BOOKS THREAD

Long time book thread lurker, first time poster. I wanted to thank everyone for the recommendation of Tender Bar by J.R. Murrow-ringer. Such a great memoir, I really enjoyed reading it. So thanks.

 

For political junkies:

Yes, Bob Novak can be an arrogant, snippy, self-centered pain in the posterior.

Put that aside.

The Prince of Darkness, essentially a recap of his career, with year by year commentary on all of the political mileposts he's passed/covered, is sheer delight. Very well organized . . . great detail. . .. terrific local color . . . and written by a guy who knows his faults and shortcomings, and readily acknowledges them.

Run . . . do not walk . . . political junkies.

 

I enjoyed it, too, because it was my time, as well . . .

But he absolutely tossed it off . . . probably took him about three heartbeats to write . . . and reading between the lines, he admits as much. And I'm a fan.

Was OK, as noted. Could have been great, if he'd worked on it, more than a little.

 

On to "The Fortune Tellers," by Howard Kurtz. Now I read this several years ago and for personal reasons, I'm not a fan of Howie.

But this tale of the rise and impact of financial journalism: complete with Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jim Cramer playing important roles, is fascinating and insightful. I've always said if I went back into journalism, it would be as a business writer.

 

I haven't read this thread in a while, but RIP George MacDonald Fraser. I read the first one and enjoyed it quite a lot. I'll go back and read others when I get a chance.

 

Last night, Colbert interviewed a guy about his new book. It's about the happiest places in the world. Anyone recall the title? I'd like to check it out.

 

Beaks,

If you liked White Teeth, you should eventually check out On Beauty, which is Smith's best book. (Skip: Autograph Man.) It has all of White Teeth's beautiful cadence and three-dimensional characters, but is a more focused, subtle meditation on infidelity, bi-racial marriage, identity and class in the world of academia. I'm a big fan of authors who are equally adept at writing from both the male and female perspective, and I think Zadie does this as well as an author in her generation.

 

Something involving the word geography.

The string of geography, or Strings of Geography.. something like that.

 

Oddly enough, DD, I read On Beauty first as a friend had loaned it to me to read. I really enjoyed On Beauty, which is why I went back to read White Teeth. I haven't read any of her other work, but I agree in that I thought On Beauty was better, or at least more polished, in my opinion than White Teeth. I agree with you about her ability to write from different perspectives, not only from a male and female one, but also from both and old and young perspective. But thanks for the recommendation regardless. I know you say to skip Autograph Man, but I feel compelled to at least try it now.

 

I picked up a couple books today and I was hoping for some feedback from the esteemed SJ Brain Trust.

I bought Everett True's "Hey Ho, Let's Go: The Story of The Ramones," David Michaelis' "Schulz And Peanuts" and Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up." Has anyone here read these tomes? What did you think?