Category: Books
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Review: Carney’s Death on Diamond Mountain
Death on Diamond Mountain: A True Story of Obsession, Madness and the Path to Enlightenment Scott Carney An investigation into the life and death of Ian Thorson, a devotee of controversial Buddhist teacher Michael Roche. An examination of the interplay between mental illness and spiritual practice. A journalistic retelling of the way Buddhism (especially Tibetan…
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Review: Carney’s What Doesn’t Kill Us
What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Enviromental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength. Scott Carney Ok, the title is awful. But this might still be worth your time. An exploration of the philosophy of weirdo fitness guru of the moment Wim Hof as well as the latest science on breath…
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Review: Gessen’s The Man Without a Face — The Unlikely Rise of Vladamir Putin
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladamir Putin Masha Gessen Legendary Russian journalist Masha Gessen’s recounting of the bizarre rise to power of Vladmir Putin. How did a run of the mill kid from St. Petersburg rise to a position of power in first the Russian secret police and then all the…
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Review: Chernow’s Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow Yes, it’s a cliché for a New York liberal to talk about Hamilton. But here we are. At least this is about the book and not the musical.* If you’ve found your way here, you probably already know all about this book. The definitive biography of the founding father without a…
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Review: Bacigalupi’s The Wind-Up Girl
The Wind Up Girl Paolo Bacigalupi Global warming, mega corporations bent on world domination, genetically modified food, floods, plagues, mechanical sex slaves. The future in the Wind-Up Girl isn’t very uplifting, but the way Bacigalupi tells this story of a future Thailand beset by environmental disasters, and voracious mutlti-national corporations is incredible. No surprise, I…
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Review Stephenson’s Diamond Age
Diamond Age: or a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer Neal Stephenson The coming of age story of a poor girl in future in which nanotechnology has revolutionized the way we live. The protagonist, Nell, is a poor girl who accidentally receives a complex toy / educational tool (a sort of interactive book) which gives her insight…
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Review – Card’s Enders Game
Enders Game Orson Scott Card Super genius boy in distant future is trained to play ever more complex war games until it is eventually revealed to him that (spoiler alert) oh shit, they weren’t games after all. A book about the ethics of war, the bonds of friendship, and the isolation of the leader. When…
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Review: Gibson’s Neuromancer
Neuromancer William Gibson I mean, what can you say? The book that presaged the internet age, was pivotal in the creation of the cyberpunk genre, and launched a thousand straight to cable movies. If, like me, you were an awkward kid in the early 1990s, trying to be cool while really being nerdy, you probably…
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Review Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness
Left Hand of Darkness Ursula Le Guin By the time I read Left Hand Of Darkness in the 1990s, science fiction novels addressing issues of gender and sexuality were, if not mainstream, certainly not revolutionary. Not so when Le Guin published this landmark book in 1969. This is the story of Ai, sent to the…
Milo and the Calf 