Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review:  The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultra Rich by Evan Osnos

This is a most unusual, entertaining, and appalling collection of essays by a National Book Award-winning author about the fraction of one percent who hoard most of the wealth in the United States. And goofy title aside, it is one … Continue reading

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Book Review:  The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee; Part Two

As I read on in The Emperor of All Maladies, some sections I find absorbing and fascinating, while others, such as those describing the efforts to understand the intricacies that lie within cancerous cells, are sometimes hard for me to … Continue reading

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Book Review:  The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee; Part One

Shortly after I began the multifarious medical appointments related to my own cancerous condition, I reserved a book from the library called The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. It had been on my radar … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan Greenwell

This book is a real eye-opener. It reveals that the deliberate dumbing down for profit that Cory Doctorow, in referencing the tech industry, calls enshittification (look it up; it’s even in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary) has hit numerous other facets … Continue reading

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Book Review:  The Uncool: A Memoir by Cameron Crowe

The Uncool provides a stark example of the adage that you can’t judge a book by its cover – because it has got one of the worst covers I have seen in years. It is bright red with a small … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Joyride: A Memoir by Susan Orlean

To many people, Susan Orlean is a character played by Meryl Streep in the film Adaptation, which is based on Orlean’s book The Orchid Thief. Others know her for her decades-long work as a staff writer for the New Yorker. … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a children’s book, isn’t it? Then how came I to review it on this blog, which is devoted to literary works for adults? Not by the usual pathways, I assure you. In fact, renewed interest … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow

Lest anyone should conclude that the title of this book is merely a blatant foul-mouthed outcry for reader attention, Doctorow states in the acknowledgement section that “in late 2023, the American Dialect Society named enshittification their Word of the Year.” … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Roads: Driving America’s Great Highways by Larry McMurtry

Larry McMurtry is best known for his award-winning novels and screenplays, but he also wrote several memoirs. Roads tells of a series of trips he made by car in 1999. By way of explanation he says: “I wanted to drive … Continue reading

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An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin; Part Two

As history, backed up by Dick Goodwin’s documentation, points out, John F. Kennedy was in the midst of overseeing many profound societal changes when he was assassinated, and Johnson, on assuming the presidency, became determined to see these initiatives through … Continue reading

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