Category Archives: Parsing Palimpsests

Journeyman’s Library

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I recently succumbed to the overwhelming need to catalog my entire library before it is lost to posterity. As I scanned very often scanned and perused my books, reaching out at random to sniff then scan the pages of a … Continue reading

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Surfcaster’s Quest: Seeking Stripers, Blues, and Solitude at the Edge of the Surging Sea

I’ve been known to mail a book every so often to a friend, hoping they would catch the joy or humor or delight that I experienced reading its pages, but its much more wonderful to receive a book, out of … Continue reading

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Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

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Oy-vey! This tome took me nine months to read. Ok, perhaps six, but a long time. Every paragraph of this mentally – and physically – heavy book forced me to stop and ponder what I just read and what I … Continue reading

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A Populist Manifesto: The Making of a New Majority

A Populist Manifesto The Making of a New Majority by Jack Newfield and Jeff Greenfield I am a Populist. Now you need to tell me why you are not. I read this book and I am sold, hook line and … Continue reading

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Lincoln in the Bardo

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Its been a long time since a book as captivated and moved me so completely. This was amazing.

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Dostoevsky’s Demons

A great quote from Dostoevsky’s Demons: “God is the pain of the fear of death. He who overcomes pain and fear will himself become god.” That’s all I got. Do I need more?    

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A Country of Cities – by Vishaan Chakrabarti

I need space, I need trees. The concrete jungle is a great place to frolic and visit and spelunk through, but I don’t to live there. I want to live in a environment as far away from the urban landscape … Continue reading

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Peanuts & Schulz

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So, I just finished an epic biography of Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts (Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography). For me Charlie Brown and gang were such meaningful characters to me, Peanuts in general a meaningful cartoon strip. In addition … Continue reading

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One – by Ambrose Wolfinger

One – By Ambrose Wolfinger “Man ceased to be an ape and overcame the ape the day the first book was published. The ape had never forgotten this humiliation: just try to give him a book, and he will immediately … Continue reading

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My Life as a Ten-Year-Old-Boy – By Nancy Cartwright

Nancy Cartwright is the voice of Bart Simpson. She wrote a book. I bought it in a frenzied Simpson’s fit. Nancy Cartwright is the voice of Bart. That’s all I and apparently the book, have to say.

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The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy – By. Arnold M. Ludwig

Arnie’s book should have been entitled: Stating the Obvious: Using Statistics to Draw Natural Conclusions. My god, I cannot believe the world praised this book as a breakthrough. God I am so fucking angry right now. And I don’t even … Continue reading

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Escaping the Delta – By Elijah Wald

Very eye-opening look at Robert Johnson and why he has become, wrongly so as Elijah surmises, known as the “King of the Delta Blues.” The book is based on a tremendous amount of research into the music scene at the … Continue reading

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Travelling Music – Neil Peart

When I was thirteen a Saturday morning ritual for a few weeks was hopping on my bike and riding into town to Abbie’s Pizza. Not because Abbie flung the best pizza in town, but because Abbie had a jukebox. And … Continue reading

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The Gormenghast Novels – By Mervyn Peake

All two and a half inches of this epic trilogy of 1000+ pages had been teasing me for ages on the shelf of my bookcase. It was there so long I forgot what review or wormholing reference inspired me to … Continue reading

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World’s End – T. Coraghessan Boyle

Many books are written for the sole purpose of imparting knowledge. Other books are written to simply be read. And still others are written to induce a guilty pleasure, like a second helping of apple pie a la mode that … Continue reading

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Acts of the Apostles – By John F. X. Sundman

A friend gave me this work of fiction on my birthday last year. He met the author while travelling and started a conversation with him. The book centers on technology and in their conversation, the name of my computer mentor, … Continue reading

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Abandoned in the Wasteland: Children, Television & the First Amendment – Newton N. Minow and Craig L. Lamay

Typical of my wormholing (i.e. following one reference to a particular topic, then another this references, then yet another, deeper and deeper and deeper.) this book perfectly echoes my utter disgust of television. However, where my opinion and argument ends, … Continue reading

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A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving

Not only was this one of those rare books that has you from the opening pages promising greatness at ever turn of the phrase, it delivered on its promise. I started it unintentionally in an inopportune time, for I was … Continue reading

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Father Joe – The Man Who Saved my Soul – By Tony Hendra

Remember the film This is Spinal Tap? (How can you not!) Remember the band’s manager in the film, the blonde British bloke? That is Tony Hendra. He is probably better known as the editor of National Lampoons, but neither here … Continue reading

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The Crusades – By Zoe Oldenbourg

If ever there was a book written which one could call “glorious”, this is most certainly it. Zoe Oldenbourg has composed a book, based on historical documents, poems and the various memoirs of many historians of the time about the … Continue reading

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The Bear Comes Home – By Rafi Zabor

The Bear Come Home stars Bear, the main character. He is a bear. A real life, walking talking brown bear. He lives in NYC with his master Jones, who won Bear in a card game when he was just a … Continue reading

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Psychiatry and the Cinema – By. Krin Gabbard and Glen O. Gabbard

What I knew before even opening this book, was that even though it was written in the late eighties, the authors chose to focus on the films of the fifties and sixties. In discussing the introduction, the exploration, then the … Continue reading

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