Last year I read Nicholas and Alexandra and discovered a whole new, extremely specific genre that I love: nonfiction books about some point in time where everything came together in a very particular way that changed the entire course of history. I'm very pleased to say that Dreamland is now the … [Read more]
The Americas Deserved Better Than Guns, Germs, and Steel
After watching John Leguizamo’s Netflix special Latin History for Morons, I felt a duty to learn more about the Hemisphere in which I live. I started with Mr. Leguizamo’s strongest recommendation: 1491, a 560-page tome with multiple appendices. The author isn’t a historian or archaeologist but a … [Read more]
It’s our very capacity for self-consciousness that makes us self-destructive!
Here's some questions: Are you?? Does this book pass the Bechdel test? Yes, overwhelmingly. Also, say the title of the book with the emphasis that makes the most sense to you. ARE you my mother? Are YOU my mother? Are you MY mother? Are you my MOTHER? All of these work for … [Read more]
‘One can find time for everything if one is never in a hurry,’ explained his host didactically.
So I might be the only person I know who doesn't absolutely love The Master and Margarita, but I did really like this really bizarre little novella. This story is a kind of Pygmalion, a kind of Frankenstein, a kind of George Schuyler's Black No More, and a touch of the episode of Futurama where … [Read more]