Do you love the show Intervention, but find it too glossy and upbeat? Do you feel the problem with Charles Bukowski is that he was just a bit too cheerful? Then this might just be the book for you. Ablutions is narrated by an unnamed Barman (I’d say he’s our protagonist but I’m not entirely sure that is the case) working in a deeply depressing, lowest-of-lowbrow Hollywood bar. Imagine all the magnificent wealth, glamour, and luxury of Hollywood. Cool, now imagine the polar opposite of […]
A Road Trip with a Dog
I read this due to my Steinbeck kick. I was a little worried about reading it immediately after The Grapes of Wrath but it was the perfect antidote to my melancholy mood. This is a travel journey by one of America’s preeminent authors who decided that that he no longer felt in touch with America and her people and wanted to find her again. Discontented seems to best describe the way he felt with his life when he set off on his journey in 1960 […]
Radium…the wonder drug. Oh wait, nope.
This story is the very definition of the word fantastic. It is unbelievable. If you enjoyed (though, enjoyed is a strong work) Devil in the White City or Killers of the Flower Moon, buckle up and prepare to be horrified by more actual American history. In the 1898, we discovered radium. It was great! Just neat-o. It glowed, it was heralded as a wonder drug. WHAT. YES. And, the Radium Girls were the lucky women hired to work in factories that used radium-based paint to […]
Army Chief of Staff Reading List #8
First of all, I am on a roll with my professional reading so far this year. I have another completed book to review and I’m halfway through another already. While it may sound like conceit, I am really impressed with myself so far. I made it a point this year to do a better job of, not just reading, but maximizing my time and so far, so good. Anyways, The World America Made made was a short look at the policies and decision throughout the […]