Evan

Surprisingly simplistic. Very few fresh insights.

Revisado: 03-09-23

This is a short book, and FILLED with lengthy quotes from other people.

Very early on, the author bizarrely makes the case that "there is no media conspiracy." He bases this on nothing but is inability to notice patterns. This a dated book about the media -- he should have published this two years ago, before his readers learned how all this works. He is playing catchup.

And the audiobook is 1/4 clips from TV shows and interviews. And it STILL isn't even 7 hours long. It's shocking that a "Media Expert" doesn't have much to say. It's like a padded college term paper. It didn't really bring any new insights.

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Too many boring details.

Revisado: 06-17-20

I read a lot of true crime, and I kept hoping this would get better as a went, but the vast majority of it is just boring and dry. No attempt is made to really get inside the killer's head, or otherwise provide insights. It's just a very rote and boring description of lots of ancillary characters who are of little interest.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

There's just too much inconsequential fluff

Revisado: 01-24-16

As a practiced writer, Jack Olsen should know better than to fill 1/4 of his books with irrelevant fluff.

And he does know better, but he does it anyway, in a thinly-veiled attempt to pad his books.

The Misbegotten Son is a story which could be told -- more artfully -- in half the space. Olsen seems to have an overblown sense of his own prose, because it simply doesn't warrant the space he gives it.

True Crime books only come across as truthful as the facts they contain. Anything less, and an observant reader will call BS.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received as as a fiction writer, was "don't tell me, show me."

Olsen loves to take the easy route and tell you what (he imagines) to be the inner dialogues of all the players. That's completely absurd, first of all, and it's just lazy writing.

Let the story unfold. Switch around time frames to keep it interesting, but for the love of god, don't spend entire chapters imagining what was going through the mind of the deceased, and portraying as True Crime.

It's not.

But it was an interesting story, despite the hurdles, so it gets 3 1/2 stars.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Parroted right-wing garbage.

Revisado: 08-03-15

This reads like something a junior anchor on Fox News would write. Nothing much new here, just a poorly written and disjointed series of essays ripped from new stories we've already read. The author's thesis seems to be -- big surprise -- that Obama is somehow to blame.

If you watch Fox News exclusively, perhaps you'll enjoy it, but you've probably heard it all before.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Thrillers really don't get much better than this.

Revisado: 01-06-12

The Lion's Game puts DeMille in the ranks of Clancy, Crichton, and Forsythe, and I don't say that lightly. It is DeMille's magnum opus.

Here, he has taken an intriguing plot that grabs your attention from the start and holds it tightly through more than 24 hours of stellar narration by Scott Brick.

I've read countless thrillers, and this is one of my absolute favorites.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

A masterpiece.

Revisado: 01-06-12

This remains my single favorite audiobook of all time. I have probably listened to it at least three or four times now. Give that praise for this book is nearly universal, and I doubt that anyone will need to read too many reviews to be persuaded to buy it, I'll keep this review brief.

I am stunned that a single person wrote this book. I think Bill Bryson should be hailed as a literary genius, not only for producing one of the most accessible and interesting science books ever made, but for successfully tackling a truly immense subject with erudition, style and wit.

The man deserves a Pulitzer.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Had potential, but fell short.

Revisado: 01-06-12

Like his other book, Newjack, Conover bravely puts himself into an interesting and potentially dangerous situation. But having read both books, I've arrived at the conclusion that Conover just isn't a very interesting guy.

Where a guy like Bill Bryson can make even a walk in the woods seem enthralling, Conover fails to make even the most intriguing adventures seem exciting, or in some cases, even interesting. Hate to say it, but he just strikes me as a fairly boring guy with mundane insight. While I give him much credit for having the courage to place himself in extraordinary situations, he somehow fails to do very much with them. Even his writing skills are rather bland and unremarkable.

I don't regret having read his books, per se, I just can't help but feel underwhelmed and a bit disappointed that he didn't do more with his opportunities.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

A first-rate audiobook.

Revisado: 12-20-11

Jeff Ashton does a very good job here, not only in producing a very cogent review and analysis of the events, but also as a (presumably) amateur narrator. Unless you had quit your job to follow the Anthony case 24/7, there's quite a lot of new information here, and the likelihood that you will come away with a renewed sense that Casey Anthony is a murderer is overwhelming.

Given the totality of evidence, both scientific and circumstantial, it is nothing short of stunning that a jury let this truly despicable human being walk free. After listening to this audiobook, I would sooner agree that O.J. is innocent than believe the absurd excuses put forth by Casey and Jose Baez.

I can only hope that copies of this book were sent to the jury members. As for Casey, my anger is tempered somewhat by the revelation that, as a human being, she is an utter train wreck, and the chances of her steering clear of the judicial system for any meaningful length of time are virtually nil. She has the grown-up proclivities of a full-blown sociopath, coupled with the undisciplined mind of a spoiled, petulant child. And, like O.J., she will mostly likely wind up behind bars again, an eventuality which I await with thinly-veiled enthusiasm.

Frustrations at the verdict aside, this was a credit very well spent, and I thoroughly recommend it.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas