Oliver Sacks’ “On the Move” -a rich existence relived
I finished the late Oliver Sacks’ most recent (and most general) memoir days before his death. As an avid listener of Radiolab (where he was a frequent contributor) I was…
Reading Log: Stephen Fry’s ‘Moab is my Washpot’ and the Balance of Authenticity and the Curated Self
Stephen Fry has a very “created” persona. He’s the public-school smartass all grown up, always funny and always a little bit quicker than everyone else in the room. It’s a…
Reading Log: Herta Müller’s ‘Nadirs’ and the Value of Juxtaposition in Bleakness
This is a very well-written book. In a series of short stories that bookend a much longer novella, the author presents her oppressive life as a young girl in a…
Reading Log: Marc Maron’s Attempting Normal
After slogging through Amy Poehler's memoir/funnybook, I must confess I had some concerns going into this particular audiobook. I love Maron’s standup and his interviews, but I’ve always found him…
Reading Log: The Year of Magical Thinking
This is some of the most powerful nonfiction I have ever read. Didion gets put up on a pedestal in many circles, but it’s hard to argue convincingly that she…
Reading Log: Kerry Howley’s Thrown
I’ve already spoken highly of the physical article that is Kerry Howley’s book Thrown, and can say with certainty that the object-as-idea is every bit as impressive as the object-as-artifact.…
Reading Log: Unlikely Destinations; the Lonely Planet Story
First off, this is a weird book. It fits squarely into my goal of reading more things I wouldn’t normally, making picks from out of left field. It's some mad…
Reading Log (Audiobook Listening Log?): Amy Poehler’s Yes, Please
Celebrity bios are often vacuous, ghostwritten appeals to the voyeuristic spirit of Western civilization as a whole. Amy Poehler’s is not ghost written. I gave the book a shot since…
Reading Log: Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley
At 58, John Steinbeck drove across America for a little over three months in a camper pickup with his elderly French poodle, Charley. The dog was not only a companion,…