Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman
I think that I have read every book that Klosterman has written. The focus of his past books has generally been rock music, and they have been both funny and interesting. His latest book really shows how he is evolving as a writer. The book is a collection of essays, but the focus of many of the essays is not on music. Further, the book has a more focused, less breezy style. With most book, I can skip 10% of the sentences because I know what they will say. This book, however, I had to re-read 10% of the sentences to make sure I fully understood them. Very good book, but it is a different style than his past books. Grade: B+
Ford County by John Grisham
This is Grisham's first book of short stories, and all the stories are set in Ford County Mississippi and include a white, southern lawyer (because, well, Grisham always writes about white southern lawyers). This book is impossible to grade because some of the essays are dull and boring (grade-level: D), but other essays are interesting and thought-provoking (grade-level: B+). I cannot recommend that you go out, buy this book, and read it. However, if you have an hour free, stop by your local library and read the last two short stories (they were my favorites).
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
A Few Quick Book Reviews
What the Dog Saw: Malcolm Gladwell
This is a collection of essays published over the last decade in the New Yorker. If you haven't previously read the essays in that magazine, I would describe this book as a must read. Most of the essays are excellent, interesting, and thought provoking. I would describe 75% of the essays as Grade A. A few of the essays were a little boring and felt dated (especially the essay sharing its title with the book), but I'm sure that even the essays I didn't like would appeal to many people.
Pirate Latitudes: Michael Crichton
I think of Michael Crichton as my favorite fiction writer for about a ten year period (roughly, 1988-1998). His best books (Rising Sun, Sphere, Congo, the Andromeda Strain) are some of my all time favorite fiction books. Pirate Latitudes was found on Mr. Crichton's computer after his death, and it was publish posthumously this year (2009). I enjoyed reading the book (it only took a couple days), it is clearly better than anything some author's publish, but it wasn't his best work. It also clearly isn't Crichton's worst book either -- it is equal in quality to the Great Train Robbery or Eaters of the Dead, and better than, say, Airframe. I wish we knew more about this book. Did Michael Crichton just finish it before his death and intend to publish it? Did he finish it years ago and just kept it around for the day when he needed money? Did he write it years ago, but he wasn't happy with it and kept hoping he could come back to it and finish it some day? The publisher claims it was written concurrently with another recent book (Next), but, frankly, I don't believe them (or maybe I just think they are wrong). It feels more like Crichton's earlier work (Eaters of the Dead, the Great Train Robbery). We'll never know -- I'm just thankful to have a couple more Crichton novels in my life (I say "couple" because there was, apparently, another novel found on his computer!) Finally, Spielberg is turning Pirate Latitudes into a movie. I think this could work as a movie -- although the book is very violent.
The Help: Kathryn Stockett
Honestly, I bought this book because the reviews on Amazon were so overwhelmingly positive. The book is, at times, very good and thought provoking. At other times it was boring. I recommend this book because it describes, with amazing insight, a time and place (Mississippi in the 1960's) not that from from where I am at this moment. I think that I forget just how cruel and hateful some people are, and, at the same moment, how loving and kind other people are. I hope that I can be like Skeeter and not Hilly. In summary, I think 100 pages could be cut from this book, and it would be an A, but, as is, I have to give it a B+.
This is a collection of essays published over the last decade in the New Yorker. If you haven't previously read the essays in that magazine, I would describe this book as a must read. Most of the essays are excellent, interesting, and thought provoking. I would describe 75% of the essays as Grade A. A few of the essays were a little boring and felt dated (especially the essay sharing its title with the book), but I'm sure that even the essays I didn't like would appeal to many people.
Pirate Latitudes: Michael Crichton
I think of Michael Crichton as my favorite fiction writer for about a ten year period (roughly, 1988-1998). His best books (Rising Sun, Sphere, Congo, the Andromeda Strain) are some of my all time favorite fiction books. Pirate Latitudes was found on Mr. Crichton's computer after his death, and it was publish posthumously this year (2009). I enjoyed reading the book (it only took a couple days), it is clearly better than anything some author's publish, but it wasn't his best work. It also clearly isn't Crichton's worst book either -- it is equal in quality to the Great Train Robbery or Eaters of the Dead, and better than, say, Airframe. I wish we knew more about this book. Did Michael Crichton just finish it before his death and intend to publish it? Did he finish it years ago and just kept it around for the day when he needed money? Did he write it years ago, but he wasn't happy with it and kept hoping he could come back to it and finish it some day? The publisher claims it was written concurrently with another recent book (Next), but, frankly, I don't believe them (or maybe I just think they are wrong). It feels more like Crichton's earlier work (Eaters of the Dead, the Great Train Robbery). We'll never know -- I'm just thankful to have a couple more Crichton novels in my life (I say "couple" because there was, apparently, another novel found on his computer!) Finally, Spielberg is turning Pirate Latitudes into a movie. I think this could work as a movie -- although the book is very violent.
The Help: Kathryn Stockett
Honestly, I bought this book because the reviews on Amazon were so overwhelmingly positive. The book is, at times, very good and thought provoking. At other times it was boring. I recommend this book because it describes, with amazing insight, a time and place (Mississippi in the 1960's) not that from from where I am at this moment. I think that I forget just how cruel and hateful some people are, and, at the same moment, how loving and kind other people are. I hope that I can be like Skeeter and not Hilly. In summary, I think 100 pages could be cut from this book, and it would be an A, but, as is, I have to give it a B+.
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