Feb 16 2007
The Left’s love/hate relationship with Christopher Hitchens (and Christopher Hitchens’ love/hate relationship with the Left) lives on in me. I must say, however, that I not only love his words, but how fiercely dedicated he is to fundamental ideas like free speech. I agree—censorship is bad news, just about any…
Feb 07 2007
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver RelinHad the author of this book not spoken at my University, I probably would not have picked it up. Not because I have an aversion to its nature, but…
Jan 15 2007
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max BrooksBy some means or other, I became under the impression that World War Z would be funny-ha-ha; by the end of the first chapter, it was deathly…
Dec 02 2006
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory MaguirePossible spoilers below!
When reviewing a book that has a Hollywood/Broadway equivalent, I always feel a tremendous pressure to abstain from such clunkers as “The…
Nov 07 2006
I will be at the Chicago Humanities Festival until sometime on Sunday. When I get a chance, this post will be expanded into a write-up.
The Chicago Humanities Festival is in its 17th year, having grown from a small, one-day event for Chicago residents to a multi-week festival that draws students from all…
Oct 28 2006
The Worst Person in the World by Keith OlbermannYou likely either hate Keith Olbermann or you love him. If you’re a regular watcher of Fox News Channel, you probably fall in the former category. If you’re part of the…
Oct 24 2006
Snow by Orhan PamukPossible minor spoilers below!
I was blissfully unaware of Orhan Pamuk’s existence until he won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature. Being shallow and weak-willed, I went out and picked up Snow, his latest novel, the next…
Oct 15 2006
Night of Stone by Catherine MerridaleIt’s no secret to anyone, even without the benefit of significant reading about it, that Russia has always been—and especially so in the 20th century—a clusterfuck of enormous proportions. Hitler is firmly enshrined as the…
Oct 13 2006
The Undercover Economist by Tim HarfordThe Undercover Economist is the second popular book recently to be written about economics. The first was Freakonomics, which wasn’t really about economics in the sense people normally think of it (Gross Domestic…