W. Brian Hall

Fun and compulsive listen

Revisado: 12-04-18

The elevator pitch for this book would be: What would happen if a 21st Century chemistry grad student got placed on a planet of transplanted humans who have 16-17th Century technology?

I really enjoyed this. The premise isn't original, but it is executed well. The best part to me is that there is a lot of detailed and well thought out world-building involved, which make everything that happens in the book, even the surprising things, seem completely believable and logical, even when surprising things happen, the happen for good reasons, not just to move the plot forward. I really can't say that it is great writing, but I got completely caught up in the story and enjoyed it greatly.

As part of the world-building, I also really liked that the people on the planet are not depicted as ignorant backward idiots compared to the hero, but that they are people who are doing about as well as they can with what they have. It would have been easy for the 21st Century character to become a Mary Sue, teaching these backward rednecks, but the people are completely recognizable as humans, with faults and strengths.

The only real drawback is that the book could have used a better editor. There are times when the author restates something about an event or character that just happened a short time before, as if you couldn't possibly remember what happened a hundred pages ago. A good professional editor would have removed that to keep things moving along. It is as if the book were a serialized collection of stories and the author feels the need to recap what has happened to this point periodically. And the habit seems to get worse in the sequels.

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Bloody Disappointing

Revisado: 12-04-18

I should have been the prime target for this book, since I too am an American who fell in love with English soccer while living abroad. I recognized so much of my history of learning about the intricacies of the how soccer in Europe is different from American football, with all the different concurrent cup competitions and histories and organizations of the league pyramid.

So why don't I love this book?

Because Culpepper is the worst sort of fan: it isn't enough that he loves his sport, he has to tell you constantly why your sport is worse. I personally have grown to love soccer more than the football I grew up watching, but I don't think people who prefer football are stupid or wrong for preferring their favorite sport. Culpepper, from the evidence here, does think that Americans who watch American sports are stupid.

He is also the worst sort of expat American: the one who is constantly going on about how America is worse than where he is now, and won't shut up about it. America has problems, I don't deny it. But it also has lots of good points too. It is hardly the backwards cesspool he seems to think it is. And England, like all places populated by humans, is hardly perfect.

Admittedly, there are two excuses for his attitude. The first Culpepper talks about at length, namely that he was burned out from years of being a sportswriter and having to cover the worst parts of American sports (scandals, money, etc.) while at the same time being prevented by his profession from enjoying all the positive aspects of fandom. The best parts of the book are him rediscovering the joys of fandom.

The other factor is probably just the result of all this being so new to him. I know from experience that is a common failing of new expats and fans to fall too much in love and not see the problems with their new obsession. I wonder if Mr. Culpepper wrote a book about the next 10 years of his fandom (the book is about the 2006-7 season) if it would not be much more interesting and balanced, especially considering the difficulties that his chosen club, Portsmouth, has experienced in those next 10 years (three more seasons in the EPL, then relgated again and again and again to the fourth level of the English pyramid, entering administration to avoid liquidation, not being able to pay its players, etc.) and the current resurgence (last year they won their league and were promoted to the third level and are currently on course to be promoted again).

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History and recipes make for a tasty book

Revisado: 07-09-18

Part cookbook, part history, and part travelogue, this is an interesting look at how different flavors have influence American food from before the founding of the country to the present. As the title states, Lohman examines how eight different items (black pepper, vanilla, chili powder, curry powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and sriracha) came to be used and influence the foods that Americans love. She uses historical and modern recipes, from Martha Washington's Black Pepper Cookies to Thai omelets with sriracha, to demonstrate how the flavors have been used and so the reader can try them out themselves, if so inclined. She describes her visits to places where the spices are grown, describes the ebbs and flows of the public's taste for these items and delves into the science behind questions like "does MSG cause headaches?"

The only hesitation about the book is that it works better as a print book than an audio book. If you want to try the recipes, you'd rather have them printed out, I'm sure, and if you don't, then it isn't terribly interesting listening to someone read a recipe (and there are a good many recipes in the book).

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Good book, subpar sound quality

Revisado: 07-09-18

I've listened to over 100 books on Audible, and this is the first one where the sound quality of the book was an issue. The levels were inconsistent - frequently I thought that the book was pausing for an incoming call because the sound would begin to fade in the middle of sentence. Several times the book would repeat 20 second sections. It didn't ruin the book, but it did make it a less rewarding experience.

Fredrick Davidson did his usual great job with narrating the book, and the stories themselves are what you'd expect from Wodehouse. This is a collection of 10 stories of Jeeves and Wooster, with the usual template of Wooster getting into trouble and Jeeves helping him extricate himself with a brilliant plan. Except for the sound issues, I would completely recommend this book.

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Interesting, but not exactly what I expected

Revisado: 06-19-18

As an American, I only really know of Webb from the shows Peep Show and That Mitchell and Webb Look. If you haven't ever seen any of him and his comedy partner David Mitchell, do yourself a favor and run out and do so. But you are probably only interested in this book if you already know who he is.

Apparently in the UK he is known to be a prominent online political activist, and this book is pretty full of his ideological beliefs (atheism, left Labour and ardent feminism) and how that has helped him deal with the problems that he faced growing up. Which is fine for me, I actually enjoy hearing about how and why people think the way they do, especially those who have different opinions than me. But there is no warning at all in the description that you are going to get all that dumped on you, so some might find that off-putting. And, if for example, he was an MRA or a Christian, I think that you would have gotten a bit more a sense that that was coming in the description.

The parts about feminism are not really interesting, especially not if you have done any reading in this area already. If you really want to read about feminist theory, there are better places than this. Webb's philosophy boils down to "If it is bad, that is the patriarchy" (or 'The Trick', as he calls it). Logically it would seem to me that something that is responsible for everything is meaningless, but your mileage may vary. He quotes approvingly from scholars like Cordelia Fine, but doesn't really seem to have done much research or seriously anyone who disagrees with him.

The parts about his life, the struggles to deal with his parents' stormy marriage and divorce, his father's abuse, his mother's death and his learning to be a man and not a boy are by far the best part of the book. Webb reads the material himself and does a very good job.

Overall I enjoyed the book and felt like I learned about Webb's life, which would be the point of an autobiography. So three stars overall

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Gripping look at an important moment in history

Revisado: 10-27-13

This was a very interesting and in-depth look at the Dreyfus Affair. The author explains in detail the historical, social and political context in which the event took place. The roots of the affair trace back to the schism between the traditionalists and secularists in the French Revolution, and Dreyfus became a pawn between these competing forces. Very balanced in presenting the thoughts and motives of those on both sides of the issue, and very moving in describing Dreyfus's imprisonment. A fascinating look at how an injustice could both be perpetrated by those with noble motives and how decisions become self-perpetuating.

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Heartbreaking but important

Revisado: 10-27-13

This is a heartbreakingly sad tale of bureaucratic negligence and political cowardice by both the Bush and Obama administrations. The US government abandoned the Iraqi citizens who tried to help the US in the aftermath of the war; those are left to fend for themselves against the insurgents who all too often kill and terrorize them. It is very simply and movingly told by Kirk Johnson, who worked with these Iraqis and then worked against the system to try to rescue them. Highly recommended.

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