I certainly can’t think of Read More …
Review of The Bassoon King by Rainn Wilson
This is one of those delightful surprises you run across occasionally when you defy your instincts and take up a book that seems entirely outside your general interest. I know Rainn Wilson only faintly, as a quirky character from the television series The Office, which I liked a lot in the beginning but drifted away from after Read More …
Review: Dead Presidents – An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation’s Leaders
The best way I can think of to describe this book is as a frequently clever, always engaging collection of presidential trivia roughly linked to, as the title promises, the many strange deaths and sometimes surprising legacies of several American presidents. In my reading of presidents’ biographies, I’ve often been intrigued by the torments many Read More …
Review: Pathologies by William Walsh
At various times I had mixed feelings about the short stories in this book. Frequently, especially early on, I thought the author was in love with his clever word play, but didn’t really know where his stories were going or what their purpose was. But on the whole, it was enjoyable reading. Very imaginative. Not Read More …