brent lloyd

Engaging and Informative

Revisado: 02-10-22

LaPorte’s in-depth look at the college admissions scandal, the officials involved, the man at the center, and the people who utilized the services of the deceptive Singer is an intelligent and easily digestible look not only into the scandal itself, but also into the world of college academics from admissions to athletics, as well as a close study of privilege, wealth and social status in education. LaPorte excellently explains precisely why people felt motivated to get involved in this racket, from coaches to administrators to parents, providing a more complete and understanding picture of how this scandal came to pass, rather than a simple condemnation of the individuals involved and their actions. The book is well researched and speaks to a larger issue in American education than college admissions and academic dishonesty alone. The conclusion of the book still leaves something to be desired in terms of details, but in tracking the rise of Rick Singer and the tactics he used to create and perpetuate his scheme, LaPorte has created an engaging, easy to listen to narrative that is worth any reader’s time.

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Well Researched but Critically Flawed

Revisado: 02-08-22

Robert Dallek’s return to the world of John F Kennedy and his presidency is once again a well-researched and intimate look at the men and the issues that defined the era and the decisions that have consequences lasting to this day. Dallek’s amount of research and comprehension is made clear throughout this book, and he pays close attention to the details surrounding the Kennedy presidency as well as to the opinions and backgrounds of the men who Kennedy brought in to advise him. The conflicts between these men and with Kennedy himself are fascinating and provide excellent insight into the battles of opinions that led to specific decisions that shaped both the presidency of Kennedy as well as the presidency of his successor. Dallek also does an excellent job of reflecting on this period with a modern lens, while still taking great pains to emphasize the zeitgeist of the era rather than condemn actions that were understandable at the time but have aged poorly in the passage of time.
This book has one critical flaw however that prevents it from rising to a higher level of respect and reverence in the history of political biography. Dallek focuses, almost exclusively, on the foreign policy of the Kennedy administration, specifically on Vietnam, Cuba, and the USSR, the last of which is most often reflected on through the Cuban issue. Dallek’s repeated returns to these issues quickly become worn, with the same issues and the same decisions recurring time and again, and there is a great deal of time spent on events that could be summed up in a paragraph. These extended, repetitive dialogues about the same issues bog down this book, and take what starts out as an intriguing look into the presidency and turns it into a philosophical “what if” regarding the administration’s decisions in Southeast Asia and Cuba. The book would have done better to focus on more domestic problems, and be less repetitive about the goals and observations of administrative efforts in foreign policy.
In general, the research conducted for this book must be respected for the diligence paid, but the excessive focus on just a few subjects and the repetitive observations by Dallek and outcomes by Kennedy advisors drags down the book and doesn’t give any unique insights when the same things happen over and over but are described in unnecessarily long detail. Worth reading for insights in the Kennedy administration’s foreign policy, but as a study of the administration as a whole, this book is lacking.

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Insightful But Uneven

Revisado: 04-07-21

The System is a book that makes it immediately clear that a significant amount of research was put into telling stories that illustrate the world around college football and how the world operates. Benedict and Keteyian use stories from the world of college football to give the reader an accurate picture of how football operates and how players, coaches, administration and just average students get caught up and used by the system in both negative and beneficial ways. These stories excellently outline the scandals that have engulfed schools like Tennessee and their brief employment of Lane Kiffin, and Mike Leach and the end of his illustrious tenure at Texas Tech, exploring the cause and reaction of figures in the football world and what aspects have come back to negatively affect those who had previously relied on them. The stories also do well to illustrate the culture of football, exploring how a school’s identity and pride can be caught up in the sport and how it can affect a school in negative ways such as paying a coach more than any other public employee in the state. Benedict and Keteyian do an excellent job of showing how these actions that should be strange are actually considered normal because of the culture around football in college. And perhaps most importantly, the authors do an excellent job of illustrating and describing how players get caught up and used by this system, and how it affects them.
That all being said, the book still has flaws, for although it is largely billed as an inside look at the glory but also the problems of college football, there are times in which this book tells stories about players and coaches and administrators that glamorize the system, leading to a strange conflict in which it will appear at one moment to be critiquing the system of college athletics, and the very next chapter it may seem to be praising college athletics and many of the aspects that have been previously described as negative. There will be times the book seems to criticize the spending on coaches or the attitude of coaches, only to turn around and celebrate such figures as Nick Saban, Bronco Mendenhall, and Leach. This shift in tone can lead to inconsistency on exactly what the aim for the book is and what the goal of the authors exactly was. Nonetheless, this is an interesting book that provides insights into how the system operates and how it can lead to both glory and notoriety, as well as infamy and disreputation. An excellent listen for all those interested in the nitty gritty of the sport, and in general a great work by these two authors.

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Interesting but Flawed

Revisado: 03-29-21

Jeff Pearlman is someone whom I respect for his histories on sports, and the Shaq-Kobe-Jackson dynasty to begin the century is material that seems perfect for Pearlman to cover and review. Pearlman does an excellent job in this book showing his research into the dynasty, and not just of the three central players in the dynasty. Pearlman covers the history of players such as Nick Van Exel, Rick Fox, and Derek Fisher, among others, giving the reader a good idea of who the team as a whole was. Additionally, Pearlman does an excellent job developing the basis for the story, in which the situation leading up to the dynasty was explained and explored, allowing the reader to have a full comprehensive understanding of how what came to pass came about.
That being said, there are two primary flaws within this book, the first and most obvious, which is touched on by most other reviewers is the narrator, mispronunciations are common, obvious and embarrassing, but as others have already explained this, I will go no further. The second is that Pearlman appears inherently focused on the negative in this book, not to say that everything was good, but that he focuses exclusively on juicy drama that makes for good headlines and eye catching quotes, while never truly exploring how the team functioned. Pearlman makes it appear as though it is a miracle this team even existed, and that there were never good times, only bad. In several instances this reads like a basketball equivalent of a tabloid article, relishing in the disagreements and dislike others experience because who doesn’t like to hear about drama? This is, however, to the detriment of the story as a whole, as we are prevented from seeing the individuals involved as anything more than the caricatures that Pearlman paints them as. Be it the arrogant young gun, the kind and desperate for love star, or the arrogant leader, Pearlman never drifts from his patterns of description.
In conclusion, this book is not inherently bad, if one can ignore the mispronunciations, and appreciate the work put into studying the background of the team as a whole, this can be a very entertaining book, but as an examination of the actual big three at the heart of the story, this book is more focused on digging for drama than painting a realistic picture, and if an individual is looking for a history of this era that dwells less on the most negative aspects, then time would be better spent reading the books Jackson and Shaq have produced. This book is not bad, but falls too far into drama to truly succeed. .

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Stands On It's Own Merits

Revisado: 03-29-21

In her second novel, Angie Thomas delivers once again. Much will be said about how this novel is not as good as “The Hate U Give”, but those complaints often miss the point that “On the Come-Up” is not “The Hate U Give”, it is a novel that takes on different characters, in different situations, experiencing their own story and dealing with different issues. This novel does not speak as much about race issues or the difference in the experience of life between African Americans and Caucasians as her first novel, but the subject is still touched on and done so in a way that fits these characters and their world experiences. But most importantly, Thomas once again discusses several important issues while also weaving in an excellent narrative that inclines the reader to care about her characters as individuals.
Bri is a believable and strong protagonist that nonetheless makes mistakes that she is forced to deal with, which makes her much more tangible of a character as opposed to someone who can do no wrong. The supporting cast of characters are also fleshed out and lived in, and do not feel like they are simply there to act as a contrast for Bri’s tale. As I spoke of above, this book does not tackle as many issues of race, but focuses more heavily on poverty and how it affects people on a personal level, and because the characters are well fleshed out, the impact is more palpable and the messages are more meaningful. Race is not forgotten and her experiences also reflect knowledge that racism has many forms, and Thomas handles these situations deftly and expertly. Furthermore she dresses issues of sexism and gender stereotypes as well as sexuality with multiple side characters that compliment the story as not just one about poverty and music, but of people experiencing life. Characters are not given an easy way out, but the way in which situations are handled create endearing characters that inclines a reader to care.
There will always be those who want to compare this to “The Hate U Give” but this book deserves to be appreciated on its own merits separate from the legacy of the first novel, because the way in which it continues to tackle serious issues while telling a human story is something worth praising.

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Lengthy but Worthwhile

Revisado: 12-08-20

If you happen to be reading my review amongst all the others on this site, then I will say now that I am aware the biggest challenge of this book is the sheer length of it. For those who have read Chernow's works before, this will be nothing new, his excellent thoroughness may seem rambling, and yet he provides a clear picture of Ulysses Grant, warts and all, though it is critical to recognize that he is most definitely supportive of this president.
Chernow does an excellent job in this novel to portray Grant as a complicated man who had to deal with demons and issues of his own character while distinguishing himself in moments of crisis. His thorough research allows the reader to envelop themselves not only in Grant, but also in the world inn which he lived and in the characters that surrounded him. The detailed history of this great man provides the necessary reprieve that Grant's character requires after being so long derided and inept and bumbling by Lost Cause ideology resistant to what Grant fought for. This book, although spending a good deal of time on his Civil War accomplishments, wisely delves into his presidency and the accomplishments and failures alike that occurred at his hands, and gives an honest appraisal of what Grant achieved. This allows for a full picture of a man too often defined by his role as general than his role as president, and makes no excuse for his failures.
This is a book worth reading, despite the length, for any person who is interested in presidential history, American history, and even the history of race in the United States, as Grant played a vital role in civil rights during his presidency, despite his failure to ensure it had long lasting effects. If there is a single book I could recommend a person to read that combats the popularly held notion of who a president was in comparison to him in actuality, it would unquestionably be this.

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Standard Dessen Fare

Revisado: 12-08-20

For those of you who have read other works by Dessen, this book won't be much of a shake up or a surprise, and shares more with "What Happened to Goodbye" than any other work I have read, as although there are romantic subplots, they are no more prevalent than any other storyline found in this book. The relationships found are typical for Dessen, separated or divorced parents, a happy adult relationship mixed in, complicated characters you like at first then learn to dislike later and vice versa, and amusing side characters that have their obligatory obsessive quirk that distinguishes them. If you have enjoyed the breezy tone of Dessen's lighthearted but loveable stories before, then you will find more of the same here and be just as entertained by it. This book is not a game-changing piece of romance or teenage fiction, but is a fun book to read for relaxation and pure entertainment, This will be something fans of Sarah Dessen's other works will appreciate.

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