Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Time to Buckle Up and Learn Some Stuff!

Julian by Gore Vidal

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This is the biography of Julian the Apostate, Emperor of Rome from 361 – 365 AD.  And if you, like myself, were confusing apostate with apostle, we were both very wrong, since an apostate is someone who renounces a religion.  Once I finally looked up the definition, matters became much clearer. Anyway, Julian, who was never expected to lead anyone, was the second nephew of Emperor Constantine the Great, who ruled the Roman Empire from Constantinople rather than Rome.  First nephew, or Julian’s older brother, […]

Final 2024 Leftovers

1876 by Gore Vidal

Joe Country by Mick Herron

James by Percival Everett

Slough House by Mick Herron

Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie

The Contemplative Tarot: A Christian Introduction to the cards by Brittany Muller

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Hope everyone had a wonderful 2024. Remember that while we can’t control the horrors of the world, there is joy to be found in the presence of those we love. 1876**** Didn’t hit as hard as Burr; Burr’s presence was the center of the story that made it go, whereas this book wants to highlight every major player in the 1876 election. But Vidal does a good job of evoking the atmosphere of the time: the unapologetic corruption, the paranoia of another war and the […]

Gore Vidal (7); Jan Berenstain (1-2); Michael Berenstain (1-2)

Clouds and Eclipses by Gore Vidal

The Berenstain Bears Brother Bear Favorites by Jan Berenstain; Michael Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears Sister Bear Favorites by Jan Berenstain; Michael Berenstain

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Clouds and Eclipses In general I tend to avoid collected stories from celebrated or beloved authors under the following circumstances: 1) they aren’t really known for short stories; 2) the stories are almost exclusively from when they were very young. Some obvious  exceptions occur. Philip Roth’s stories in Goodbye Columbus are all very good, two being some of the best writing he ever did. But Gore Vidal is known primarily for two things: novels and essays. He did some other things too, sometimes very well […]

Gore Vidal (5-6)

The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal

The Best Man by Gore Vidal

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“‘Old age is a shipwreck’. Like man a ground soldier, General de Gaulle was drawn to maritime metaphors.” Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 This last significant collection of essays by Vidal was published in 2001 around the inauguration of George W Bush. He did publish some smaller texts later, and a kind of end of life memoir before he died, but this is probably the last sizeable work of his before his death in 2012. Like the large collection United States, this book covers literary, political, […]

Gore Vidal (4)

Burr by Gore Vidal

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Burr “Shortly before midnight, July 1, 1833, Colonel Aaron Burr, aged seventy-seven, married Eliza Jumel, born Bowen fifty-eight years ago (more likely sixty-five but remember: she is prone to litigation!). The ceremony took place at Madame Jumel’s mansion on the Washington Heights and was performed by Doctor Bogart (will supply first name later). In attendance were Madame Jumel’s niece (some say daughter) and her husband Nelson Chase, a lawyer from Colonel Burr’s Reade Street firm. This was the Colonel’s second marriage; a half-century ago he […]

Gore Vidal (1-3)

United States: State of the Art by Gore Vidal

United States: State of the Union by Gore Vidal

United States: State of Being by Gore Vidal

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“Eckerman: I’m delighted that The New York Review of Books is still going strong after–what is it now? Fifty years?” Gore Vidal tells us that he collected these essays and split it into three defining sections, each counting as a “state” which gives us the title United States. His sections: “State of the Art” which is about writing, literature, and culture, “State of the Union” about politics, and “State of Being” containing personal essays. Because this is a more than 1200 page book, covering 40 […]



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