Did not love this book. I know, it won the Pulitzer but I’ve seen plenty of things I didn’t think deserving of the prize especially when it comes to photography. But, I included this book here because I know so … Read More
Read: Missionaries
I found Phil Klay a few years ago when he landed with a boom from his book “Redeployment.” This time around he returns with another boom while delivering “Missionaries,” a tale about the connected world of killing. Klay is an … Read More
Read: Red Pill
My second Hari Kunzru book and my second blast of slowly rotting enjoyment. A writer slowly losing himself while on a fellowship in Germany where he accomplishes next to nothing. What’s real and what’s not begin to merge as history … Read More
Read: The Glass Kingdom
I’ve only been to the airport in Bangkok. Was never there long enough to get in any real trouble. But oh do I have friends who have. Lawrence Osborn’s “The Glass Kingdom” takes place in Thailand but almost the entire … Read More
Read: The Elephanta Suite
Enjoyed this one. Paul Theroux has written so many books covering so many topics it’s a bit difficult to really place him in any one category. If I had to might be travel but then again that isn’t the perfect … Read More
Read: Down the Long Hills
Don’t judge me. I know what you literally snobs are thinking. “I would NEVER read something like this.” “How ghastly.” Ya, okay, whatever. Good guys, bad guys, Native Americas, gold, rivers, great land, corrupt people, coffee over a campfire, and … Read More
Read: Cup of Gold
I’ve got a thing for Steinbeck. Time, place, subject matter. But I tend to like the fringe books from Steinbeck. The Sea of Cortez journals and something like this, like Cup of Gold. Written when he was twenty-seven. And who … Read More
Read: One River
I simply cannot express to you how much I love this book. If you have ANY interest in botany, Latin America, the Amazon and all the tributaries then please, please, please buy two copies of this book. The first, for … Read More
Read: Wolf Boys
Sometimes I get accused of reading too many books like this. People ask me what I am reading, I tell them, and they make some comments about not wanting to read this kind of book because they find them too … Read More
Read: The River
The thing about a Peter Heller book is that from the first paragraph you FEEL like you are IN the book. And then you get a gut check knowing that the ideal world you want to exist in probably doesn’t. … Read More
Read: Nemesis, One Man and the Battle for Rio
In 1987, when I was eighteen years old, I stepped off a Merchant Marine ship into the overwhelmingly visceral streets of Rio de Janeiro. For a kid from rural America, the scene was like the cocaine flame in my bloodstream. … Read More
Read: The World is my Home
I didn’t know much about this book when I cracked that front cover. Yes, I knew Michener was an author but had read little and knew even less about the man behind the words. This book was like a gut … Read More
Read: Travels
My first Crichton book but I picked a good starting point. Enjoyed this book and believe the postscript alone is worth picking up the book. I read the postscript twice and found myself laughing out loud at the last sentence … Read More
Read: American Dirt
I’m really glad this book is getting the play it is getting. The book and the author deserve it because the book is well written and spins a tale of violence and desperation laced with moments of love and kindness … Read More
Read: Of Human Bondage
W. Somerset Maugham is one of my favorite authors and The Razor’s Edge is one of my top ten books of all time. In fact, I have friends who randomly send me text messages asking “What would Larry do?” which … Read More
Read: Daily Rituals
I loved this book. Fascinating vignettes into the lives and habits of a wide range of artists, scientists, poets, philosophers, sculptors, filmmakers, playwrights, choreographers, writers, composers, and painters. If you are looking for photographers, well, keep looking. This should speak … Read More
Read: The Adventurer’s Son
You know how this is going to end before it begins. Not good. A son went missing in the wilds of Costa Rica. But there’s more. A long family lineage of adventure, ecology, biology, travel, and knowledge. The author Roman … Read More
Read: Wild Tales
Being a rock star, cool. Being a photographer, cool. Combine them both and what’s not to like? Combine them both and get one Graham Nash. Wild Tales, by musician/artist Graham Nash, is in some ways precisely what would expect from … Read More