Milo and the Calf

Tag: recommended for the enthusiast

  • Review: Outlandish Knight: The Byzantine Life of Steven Runciman

    Outlandish Knight: The Byzantine Life of Steven Runciman Minoo Dinshaw   A seven hundred page biography of a now largely forgotten historian named Steven Runciman. Why I picked this up, I’m not sure. Why I enjoyed it as much as I did is also a bit of a mystery. Runciman, who wrote a wildly popular…

  • Review Kolhatkar’s Black Edge: nside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street

    Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street Sheelah Kolhatkar High brow business tell all gossip about the rise and (kinda) fall of one of the most successful hedge managers of all time, Steve Cohen of SAC Capital. Cohen, if you don’t know, ran…

  • Book Review: Bosker’s Cork Dork

    Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste Bianca Bosker A fun book about the world of tasting in general, and wine and sommeliers in particular. I love these sort of experiential journalism books – enterprising young reporter talks to eccentrics…

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    Review: Sun Tzu’s The Art of War

    The Art of War Sun Tzu I don’t know. Far be it from me to disparage a classic of Chinese literature, but I was underwhelmed. A series of aphorism ostensibly proving advice on the conduct of a successful military leader, this must read of the management consultant can also be viewed as a general guide…

  • Review: Mosley’s Devil in a Blue Dress

    Devil In A Blue Dress Walter Mosley The first of the Easy Rawlins novels featuring an unemployed African American factory worker turned private investigator in post-war Los Angeles. A well done, if standard crime novel, which includes the usual characters — the missing woman, the crime boss, the good guy PI forced into morally questionable…

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    Review: Carney’s Death on Diamond Mountain

    Death on Diamond Mountain: A True Story of Obsession, Madness and the Path to Enlightenment Scott Carney An investigation into the life and death of Ian Thorson, a devotee of controversial Buddhist teacher Michael Roche. An examination of the interplay between mental illness and spiritual practice. A journalistic retelling of the way Buddhism (especially Tibetan…

  • Review: French’s Faithful Place

    Faithful Place Tana French The third book in French’s Dublin Murder Squad series and the best one so far. Follows the story of a detective who returns, after twenty years away, to his dysfunctional family and neighborhood to investigate the death of his high school sweetheart. Like all of French’s books, the plot is strong,…

  • Review: Carney’s What Doesn’t Kill Us

    What Doesn’t Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Enviromental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength. Scott Carney Ok, the title is awful. But this might still be worth your time. An exploration of the philosophy of weirdo fitness guru of the moment Wim Hof as well as the latest science on breath…

  • Review Stephenson’s Diamond Age

    Diamond Age: or  a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer Neal Stephenson The coming of age story of a poor girl in future in which nanotechnology has revolutionized the way we live. The protagonist, Nell, is a poor girl who accidentally receives a complex toy / educational tool (a sort of interactive book) which gives her insight…

  • Review: Gibson’s Neuromancer

    Neuromancer William Gibson I mean, what can you say? The book that presaged the internet age, was pivotal in the creation of the cyberpunk genre, and launched a thousand straight to cable movies. If, like me, you were an awkward kid in the early 1990s, trying to be cool while really being nerdy, you probably…