I read Chernow’s biography of Hamilton last year because, well, I can’t see the musical. Also, I majored in History as an undergrad and my favorite era is the American Revolution. Hamilton, the biogrpaphy, was excellent. It was the first major biography that read despite a good friend recommending Chernow a few years ago. I enjoyed Hamilton enough that I added Grant to my queue as soon as it was added to my library and after eight months of waiting, I got my turn. […]
They don’t give that Pulitzer out for just anything.
American Pastoral won the pulitzer and boy oh boy it is deserved. This novel is a masterpiece of storytelling. Swede Luvov is a small town hero: star athlete, considerate son, professional Jewish American businessman, and married to a former Miss Jersey. By all accounts, he is living the American Dream, until his daughter tears the fabric of his family and life apart as an anti-war terrorist. It takes us a little while to get there though, as the novel is framed as the musings of […]
Arrested Development, No Bluths. No, strike that, I refuse to be flippant about this gorgeous novel.
When I read Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History” over a decade ago, it stuck with me for quite some time. I think “The Goldfinch” is going to haunt me even longer. I don’t know how she does it, but Tartt’s writing style is, for me at least, the literary version of an earworm that has no burn factor. I could not stop thinking about this book every time I put it down. I kept bringing it up with people at work. My dreams were screwed up. […]
The Darkness of World War II
All the Light We Cannot See (2014) by Anthony Doerr may have suffered from unrealistically high expectations. I’ve been waiting to read it for months, I’ve heard great things about it from a number of different people, and it won a Pulitzer Prize. Don’t get me wrong. This was a well-written and haunting book. However, after all the hype, I was expecting it to be one of my favorites of the year. World War II is the backdrop for our two young protagonists. Marie Laure is […]