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Category Archives: books
Review of Bruce Machart's "The Wake of Forgiveness"
Here’s my review of Bruce Machart’s debut novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, which appears today in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_wake_1017gd.ART.State.Edition1.333f06a.html It’s a good novel, and I could have written much more about it, but there’s a short word count … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
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Malcolm Gladwell on Facebook & Twitter, or Making the World Safe for Wall Street Brokers and Their Cellphones
Since I’ve taken several jabs at the Brave New World of Facebook, I feel obliged to post Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent critique of Facebook & Twitter activism in a recent New Yorker. He’s reasonable, level-headed, and not nearly as shrill as … Continue reading
Posted in books, Social Networking
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On Heather Sellers' "You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know," Ken Kesey, & Those Amazing Miners
First off, on this day of all happy days, how can you not be thrilled and chilled by the rescue of the Chilean miners. Like everybody else, I watched on TV and on websites. I was even made proud to … Continue reading
Posted in books, Weird Science
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Timothy Egan in the NY Times on Legalizing Marijuana, or "California Dreamin'"
After my post yesterday of the CNN editorial about the failed War on Drugs, I have to call out Timothy Egan’s excellent op-ed in this morning’s NY Times, under the witty headline “Reefer Gladness.” He even knows the person who’s … Continue reading
Posted in books, Politics, The West
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Review of Joseph Skibell's new novel, "A Curable Romantic"
Here’s a url to my review of Joseph Skibell’s new novel, A Curable Romantic, which appears in today’s Dallas Morning News. It’s a quick review of a rather long (nearly 600 pages in the galley edition), complicated novel. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_romantic_0926gd.ART.State.Bulldog.3343f4f.html If … Continue reading
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On Timothy Egan's "The Big Burn," the Boulder Fires, & the Fires to Come
“It felt as if the town was under artillery fire, the mile-high walls of the Bitterroots shooting flaming branches onto the squat of houses in the narrow valley below. Between flareups and blowups, the hot wind delivered a continuous stream of sparks and detritus. . . . Earlier in the day, ashes had fallen like soft snow through the haze. At the edge of town, where visibility was better, people looked up and saw thunderheads of smoke, flat-bottomed and ragged-topped, reaching far into the sky” (3). Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
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On "Freedom" and Facebook Hoopla . . . I'm Just Saying
I’m just saying: Let’s drop Franzen’s novel Freedom—currently being crammed down our collective throats by mediaworld frenzy—and all the annoying Facebook (& Mark Zuckerberg) overhype into a Time Capsule, bury it, then look again in ten years. Predictions, anyone? I … Continue reading
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My Kindle Arrives! (Big Deal.) Now What?
So I’ve been swamped lately with too much reading, including reviewing Joseph Skibell’s 593-page novel titled A Curable Romantic (“It’s okay, but I really wish it were longer . . . .”), & really don’t even have time to think … Continue reading
Posted in books, writing
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Timothy Egan on the Know-Nothings
Today’s NY Times has an excellent piece by Timothy Egan about the current Know-Nothing movement in the country, and its dangerous implications: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/building-a-nation-of-know-nothings/ What he does best is summarize some of the most ridiculous claims of this fake movement, a … Continue reading
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On Heidi Cullen's "The Weather of the Future": Forecast for 2050: Your car just melted and your hair is on fire.
Heidi Cullen, a climatologist perhaps most famous for being The Brainy One on The Weather Channel (as opposed to, say, Stephanie Abrams, The Smiling Babe), has a new book out titled The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change
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