BOOKS THREAD

It's supposed to be entertaining, especially the quoted Jobs putdowns of others.

 

Read The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman in two days. Not because it was, but because it was only 225 pages.

I've had the same problem with both of Klosterman's novels. I feel like I am just reading Chuck Klosterman essays put into novel form. The book is a series of long speeches from some guy talking to his therapist. The main character felt like his own guy sure enough, but like Downtown Owl it also felt like the guy was just another extension of Chuck Klosterman. In a way I feel that Chuck Klosterman as a writer is a modern philosopher, and this book is just more talking through his different philosophies of living.

 

I'm in the thick of Isaacson's "Steve Jobs" and it really is a well-written book. It seems to be a fair assessment of Jobs's life (didn't know THAT much about him going in, although I worship Apple the way he worshipped Indian Buddhism!). The book doesn't gloss over what a prick he could be to his friends, co-workers and family. However, Jobs gets credit where credit is due. I don't know that I've ever finished reading a biography on anyone - generally a person's life can kind of get boring through 500-1000 pages even as interested as I may be in him/her. Jobs has become the exception for me. Isaacson's book has been hard to put down, which I guess is a tribute to both men.

 

I'll probably read it eventually. Wozniak's autobiography (which came out about 5 years ago) is pretty good and a lot shorter than the Isaacson book. Basically Woz writes "Steve Jobs and I are still friends, but I did most of the inventing at Apple in the early days...."

 

Maybe should put this on the Music thread, but ...

"Street Player: My Chicago Story" by Danny Seraphine

If you're a Chicago fan, a must-read. Lots of good insight into how the band was formed, their early years as a group in L.A., and of course, tales of 1970s rock excess on the road. The tribute to Terry Kath and an attempt at explaining what happened to him was well done, too.

I enjoyed it a lot, but would have liked to see more about how the original seven members of Chicago came from different economic backgrounds and areas of the Chicago region. Danny tells all about his street gang/mob connections upbringing, but I wanted more about the others' backgrounds, which are only alluded to briefly.

 

Finished The Marriage Plot.

It gets 3.5/4.

Not the most uplifting novel I've read. Manic depression is an awful thing.

 

It's a frustrating mess.

 

What the hell are you doing on this thread?

 

Quoting Jimi Hendrix.

 

Caro's fourth LBJ book is finally coming out in May and, yes, there will be a fifth.

http://online.wSportsJournalists.com/article/AP5b3c3fcacee848a9a8f9891bcc7ec0e1.html

 

Slogging through Murakami's "1Q84". I'm about 170 pages in with 750 to go. Had many doubts about continuing so far. Maybe it's the translation, but the language is childish. Seems very perverted in parts as well. Female characters are continually worrying about how big their boobs are while male characters are always noticing how big women's boobs are. A lot of dialogue which leads nowhere and a story which hasn't advanced much through nearly 20% of the book.

I'm talking myself out of continuing.

 

This is great news. About time.

It's been five years since I finished "Master of the Senate." Can't wait to read this one.