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Tag Archives: Book Reviewing
How To Write a Book About the Wind: On Simon Winchester’s “The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind”
So I have to begin with a confession: I’m most definitely a fan of the much-acclaimed nonfiction writer Simon Winchester. One of my first Winchester reads and still one of his finest (and my favorite) was Krakatoa: The Day the … Continue reading
Ten Years Left of Humanity, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the A.I. Bomb: On Two Visions of the Upcoming A.I. Apocalypse: Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares’ “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies” and Mustafa Suleyman’s “The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and Our Future”
So I recently read the somewhat-infamous bestseller by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All (2025). It’s a white-knuckled warning about the imminent peril of ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence). … Continue reading
Posted in A.I., A.I. 2027, A.I. Apocalypse, A.S.I. (Artificial Super Intelligence), Annihilation, books, Economics, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares' If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, Mustafa Suleyman's The Coming Wave: A.I., Power, and Our Future, Uncategorized, Universal Income, writing
Tagged A.I., A.I. 2027, A.I. Apocalypse, A.S.I., Book Reviewing, The Coming Wave
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On Yasunari Kawabata’s “The Lake” and the Pleasures of “Old” Books:
So one of the downsides of our irritating Consumer Culture is that we’re programmed to be always looking for the next New Thing—be it car, refrigerator, book, movie, or significant other. It can lead to a niggling feeling that our … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Ross Sorkin's "1929, books, Consumer Culture, Simon Winchester's "The Breath of the Gods", Vladimir Nabokov, Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita", writing, Yasunari Kawabata, Yasunari Kawabata's "The Lake"
Tagged Andrew Ross Sorkin's "1929, Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Simon Winchester's The Breath of the Gods, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita
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Day 25: On David Quammen's "Spillover": Terrific Book That Foretold Our Pandemic, Kind of
So I’ve seen various books mentioned as predicting pandemics, now that the coronavirus time is nigh, but not much mention of one of the best virus books I’ve read: David Quammen’s nonfiction book about the biology behind zoonotic diseases, Spillover: … Continue reading
Posted in books, Covid-19, Spillover, Viruses
Tagged Book Reviewing, Covid-19, David Quammen's Spillover
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Herman Wouk Died at Age 104: His Novel, "The Winds of War," Is Relevant Today
So I keep meaning to get back to my blog, but one thing or another always intrudes: new stories and chapters to write (a new story titled “The Wall” will soon appear in The Antioch Review), grass to mow (Thursday), … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Herman Wouk's The Winds of War
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Imagining Storm & Fire: Hurricane Harvey, "Goodnight Texas," and The Prediction of Fiction
So a year ago, on August 24th-25th, Hurricane Harvey crashed into the Texas coast, roughly equaling, in monetary damage, the destruction of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Based on my novel Goodnight, Texas, you could say I predicted it: I … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Climate Change, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Cormac McCarthy, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Goodnight Texas
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The Waste of Gadgets: a Quick Look at Nicholson Baker's "Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids"
So the first thing I should note about Nicholson Baker’s excellent Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids (2016) is how funny it is. He’s got a keen eye for the absurdities in contemporary education, the unintentional comedy of … Continue reading
Posted in books, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Education, Nicholson Baker's Substitute, Tolstoy's War and Peace
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On Why I Read Dan Brown's "Origin": Or My Adventures as a Consumer of Best-Selling Drivel
So I was recently having dinner with a best-selling writer—a bit of literary socializing before said writer gave a reading on our campus—and we had reached the point of small-talk detailing what books we’d been reading. This is often the … Continue reading
The West Is Burning: On Michael Kodas's "Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame"
So after having owned a home in Custer County, Colorado (Go Wildcats!) for fifteen years and having been a frequent visitor to the Rockies since 1978—the year of my first trip to Yellowstone—I’m both fascinated by and have a fear … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West, Weird Weather
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Drought, Michael Kodas's Megafire, The West, Wildfires
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Review of Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night" as Tribute to the New Film Version Starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford
So two years ago Kent Haruf published his last terrific novel, Our Souls at Night, which I reviewed for the Dallas Morning News, and as a tie-in and tribute of sorts, the DMN has republished my review today, which can … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, The West, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Film, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, Our Souls at Night, The Bird Saviors, The West
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