Guys, I had a really scary couple of days. I somehow started reading Pretty Little Liars and before I knew it, I was finishing book four. While I don’t exactly regret what I’ve done I’m also very aware that that’s about six hours of my life I’m not going to get back. I feel weird and uncomfortable and I’m dealing with the fact that there’s no way to purge after a book binge. I now bring to you, humble reader, reviews eight through eleven: Books […]
Ten Minutes Only is Required
Vish Puri is India’s Most Private Investigator. He handles cases as simple as cheating spouses and background checks on potential husbands to murder, kidnapping, and the abduction of a famous moustache. Yes, really. One of Puri’s clients in this book is the man with the longest moustache. Someone breaks into his house and shaves off half of it. The man with the second longest moustache is accused, but it’s not so simple — he’s kidnapped and loses his moustache, too. Fortunately Vish Puri is on […]
Me Read Funny Essays One Day
I don’t know, guys. I just don’t know. I don’t get it. I mean, sure, David Sedaris is a writer who writes stuff and it’s kind of funny, but I don’t really “get” it. I’m supposed to be in the right demographic: I’m a cynical gen-Xer with a skewed outlook on life, but I really didn’t find these stories all that funny. They were interesting, but in an “I’m stuck at a dinner party with this guy dominating the conversation” way. I don’t know if […]
Constantly movin while makin millions
I sometimes have trouble writing reviews of autobiographies. Especially when the author is still very much alive and active and online. I feel like I can’t be honest. I don’t have that problem with writing about Eddie Huang’s “Fresh Off the Boat” though because he seems like the kind of guy who appreciates honesty over careful wording. There were times when this book was incomprehensible to me. I’m not up on basketball or hip-hop so I was grateful for the footnotes that show up occasionally. […]
It Was His Boat
Terry Southern predicted reality television. Guy Grand is (possibly) the wealthiest person alive. He amuses himself by pranking people. Sometimes they’re relatively harmless and the victim comes out of it slightly embarrassed but unharmed and (sometimes substantially) richer. Sometimes the pranks are vile or disturbing and Guy works to stir the crowds up, leading to riots or mass humiliation. A few are actually clever. “The Magic Christian” is his ultimate prank. He buys an ocean liner, has it redecorated, and installs a closed-circuit television system. […]
Bad in Baltimore – A Fitting Name
Full disclosure: I’ve written a novel set in Baltimore. When I found this one I was a little excited to see how someone else would see Baltimore. It was fun seeing references to street names I knew and places I could kinda guess the locations of. I played “what place were they actually thinking of when they talked about this place”. That was nice. I really wanted to like this book. There were some problems with pacing and some plot devices that I was uncomfortable […]