By Sam on September 7th, 2011
Posted In: 52 Books/52 Weeks
Disclosure: the author has been my friend since college, a decade-plus ago. Still: this is a terrific book. I’m not really interested in skateboarding, but I found this compelling and couldn’t wait to get back to it every night. It’s an engaging combination of history, biography, cultural analysis and PR-lady-labia. Read it.
Book: 39/52
Buy The Impossible at Powell’s
52/52: An ongoing project to read one book a week and document those books with reviews of 52 words each.
By Sam on August 31st, 2011
Posted In: 52 Books/52 Weeks
A terrific work of alternate history, taking place in a 1962 where the Axis won World War 2 and partitioned and transformed the world. Almost not science—more speculative—fiction, which seems a departure for Dick. The scenes of characters briefly entering our world to the end of the story are bracing.
Book: 38/52
Buy The Man in the High Castle at Powell’s
52/52: An ongoing project to read one book a week and document those books with reviews of 52 words each.
By Sam on August 24th, 2011
Posted In: 52 Books/52 Weeks
A pair of dark 1930s novels, one focused on New York seemingly abandoned by God, the other on Los Angeles teetering on the brink of apocalypse. The despair of Miss Lonelyhearts made it heavy sledding, but something about the ever-impending threat, the imminent violence of Day of the Locust made it compelling.
Book: 37/52
Buy Miss Lonelyhearts/Day of the Locust at Powell’s
52/52: An ongoing project to read one book a week and document those books with reviews of 52 words each.
By Sam on August 17th, 2011
Posted In: 52 Books/52 Weeks
A guide to horror that confused me a bit. It approaches things as a beginner’s guide, but also has a beginner’s section. Not a lot of content – just a short summary of each movie and a sentence or two of analysis. I always wish these books would hold movies to higher standards.
Book: 36/52
Buy Horror Movie Freak at Powell’s
52/52: An ongoing project to read one book a week and document those books with reviews of 52 words each.
