One of my dearest friends sent me this book for Christmas. I’m glad she did because I had never heard of it, and it’s not something I necessarily would have picked up in the store myself, but it was a fascinating read. God’s Hotel is the story of one doctor’s journey and experience with the last American almshouse in San Francisco called Laguna Honda Hospital. It’s also the story of some of her patients and the changing over from practicing “slow” medicine to providing “efficient health […]
Possibly historically inaccurate, but still a good read
One of the weirdest adjustments I had to make when I moved down south last year was getting used to seeing Confederate flags. As the Boston-bred child of a man who considers anything below Pennsylvania to be the Deep South, I was totally unprepared to see these flags flying over houses and car dealerships. Nor was I aware that people who call the Civil War the War of Northern Aggression are not necessarily ironic hipsters. Even though I rarely brought my feelings on this (there’s […]
“Oui oui, mon ami, je m’appelle Lafayette! The Lancelot of the revolutionary set!”
Guyyyyys this book. It took me almost three months to read it, when I expected to finish it in a couple of days! I just didn’t like it very much, and I’m not sure why. It might be that it was the first Sarah Vowell book I’ve listened to on audiobook, but I don’t think so. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and I love Sarah Vowell’s voice (not to mention the voices of her many stellar audiobook guests, including John Slattery as Lafayette, […]
When in doubt, assume it’s about politics
Have you ever wondered where some of our nursery rhymes came from, or what they really mean? Some of them seem to be about pure nonsense, but there is more to them than meets the eye. After all, “nursery rhymes are full of sex, death, and cruelty” (xv). The author makes a point that this is “not meant to be a scholarly exercise” (187), it’s more like a “Hey, did you know that…?” Like any good conspiracy artist, Roberts can find meaning anywhere, and sometimes […]