DaveF

An excellent and objective biography.

Revisado: 10-03-23

Author Philip Short has produced one of the best biographies I've read in a long time. Far from just portraying Putin as crazy egomaniac (as some of us would like to believe) he comes across as a brilliant ruthless leader with a long memory and a chip on his shoulder about the West's treatment of him and Russia. Make no mistake, Putin is a thug and very dangerous. But most westerners don't have any idea what is motivating his sensless destructive wars, especially the current one in Ukraine. This biography should be required reading.

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Brilliant biography of a very complicated man.

Revisado: 07-31-23

Prize winning biography of one of the most prominent and consequential individuals of the twentieth century.

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Very imaginative space opera.

Revisado: 08-31-21

4.5 stars, "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge is a masterful space opera very worthy of the awards it has received. To me, this novel is a kind of combination of Star Wars and the Hobbit. Not quite as wonderful as Tolkien's world, but very imaginative none-the-less. Great characters, fantastic aliens, and good action and pacing. A bit long, but my interest didn't suffer. If you are a fan of Sci-Fi space operas, I recommend this one.

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A love letter to the Colorado R. & Grand Canyon

Revisado: 08-03-21

"The Emerald Mile" by Kevin Fedarko is now on my short list of all-time favorite books, 5 stars plus! Wow, Fedarko is a superb storyteller. This book is a kind of love letter to the Colorado River and its Grand Canyon. The fascinating characters are pretty much universally attached to this river and canyon at the hip. Most of them couldn't conceive of living anywhere else to do what they do. This book is built around a record human-powered speed run in a wooden boat through the Grand Canyon. But as readers will discover, it's much, much more! I highly recommend "The Emerald Mile" by Kevin Fedarko as performed by Richard Powers.

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Excellent reference, chore to wade through.

Revisado: 05-16-21

Thomas Alva Edison was one of the most fascinating characters in U.S. history. Largely self-taught, a scientific and mechanical genius, and on top of that mostly deaf from the age of 12. Biographer Edmund Morris's writing is great, the research was obviously deep and thorough, and this book will serve generations as a superb reference of Edison, his inventions, and his time in history.
So why only 2.5 stars for me? The lengthy book was a chore to complete. Morris goes into excruciating detail about Edison's hundreds of inventions and thousands of experiments. At times, I felt this detail drowned out the story of the man's life and was overkill. The most negative aspect, however, was the organization of the book. Edison's life was divided into chapters roughly a decade long each. And each decade focused on the main subject of Edison's research and inventions during that decade. So far, so good. But the chronology of Edison's life was then reversed so that you read about the old Edison first, then gradually went backward in time. Very bad idea! Most lives, and particularly one as profound as Edison's, builds on learning, experiences, and relationships as one ages. The proper way then to learn about and understand someone like Thomas Edison, is to follow them through their lifetime. The reverse chronology distracted greatly from an otherwise important scholarly work.

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Extraordinarily important!

Revisado: 05-10-21

Five stars, thank you (again), Michael Lewis! Full disclosure, I am an avid reader of Michael Lewis and have enjoyed seven of his previous books. His books tend to be formulaic, about contrarians who see solutions others may not. But the formula works extremely well!
The book is focused on three main characters who see the COVID-19 pandemic coming and struggle (with much frustration) to get the country's attention focused on the dire situation and consequences of failure to act. The characters, (Dr. Charity Dean, Carter Mecher, and Dr. Joe DeRisi) are all 'contrarians' (for my lack of a better term) who are able to visualize the future as few others can.
The book is an indictment of the state of medicine in the US. I hope 'The Premonition' will help serve to keep the issues raised in the public eye until we start to make changes. But I am not optimistic.
PLEASE read (or listen to) Michael Lewis's newest book!

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This may be the most important book you read!

Revisado: 04-01-20

Author Michael Osterholm is one of America's leading infectious disease epidemiologists. He has been sounding the pandemic alarm for years, not as a kook, but as a scientist who knows what he's talking about. This book, published in March 2017 contains a scenario which predicts our current COVID-19 crisis almost to a 'T'!
Osterholm details the world's infectious disease fight over his career (beginning before 1980) and includes HIV/AIDS, Ebola, SARS, MERS, and more. He also lays out specific steps he believes the world must take to prevent further pandemics.
I implore everyone to read this book! More importantly, when we get beyond this current COVID-19 crisis, we CANNOT go back to business as usual. America and the world MUST learn a big lesson from the Coronavirus outbreak and begin to address potential public health epidemics in a meaningful and urgent way with very significant resources. In 2019 (one year), the world spent $1,822,000,000,000 (that's 1.8 trillion dollars per Wikipedia) on defense (armies, weapons, research, etc.). A tiny fraction of that amount (1% would be $18 billion) annually could, in a few years, make the world significantly safer from future pandemics, as well as create vaccinations for the 47 known infectious diseases with no current prevention. Sanity needs to set in soon!

Again, please, please read "Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs". (Or one of the handful of other good recent books on this subject.)

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American Classic, dated language may offend.

Revisado: 01-13-20

Surely one of the best American novels of the 19th century and on the short list of great American writing of any time. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was a renown humorist and writer of his time. And to be sure, this is a novel of its time and place (pre-civil war south). The language and vernacular are critical to the story and may offend some. But this must be read as a satirical story, critical of slavery and other human ills of that period. Clemens' humor and his characters are the heart of his writing. If you haven't read it, you're surely missing a chunk of Americana.

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Very good young adult novel.

Revisado: 01-13-20

'Boy's Life' by Robert McCammon is a wonderful coming-of-age/suspense novel. The story is told through the eyes of 11 year-old Cory Mackenson, a precocious small-town youngster with a very active imagination. The book jacket provides a quick synopsis of the story.
It may have originally been intended as an adult novel (I don't know this for sure), but these days I'd categorize it as closer to a young adult book. Good story, sympathetic leading characters, believable dialog, nice twisting-turning storyline, and simply enjoyable. The 'good guys' come out ahead in this book. I recommend it, especially for readers in their teen years.

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Incredible true story!

Revisado: 12-20-19

This book was a first-rate page-turner. A true story of survival that tests (without exaggeration) the limits of adjectives - frequently used words like astonishing, extreme, inspirational, iron-willed, and so on fit the men in this story. And as many readers have stated, author Alfred Lansing did a superb job of telling this story. His writing is straight-forward, unadorned, and powerful. And even though the book is almost 60 years old, it holds up great for the modern reader.
As a very brief synopsis, Ernest Shackleton planned to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent on foot in 1914. With a well picked 28-man crew, he set off for the Antarctic coast aboard the steam-sailer Endurance. They never made it, becoming trapped in ice well off the coast. What followed was a 20 month retreat and survival story that is almost unparalleled in the annals of polar exploration.
Alfred Lansing was able to interview 10 survivors and had access to a trove of primary resource material. He made great use of his resources without overwhelming the reader. This book is the premier account of Shackleton's voyage, and its easy to see why. Highly recommended!

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