BOOKS THREAD

I'm actually being sincere on this one. I love TWC. And seeing as how it's only 210 pages or so, I'm not sure it can really labor that much. I seriously doubt Steinbeck was copying On The Road. I think he was incredibly private, he loved spending time alone, and he wanted to do a lap around the country and drink coffee and see the sunrise. What you may have felt like riffing on the mundane, I read as a search for meaning in the twilight of a writer's life.

 

There's a reason Moby Dick only sold about 200 copies when it came out.

 

Liked him, early-on, though he's always been an ostentatious righty, but he's deteriorated as he gets more hypercritical. I Am Charlotte Simmons is virtually
unreadable.

 

I won't judge an artist by his politics, Ben, but I agree with you about his artistic decline.
That's why I qualified my statement. His last great nonfiction was 'The Right Stuff.' The only good novel is 'Bonfire,' but, man, what a book.
'Man in Full' and 'Charlotte' were both bad.

 

Just finished the latest Connelly, 9 Dragons. I've read everything this man has written and this one is my favorite.

Minor Spoiler Alert: one of Connelly's most underrated qualities is that his villains aren't the mustache-twirling super genius Bond villain types (like you sometimes see in Lee Child's mysteries). What makes this book so enjoyable is that the plot sets up for Harry to fight that type of villain and the truth ends up being more mundane. This book could have easily been the first Bosch novel. A lot of changes for Harry in this novel - enough to mine at least five more.

Also reading Simmons' Book of Basketball. The best comparison is to the Bill James New Historical Abstract. When Simmons lists the best players and does his write up, it feels very similiar to the BJNHA with great ancedotes. The other similiarity is that NBA fans will want to read it even if they disagree with Simmons. With the BJNHA, even if a baseball fan believes that sabermetrics obscures rather than illuminates greatness, you need to read and own the book as a matter of baseball history. Given the dearth of NBA literature out there (the best book about pro basketball - Loose Balls - isn't even about the NBA), I think NBA fans will need to read the book.

 

Guy knows the NBA.

He gets no more from me.

 

War of Necessity War of Choice, is an okay book given the current political climate. Considering the terms war of choice and war of necessity appears to be thrown out a lot about Afghanistan. Richard N. Haass is a really intelligent individual and his credential are impeccable, but this book was kind of a bore throughout so beware.

http://www.amazon.com/War-Necessity-Choice-Memoir-Iraq/dp/1416549021

 

Just finished "Grunge is Dead," an oral history of the Seattle music scene. I always enjoy the oral history format. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Pearl Jam/Nirvana/Soundgarden/Alice in Chains/Mudhoney/Screaming Trees/Tad/The Melvins, etc. Some big names took part -- Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Jerry Cantrell, Layne Staley's mom, Kim Thayil, etc. The section on Layne Staley's decline is pretty hard to read. The guy was a real mess at the end.

Didn't realize Connelly had a new one out. He's cranking them out at a Robert Parker pace (but thankfully, he still makes an effort -- unlike Mr. Parker).

 

Just read Mankell's first Wallander mystery "Faceless Killers". Enjoyed it immensely. Characters are well drawn and you get a real sense of Sweden along with an interesting mystery. Great stuff.

 

Not to revive the politics thread, but Taylor Branch's book on the tapes he made with Bill Clinton during the administration is very interesting. Clinton talking politics and politicians is always entertaining.

 

For those that haven't heard -- Stephen King's new book "Under the Dome" (due to be released next week) is going to be over 1,000 pages long -- and is available in hardcover on Amazon.com for the pre-release price of $9