Category Archives: books

James Cameron's Metaphor of Climate Change as the 21st Century Iceberg to Our Big Oil Titanic, Plus a Shout-out to E.O. Wilson's new book "The Social Conquest of Earth" and the Coen Brothers classic "Barton Fink"

Posted on April 21, 2012 by williamjcobb

So I’m not exactly a huge fan of James Cameron films, full of over-the-top razzle-dazzle, some great images (such as the Titanic sinking, rising into the air and all the unfortunate passengers plummeting into the water) but enough bad melodrama … Continue reading →

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The Birds Are Dying: Or in the National Wildlife Refuge, It Looks Like We Need "The Bird Saviors"

Posted on April 11, 2012 by williamjcobb

So more depressing news in the climate change/Western drought world. It seems that persistent drought conditions are drying up wildlife refuges in California, reported here. My new novel, due out June 21st, is titled The Bird Saviors, and one of … Continue reading →

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Be Careful of What That Next Climate Might Look Like, and Reflections on David Keys's "Catastrophe: An Investigation Into the Origins of Modern Civilization"

Posted on April 9, 2012 by williamjcobb

So Thomas Friedman in Sunday’s NY Times had a good piece about the environmental factors at play in the so-called Arab Spring popular uprisings, here. This is an aspect of climate change that usually gets ignored—political instability. I think everyone … Continue reading →

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Colorado in Drought and Further Reflections on Michael Mann's "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars," Or What's That Hot Breath on Our Necks? The Dry of Things To Come

Posted on April 6, 2012 by williamjcobb

So Michael Mann’s The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars is one of the best books that deals with both global warming/climate change and the politics surrounding it, especially the “despicable me” world of climate change deniers. I’ve read many … Continue reading →

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On Reading Michael Mann's "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars" As the Year Without a Winter Segues into a Freakishly Warm Spring

Posted on March 30, 2012 by williamjcobb

So I’m now reading Michael Mann’s book The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, which is an inside look at the so-called “Climategate,” or perhaps more accurately the Right Wing/Big Oil Specious Attack on Climate Scientists. For those not familiar … Continue reading →

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Review of Noah Hawley's "The Good Father" in the Dallas Morning News

Posted on March 29, 2012 by williamjcobb

So here’s my review of Noah Hawley’s new novel, The Good Father, published Sunday in the Dallas Morning News (click the hyperlink ‘review’). I liked the novel, even if it’s ultimately a downer story, of a father searching for the … Continue reading →

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Further Reflections on Scenes Cut From the Film Version of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," Or Films You Wish You Had Seen, and Some You Wish You Had Not

Posted on March 26, 2012 by williamjcobb

So being a diehard Cormac McCarthy fan (and more than just a little bit suspicious), I feel the hand of God or Fate or Providence in the fact that one of my students this semester was an actor (Baby Eater … Continue reading →

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Does Sarah Palin Know Where Germany Is? and a Shout-Out for Mark Leyner's new novel, "The Sugar Frosted Nutsack"

Posted on March 21, 2012 by williamjcobb

So last night I caught HBO’s film Game Change, about Sarah Palin’s (improbable? nightmarish? absurd?) role as John McCain’s veep in the 2008 election, and it’s surprisingly good. Why surprisingly? I’m not a huge fan of biopics/reenactments of contemporary events, … Continue reading →

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Mitt Romney as The Feckless Male

Posted on March 9, 2012 by williamjcobb

So one thing fascinating about being a professor is that you notice over a span of years the changes in student behavior and trends. While I’m of the mind that human behavior doesn’t change all that much across the ages, … Continue reading →

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