Category: Books
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Review: Hamilton’s the Greek Way
The Greek Way Edith Hamilton This is a really bad book. Like, really bad. Well, perhaps bad isn’t the right word. Hopelessly dated and irrelevant might be better. Hamilton (author of the excellent introduction to Mythology) attempts to explain the unique and superior nature of ancient Greece through a review of its culture and comparison…
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Review: Hamilton’s Mythology
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes Edith Hamilton When I asked for a quick and dirty overview of the major Greek and Roman myths, everyone recommending this. I’m glad they did. When I started Mythology I was already half way through Hamilton’s the Greek Way, which is pretty bad, and I did not have…
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Review: Delany’s Times Square Red, Times Square Blue
Times Square Red, Times Square Blue Samuel Delany Delany’s memoir/ examination of 1970s era Times Square through the lens of late 1990s Times Square gentrification. This is a memoir of a young man exploring his sexuality in the in the porn theaters and sex shops of Times Square. It is also more than that. It…
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Review: Delany’s Dhalgren
Dhalgren Samuel Delany When people ask me what my favorite book is, I generally demure. Does anyone have a single favorite? I know I do not. But as I hem and haw about what it means for a book to be my “favorite” I almost always end up discussing Dhalgren. It isn’t my favorite book,…
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Review: Epictetus’s Discourses
Discourses and Selected Writings (Penguin Classics) Epictetus (trans Robert Dobbin) If Marcus’s Meditations are the most popular introduction to stoic philosophy, Epictetus discourses are perhaps the most substantive. Together, they are the two books of ancient stoic thought one really must read. Born a slave, Epictetus eventually gained his freedom and taught philosophy in Rome…
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Review: Popper’s Digital Gold Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money
Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money Nathaniel Popper Just the bitcoin book for me – the kind of guy very interested in the personalities involved and the political and economic repercussions, perhaps not the book for people interested primarily in the technical issues related to…
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Review: Aurelius’s Meditations
Meditations: A New Translation Marcus Aurelius (trans. Hays) This is most people’s introductions to the philosophy of Stoicism — it was certainly mine. This is* the private writings of the emperor Aurelius, written in Greek, and intended as, perhaps, a set of private exhortations to himself to be better. It is comprised of a series…
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Review: Warrick’s Black Flags: The Rise of Isis
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS Joby Warrick First books about major events and movements are usually a bit thin and haphazard (Taliban is an exception). In the first year or so after a major event occurs such as a terrorist organization taking over vast amounts of one of the most contentious areas in the…
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Review: Wellington’s A Life Without Limits
A Life Without Limits: A World Champion’s Journey Chrissie Wellington Chrissie Wellington is one of the most successful triathletes of all time. But she’s more than that. She’s an activist for environmental issues, a legit player in the world of international development, and a survivor of a serious eating disorder and more. She covers all…
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Review: Rashid’s Taliban
Read in 2001 Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Second Edition Ahmed Rashid The original edition, written before the September 11th attacks, this book went from minor work to one of the best selling books in the history of the Yale Press overnight. I bought it, in the Strand, about a mile from…
Milo and the Calf 