Milo and the Calf

Category: Books

  • Review: Eichenwald’s the Informant

    The Informant: A True Story Kurt Eichenwald I don’t want to say too much about this, because if you read it, you should really get the surprised as they come along. Let’s just say it is about a major price fixing scandal that brought down a bunch of powerful people at the powerful Archer Daniels…

  • Review: Martin’s A Storm of Swords

    Ed note: This was written for a new defunct live journal circa 2007 before GOT became the pop culture juggernaut it is now. A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3) George R.R. Martin Basically a soap opera, but my kind of soap opera, with the occasional swordfight/dragon and or touch…

  • Review: Martin’s A Clash of Kings

    A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2) A Song of Fire and Ice Series Book 2 George R.R. Martin Spectra Reissue, 704 pages The second volume in Martin’s massive series of books about conquest and intrigue in his imaginary world of Westeros is even more of a soap opera than…

  • Review: Martin’s Game of Thrones

    Ed note: this review was written in 2007 for a now defunct livejournal account, long before GoT was the phenomenon it is now. Funny to re-read such a flippant review of what has become a cultural phenomenon. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) A Song of Fire and Ice…

  • Review: Coates’s Between the World and Me

    Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates How does one review a book like Between You a Me? Especially when one is me – an educated, white, straight, middle class dude. What can I possibly say? I can say that it deeply affected me. That even now, over a week after finishing the book, it…

  • Review: Taleb’s Fooled By Randomness

    Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (Incerto) Nicolas Nasim Taleb   If you’re interested in poplar economics, you’ve very familiar with Taleb by now. This, and its sequel Black Swan are required reading for the economically literate. Fooled by Randomness is both a very interesting book, and…

  • Review: Shaawari’s Harem Years

    Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, 1879-1924 Huda Shaarawi Huda Shaarawi lead a pretty fucking amazing life. She started out life in the harem* of her father, and ended it being a feminist and a nationalist hero. This isn’t a particularly well written book, but when you lead a life that was intertwined…

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    Review: Stewart’s The Places in Between

    The Places In Between Rory Stewart In theory, it is easy to hate an Eton educated upper class Scotsman who decides it’d be a lark to walk across Afghanistan six months after the fall of the Taliban. The idea reminds me of the stupidity and adventurism I encountered in my twenties with people going to…

  • Review: Delany’s 1984

    1984: Selected Letters Samuel Delany I have a Samuel Delany fetish. I have a google alert on the man’s name for Christ’s sake. I have read a bunch of his work, and hope to one day read it all, so I think I can say with some confidence that if you’re interested in Delany and…

  • Review: Adams and Frantz’s Full Service Bank: How BCCI Stole Billions Around the World

    Full Service Bank (How Bcci Stole Billions Around the World) James Ring Adams, Douglas Frantz If you know me, you know I have a deep and abiding love for books on business scandals. This shit fascinates me – the complexity of some of the fraud, the stupidity and greed of many of the people involved.…