Long for this World - Sonya Chung

I was eleven, I think. The world had begun to seem an unpleasant and unstable place. Magic. Magic was everything. See, click, poof! That first real camera seemed the answer to everything, a revelation--like a crime with no punishment. The world was mine for the taking. From the beginning, I somehow knew: behind the lens, I had my footing. It was a place of instant solitude, and safe.

Looking back, it was probably best that my parents refused my pleas for a complex manual-focus Pentax until I was older. Those first few years I had one variable to work with: the frame. Within such parameters, your eyes begin to work hard. You learn to tilt your head, bend your knees, step back, look away then look again. You learn to scan. Pause. Wait--for the light to shift, the subject to turn, the wind to blow, your eyes to adjust until texture and dimension come into relief. You learn to always keep your eyes working when they are open, sometimes even when they are closed.

Sonya Chung's novel tells the story of a Korean family spread over the world that finds itself coming together. The book is complex and layered with the family members and the vastly different lives they have lived. The narrator is a photojournalist daughter who brings insights from around the world, including war photography in Bagdad. The characters are distinct and offer a wide range of emotions and experiences. An ambitious first book that deserves the praise it has received. Chung is an excellent writer.

The Christmas Pig - Kinky Friedman

He was a good king but he was in a bad mood. Christmas was only a month away and he still had not commissioned an artist to paint the traditional nativity scene to be unveiled at the conclusion of the midnight mass.

"I've crushed whole armies for not celebrating Christmas," complained the king to his chief advisor, Feinberg. "Now I can't even properly celebrate it myself. Is there not an artist left in the kingdom? Have they all been burned at the stake?"

"Nay, my liege," said Feinberg. "They certainly have not all been burned at the stake. Some of them have merely starved to death."

Loads of fun! Kinky tells a laugh out loud tale about Christmas that is original and captures the spirit of the holiday. I couldn't stop reading this quirky fable that is totally enjoyable. The humor is irreverant and yet the book has very tender moments. A king, a jester, a little boy, a nativity scene, and a talking pig...what more could you want for smiles and magical feelings at Christmas time. The book jacket notes that Kinky may become the next governor of Texas, which was probably less likely than this fable becoming real. He would have had my vote.

Fludd - Hilary Mantel

At this early point, the topography of the village of Fetherhoughton may repay consideration. So may the manners, customs, and dress of its inhabitants.
The village lay in a moorland, which ringed it on three sides. The surrounding hills, from the village streets, looked like the hunched and bristling back of a sleeping dog. Let sleeping dogs lie, was the attitude of the people; for they hated nature. They turned their faces in the fourth direction, to the road and the railway that ledt them to the black heart of the industrial north: to Manchester, to Wigan, to Liverpool. They were not townspeople; they had none of their curiosity. They were not country people; they could tell a cow from a sheep, but it was not their business. Cotton was their business, and had been for nearly a century. There were three mills, but there were no cogs and shawls; there was nothing picturesque.

Fresh, original and filled with humor--what more do you need in a book? Mantel is a very gifted writer who creates a magical tale. Whimsical characters fill a small English town with a new twist on every page. An unusual new priest with a mysterious background intrigues the parishioners. The search for meaning in life is expressed in a fable-like fashion. Most fun to read.

Callings - Carl Dennis

Earth Day

"Mother Earth" is her name in fables

But now we agree that the mothering

Needs to be done by the children

Whose reckless doings have aged her,

Creasing her brow, stooping her shoulders

As she's waited for them to return

From nights of drinking, from speeding

For thrills on icy roads...

Thoughtful and well-composed poems make this a pleasant book to read. The are deep, yet gently expressed. I loved the flow of the author's lines. Each poem is like opening a lovely package. The messages are varied and read like sound advice from a wise grandfather. Beautiful simplicity make a poetry book worth reading.

Othello - William Shakespeare

I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice: then, must you speak
Of one that lov'd not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdu'd eyes
Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their med'cinable gum. Set you down this;
And say besides, that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk
Beat a Venetian and traduc'd the state,
I took by the throat the circumcised dog,
And smote him thus.

Othello, scene ii

It's Shakespeare's great Othello...what more need I say. I liked this version edited by Ross McDonald as it contains nice introductions to the the theater world of Shakespeare's time and the writing of Othello. The footnotes are set up in a manner that doesn't distract from reading text and give brief explanations of outdated English to assist the reader.

The Echo Maker - Richard Powers

He is awake, or someplace near it. His body drifts on and off. Possible that he himself is here straight through. Only he doesn't know it, when what his mind hooks to comes and goes.
Ideas hit him, or he hits them. A game always, scores pouring in, as standings change. Surrounded by people--seas of them--the crowd a huge changing thought. He never knew himself. Every single human a separate line in a play so large and slow no one can hear it.
Time is a yardstick for pain. And he's got all the time in the world. Sometimes he jerks up, remembering, desperate to go, fix, undo. Mostly he lies still, signals of gnats he would catch and kill. They scatter when he reaches for them.

Something wonderful: he could count to anything, even all these swarms, just by adding one. Covering debts, bets. Hovering up by the highest number. In a lookout tower on a hill. People could do anything. They don't know they're gods, that they live through even death. People might make a hospital where they could keep every possible life alive. And then someday, life might return the favor.

This is a book that challenges human identity to a level so deep it is often scary. Following a brain injury, a brother struggles to return to who he was while his sister struggles with the strangeness of losing someone who still lives. The book uses its characters to intellectually and ethically examine consciousness. It has many layers and covers a lot of ground, but held my attention throughout. It is a very emotional read that contains mysteries and poetic metaphors. I loved the authors use of migrating cranes in the Nebraska town to draw the reader into the larger question of life beyond the human mind. The author's writing is both beautiful and evocative while often reading like a poem. A greatly talented writer.

The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare - Doug Stewart

During his career as a London playwright, in fact, Shakespeare appeared not to care greatly whether his plays were printed and sold for popular consumption. The publication of plays was almost an afterthought. At a time when most people in England were barely literate, live performances were what mattered.
Nearly half of Shakespeare's plays never appeared in print until the First Folio was published in 1623, seven years after his death. The theater friends who compiled the texts sometimes had to scrounge for old prompt books--copies of play scripts made by a theater's scribe--and then piece scenes together. In many cases, passages could be reconstructed only by tracking down actors who had played a part years before and asking them to recite their lines from memory. Printers both before and after the playwright's death used their own judgement in intrepreting the handwritten pages they had to work from, giving rise to multiple versions of the plays.

This is a very enjoyable read and for lovers of Shakespeare, a must read. It tells the true story of a boy who creates a huge scandal in the 1790s with his forged documents. The book has several layers to it, including the relationship of the boy and his father and the public attitude of Shakespeare. This is not a typical forgery where money is the object. And while many forgeries are designed to appeal to art or antique experts, these forgeries were designed to fool the public. It it amazing how successful this became and the outcome. Along with the great story, the author does a very nice job of including details about Shakespeare and his times.

Human Smoke - Nicholson Baker

Stefan Zweig, a young writer from Vienna, sat in an audience at a movie theater in Tours, France, watching a newsreel. It was spring 1914.

An image of Wilhelm II, the Emperor of Germany, came on screen for a moment. At once the theater was in an uproar. "Everybody yelled and whistled, men, women, and children, as if they had been personally insulted," Zweig wrote. "The good-natured people of Tours, who knew no more about the world and politics than what they had read in their newspapers, had gone mad for an instant."

Zweig was frightened. "It had only been a second, but one that showed me how easily people anywhere could be aroused in a time of a crisis, despite all attempts at understanding."

This is one of the most moving books I have ever read. Subtitled, "The beginnings of World War, the End of Civilization", reading this will change how you feel about war and your fellow humans. Nicolson gathered small excerpts from news stories and public documents and piece them togther is a most compelling arrangement. The short exerpts tell a history of the build-up to WW II in a most fascinating way. The book reads like a novel even though it is entirely composed from other documents.

I don't have a strong interest in the history of wars, but this book shows the human story that took civilization from WW I to a more devastating war. Interspersed in the news excerpts are pacifists who tried to stop the massive annihilation. I cannot stop thinking about this book that has caused me to deeply examine the attitudes in myself and others that lead to wars. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Posthumous Papers of a Living Author - Robert Musil

Why posthumous papers? Why of a living author?

There are poetic estates that also happen to be great gifts; but as a rule, literary legacies bear a suspicious resemblance to everything-must-go clearance sales and cheap bargains. The popularity that such works nonetheless enjoys may indeed derive from the fact that the reading public has a forgivable weakness for poet who for the last time lays claim to their attention. However the case may be, and whatever questions may arise as to whether such a legacy may be truly worthwhile or merely of some worth, might lead one to suppose--I at any rate have decided to forestall publication of my own last literacy effects before the time comes when I will no longer have a say in the matter.

This collection of writings by Musil from the 1920s and 1930s provides a broad range of his style. Best known for his book, "A Man Without Qualities", he presents his own collection of favorite writings. Musil is more popular in his native Germany, but is popular with writers. This book is worth reading for Musil's insights written in a style that is both intellectual and humorous.

Liquidation - Imre Kertesz

What would a publisher's reader be with belief, an intellectual challenge, in a censored, evil, and illiterate world? No one an nothing. A paper-marking slave, a proofreader groping in the dark. But I believe in writing--nothing else; just writing. Man may live like a worm, but he writes like a god. There was a time when that secret was known, but now it has been forgotten; the world is composed of disintegrating fragments, an incoherent dark chaos, sustained by writing alone. If you have a concept of the world, if you have not yet forgotten all that has happened, that you have a world at all, it is writing that has created that for you, and ceaselessly goes on creating it; Logos, the invisible spider's thread that holds our lives together.

Liquidation is a rich, dense novel from the Nobel winning author, Imre Kertesz. A short novel, it is dense with ideas and reflections on the human condition. A survivor of Auschwitz, this book includes a plot that involves other affected that death camp. Kertesz's writing style, sparse and somewhat detached, allows him to cover vast subjects and plots with ease in this short novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.

Kiss & Tell - Alain De Botton

Mr. Rogers had escaped his wife's complexity with interest in the peripherals of existence. He could entertain a conversation of many hours' duration on the second downward clue fo the The Times crossword, the migration of African birds, the effect of carbon dioxide on the synapses of the brain, not to mention the pros and cons of buying a water purifier or the gradual supersession of the sewn bookbinding by its glued counterpart - but remained at a loss to understand the role allotted to him in the family drama.

Everything one said threw him into deep thought, whereby he would roll back his eyes, lift up his head and enter into a phrase of saying 'Yes' in rapid succession though the comment which had elicited this might have been no greater than, 'It's getting harder to find red apples these days.'

This book is original, funny, and well-written--but it doesn't add up to a good read. Dissecting the biography genre, de Botton selects an ordinary person's life to display in this book. With of interest about the person, the gist of the book becomes a dissertation on structure and style of most biographies. There are some great moments and interesting thoughts in the book, but it too often digresses into details that are modestly interesting and briefly amusing. Apparently, a lot of readers seem to like this book, but for me a short story would have been adequate.

Names - Marilyn Hacker

Letter to Mimi Khalvati

Dear, how I hate the overblown diction of

lines for occasions: festschrifts, like elegies

making a banal birthday seem to

signpost a passage to unmapped wasteland,

...

This book is very intelligent and meticulously composed, but its poetry doesn't move me. I appreciate the writer's fine skill, but the writing feels too structured and intellectual in spite of the book's themes of women in the Middle East and America's role in disrupting societies. The author chooses to write in obscure poetry forms: ghazals, gloses, sonnets; which I don't find particularly appealing nor contributory to expressing Hacker's thoughts. One of the reviews on the back cover states "Marilyn Hacker's language saves us through its brilliant riches, its coruscating threnodies of structure." Yes, there are brilliant rich lines, but I get lost in artificial structure and it feels like Hacker is trying too hard. It feels like a book more for college literary professors to dissect rather than one for the average poetry lover.

The Emigrants - W.G. Sebald

Paul's aversion to the Church of Rome was far more than a mere question of principle. though; he genuinely had a horror of God's vicars adn the mothball smell they gave off. He not only did not attend church on Sundays, but purposely left town, going as far as he could into the mountains, where he no longer heard the bells. If the weather was not good he would spend his Sunday mornings together with Colo the cobbler, who was a philosopher and a downright atheist who took the Lord's day, if he was not playing chess with Paul, as the occasion to work on pamphlets and tracts against the one True Church. Once (I now remember) I witnessed a moment when Paul's aversion to hypocrisy of any description won an incontestable victory over the forbearance with which he generally endured the intellectual infirmities of the world. In the class above me there was a pupil by the name of Ewald Riese who had fallen completely under the Catechist's influence and displayed a degree of overdone piety- it would not be unfair to say, ostentatiously- quite incredible in a ten-year-0ld. ....

Who am I to disagree with Susan Sontag who called this book a masterpiece? I concur, wholeheartedly. Like other Sebald books, this one is about places and spaces. He describes realities that are magically dreamlike. Included in this book, as in his others, are unusual photographs that seem to have come out of an old trunk. The photographs interspersed throughout the text add immensely to the journey Sebald takes us on. Reading Sebald is like wandering into a secret room that you don't want to leave.

The Emigrants covers four displaced people in its four sections. They have all fled a horrible past to live unique lives. Together the tell a compelling story of the human spirit exploring areas most often left unexplored. This may be my favorite Sebald book and I love them all.

Leavings - Wendell Berry

The Shining Ones

While the land suffers, automobiles thrive,
shining as they glide by the dying towns,
the empty fields bare in winter,
the deserted farmhouses, obstacles merely
to an ideal trajectory from everywhere to anywhere.

This is a wonderful book with a common theme for Berry- the environment. His poetry is simple, yet powerful. He connects with nature and is able to convey his love for the natural world in poems full of emotion. Many of the poems in this collection call attention to the great harm we humans are inflicting on our planet. They are both sad and disturbing while calling attention to the beauty and wonder. Worth reading and re-reading.

Questionnaire
1. How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.

Forbidden City - Trina Robbins

The 1940s was a boom time. During the war years, people thronged to the Chinese nightclubs. They came to forget the war for just a few hours, for the beautiful showgirls, for dance teams like Toy and Wing or the Tai Sings, for romantic singers like Larry King, "The Chinese Frank Sinatra" and Frances Chun "The Chinese Frances Langford." Movie stars from Hollywood like Bing Crosbie, Boris Karloff, Ronald Reagan, and Jane Wyman rode the trains up from Hollywood to participate in war bond drives, visited the nightclubs, and mingled with the entertainers. GIs on their way overseas, attracted by promises of exotic entertainment, filled the clubs. Many were from small Southern towns and had never before seen an Asian. They didn't know where they were being sent, or if they would come back, and they spent their money as if there was no tomorrow.

Asian entertainers, too, thronged to the clubs--and like Filipino Tony Wing or Japanese Dorothy Toy, born Takahashi, they were not always Chinese. Teenage girls whose traditional parents forbade them to dance, ran away from home to perform on the stage. They came from Oregon and Hawaii, from as close as Stockton, California, and as far as Hong Kong, and they converged in San Francisco's Chinatown.

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This book documents the Golden Era of Chinese nightclubs in San Francisco which existed from the 1930s into the early 1960s. The pictures, which are abundant, are great. The text, other than a short introduction, is entirely direct quotes from persons involved in this unique setting. Many of the tales are very interesting, however, it would be a much better book if the author had taken time to weave the accounts into an historical account rather than depend solely on first-person recollections. I enjoyed the book with its fascinating glimpse into a uniquely American historical anomaly.

The Stranger - Albert Camus

For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a 'fiance,' why she had played at beginning again. Even there, in that home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. Nobody, nobody had the right to cry over her. And I felt ready to live again too. As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I had been happy again.

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A timeless classic, this is the most well-read book of Camus. Written in 1946 it reads like a modern text. The stranger in this story is a man detached from the life around him. He lives detached in his own world, intelligent but uncaring of what surrounds him. Existential philosophy is defined by the central figure, although Camus referred to it as expousing the absurb. This short novel is extremely dense while still being easy to read and follow. It is an amazing piece of writing in that it gives the reader so much in so few pages. Classic themes that continue to resonate leave the reader thinking about this book for a long time after finishing it. I now understand why this book seems to be on everyone's must read list. Read it if you haven't already.

Heart of a Dog - Mikhail Bulgakov

I am handsome. Perhaps I'm really a dog prince, living incognito, mused the dog as he watched the shaggy, coffee-coloured dog with the smug expression strolling about in the mirrored distance. I wouldn't be surprised if my grandmother didn't have an affair with a Labrador. Now that I look at my muzzle, I see there's a white patch on it. I wonder how it got there. Phillip Philipovich is a man of great taste- he wouldn't just pick up any stray mongrel.

Written in 1925, this short novel is a sharp-witted, humorous attack on Russia after the Russian revolution of 1917. A science experiment goes awry in the home lab of an educated doctor at odds with the proletarians. The author has received much posthumous acclaim. His style is creative and crisply written. He is able to create a funny book with dark themes. His political comments on totalitarianism often ring true today. A very entertaining read from another great Russian writer.

Marcovaldo - Italo Calvino

Cold has a thousand shapes and a thousand ways of moving in the world: on the sea it gallops like a troop of horses, on the countryside it falls like a swarm of locusts, in the cities like a knife-blade it slashes the streets and penetrates the chinks of unheated houses. In Marcovaldo's house that evening they had burned the last kindling, and the family, all bundled in overcoats, was watching the embers fade in the stove, and the little clouds rise from their own mouths at every breath. They had stopped talking; the little clouds spoke for them: the wife emitted great long ones like sighs, the children puffed them out like assorted soap-bubbles, and Marcovaldo blew them upwards in jerks, like flashes of genius that promptly vanish.

This is a very amusing collection of very short stories that create a short novel. The stories all involve a rural man moved into an industrial area of Italy after the second world war. He is a dreamer and finds simple pleasures in the city, mostly through fanciful dreams and poorly prepared actions. Calvino makes the tales engaging and fun as the sketches quickly become more fantasy than reality. The simple man is bewildered by his city life and longs for the simple pleasures found in nature. I can't imagine anyone not taking pleasure in reading these delightful stories. Calvino has done a great job of bringing together a cohesive group of stories that combine to tell a larger tale. The writing is wonderful as it is moves quickly and brings the reader to instant involvement in Marcovaldo's quirky life.

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea - Yukio Mishima

I could have been a man sailing away forever. He had been fed up with all of it, glutted, and yet now, slowly, he was awakening again to the immensity of what he had abandoned.

The dark passions of the tides, the shriek of a tidal wave, the avalanching break of surf upon a shoal...an unknown glory merged in death and in a woman, glory to fashion of his destiny something special, something rare. At twenty he had been passionately certain: in the depths of the world's darkness was a point of light which had provided for him alone and would draw near someday to irradiate him and no other.

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A very compact writing style allows this short novel to cover an overwhelming abundance of ideas, emotions, and themes. Mishima writes as an objective third party narrator with three main characters- a woman, her young son, and a sailor. The book centered on Japanese culture, but is universal in its themes. The sea plays an important, largely as a metaphor for a more adventurous life. The sailor must decide between life on land with a woman he loves and the sea which draws him. This book is very disturbing as it details discontent of teenage boys and the dark places that can lead. Sexy, terrifying, wistful, hopeful, intriguing, and filled with tales of adventure, relationships between lovers, fathers and sons, mothers and sons, and coming of age-- this book packs as much into a hundred plus pages as anything I have read. This book has been called a masterpiece by many and rightfully so.

Summertime - J.M. Coetzee

Mr. Vincent, to you John Coetzee is a great writer and a hero, I accept that, why else would you be here, why else would you be writing this book? To me, on the other hand - pardon me for saying this, but he is dead, so I cannot hurt his feelings - to me he is nothing. He is nothing, was nothing, just an irritation, an embarrassment. He was nothing and his words were nothing. I can see you are cross because I make him look like a fool. Nevertheless, to me he really was a fool.

As for his letters, writing letters to a woman does not prove you love her. This man was not in love with me, he was in love with some idea of me, some fantasy of a Latin mistress that he made up in his own mind. I wish, in stead of me, he had found some other writer, some other fantasist, to fall in love with. Then the two of them could have been happy, making love all day to their ideas of each other.

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This is a thoroughly enjoyable and wildly clever memoir. The story about the author assumes he is dead and has left behind some notebooks. A young author attempting to write a biography of Coetzee interviews persons found in the notebooks. Not only is the premise great, the writing is as well. The persons interviewed have differing takes on the Coetzee and present unique and largely unflattering glimpses into their interactions with the author. The interviewees are unconnected with each other, but the tales taken as a whole combine to present a more clear picture of the man. Each one left me more fascinated with the complexity and unassuming nature of the author. Without a doubt, this ranks as one of my favorite books. Clever, fun, and masterfully written.

After Dark - Haruki Murakami

After a quick survey of the interior, our eyes come to rest on a girl sitting by the front window. Why her? Why not someone else? Hard to say. But, for some reason, she attracts our attention--very naturally. She sits at a four-person table, reading a book. Hooded gray parka, blue jeans, yellow sneakers faded from repeated washing. On the back of the chair next to her hangs a varsity jacket. This, too, is far from new. She is probably college freshman age, though an air of high school still clings to her. Hair black, short, and straight. Little makeup, no jewelry. Small, slender face. Black-rimmed glasses. Every now and then, an earnest wrinkle forms between her brows.

An alienated young woman during one night in Tokyo is the basis for this interesting short novel. The writer, Murakami, is highly regarded and after my initial reading of him, I can understand this praise. His writing is fresh and engaging. There is much dialogue in this book between the young woman, a young man, and a hotel manager. It is well composed and keeps the story moving at a rapid pace. The author also creates a unique narration throughout the book. Insight is offered on modern urban life in Japan, the alienation of youth, and metaphysical concepts. Both dark and optimistic, the book is a short and worthwhile read.

Atonement - Ian McEwan

In the early evening, high-altitude clouds in the western sky formed a thin yellow wash which became richer over the hour, and then thickened until a filtered orange glow hung above the giant crests of parkland trees; the leaves became nutty brown, the branches glimpsed among the foliage oily black, and the desiccated grasses took on the colors of the sky. A Fauvist dedicated to improbable color might have imagined a landscape this way, especially once sky and ground took on a reddish bloom and the swollen trunks of elderly oaks became so black they began to look blue. Though the sun was weakening as it dropped, the temperature seemed to rise because the breeze that had brought faint relief all day had faded, and now the air was still and heavy.

I have greatly enjoyed other books by McEwan, but this one left me disappointed. I didn't see the major motion picture and am not likely to do so now. This book is much longer than other McEwan books I have read and might be improved if half of it was cut out. The author is a great writer, but seems to have spent too much time focused on writing more than the characters or the story. McEwan's books involve deep emotions, but in Atonement, these are buried under too many words and unnecessary descriptions. I debated all the way through my reading to whether to stop reading or continue. I finished the book, but am not sure I made the right decision. However, don't hesitate to read other books by McEwan which are excellent.

Vertigo - W.G. Sebald

United by the inveterate alcoholism of the Tyrol which is known for its extremism far beyond the region, these Innsbruck dossers, some of whom appeared to have only recently dropped out of ordered life, while others were already in a completely ruinous state, and every single one of whom had something of the philosopher or even of the preacher about him, were holding forth on current events as well as the most fundamental questions. It was remarkable in their disputations that those who chimed in at the top of their voices were invariably the ones who left off in mid-sentence, suddenly silenced as if by stroke. Whatever happend to be the topic, every point was underscored by highy theatrical, apodictic gestures, and even when one of their number, no longer able to put into words the thought which had just come into his head, turned away with a wave of contempt, it seemed to me as if their manner derived from a distinctive dramatic repertoire completely unknown on the stage. Possibly this was because all of them were holding their beer bottles in thier right hands, and were thus in a sense acting out one-armed, left-handed roles. And perhaps, I concluded from this observation, it might be a good ploy to tie the right hands of all drama students behind their backs for a year at the start of their training.

This is Sebald's first novel and every bit as wonderful as his others. Like Austerlitz and The Rings of Saturn, this is also a trance-like travelogue. The travels in Sebald's books are more about the exploration of memory and history, than details of place. In Vertigo, he weaves four stories around a theme of self-exploration. The intersections of these stories are not clearly demarked and perhaps more like electron clouds around a nucleus. I read this book not knowing where it would it would take me, nor caring as an enjoyable spell is cast taking one out of time while reading.

As intriguing as the text are the pictures Sebald inserts throughout this book. One could browse through the book looking at all the pictures and have little idea what the book is about. However, most would find themselves wanting to solve the mystery of the strange pictures. Rather than solving a mystery in his travels, Sebald seems to uncover deeper and deeper mysteries. A completely unique and fascinating book.

Buddha's Little Finger - Victor Pelevin

The bust of Aristotle was the only thing I retained in my memory when I came around, although I am far from certain that the expression 'to come round' is entirely appropriate. Ever since my childhood I have sensed in it a certain shame-faced ambiguity. Round what exactly? To where? And, most intriguing of all, from where? Nothing, in short, but a cheating sleight of hand, like the card-sharps on the Volga steamers. As I grew older, I came to understand that the words 'to come round' actually mean 'to come round to other people's point of view', because no sooner is one born than these other people begin explaining just how hard one must try to force oneself to assume a form which they find acceptable.

This is book is as strange as it title might imply. And it is strangely wonderful. Pelevin crafts a surreal book that displays the differing character of Russia through bizarre situations. Yes, Buddha's little finger does play a part in the book. The main character is thrust into wild situations where the nature of existence and reality are questioned. The writing is thought-provoking and creative. This imaginative book is full of surprises that will bring smiles along with reflections to the reader. For those who like books that challenge the reader, this book will is well worth the effort. A great book.

The Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard

Our society's deep, unwavering faith in economic growth rests on the assumption that focusing on infinite growth is both possible and good. But neither is true. We can't run the expanding economic subsystem (take-make-waste) on a planet of fixed size indefinitely: on many fronts, we're perilously close to the limits of our finite planet already. Infinite economic growth, therefore, is impossible. Nor has it turned out to be, aft the point at which basic human needs are met, a strategy for increasing human well-being. After a certain point, economic growth (more money and more Stuff) ceases to make us happier. I mean, if everyone were having fun and enjoying leisure, laughter, and well-being, we might decide that the pursuit of growth was worth trashing the planet. But the majority of us are not having fun; instead we are reporting high levels of stress, depression, anxiety, and unhappiness.

Most people are aware of Annie Leonard from her immensely popular YouTube videos. She has taken that material and incorporated it into this book. It is written with the same friendly charm that she presents on video. It makes the seriousness of her cause easy to swallow without feeling like you are being lectured. She also avoids making the reader feel too guilty, which we all should for the mess we have made of the world. At times, the book gets too detailed over some issue that Leonard advocates. But the reading is fun while she presents vital information that we all need to consider and act on regarding all of our stuff. I especially liked the clarity presented about the lack of a positive relationship between stuff and happiness. Read this book--or at least watch some of her videos.

The Borgias and Their Enemies:1431-1519 - Christopher Hibbert

By now it was not just the sight of the city, little more than a decayed provincial town, that distressed visitors. Corruption was rife in the Church and shocked the pilgrims who came to Rome to receive indulgences, which were now being dispensed on an unprecedented scale. Abandoning in despair their attempts to form a strong and stable political state, the Romans allowed Urban VI's successor, the clever and avaricious Boniface IX, another Neapolitan, to assume full control of their city, to turn the Vatican as well as the enlarged Castel Sant'Angelo into fortified strongholds, and to appoint his relations and friends to positions of power and profit.

The Borgias are are an amazing family living in fascinating times. Unfortunately, this book gets bogged down in too many details, as interesting and amazing as they may be. I felt like I needed to create a chart to keep track of all the relatives and branches of the family. To gain an insight on this time period and the powerful Borgias, this book is a good resource. For enjoyable reading, I found it lacking in a narrative that made it cohesive and moving toward a natural conclusion. The majority of the book details the early years in the time period while the last twenty years are given little attention. Not badly written, just tedious to read.

ArtBook Giotto - DK Publishing

Destined to become one of the most important artists in the history of western painting, Biagio or Agnolo, known as Giotto, was born at Colle di Vespignano in the Mugello valley near Florence in what most scholars date as 1267. There is no documentary evidence to provide us with any certain information about the chronology and events of his life but literary sources and legends abound bearing witness to the fame he enjoyed from the beginning of his artistic career. Until his death in Florence in 1337, his life was spent between the foremost centers of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italy, where he absorbed the cultural and artistic legacy of the age and transformed it into a highly evolved and revolutionary language with an originality that is generally regarded as marking the beginning of the history of Italian painting.

This book is part of a series put out by DK Publishing. As an illustrated guide introducing Giotto, it is a nice little book. That, however, is a large part of the problem with this book--it is simply too small and needs a larger size to display the great works of art. The text is minimal with each pages including multiple images. While the illustrated books typically leave one wanting more, they are a fine way to get a taste of an artist. I learned a few things about Giotto and gained a deeper appreciation of him from this book. If you want to enjoy Giotto's great frescoes and alter pieces you should look for a large format book. Giotto is well worth the time if you appreciate art.

Zeitoun - David Eggers

Throughout the afternoon, Kathy tried to convince her husband to come with them. When had officials suggested an all-city evacuation before? she asked. Wasn't that reason enough to go?
Zeitoun agreed that it was unusual, but he had never evacuated before and he saw no need to do so now. Their home was elevated three feet above the ground, and rose two stories on top of that, so there would be no danger of getting stuck in an attic or on a roof, even if the worst happened. Zeitoun could always retreat to the second floor. And they lived nowhere near any levees, so they wouldn't get any of the flash flooding that might hit some of the other neighborhoods. It was East New Orleans, or the Lower Ninth, with its one story houses so close to the levees, that were in gravest danger.

A wonderful story told in an engaging, easy to read, style. The book does an excellent job of bringing the Katrina disaster into the perspective of an individual family. Zeitoun, the central character in this non-fiction account, is a compelling person who makes the reader feel better about being human. At the same time, much of what happens during this historic event is an extremely disappointing comment on human behavior.

I liked very much how Eggers kept this book so personal. The Katrina disaster is told through the eyes of one family. Zeitoun, being a Syrian immigrant, is tested and tortured not only by Katrina, but also by America's inept handling of terrorism. This is an important story to be told and is a good read for all American. You will find yourself unable to stop reading once begun.

The Clerkenwell Tales - Peter Ackroyd

Rumours of her prophecies soon spread beyond the walls of the convent and into the city where, in the turbulent time of a weak and wretched king, her admonitions were given credence. Some called her the mad nun of Clerkenwell, but many others revered her as the blessed maid of Clerkenwell. The bishop's exorcist conducted several interviews with her, but he found her distracted and contradictory. "The sweetness of Christ's Mother has pierced my heart," she told him on one occasion. "To me she came and bade me to sing, O Alma Redemptoris mater."
"But Dame Agnes tells me that you dream only of the damned. Or so you said to her."
"I can no more expound in this matter. I learn my song, but I have small grammar."

A very well written historical novel based in England at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The author uses characters and a structure similar to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. A mysterious plot moves the story along, but this book is more about the people and the times than the underlying story. Ackroyd is able to write with a blend of modern and old English to create text that is easily read, but evokes the historical times. There are lots of intriguing and humorous pieces of this long lost time period. If you have an interest in these times, you will enjoy the descriptions of people's lives in this book. I found myself getting lost in the historical details and fascinating tidbits and losing the central mystery that is trying to be solved. Overall, this was a fun read that displays a depth of well-displayed research.

Who Do You Love - Jean Thompson

We were headed straight into bad news. The snow had begun sixty miles back as something light and sifting. It raced across the highway in curving snake shapes and slid harmlessly beneath the wheels. By the last exit it was sticking to the road in patches. Just a few miles farther and the pavement turned solid white. The wind was stronger now; it blew at right angles to the highway, kicking up loose snow, filling the air with it. I was driving hunched up against the wheel as close as I could get. Holly said, "I told you, check the forecast."
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This book of short stories focuses on disappointments in love. Mostly focused on a woman's perspective, they are sad stories on the flip side of the knight in shining armor. Thompson succeeds in crafting unique situations and people having to face an unsatisfying experience. Too often, I found myself not really caring enough about the people and situations. The author has received a lot of recognition and praise for her work, so I guess she appeals to many more so than she did to me.

Austerlitz - W.G. Sebald

Why does time stand eternally still and motionless in one place, and rush headlong by in another? Could we not claim, said Austerlitz, that time itself has been non-concurrent over the centuries and the millenia? It is not long ago, after all, that it began spreading out over everything. And is not human life in many parts of the earth governed to this day less by time than by the weather, and thus by an unquantifiable dimension which disregards linear regularity, does not progress constantly forward but moves in eddies, is marked by episodes of congestion and irruption, recurs in ever-changing form, and evolves in no one knows what direction? Even in a metropolis ruled by time like London, said Austerlitz, it is still possible to be outside time, a state of affairs which until recently was almost as common in backward and forgotten areas of our own country as it use to be in the undiscovered continents overseas.

Sebald is a most fascinating writer. This book takes the reader into a timeless, surreal environment where one man tells another about his life and self-discovery. I read Sebald with an amusement that is strangely comforting knowing that people examine life from his unusual perspective. His writing is rich and complex. This book, like others of his, includes many odd photographs that are as intriguing as the writing. The photos look as if they were taken from old boxes that would be meaningless to anyone other than the photographer who was simply documenting things he had seen. But put in the context of the writing, they too become oddly captivating. Sebald meanders off into science and history unearthing facts and ideas about things you either never knew or had no idea you wanted to know--such as a biological study of moths.

Not for everybody, as many will likely find Sebald's writing too slow paced and lacking in a typical storyline or format. I find myself amongst those that love Sebald and will read more of his work.

Await Your Reply - Dan Chaon

Was he faking it? Miles had never been sure, even as Hayden's behavior became more erratic and abnormal and secretive. There were time, lots of times, when his "illness" felt more like a performance, am amplified version of the games they had been playing all along. The "symptoms" Hayden was supposedly exhibiting, according to the therapist--"elaborate fantasy worlds,""feverish obsessions,""disordered thoughts," and "hallucinatory perceptual changes:--these were not so much different from the way Hayden usually behaved when they were deeply involved in one of their projects. He was, perhaps, a little more exaggerated and theatrical than usual, Miles thought, a little more extreme than Miles felt comfortable with, but then again there were reasons. Their father's death, for example. Their mother's remarriage. Their hated stepfather, Mr. Spady.

This book kept me enthralled and constantly surprised. Three very odd and completely different settings and characters are expertly woven into a compelling mystery. I read the first three chapters with fascination, however they seemed to be completely unconnected. Wondering if and how the author might tie these story lines together, makes the reader want to continue. After the story begins to come together, I found myself compelled to finish the book.

Chaon is an intelligent, creative writer who well deserves all the praise he has received. His writing flows easily, but is deceptively complex. A great mystery, bizarre characters, unimagined connections, a modern theme, great writing and it all adds up to a five star review.

Fixing My Gaze - Susan Barry

Stereoblind? Was I stereoblind? I looked around. The classroom didn't seem entirely flat to me. I knew that the student sitting in front of me was located between me and the blackboard because the student blocked my view of the blackboard. When I looked outside the classroom window, I knew which trees were located further away because they looked smaller than the closer ones. The footpath outside the window appeared to narrow as it extended out into the distance. Through cues like these, I could judge depth and distance. I knew the world was in 3D. Yet, my professor implied that there was another, different way to see space and depth. He called this way of seeing stereopsis. I couldn't imagine what he was talking about.

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I admit I read this book because of a granddaughter born with vision problems. Susan Barry grew up with eyes that didn't track properly. In spite of surgeries, she did not develop the ability to see three dimensions or stereopsis. It is hard to imagine seeing everything in 2D, but the author does a great job of describing it. As strange as it sounds to most of us, people without stereo vision can't really imagine 3D. This book combines both the biology of vision problems related to eyes tracking and the human effects on those with this problem. Becoming a neurobiologist, the author was in a unique position to write this book after discovering a method to begin seeing 3D at age fifty. The book is certainly a must read if you know anyone a cross-eye or wall-eye. Even if you don't, this short book is very informative and easy to read and understand.

Dorothea Lange - Linda Gordon

I have come to think of Lange as a photographer of democracy, and for democracy. She was not alone in this commitment, for she had predecessors and colleagues, and today has many photographic descendants. From her family of origin, her two extraordinary husbands, and friends of great talent she absorbed sensitivity, taste, and technique. These people are part of her enabling context, and for that reason this book includes them as major characters. So too the unique cultures of Hoboken, New York, San Francisco, and Berkeley play major roles in this story.

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Gordon has written an incredibly researched biography of this icon of American photography. The writing flows and is kept interesting in a book that covers a lot of ground. There are over 120 pages of citations! Lange's life is somewhat challenging to cover, since she did not leave diaries or much writing.

Much of the book covers the social history of the times and persons influential in Lange's life. This is both the strength and weakness of the book. While discussing historically intriguing times and situations, such as the original bohemian movement in SF, the writer seems to sometimes lose track of Lange. The book is a combination social history and biography. I found some of the personal comments and asides in the book irritating, especially a short excerpt from a love letter in which the author inserts a comment in the middle. This is a good book if you want to read about Lange or have an interest in the historical period.

Generosity - Richard Powers

True, then: both of Thassa Amzwar's parents are dead. Dead of identity and too much hope. And the daughter is either on newly discovered antidepressants or so permanently traumatized she's giddy. Her writing has that open confidence of a child who might still become an astronaut when she grows up. All her sounds ring, all colors shine. Crippling colonial inheritance, religious psychosis, nighttime raids: she's swept along by the stream, marveling. Her words are naked. Her clauses sprout whatever comes just before wings.

Stone's hands shake as he inks up her assignment.

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Powers is a wonderful writer who has received a lot of well-deserved praise. This book uses a philosophical question to drive the story rather than the characters. The characters are interesting and the reader becomes engaged in their drama. However, what compels the reader to keep turning the pages is the answer to a question of happiness. Is happiness genetically programmed or is primarily learned and developed? Would it benefit the individual or the world if we artificially created happiness? I liked the way Powers developed different perspectives on happiness. He is thoughtful and articulate. At the same time, he creates a story and characters who become involved in a thrilling drama around the theme. I like the writing and found myself thinking for days about this book--thus it's five star review.

The Lost Painting - Jonathan Harr

The Biblioteca Hertziana stayed open until nine o'clock every night, and Francesca rarely left before then. At her table, she collected dozens of articles and monographs about Caravaggio and began reading through them. Many offered nothing particularly new or interesting, just the background noise of art scholars going about the business of advancing their opinions or disputing the opinions of their colleagues. Sometimes in an article, a real piece of information--an actual fact, a date, a contract--would emerge from the vast tangled swamps of archives. Then it would be scrutinized and interpreted by the confraternity of Caravaggio scholars, and if it withstood examination, it would assume its place in the assembled landscape of Caravaggio's life.

What a great book! The author does a superb job with a non-fiction tale of art mystery. The search to find a lost Caravaggio painting is fascinating. Research, travel, ancient archives, experts with questionable motives, and one of art's most irascible painters make this a book you won't want to finish. I was amazed at how the author could combine art history, Caravaggio's life, and the world of expert identification of paintings while keeping a mystery moving forward. So often authors lose the impact of a gripping story when they divert into details. Harr is able to seamlessly weave everything together moving from historical facts to the emotions of the investigators. The book would be enjoyable for anyone to read, but if you have any interest in art you will love this book. If you like Caravaggio it is a must read. This is non-fiction at its best.

13 Bankers - Simon Johnson & James Kwak

The Wall Street banks are the new American oligarchy--a group that gains political power because of its economic power, and then uses that political power for its own benefit. Runaway profits and bonuses in the financial sector were transmuted into political power through campaign contributions and the attraction of the revolving door. But those profits and bonuses also bolstered the credibility and influence of Wall Street; in an era of free market capitalism triumphant, an industry that was making so much money had to be good, and people who were making so much money had to know what they were talking about. Money and ideology were mutually reinforcing.

There is a part of me that doesn't want to take the effort to understand how the people at the top pillaged the rest of us. But after a friend sent me this book, I read it and am glad I did. It tells a story the rest of us need to know. Everyone knows something about the financial crisis that began in 2008. In this book, the authors provide the details of how they did it to us. Extremely well-researched by two top economists, the book tells a compelling story of how it happened and what must happen next to stop the next mass movement of money.

13 Bankers should be a textbook required for reading in economics classes. It is easy to read, although it does bog down at times and I didn't take the time to read the extensive footnotes. The authors did a good jog of making this a readable book and not simply facts thrown together. It mixes in history with action steps for a better future. It is worth your time.

The Anthologist - Nicholson Baker

...you're determined that this is going to be a real anthology. This isn't going to be one of those anthologies where you sample it and think, Now why is that poem there? No, this is going to be an anthology where every poem you alight on and read, you say to yourself, Holy God dang, that is good. That is so good, and so twisty, and so shadowy, and so chewy, and so boomerangy, that it requires the forging of a new word for "beauty". Rupasnil. It's so good that as soon as you start reading the poem with your eyes you know immediately that you have to restart again reading it in a whisper to yourself so that you can really hear it. So good that you want to set it to musical notes of your own invention. That good.

An intelligent book filled with comments on poets and poetry. Written in the first person, the story involves a poet preparing an anthology of rhyming poetry. The quirky poet (is that redundant?) meanders in his task to finish the book as does the author in presenting thoughts on poetry. It is a fun read, especially if you enjoy poetry. The author not only presents intriguing thoughts about different aspects of poetry but also much of the history of poetry. You may also enjoy this book if you tend to procrastinate as does the main character. Silly at times and tending toward indulgence, I still found the author's story and writing kept me interested and enjoying my time with this book.

Dancer - Colum McCann

He returns from the wings already in midair, moves through four cabrioles, keeping his line long until the sound catches up, an instant of conjunction, a flash of muscle and he sweeps the stage with his body, owning it, no limits. Eight perfect entrechats-dix, a thing of wonder, the audience silent now, no body anymore no thought no awareness this must be the moment the others call god as if all doors are open everywhere leading to all other open doors nothing but open doors forever no hinges no frames no jambs no edges no shadows this is my soul born weightless born timeless a clock spring broken, he is in flight, he could stay like this forever and he looks out into the haze of necklaces eyeglasses cufflinks shirtfronts and knows he owns them.

I loved this book--one to consider for a small desert island collection. The writing is superb! This is creative non-fiction take on Rudolf Nureyev's life. And what a life it was! Rising from a poor Russian ethic minority to become a ballet dancer that is famous throughout the world is a story worth telling. McCann chooses perfect selections from Nureyev's life to create an experience more real than a typical biography. His portrayal of Rudy's father as a soldier during Russian battles is perhaps the best and most chilling writing I have ever read on war.

The book is startling in its breadth. Nureyev's travels from Russia to Paris to New York to South America help define this immensely complicated person. Rather than telling the reader about life among the famous people in the world, McCann is able to create the scenes that both portray the fame and mold the individual. On top of it all, the love and art of ballet is beautifully and movingly delivered.

Kafka Americana - Jonathan Lethem & Carter Scholz

There are numbers between numbers, thinks Stevens. Between the integers are fractions, and between those the irrationals, and so on to the dust f never-quite-continuity. I numerical continuity is an illusion, perhaps temporal continuity is as well. Perhaps there are dark moments between our flickers of consciousness, as between the frames of a movie. The Nude of Duchamp descends her staircase in discrete steps. Where is she between steps? Perhaps here at the hotel. At this moment, stuck between floors, where am I?

An interesting take on Kafka by two writers who write alternating short stories in this book. Interestingly, the SF Library has a signed, limited edition print on its lending shelves. Some excellent writing by both writers. Lots of creativity and humor in this short book. Like the cult icon Kafka, this book falls into that same category. Sometimes it felt like the writers were trying too hard. The book is entertaining reading, especially for those enjoy esoteric, absurb takes on Americana. For short story lovers, this book is an inventive collection with an intriguing theme. For me, the writing made it a very good book.

Manhood for Amateurs - Michael Chabon

One spring afternoon when I was fifteen years old, a kid who was new to the tenth grade showed up at our front door unannounced, with a backgammon set folded under his arm. I had no talent for backgammon or friend-making. I hated games that, like backgammon or the making of friends, depended in any way on a roll of the dice or a gift for seizing opportunities. I disliked surprises and all changes of plans, even changes for the better--except in retrospect. At the art of retrospection I was a young grandmaster. (If only there were a game whose winning required a gift for the identification of missed opportunities and of things lost and irrecoverable, a knack for the belated recognition of truths, for the exploitation of chance in imagination after it is too late!) True, I might have felt some disposition to like this kid already, but I would have dared to act upon it.

I must confess, I don't generally like confessionals and this book did nothing to change my mind. The writer has received so much acclaim that I thought I would start by reading this book, his newest. A mistake! The book is a collection of random thoughts in short chapters. They are supposedly grouped in some order, but I failed to see any relationship between the pieces grouped together. Even worse, many of the writings have little to do with the book's title. The chapters discuss often meaningless and/or uninteresting events and thoughts by the author which I guess he assumes the rest of us would find interesting. Some recollections had simple morals similar to those in simple self-help books. Others didn't seem to have any purpose. Creative writing gone amuck.

Bosch - Walter Bosing

"...the like of which was never seen before nor thought of by any other man."
In our own century scholars have come to realize that Bosch's art possesses a more profound significance, and there have been many attempts to explain its origins and meaning. Some writers have seen him as a sort of fifteenth-century Surrealist who dredged up his disturbing forms from the subconscious mind; his name is frequently linked with that of Salvadore Dali. For others, Bosch's art reflects esoteric practices of the Middle Ages, such as alchemy, astrology or witchcraft.

This book is part of a series of art books published by Taschen to celebrate their 25th anniversary. The oversized hardback book is a true bargin selling at $14.95. The quality of the reproductions is good and the text is informative, although written too scholarly for my taste. A little of Sister Wendy's passion thrown into the text would have helped. The text does, however, provide necessary detail to better understand Bosch's art.

Bosch's art is entirely fascinating and this book includes all of the art generally attributed to him. We see in his work both incredible talent and intriguing glimpses into the medival mind. Heaven and hell are the major themes in these works, but nobody else displayed the imagination that created the scenes and creatures Bosch painted in his visions of the afterlife. It is impossible not to stare and become entranced by the amazing detail and strangeness in Bosch's works. How lucky we are that this work survived and that it so affordable to own a book with it.

My Life as a Fake - Peter Carey

The editors of literary magazines, while conceiving of themselves as priests, actually travel like brush salesmen, always making sure they have a sample of their wares packed along with socks and underwear, and it was not at all eccentric of me to bring several issues of "The Modern Review" to Malaysia. One of these had a very fine translation of Stefan George, which I expected a reader of Rilke would admire and so the following morning, at half past six, I wrapped it in some pretty paper and set off back to Jalan Campbell. I had no notion of how this half-mile walk was going to change my life. If I had only stayed in bed, I would not be where I am today, struggling in a web of mystery that I doubt I ever shall untangle.

Suspense and intrigue in an exotic locale make this an enjoyable book. It is very well written with a quick pace that keeps the reader engaged. I am not a big fan of mysteries, but enjoy a well-written one. Throughout the book, I kept second-guessing myself about which character was telling the truth. But the truth as described by two main characters is fascinating in both accounts. While I wanted to know what really happened some years earlier, I almost didn't care because both of the two explanations being offered were fascinating.

Carey does a great job of using the locale of Indonesia and introduces many strange and unusual settings and situations. At times, the story seemed to meander a little too far from the main drama, but didn't detract too much from an excellent book.

The Nothing That Is - Robert Kaplan

We may just now have walked past the whole point of our story...For all our thought, not only the mathematical with its recursive abstracting, is drawn toward formalism, as if our having drained it of the human made it god-like. Only after we've sold our souls to this figure do we realize that its hollow, adding nothing to what we knew and by multiplying apercus out to vast generalities, liable to set our understanding at nothing. Is this where the Great Paradigm was leading us- or is formalism rather an occupational hazard of the mind, which is prone to mistake the ever-enlarging context within which content is held for the disappearance of content altogether? So, the signs that facilitate thinking eventually come to be taken for its substance.

I really wanted, and fully expected, to enjoy this book, but I came away disappointed. I am curious and appreciative of history and mathematics. A history of the zero seemed a perfect read for me. The book fails in both its history and its math. It claims that only a basic understanding of high school math is required to understand the concepts in the book. As someone who has taken calculus at the college level, I found much of the math difficult to comprehend. Even worse, it didn't to be directly related to the history of the zero, but simply the author taking liberties to venture off in his own areas of interest. The book fails more so in the area of history. The actual history of the zero does not make up a majority of the book. It seems the actual history could have been covered in a chapter or two.

This is an academic treatise that is likely to only appeal to fellow academicians.

Point Omega - Don DeLillo

The true life is not reducible to works spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking, feeling, lost in memory, dreamingly self-aware, the sub-microscopic moments. His life happened, he said, when he sat staring at a blank wall, thinking about dinner.
I almost believed him when he said such things. He said we do this all the time, all of us, we become ourselves beneath the running thoughts and dim images, wondering idly when we'll die. This is how we live and think whether we know it or not. These are unsorted thoughts we have looking out the train window, small dull smears of meditative panic.

I love DeLillo's writing and this is a good book, but not great like many of his. It is a short novel that uses the desert and a slow motion video art presentation to present a mood of separation from the life most of live. DeLillo is a master at creating moods and situations evocative of deep self-examination. In Underworld and Falling Man, he moves the reader threw immense and all consuming emotions and thoughts as if travelling into uncharted areas of the mind. Point Omega is similar, but left me wanting more. It comes off as more of a short story than a novel. Still, the writing is often amazing and the engaged will reader will be given much to ponder about life and its meaning. It reminded me of a strange scent you can't quite place, but one that you also can't forget. DeLillo's writing always lingers.

Digital Photo Design - Paul Comon

All you need to know: Composition is the elimination of all unnecessary elements. At first glance, this inelegant definition seems too simplistic, but if you take only one idea away from this volume, let it be that.
You will never find that definition in any dictionary and it certainly does not address all the subtleties of image arrangement, but if you practice it faithfully, most compositional problems will fall away.

I liked the photographic depictions of design concepts in this book, but found the text poorly written and tedious at times. This is a basic photo composition book and would be very informative for someone who has never studied this subject. Certainly, the average person who has never studied photography could improve his or her photos tremendously by following the recommendations offered. I checked out the book from a library and there are better books to buy if you want to own a book on this subject. It covers all the basics and will be educational for beginning and amateur photographers.