Indyquaz

Loved, loved, loved it!

Revisado: 08-20-22

I'm predicting here that this will be on the NYT list of ten best books of the year; it just moved to the top of my list. Deeply defined characters and their nuanced relationships combine with themes of love, friendship, art, feminism, disability, and work to give this book so much staying power in my brain that frequently can't remember what I read the previous week. Many reviewers have noted you don't have to be a gamer to like it, but I will say it made me want to go explore the gaming world more. Performance was also excellent.

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Misogyny, and Drugs, and Rock and Roll

Revisado: 06-22-22

This book was selected for our book club, and we have not yet had the meeting to discuss it, I'm bringing my ear plugs for when the women in the group start screaming about his toxic view of women, and they are right to scream. Late in the book he says he thinks the closest relationships are between men, and you can see why that would be with the way he thinks of women.

We could credit the biography for being honest, but it's the kind of honesty that just means Allman believes his own bull$^*t. I suspect any member of the "Brothers" or the other bands he played with would have considerably different takes on much of what he has to say here. I know the six women he married would have more to say, and I hate to think about how his kids may have suffered from his self-centered attitudes and actions.

The best thing I got from this book was the names of a few of the less well-known records, which i tracked down and listened to. The Allmann Brothers made some very good music at times and that leaves us to decide the old question of how to relate to the good work of toxic artists. Nothing about this book makes me think more highly of Gregg Allman; he should have let his work speak for itself.

(The audiobook performance is first rate. If I had read this as a book, I'm sure I would have put it down).

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Captures Summer and Male Friendship

Revisado: 06-22-22

Covering the sweet memories of past summers without being nostalgic, this book also captures adult male friendship, or at least what it can be if you are lucky. McGrath seems to be both blessed and aware that he is blessed, and this book is a tribute to his friend as much as it is a memoir of the activities they shared. The audio book's pace also captures that summer rhythm of days moving more slowly but the season going by too fast. I enjoyed it very much.

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Ethical Clarity Peppered with Dad Jokes

Revisado: 03-05-22

I blame the editor. If there are Darwin Awards for sound editing, this editor is a lock. Sure, it is hard to square the fact that the author wrote this clear and interesting summary of ethical philosophy, wrote and co-created some award-winning television comedies, and also wrote the lame jokes that are inserted into the reading almost constantly with a "bing" connoting this is parenthetical (they are footnotes in the book and thus avoidable). The sound editor just needed to say "No, we are definitely not doing that!" Had the one or two funny ones been included, I can see how they might have served to say to the reader, "This is not so hard; we are all in this together," but their frequency in the reading just makes you feel talked down to.

The performance itself was fine and, as I say, the main text is very clear. I recommend reading this one instead of listening.

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Themes Better Covered Elsewhere

Revisado: 12-11-21

Perfectly adequate non-fiction books frequently suffer from comparison to better books on the same subject. That is less frequent in fiction, but I think it is the case here. For fiction that addresses the capacity of humans and apes to relate to each other, and to be transformed by the relationship, Karen Joy Fowler's "We are all Completely Beside Ourselves" is a much more nuanced novel. For themes of women living in a world of problematic men who mix love, self-interest, and control, you won't beat Katie Kitamura's "Intimacies". A well-performed audiobook, "Talk to Me" will get you down the highway but lacks the insightful depth of the other two.

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What am I missing?

Revisado: 12-05-20

I listened to this after learning the book was one of the top 5 notable 2020 novels picked by the NYT Book Review. It may be the most surprising pick I've ever read from their annual top 10 lists; I can easily imagine how a reviewer might slam it for forcing its story to fit its biblical allusions, treating most characters as predictable types, and then spelling out its message at the end in case you didn't hear it the first 4 times. That said, I did not hate it. The novel's teenage narrator is an interesting voice, more subtle than the characters whose story she tells except for that of "The Owner", who serves as the Jesus figure and whose second coming is an amusing take on what we might really need a savior to be like. I'm open to learning what I missed that makes this a top 5 pick. (The audiobook actress was terrific).

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Worth a Listen

Revisado: 01-29-19

If you listen to samples before chosing audiobooks, you may resist this one because of the voice. It is worth getting past that. Read by the author, the story explains the voice, and it seems right that he reads it himself. He is an excellent writer and storyteller, and this is an honest and open account of his life as a food addicted "fat man" (his term). If you know someone like that, you'll know them better, and judge them less often, after this.

Because you'll come to like the author so much, you may be troubled that he never once mentions a fresh vegitable or fruit. He seems to only recognize his love of what we now call junk food and his need to resist it, without ever discovering the pleasure of better foods that can supplant the harmful ones. He still seems to think of "diet" as what you don't eat, instead of what you do. Still, you root for him throughout and will want to read more of his writing when you are through.

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A history of sugar nutrition science

Revisado: 01-14-17

What other book might you compare The Case Against Sugar to and why?

This well researched and well written book is like a long-form New Yorker article -- a fascinating history of a subject you did not know you were interested in. Reading or listening to it will give you or reinforce a resolve to greatly decrease sugar from your diet, but if you are looking for a more practical guide to doing that try instead, or also, "Zero Sugar Diet: A 14 Day Guide..." which gives a brief account of the "whys" and then focuses on listing foods, restaurant choices, and recipes that will help get your body to a much better place. I listened to this book the same week I read the 14 Day Guide and enjoyed the combination.

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Hacker Humor

Revisado: 06-25-12

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

My father told me about this book because, like the story it tells, I am a middle aged guy coming back to golf after years away. I had read a novel by Carl Hiaasen before, a light but fun story, and thought this might be fun too. At times it is; Hiaasen is a reasonably good writer and tries to use humor throughout. Parts of the book are quite funny. The only problem is that almost all of the humor is self deprecating, so a lot of moderately funny jokes tend to add up to an overall downer. Anyone who gets to play that much golf on that many nice courses should find a little bit more to be happy about.

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