Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason. The Picture of Dorian Gray is playful, imaginative, and dark in all the right places. Even today its witty one-liners shine in this fast paced tale of one beautiful man’s great decline. The plot is simple. Amidst flowers and a light summer breeze from the open door into the sunfilled garden Basil Hallward paints a picture of Dorian Gray. It is the most beautiful picture, made so both by Dorian Gray’s physical beauty as well as the intangible […]
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on a Galaxy Quest
Thematic spoilers follow. The failure of Armada, for me, was the recursive and self-referential style of Ernest Cline, which ended up feeling like a crutch rather than an addition to the fairly straightforward plot. Unbeknownst to me, this book is in a similar vein to my previous read. Redshirts is about the “red shirts” from the original Star Trek series. They were characters used to create dramatic tension by dying early in episodes (typically on away missions). These were characters with no backstory, and the […]
An Evening with Betty White
I have a summertime tradition of reading autobiographies. I tend to stick with ones by comedians of various stripes, but that’s more happenstance than plan. I have had If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won’t) on my to read list since sometime in the winter of 2012. Well, I finally got my act together and here we are. I’m happy to report that if you love Betty White (and seriously, if you don’t how do you even live with yourself?) and are in […]
Modern romance is more than just dick pics and straight white boys texting “hey” 15 times straight
This was an enjoyable book, even if I am still a bit baffled by it and can’t figure out if it was a 3 star or a 4 star read. It’s half comedian/actor memoir and half pop sociology in the vein of a Freakanomics or Malcolm Gladwell book. Ansari didn’t want to write just another celebrity memoir and he was fascinated by the new ways technology is influencing society’s love lives, so he teamed up with NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg. Together they took on a […]
Dancing with Werewolves, or at least a Werewolf
I have to admit that I’m actually kind of glad that I read the sequel first. It made this series a lot more fun (and it’s a lot of fun already) for all the “oh, now I get it” moments. The opening of the first volume of the Parasol Protectorate presents vague Cinderella elements in the heroine (although her likely prince charming is both werewolf and not very charming-or is he…). Alexia was never allowed to participate in society in order to give her younger […]
No One Is Safe
I don’t think I can reach the 250 word quota for this review. Just go read this book. It’s hilarious. No book is safe, no character left unscathed. Ortberg’s ability to hone in on the character’s personality and then twist it into the 21st century is ridiculously brilliant and packs a punch that shades between laughing out loud and the irresistible urge to shout “BURN!” to the character on the page. My two all-time favorite sections are her rip on the American Girl series and […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- Next Page »