The dearth of posting this week has been due to my all-too-short summer vacation. I've been doing some home-improvement projects. Nothing major, because I'm not exactly a whiz with power tools. I've done some painting, spackling and general cleaning. Hopefully, it will make the place a little more inviting when I return to my $4 […]
It took me quite awhile, but I finally finished Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism" yesterday. Make no mistake, this is not a sparsely sourced, name-calling polemic. It is a serious work of intellectual history that can be a daunting task to read. Having said that; everyone should read it. Goldberg traces the roots of fascism from […]
Every other month the San Diego Union-Tribune sells copies of books (and other miscellaneous stuff) sent for review that doesn't make the cut to raise money for charity. Here's what I came away with last week.
The Union-Tribune's bi-monthly book sale for charity netted me former CBS newsman Bernard Goldberg's latest book "Crazies to the left of me; Wimps to the right" in paperback. The book is a quick, breezy read, that basically lays out Goldberg's personal politics and beliefs. Republicans, and even Joe Lieberman-style Democrats will find much to agree […]
I'm a recent inductee to the Neil Gaiman admiration society, joining after watching the movie and reading the book "Stardust." After finishing Stardust, I dove into "Neverwhere," a story that takes place in London Above and London Below. London Above is what you see on the telly, movies, etc. London Below is an alternate reality […]
I saw the movie first on HD-DVD (yes, dead format, I know, who'd have thought Sony of the Betamax, ATRAC3 and UMD would get something right) last week and was pleasantly surprised. The film had slipped past my radar -- and that of most of the public -- when it was first released in theaters. […]
The last of the big three of science fiction died yesterday. Like Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein before him, Arthur C. Clarke shuffled off this mortal coil after 90 years. I read many of Clarke's books in high school and college. Like many young boys, I started off with Heinlein in elementary and middle school. […]
I just got done reading P.J. O'Rourke's "Parliament of Whores." The book was first released in 1991, but O'Rourke's observations about the way government in America "works" is as spot-on today as it was back then. Though many of the names have changed (and some, such as Bush, haven't), the "politics" remain the same. We […]
Every couple of months the Union-Tribune's library holds a book sale for charity in order to get rid of some of the plethora of review books they receive. Today, I managed to pick up: I looked for Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism," but if there was a copy, it was long gone before I got in […]
I spent much of my free time this weekend with Clive Cussler's latest novel "The Chase." Cussler's made his name over the decades writing books featuring the National Underwater and Marine Agency's Dirk Pitt. The last one or two Dirk Pitt books have approached whatever is the literary equivalent of "jumping the shark." This is […]