Archive for the 'books' Category
Things That Annoy Me To Distraction While I’m Trying To Get Work Done
Posted on November 20, 2009 by andrew- Filed Under Media, books, music, the internets | Leave a Comment
1) Terrible analogies which undermine otherwise valid points
I’m reading the chapter entitled “Realising the Democratic Potential of the Internet” from Coleman and Blumler’s The Internet and Democratic Citizenship. They describe a feature on the White House’s website which allows the user to “Send a message to the President,” and explain that it doesn’t lead to [...]
New Pynchon For All
Posted on July 30, 2009 by andrew- Filed Under Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon, books | Leave a Comment
Reviews have started appearing for Thomas Pynchon’s new book, Inherent Vice, due in stores on Tuesday. My copy is preordered and Amazon says it will arrive before next weekend. This latest effort sounds like a lot of light (for Pynchon, at least) fun, in contrast to the recent and excellent-but-very-difficult Against the Day. I hope [...]
Veterans Day
Posted on November 11, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Kurt Vonnegut, Veterens Day, World War I, books | Leave a Comment
As good a reason as any to remember Kurt Vonnegut:
When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of [...]
Channeling Douglas Adams
Posted on September 17, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, books | Leave a Comment
I have extremely mixed feelings about a continuation of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books without the late Douglas Adams. I’d love to see the series continue, or at least end better than it did in Mostly Harmless, but I have very strong doubts about another author’s voice successfully navigating the world Adams created. [...]
David Foster Wallace
Posted on September 14, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under David Foster Wallace, books, obituaries | Leave a Comment
That’s awfully unexpected and sad.
I wasn’t a huge fan, but there were a few of his essays I very much enjoyed. The one about grammar in Consider the Lobster comes to mind, for example. I also liked picking up Inifinite Jest once every few years and deciding that this was the time I was going [...]
Recommending Books I Haven’t Yet Read Myself
Posted on September 10, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama, Change We Can Believe In, books | Leave a Comment
In case I have any undecided readers- and I don’t imagine I do, but just in case- I want to strongly urge them to buy Barack Obama’s new book.
For only $11.16 at Amazon.com, you can get all of Obama’s stances on the issues laid out clearly and with specific proposals containing numerous details. You may [...]
It’s Funny Because One Of The Three Is “My Pet Goat”
Posted on August 19, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Bob Woodward, George W Bush, books | Leave a Comment
It’s official: The number of books Bob Woodward has written about George W. Bush’s presidency (4) now exceeds the number of books George W. Bush has read in his life.
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Next Tuesday: Walking Two Miles To School Uphill In The Snow And How It Made Me A Man
Posted on August 5, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Richard Cohen, books, ebooks | Leave a Comment
Richard Cohen is not content to attack whippersnappers only because they wear tattoos. No, he also hates everyone who is trying to steal his books, destroy them, and turn their words into intangible digital signals which float around our heads in some sort of scary and newfangled ether. I really hope no one ever figures [...]
I Would Have Been Curious To Hear Some Lines To The Tune Of “Private Idaho”
Posted on June 3, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under B-52s, Scott McClellan, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washingt, books, music | Leave a Comment
Fred Schneider of the B-52s read Scott McClellan’s book to the tune of Love Shack last night. It was awesome.
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Things I Don’t Care About
Posted on May 28, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Bush administration, Scott McClellan, Things I Don't Care About, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washingt, books | Leave a Comment
(Part sixteen in an ongoing series)
Scott McClellan’s critique of the Bush administration in his upcoming memoir.
Seriously, is there going to be anything in here I didn’t already know?
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Camus On Stage
Posted on April 23, 2008 by andrew- Filed Under Albert Camus, The Plague, books, theater | 1 Comment
I’m not remotely what you might call a theater person. I honestly don’t remember the last play I went to see. I do enjoy the live performance of Shakespeare on occasion and big flashy musicals tend to be better in person than in a movie, but other than those two exceptions not many performances grab [...]
