Category: Book Reviews

June 18, 2010

Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein *** (of 4)

Just like the authors say, “understanding philosophy through jokes.” The book is twenty percent philosophy – ethics, existentialism, epistemology, relativity, meta-philosophy – and the rest...

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June 18, 2010

The Places in Between by Rory Stewart , maybe * (of 4)

The New York Times book reviewer called this a masterpiece of travel writing — he was downright gaga over this book, calling it one of...

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June 18, 2010

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi *** (of 4)

This is Marjane Satrapi’s second half of her graphic (comic book) memoir of life as an Iranian exile in Europe as a young teen followed...

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June 18, 2010

Persepolis 1 by Marjane Satrapi *** (of 4)

A memoir in graphic novel form of growing up under Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran. It’s a good introduction to the history of the era and...

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June 18, 2010

A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present by Howard Zinn **** (of 4)

Zinn flaunts his bias in an attempt to countermand the prevailing mythology of the U.S. and makes a convincing case that the country is not...

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June 18, 2010

A Peace to end all Peace by David Fromkin *** (of 4)

An unbelievably informative book about the transformation of the Ottoman Empire through World War I into the colonial prizes carved up by Western Europe into...

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June 18, 2010

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik ** (of 4)

Great writing, but plotless, so it was hard to keep reading. They were better when they were New Yorker Letters from Paris.

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June 18, 2010

Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler **** (of 4)

Normally when a magazine writer — Hessler is a New Yorker correspondent — assembles a book it feels like a compilation of previously published articles....

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June 18, 2010