Category: Books
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Review: Diamond’s Guns Germs and Steel
Ed note: A version of this review was originally published on a now long defunct livejournal. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Jared Diamond There is a whole industry of books that explain why the world is the way it is. They are all by definition reductive and fail to grasp…
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Review: Oshinsky’s Worse Than Slavery
Ed note: this review originally appears in a now long defunct livejournal. Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice David M. Oshinsky This is the must read book on the faailures of reconstruction and the horrors of the Jim Crow era. When I was reading it, there were times I…
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Review: Iron’s A People’s History of the Supreme Court
A People’s History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped OurConstitution: Revised Edition Peter Irons A pretty well done progressive view of the Supreme Court. This one hits all the necessary rules (Dred Scott, Korematsu, Brown and so many more) while also covering some lesser known rulings like…
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Review: Armstrong’s Its Not About The Bike
Its Not About The Bike Lance Armstrong Even here, in a book that is supposed to be the inspiring, heart-felt version of Armstrong, the story of overcoming every obstacle (the poverty, the cancer, the doubters); the story of the charitable work, and the small town kid made good, even here, you can tell he’s a…
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Review: Coyle’s Lance Armstrong’s War
Ed note: This review was originally written for a now long dead livejournal. Lance Armstrong’s War: One Man’s Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France Daniel Coyle This is without a doubt the best book written about Lance Armstrong before his fall…
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Review: Brecher’s Strike!
Ed Note: This review was orginally written for a now long defunct livejournal account. I’m reposting it here as part of a project to collect all my various writings in one place. Strike! Jeremy Brecher Strike! is one of those texts that is much better as a research aid than it is as something to…
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Review: Kant’s Ground Work for the Metaphysical
Ed Note: This was orginally posted to a now defunct livejournal in 2007. I’m moving it and over 100 other reviews over to this site. Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy) Immanuel Kant If you’re interested in Kantian ethics, and you’re going to read one like this.…
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Review: The Davinci Code
Ed Note: This review originally appears in a now defunct livejournal account in 2007. The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown challenges, to forget. Sometimes what you need after a hard week is Jack Reacher setting the world right and getting the girl. There is nothing to be embarrassed about in enjoying that. There may,…
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Review: Vaughan’s Pride of Baghdad
Pride of Baghdad Brian Vaughan Pride of Baghdad is a graphic novel about a group of lions set free by the US invasion of Iraq and their attempt to navigate the city during the invasion. It is a short little book (I almost feel guilty giving it a number in the notebook) but strangely moving.…
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Review: Burrough’s Barbarians at the Gate
One among many reviews originally published on livejournal in 2007 and now reposted here for posterity. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco Brian Burrough I am a connoisseur of the business bestseller. I read ‘em all, and this one is among the best featuring conniving and scheming on a massive scale. Extremely…
Milo and the Calf 