Tag: books
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Review: Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison I am embarrassed to admit that until this year, the only Toni Morrison book I have read was Beloved. I’m determined to change that. And being me, I started at the beginning with Bluest Eye. Good lord it is stunning. A clear eyed, visceral, look into a black community in…
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Review: Ratliff’s The Mastermind
The Mastermind: Drugs, Empire, Murder, Betrayal Evan Ratliff From crypto computer programmer to mastermind of an international drug and arms smuggling ring, the story of Paul Calder Le Roux is a hell of a ride. We got assassins in the Philippines, online pill mills run out Israel, private armies in Somalia, and more. It’s all…
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Review Eyal’s Indistractible
Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life Nir Eyal I’ve lost count of how many books on attention I’ve read over the years, yet still I struggle with putting my phone away. This one is pretty middle of the road. It still feels a bit padded. There’s lessons here on running good…
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Review: Joy’s Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows Melanie Joy I picked up this book because it was billed to me as a book that examined why we in America love certain animals (dogs) and eat others (chickens). As someone who has recently been moving back towards an ethically vegan diet after some years…
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Review Manchette’s The Mad and the Bad
The Mad and the Bad Jean-Patrick Manchette A woman with mental problems is sprung from a hospital to watch a child heir. A tortured assassin with a bad ulcer is hire to make a murder like look a kidnapping. Nobody gets what they’re expecting. Welcome to another crime novel by the mad genius Jean-Patrick Manchette…
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Review: Greenblatt’s Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve Steven Greenblatt A clever and engrossing account of the story of Adam and Eve from its origins in early Judaism (and perhaps other long gone near east traditions) through its codification in the Torah, to its centrality in the thinking of Augustine and John Milton through to…
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Some Quick Thoughts on the Rambam, Mishneh Torah, and Chavrusa Learning
Mishneh Torah – Talmud Torah Maimonides In March, my friend Noah asked me if I’d like to learn some Torah with him. Of course I said yet. By Torah here Noah meant the expansive sense of the word, covering texts of religious importance to Jews. After some back and forth, we settled on learning Maimonides…
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Review: Manchette’s Fatale
Fatale Jean-Patrick Manchette I think this is generally thought of as Manchette’s most fully realized work and the culmination of his deeply nihilistic noir novels. The Fatale is a young woman who, we soon discovers, kills lecherous men for revenge, and money. She is literally a serial killer, yet still we cheer for her, especially…
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Review: Manchette’s Three To Kill
Three To Kill Jean-Patrick Manchette You’re coming home late at night, you try to do the right thing, but you end up getting caught up in something you don’t even understand and then people start trying to kill you. That’s the plot of 3 to Kill, and of many other crime novels and thrillers, but…
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Review: Higg’s The KLF
The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band That Burned a Million Pounds John Higgs Man this is a weird one. Ostensibly this is a book about a dance band that was also a sort of chaos art project that involved outlandish stunt after outlandish stunt culminating the burning of a million British pounds on a…
Milo and the Calf 