book list, and other write-ups and critiques
Book report: The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G.K Chesterton. Thanks, Wall Street Journal. Allan Barra in the Dec. 29, 2008, edition considered this book in its centennial year, with details about the author and his diverse fan base that continues even today. Got it from the library, but I’ll be hitting Dickson […]
Book report: Duma Key by Stephen King I can be a snob sometimes: I enjoyed most movies based on Stephen King novels but read nothing of his until seeing a short story or two early this decade in The New Yorker. The plan’s not to catch up on everything he wrote, but so far I’ve […]
Mr. Boo Klist — liking audio books nearly as much as printed ones — now wants to recommend a new movie that’s gotten ho-hum reviews, Kevin Costner’s Swing Vote. Even the critics I like get stuck on the probability of its premise, that a presidential election through odd circumstances depends on a single vote, in […]
Book report: An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England, by Brock Clarke Panning a novel that I devoured in 50- to 80-page chunks approaches being disingenuous. Perhaps an An Arsonist’s Guide, released in fall 2007 to overall glowing reviews (though readers on amazon.com gave it only three of five stars), amused me even […]
Book report: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver, with occasional essays by her husband, Steven L. Hopp, and a few thoughts from teenage daughter Camille Kingsolver In Michael Pollan’s most recent book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, he recommends among other things avoiding foods your grandmother wouldn’t have […]
Copyright 2008 Ben S. Pollock Book report: The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu When I saw this title online I had a flashback. In an early primary school year (the early 1960s) Mrs. Friedman gave me for my birthday a subscription to a Disney comic […]