Review: Dead I Well May Be
Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A well-written if thoroughly implausible book about betrayal and revenge in the Irish Mafia of New York circa 1990.
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Review: The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever
The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever by Alan Sepinwall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
An enjoyable collection of essays about the most recent wave of well-written television: The Sopranos, The Wire, Buffy, and all that. The author has interviewed many of the writers and producers involved to get some of the inside story about how those shows came to be made and what their creators thought of them then and now. Good stuff.
Review: The Mongols
The Mongols by David Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A serviceable history of the Mongols, though perhaps a little drier than the subject might suggest.
Review: Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought
Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought by George Lakoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazing. The stuff happening in cognitive science these days blows my mind.
Review: Billy Bathgate
Billy Bathgate by E.L. Doctorow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My first time reading Doctorow and I’m a fan. Dutch Schulz, New York in the early 20th century, and great writing. What’s not to like?
Review: Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think
Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think by George Lakoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A cognitive linguist analyzes the metaphors which underlie liberal and conservative politics in the US. This is fascinating and enlightening stuff and I won’t look at US politics in the same way again.
Review: Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball's Longest Game
Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game by Dan Barry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The true(ish) story of the longest baseball game ever played and the subsequent lives of some of the people who played and watched it. Great sportswriting and a fascinating story. By a weird coincidence, there is a recent article in the NY Times by Barry about the same franchise. The new owners are moving the team out of Pawtucket. No joy in Mudville, but I guess that’s baseball.
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Review: Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty
Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty by Vikram Chandra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Lovely meditations on the beauty of literature, the beauty of code, and what they might or might not have in common. Chandra also writes about the differences between Western and Indian aesthetics.
Review: Means of Ascent
Means of Ascent by Robert A. Caro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had heard that LBJ stole the 1948 Texas Senate election, but I had no idea about the astonishing (and pretty much irrefutable) details. Unbelievable. What a strange, strange man he was.
Review: TransAtlantic
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Love McCann’s writing. This novel uses Atlantic crossings to knit together the stories of people over time.