Our Man
This is a fascinating and insightful biography of both a guy I, an ignoramus, had not heard of, as well as of American foreign policy over the last half-century. Lots of good stuff here, sharply written, my biggest takeaway being...
male-author
The Virginian
Good, solid, manly. Wister is clearly the Tolkein of the Western genre, and that caught me a bit by surprise - the seeds and bones of the genre are so clear and well-put, it feels like The Virginian precisely predicts...
The Emperor Of All Maladies
North Woods
The story of a cabin over the centuries and the story of America and the story of some ghosts, cute and sweet. A bit overwrought and maybe a bit fanciful at times, trying too hard to write with styles, but...
2666
For a long time, I have believed that a truly great novel is one which contains a sliver of divinity, something which makes me want to believe in the power and glory of God. As an atheist, that feels like...
The Bostonians
I read The Bostonians coming fresh off of reading Cloud Cuckoo Land and I am a bit astonished at the contrast. The latter is a contemporary novel with an obvious underlying ethos which I am predominantly in line with, but...
The Lost City Of Z
An interesting, well-researched, well-put together history of travel in the Amazon that I think unfortunately I read too shortly after reading The River of Doubt which is just kind of ultimately a better story about historical travel in the Amazon....
Cloud Cuckoo Land
I think a book with these ambitions needs to be warm, organic, feel alive - but it is surprisingly cold and clinical. I’m not really sure what makes it so, maybe the storylines are too flat, maybe the characters lack...
Medium Raw
Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World