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World Without Pain: The Story of a Search
Apocalypse Bluff and Other Stories
Invasive Procedures: Stories
Heroes and Other Illusions: Stories
Bedlam Battle: An Omnibus of the One Thousand Series
After the Fireflood
Caliban’s Children
The Fantasy Book Murders
Opting Out and Other Departures
Sunflower: A Novel
America Redux: Impressions of the United States After Thirty-Five Years Abroad
Fear or Be Feared: Fantasies
Writing as a Metaphysical Experience
Reviews and Reflections on Books, Literature, and Writing
The One Thousand: A Novella
The One Thousand: Book Two: Team of Seven
The One Thousand: Book Three: Black Magic Bus
The One Thousand: Book Four: Deconstructing the Nightmare
After the Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Memoir of Greece
The Misadventures of Mama Kitchen: A Novel
Dark Mirrors: Dystopian Tales
Love Children: A Novel
Painsharing and Other Stories
The Dragon Ticket and Other Stories
Category Archives: Book Reviews
Book Review: The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
It’s interesting that I came across this graphic memoir, The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui, shortly after reading George Takei’s graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. The authors of both books are Asian Americans, and both books deal … Continue reading
Book Review: A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster by Rebecca Solnit
People don’t commonly look on disasters as uplifting experiences, but in this book, the author argues that overwhelmingly traumatic shared experiences often bring out the best in the so-called victims. Within minutes or hours of disasters striking, says Solnit, magnanimity … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged 9/11, disasters, elite panic, Hurricane Katrina, Mexico City earthquake, San Francisco earthquake
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Book Review: The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London
The background of the edition of this book and how I came by it is an interesting story. Two of my sons and I went on a road trip from Seattle to the San Francisco Bay Area in late June … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, Travel
Tagged Bora Bora, Hawaii, Jack London, Jack London State Park, Molokai, sailing, Solomon Islands, South Seas, Tahiti, The Snark, Typee
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Book Review: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker
Although we have shelves of them in our home, I don’t normally read graphic novels and memoirs. When I found They Called Us Enemy on the new book shelf at the library, though, I realized that I would make an … Continue reading
Book Review: Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond
One of the most important nonfiction books of the late nineteenth century is Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. In it, the author posits that environmental variables rather than inherent differences in ability were … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged Guns Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond, national crisis, personal crisi
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On Rereading The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
I’ve read several of Annie Dillard’s books. I like her writing style, and I appreciate her philosophical observations mixed with comments on nature. I’ve read The Writing Life before too, but the last time was several years ago in Greece. … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews, On Writing
Tagged Annie Dillard, how to write, where to write, Writing, writing technique
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Book Review: The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough
The Pioneers tells a compelling story. After the Revolutionary War, Great Britain ceded the vast Northwest Territory to the fledgling country of the United States. This included the area that would comprise the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, … Continue reading
Posted in Book Reviews
Tagged history, Northwest Ordinance, pioneer America, pioneers, settlers
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Book Review: I, Asimov: A Memoir by Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an amazingly prolific writer. Although he is probably best known for his science fiction novels and stories – the Foundation series, for instance – he wrote and edited over five hundred books on a wide range of … Continue reading
Book Review: Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974 by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer
As soon as I first picked up this volume of modern history, I knew it was going to be important to me. I put my name on the reserve list at the library (still poverty-stricken here, folks) and patiently waited … Continue reading