I’ve just finished reading Jeffrey Toobin’s book The Nine. In it, he paints a series of pictures — moments in time in the institutional history of the Supreme Court, shifting focus between the political dimensions of the Court’s work and… Continue Reading
This early novel by Neal Stephenson is ambitious in its scope and several times had me cursing him under my breath for anticipating some ideas I’ve been playing with in my free time. It is confusing, immersing, and thought-provoking, but… Continue Reading
If I were going to produce a movie — more like an HBO mini-series, I should think — based on Neal Stephenson’s The Baroque Cycle, here’s some ideas for who I’d like to cast (if money were not much of… Continue Reading
I gave an “interim book review” a while back for the first of the three volumes of this extraordinary work of fiction. The author, Neal Stephenson, has managed to create something as extraordinary as J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings,… Continue Reading
Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle consists of, I believe, eight books total. Each book is of about novella length – maybe not quite long enough to be a stand-alone novel but much longer than a short story. They are sold in… Continue Reading
Atheism never looked so good: I think the atheist is better-looking than the theist, but then again, I would.
I hate being critical of this book. The Wife got it for me at a dollar-book sale. It was exquisitely researched. Its author, Sharon Kay Penman, has managed to attract a very loyal fan base and I admire her skill… Continue Reading
I enjoyed the last book I read so much that this one seemed like something of a letdown. To be fair, Lee Child has sold a ton of Jack Reacher mystery-thrillers and it is actually a perfectly acceptable potboiler. If… Continue Reading
I wouldn’t have thought that a thousand-page long novel about a generation-long struggle to build a cathedral would have been interesting. But I was really fascinated by The Pillars Of The Earth and its depiction of twelfth-century life in England… Continue Reading
I can’t say I’m altogether surprised.