Milo and the Calf

Category: Books

  • Review: Kostova’s The Historian

    Ed note: This review was originally written in 2007 for a now long defunct livejournal account. The Historian Elizabeth Kostova A retelling of the Dracula story, this time by a pretentious writer looking to hit it big with a “literary thriller”. Generally, this is the kind of book I cannot resist. I love nothing more…

  • Review: Friedman’s the Lexus and the Olive Tree

    I really do not understand the appeal of Thomas Friedman. I don’t think his writing is very good, and I think his political commentary is inane. I cannot believe smart people take this man seriously. My synopsis of standard Friedman socio-economic analysis: I am a genius able to see developments in the world economic order…

  • Review: Mill’s Utilitarianism

    Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill How do you review a basic text of every undergraduate ethics course*? It seems silly. “Utilitarianism – pretty decent if you’re into canonical texts of the western philosophyical tradition” Look, if you want to be well read, you have to read this one, kids. You don’t have to like it, but…

  • Review: Sedgwick’s Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century

    Ed note: this review was written years ago for a now defunct livejournal account. Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century Mark Sedgwick I never said I had refined tastes. Anytime a book has got “secret” and “intellectual history” in the subtitle, I am definitely interested. Hell, I’ll…

  • Review: Lewis’s The Money Culture

    The Money Culture Michael Lewis I love me some Michael Lewis, and I have confessed here before a pleasure in the business tell all book. Michael Lewis wrote one of the genre, Liar’s Poker. This collection of pieces written right before and after Liar’s Poker is all right, but not his best work. I have…

  • Review: Turow’s One L

    Ed. Note: This review was written for a now defunct livejournal account while I was in my first year of law school. One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School Scott Turow Before I started law school, I was repeatedly told to buy this book by bestselling mystery author…

  • Review: Fasman’s the Geographer’s Library

    The Geographer’s Library Jon Fassman This is the kind of popular novel I generally like, a “literary page turner” that in the old days would have been compared to In the Name of the Rose but which is now compared to the Da vinci Code. Its plot driven, but with intellectual pretenses and is right…

  • Review: Braudel’s The Structure of Everyday Life

    Ed note: this review was written for a now defunct livejournal sometime in 2007. Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, Vol. I: The Structure of Everyday Life (Civilization & Capitalism, 15th-18th Century) Volume I Fernand Braudel The Phoenix Press Reissue (563 pages) The first volume of Braudel’s massive work on the construction of capitalism in the…

  • Review: Bruadel’s The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization & Capitalism 15th – 18th Century Volume 2

    Ed note: this review was written in 2007, while I was in my first year of law school, for a now long defunct livejournal account I had. The Wheels of Commerce (Civilization and Capitalism: 15Th-18th Century -Volume 2) Fernand Braudel The Phonix Press Reissue, 601 pages (Originally published in France as Les Jeux de l’Exchange,…

  • Review: Banksy’s Wall and Piece

    Ed note: This was written for a now defunct livejournal in 2007. So funny to go through these old reviews and see that I wrote about things like Game of Thrones and Banksy before they became household words, covered int he New Yorker. I was once kinda withit I guess, fifteen years ago. Wall and…