How Do I
John's Picks
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Haldeman, Joe The Accidental Time Machine Fiction |
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One particular afternoon, unknowingly, unwittingly, lab assistant Matt Fuller invents a time machine. For Matt, this fortuitous event could not have been (forgive me) more timely. Our hero had no money, had just lost his girlfriend and was about to lose his job. In a word, Matt's present, like that of so many of his contemporaries----sucked! Matt's only dilemma was whether to go backward or forward in time. He knew how horrible the past was (although if he went back to the 2nd Tuesday of the month he would have $50.00 in his account). Certainly the future, any future, must be better. Well, maybe yes-maybe no. The Accidental Time Machine is such a cogent, rollicksome, and intelligent novel, that it inspired me to reread Professor Haldeman's The Forever War, (1974). In that classic tale, earthlings battle a species known as the Taurans across space and through time for so long that no one can remember the purpose of the war. Intended to parallel The Vietnam Conflict (in which Haldeman served), the novel resounds once again. Best of luck to time-travelers everywhere.
Recommended by John, October 2007 | |
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Friedlander, Saul Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 Nonfiction |
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In the continuation and conclusion to Volume #1, Years of Persecution, 1933-1939, Friedlander, Chair of Holocaust Studies at U.C.L.A., presents the definitive record of Nazi Germany's implacable malevolence against the Jews of Europe. Using the diaries of the dead and previously
unreleased documents, the author paints a general as well as personal account of a historical blight that will forever defy human logic and civilization.
Recommended by John, August 2007 | |
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Stewart, Rory The Places in Between Nonfiction |
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In January 2002, Scottish author/diplomat/historian/explorer Rory Stewart decided to walk across Afghanistan.
Walking was the rational part of his decision, for he had already traversed India, Pakistan, Iraq, and Nepal.
Afghanistan was the irrational part. Recently invaded by the United States, at war with internal and external foes for over twenty-five years, the place was considered unsafe even by the foolhardy. Rory (anything but a fool) persuaded the newly formed government (it had been in power less than two weeks) to give it a go and off he went, leaving Herat heading east for Kabul in the dead of winter. All our hero took with him were two knapsacks, some tribal garb, and a stout, steel-tipped walking stick that would later come in handy beating off wolves and wild dogs.
As Stewart makes his way into the interior, it doesn't take long to discover that Afghanistan is not one, but many countries. Villages only a few miles apart differ in religion, ancestry, tribal loyalty, custom and even race.
Afghanistan is also a very backward and incredibly remote country. Most of its rural inhabitants live in mud huts with only blankets to cover the floor. There is a scarcity of everything (most importantly food and medicine) and the only sort of education is religious in nature. There is little contact with the outside world.
Yet there is no lack of hospitality. Almost every night, after a hard day of beating feet, the author would stagger into a new village and begin pounding on doors, seeking food and shelter. Only once or twice was he reluctantly asked to move on. One can only imagine, what would happen if he tried the same thing--in say, Cleveland.
Stewart meets many memorable characters on his journey, none more noteworthy than Babur, a giant mastiff hound with a clipped off tail. Babur is given to Stewart halfway through his trek and walks with him the rest of the way to Kabul. By the way, Babur is a wild dog magnet and his favorite food is bread. Lots of bread. He really likes it. Babur also saves the author's life after being collapsed in a snowdrift.
Stewart suffers other hardships as well during his expedition, altitude sickness, dysentery, and an injured leg to name a few. However, he is never attacked by a human being until he enters Kabul and a guard punches him in the face. Ah, Civilization!
After reading The Places in Between, it is hard to determine which is more admirable, Rory Stewart or the book he has written. Together they make a helluva pair. Oh, and Babur too!
Recommended by John, April 2007 | |
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Polajnar, Gojmir Don't Kill Anyone, I Love You Fiction |
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The novel's principals are Dot, a dolled up, middle aged night club singer and Jurij, a bisexual student, soon to be diplomat. Dot's vocation is singing, her avocation is the pursuit of every attractive young man in town. Jurij is engaged to Aga and there is talk of a baby. However, Jurij is also quite taken with Peter, a football playing ecstasy dealer. No wallflower, Jurij is also on and off again with Dot. More about Dot. Around chapter three, a bulb illuminated in my head, enabling me to realize that Dot was no lady. At least, in the anatomical sense. Dot is in fact two characters--he is somebody by day and she is someone else by night. Jurij, soon after his first foreign posting succumbs to AIDS, leaves in his wake a trio of broken hearts.
Goymir Polajnar, has created a novel of vivid characters. His prose is at times poignant and poetic. Yet, Recommended by John, September 2006 | |
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Mark Stevens and Analyn Swann de Kooning: An American Master Biography |
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Willem de Kooning (1903-1997) was born on the waterfront, in Rotterdam, Holland. An absent father, an
abusive mother and a great deal of poverty, made for a less than ideal childhood. Chance provided a seat at one of Holland's most illustrious academy's of art. Soon after graduation, leaving his fellow Rotterdammers behind (had to work in Rotterdammers) de Kooning stowed away on an ocean liner and disembarked, circ 1926, in the U.S.A. Settling in New York City, the young Dutchman first found work as a carpenter and then as a commerical artist. However the 9-5 life was not for him (by a long shot) and he gave it up to become a serious painter. Paint he did. de Kooning became the prototypical "starving artist" ambling around town in his paint splattered coveralls searching for a bite to eat, a drink, or a helping hand, for nearly twenty years! His dedication paid off. In the late 1940's "abstract expressionism" became the rage of the art world and it's two brightest lights, de Kooning and the madcap drip-artist Jackson Pollack became famous. Fame would suit neither of them. de Kooning would seek seclusion on Long Island, ending thirty years in the big apple. The dripper would drunkenly drive into a tree, ending his life. Once on Long Island de Kooning fell in and out of favor. When the world wanted figures, he painted abstracts, when the world wanted abstracts,
he painted figures (he has been called the greatest painter of the human figure since Picasso). Yet, in the 1970's one of his paintings sold for $ 1.2 million, at the time the highest fee ever paid for the work of a living artist. de kooning's personal life was just as fascinating as his work. He was extremely handsome, incredibly personable and everyone liked him (excepting the critic Clement Greenburg, whom he punched in the face). He had one wife (Elaine, who taught at C.M.U. in the 70's) various loves and many, many, girlfriends. He also suffered from an alcoholism so acute and evil that it is difficult to comprehend. de Kooning was stricken with Alzheimer's in his mid seventies and lived in a near vegetative state until his death at 93. He outlived his friend/rival Jackson Pollack by over 40 years. He also seemed to outlive himself. Notwithstanding, de Kooning deserves to be remembered as the "genius in the garrett" standing and staring for hours at a blank, white canvas, fighting through blocks, starting a painting up, then tearing it down, over and over--seeking perfection. Yeah, thats him! Stevens and Swann's wonderful book should be the standard account of the artist's life for years to come. Recommended by John, January 2006 | |
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Charles Dickens The Adventures of Oliver Twist Classic Fiction |
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Excluding Shakespeare, Charles Dickens has given form and significance, to more characters that populate our imagination than any other writer. Oliver Twist, Fagin, the Artful Dodger, Bill Sykes and the exquisite Mr/Mrs Bumble are members of the honored club. Extremely entertaining characters make for an extremely entertaining novel. Yet, Oliver Twist is most important as the jumping off point for Mr. Dickens
life long assault upon the hypocrisy and cold, cold, heartedness of Victorian England. An England where
children of the poor were bought/sold and used, like, what the Romans referred to as "living tools."
Oliver Twist is one of these children, as was the author himself. Charles Dicken's "social consciousness"
his capacity to effect change and his gift to delight like no other are what make him one of the divinities of world literature. "Please, Sir, I want some more." Recommended by John, January 2006 | |
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Samura, Hiroaki Blade of the Immortal: Blood of a Thousand, Vol. 1 Graphic Novel |
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Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan has killed over 100 men in his role as Lord Horii's enforcer. Once
he learns that many of his victims were innocent farmers--brave or naive enough to question Lord H's tax
plan, he slays his master and becomes the most notorious outlaw in Japan. A chance (?) encounter with the witch Yaobikuni and Manji becomes immortal. In order to recover his mortality and his soul, Manji must use his sword to slay 1,000 evil doers. Blade is a classic tale of redemption through suffering and altruistic
acts and of the futile cycle of revenge. Although Blade contains a significant amount of slicing and dicing,
the violence never seems gratuitous and Samura's artwork is, in a word, fabulous. The Blade Series is more
than worthy of the many awards it has received. Just checking in on Blade, On Silent Wings, Vol. 5. Manji has now clipped 11 of the worst of the worst. Rock on Manji. Recommended by John, August 2005 | |
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Posner, Gerald Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi-U.S. Connection NonFiction |
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Posner, author of the acclaimed post-9/11 bestseller Why America Slept, here turns a critical eye towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its royal "House of Saud". He provides an excellent history of-- Ah Heck! I had a review in my head but I cannot put it to paper. Everyone in this book makes me sick! The Saudi Royals are amoral, immoral, dissolute, dishonest, vicious, umprincipled and greedy to an almost incredible degree, many still believe the earth to be flat. The Americans are exactly the same--they just dress differently and know the earth to be round, like Charlie Brown's head. Petro-dollars talk and the commonweal walks should be the sub-title of this book. Highly recommended. Recommended by John, July 2005 | |
