I’ve spent the last couple of months reading “War and Peace.” Here’s my review: It’s pretty long. I started the book as sort of a lenten exercise. Instead of giving up something I loved, like wine and sloth, I decided to take on something laborious — not really realizing that this particular labor would […]
Heil, Hitler
Adolf Hitler, the man who murdered millions and is responsible for even more tortured metaphors, might be right at home in the second decade of the 21st century. That’s the thesis of “Look Who’s Back,” the satiric German novel by Timur Vermes. The book first appeared in 2012, and the English translation reached the […]
I like Kate Atkinson
My favorite writer these days is Kate Atkinson. I bought “A God in Ruins” on the strength of a favorable mention via NPR, then tried a couple of her detective novels: “Case Histories” and “When Will There be Good News?” All are superb. This woman reminds me a lot of Ruth Rendell: so literate, […]
Must-see mayhem
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is one of the few TV shows that is actually better than its source material. Have you seen it? It’s a festival of bare butts and broadswords, full frontal profanity and major characters dying horribly on a weekly basis. Gratuitous? Absolutely! And rollicking fun for the whole family! I watched […]
Potpourri … and Palin
These days I never have strong enough opinions to write a whole blog post, so here’s a grab-bag of stuff that has caught my attention over the past couple of weeks: What I’ve been reading: “The Girl on the Train,” by Paula Hawkins. I liked it a lot. It deserves all the hype it’s […]
A vote for the Nazis
You may have heard that Amazon, in its bid to dominate even more of your life than Facebook, is now soliciting audience opinions on which shows it should develop. Right now there are about a dozen pilots, available here for free. To be honest, most of them look dreadful, but I did take a […]
The Boy Who … Lied
Well, I never saw this coming: The aptly-named Alex Malarkey now wishes to clarify that he didn’t actually die and ascend into Heaven, as he had indicated in the book he and his father co-wrote in 2010. Thus, “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven” probably wasn’t the most accurate title ever written. Then […]
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