If you'd like to read a pair of fast-paced novels about wealthy white women in Seattle who don't need to work, have precocious children who attend ridIf you'd like to read a pair of fast-paced novels about wealthy white women in Seattle who don't need to work, have precocious children who attend ridiculous(ly expensive) private schools, are incapable of forming genuine connections with anyone around them, and who occasionally poke some fun at themselves to try to cover the fact they are horrible to everyone else, then has Maria Semple got some books for you! They (this book and Semple's previous hit, Where Did You Go, Bernadette?) really are fast-paced novels, I read each of them in a day. Semple was a tv writer, so she really knows how to keep a plot moving. And, I'll gladly admit, these books have some very enjoyable sharp edges that kept me turning the pages (well, scrolling the screen). And perhaps if there was some sense somewhere in either of these books that the protagonists were bad people who deserved to be swallowed by a sinkhole, or perhaps even just that they learned something, or had some true flash of insight into how utterly wrapped in cotton they are from the world at large (like, a real insight, not some snark about their 'white people problems') then I could forgive these books. But I think we're supposed to root for these people, and I can't abide that. Feed them all to the Bolsheviks.
Well, half-finished. These stories invite a measured reading pace. I'll take up this book again in the fall, when I think Trevor's prose will be partiWell, half-finished. These stories invite a measured reading pace. I'll take up this book again in the fall, when I think Trevor's prose will be particularly resonant. ...more
A 141 page book that took two weeks to read, and probably should've taken two months to really read correctly. A 141 page book that took two weeks to read, and probably should've taken two months to really read correctly. ...more
Highly readable, impressive work of scholarship. Taylor gives deep historical context for the Black Lives Matter movement, is unafraid to tackle questHighly readable, impressive work of scholarship. Taylor gives deep historical context for the Black Lives Matter movement, is unafraid to tackle questions like "why did this movement emerge under the leadership of America's first Black president?" head on, and has a powerful vision of how to move forward. ...more
A perfectly fine historical novel that I probably would have been more receptive to if I hadn't read Andrea Wulf's excellent (non-fiction) book about A perfectly fine historical novel that I probably would have been more receptive to if I hadn't read Andrea Wulf's excellent (non-fiction) book about Alexander Humboldt, The Invention of Nature, earlier this year. With her vivid and expansive account of Humboldt's life and times fresh on my mind, Kehlmann's take on Humboldt seemed thin. It's supposed to be comic, but the humor had basically two notes- "virgins are so naive, haha!" and "Germans, am I right?" The sections on Gauss had some other humorous elements, like about he's socially oblivious (mathematicians, am I right?) and also mean to his children (see previous.)
The novel isn't bad, though, and it's easy to see how enjoyable it must be for German or European readers to have a little harmless fun at the expense of some national heroes and the national character. ...more
My favorite since #2, and the one that made clear I'll probably read the first two again as soon as I read the sixth. My favorite since #2, and the one that made clear I'll probably read the first two again as soon as I read the sixth. ...more
Having read exactly zero books previous about ancient Rome, and the proud product of an American public school education which might've included a weeHaving read exactly zero books previous about ancient Rome, and the proud product of an American public school education which might've included a week of ancient stuff in one world civilizations course or another, but also as someone who could use 'Pyrrhic victory' correctly in a sentence, I feel confidant in assuming the mantle of the fabled 'general reader.' This book was aimed directly at me and my intelligent but know-nothing brethren, and succeeded wildly.
I learned a lot of basic facts I probably should've learned long ago (the difference between the Republic and the Empire, who lived in BC and who lived in AD and who was probably just a myth, where Carthage was, etc), in an engaging and chatty way that wove together popular cultural reference points that shape our understanding of Rome, the ongoing debates between archeologists and scholars, and Beard's own commentary. It raised more questions than answers for me, in the sense that there's so much more I want to read about now, as a book of this nature should. ...more
I found many of these essays quite superficial and repetitive and skimmed a lot of this book. I've read Roxane Gay on the internet, and I'll of courseI found many of these essays quite superficial and repetitive and skimmed a lot of this book. I've read Roxane Gay on the internet, and I'll of course continue to do so, but I was hoping there'd be something more substantial to engage with here in the book. ...more
Choire Sicha is a gifted writer and a perceptive observer of the NYC media landscape, which sometimes people mistake as being an omniscient observer oChoire Sicha is a gifted writer and a perceptive observer of the NYC media landscape, which sometimes people mistake as being an omniscient observer of all of New York. Sicha is way too smart to make that claim, and throws in a few sentences to signify that he knows the group of young gay guys that make up the 'characters' of this book are not even close to a representative slice of the city. I mean, this book takes place in 2009 and focuses on a bunch of people who are afraid of Brooklyn! (Fun fact: In 2009 I lived about six blocks aways from the street where two characters refuse to move because of its far-flung location and perceived danger. Also I made about $24,000 that year and had no credit card debt, so, you know, it was possible.)
So why write about this specific group of people alongside the faux-historical explanation-y stuff about the financial crisis? I guess because living in Manhattan and working for media companies brings them somewhat closer to the millionaires and billionaires that rule the city than the rest of the population? And that's supposed to bring the contradictions of late capitalism in the metropolis into sharp relief? But although their jobs are in danger, and they're in debt and that's annoying, they are all still basically cosseted from real danger- they have families to go home to, or to borrow city apartments from, they aren't going to get evicted or lose their house, they have no dependents relying on them for food and shelter. They don't rely on constantly gutted public assistance, and although it may hurt their wallets a bit, they can still take cabs instead of choosing between a subway ride home and a gallon of milk. This is probably a point that Sicha wants to make- he certainly highlights how this generation of gay youth live largely outside the shadow of the AIDS epidemic and all men lost to it a generation before. But still, as Roxane Gay wrote in her review, the effect is something a male version of the television show Girls.
And I just did not understand the rhetorical decisions in this book. Why be so vague about 'the City' and 'the Mayor' and the media insider baseball, and then name all the bars that these guys go to? (They are real bars.) There were a few moments of real poetry in the book. The sentence "Very little fresh gold was arriving from space" will stick with me.
Rounded up to three stars because I want their to be more novels about capitalism and the absurdities of wealth inequality...more
