Who Owns the Futureby Jaron Lanier I hate books that give away the ending in the title. I hate it more when they tell you there’s an ending then don’t show it to you. The problem with titles like “Who Owns the Future” is that it makes your book sound like a self-help book. Like “The Secret.” I understand that Jaron Lanier is supposed to sell books and maybe his publisher pushed for this title, but if he were so...
Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet BureaucracyThomas M. Twiss Leon Trotsky should be known for a lot of things, but especially for having one of the greatest rises and falls in history. Rising to revered leader of the Soviet state to globally ostracized and being brutally murdered. The man’s life can never be analyzed enough. In fact, it has been time and time again, which is what makes Trotsky and the Problem of Soviet Biography such an interesting book. It’s...
Dog Days of Snakepit by Ben Snakepit It’s easy to understate the subtlety of Ben Snakepit’s work. He’s like a centaur: a comic book artist torso powered by a punk rock body. There is no doubt that punk rock has shaped who Ben is and his perspective on life. The man has been in more bands that I either of us can count and I am a proud owner of his music. He’s also an all-around beloved guy. But maybe...
Pastry Love: A Baker’s Journal of Favorite Recipes by Joanne Chang One of the joys of living in Boston is that it’s exposed me to the wonderful cooking of Joanne Chang. She’s reached almost superstar status with her flagship Myers + Chang restaurant in the South End: a spot my wife and I cannot seem to get enough of. It’s a must-go especially on Mondays and Tuesdays when they have their date nights and their tasting menus are cheap and...
The Irishman Originally Published as I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt Unfortunately, you can’t talk about the Irishman nowadays without talking about Martin Scorcese. Although Charles Brandt’s book I Heard You Paint Houses came before the movie, all the attention and love the movie has received is undoubtedly going to lead some people to its source. The Irishman most certainly is a great movie, and compelling enough for its viewers to want more. It was the case for...
We’re Pregnant! The First Time Dad’s Pregnancy Handbook by Adrian Kulp Child-rearing! An event rarely experienced or written about. This book is a first! No of course not, but if you think that books for parents-to-be are probably more woman-centric then you would be very right. Of course there are books detailing the developmental process which should be something that interests both parents, but since the baby is inside the mother, it only makes sense to talk about what changes...
The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy by Paul Myers The Kids in the Hall have this nasty habit of always being here for me. First, as a high school kid thirsty for comedy, then as a bonding experience with my girlfriends and college friends, then as a source of solace during a recent rough patch. What sticks out, of course, is just now funny and relevant the show has stayed for more than 2 decades. And that shouldn’t...
Astral Weeks by Ryan H Walsh There are many questions floating around in my head after reading Astral Weeks. Near the top are “Should I finally put in the time with Van Morisson’s Astral Weeks” and “How did I miss all this!”. Astral Weeks is more than just history, it deserves to be studied. And really, you shouldn’t complain because Ryan Walsh did all the hard work for you. In this deceptively dense book, Walsh focuses on a particular location...
Hits and Misses: Stories by Simon Rich A little insider info for you, dear reader, but sometimes we get unsolicited stuff from publishers. Sometimes, they’re not really our cup of tea. Instead of reviewing something we’re not too hot about, we skip it. Other times, we get a book completely out of left field that we absolutely love. That book is Simon Rich’s Hits and Misses. We had no idea who Simon Rich was and the joke’s on us, considering...
Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Policis Kim Phillips-Fein (Metropolitan Books) Books about financial crises shouldn’t be this exciting. Books about financial crises that happened 40 years shouldn’t be this exciting. But, somehow, Kim Phillips-Fein has achieved the impossible. One would think a book dealing with such a serious and complicated subject would read like dry homework, but Phillips-Fein has managed to tell the story in a riveting way. I don’t want to say that...