A collection of Chuck essays and pieces from Grantland, GQ, NYT, etc. I’ve read many before, but they’re given new introductions to add context of timA collection of Chuck essays and pieces from Grantland, GQ, NYT, etc. I’ve read many before, but they’re given new introductions to add context of time and how relevant it remains. First book I’ve read in year or 2. Thanks Pandemic of Globality, I finally did read again. ...more
Chuck is my favourite, and not just cause he actually answers DMs on Twitter, or questions on a Video Q&A. But they definitely help. He asks questionsChuck is my favourite, and not just cause he actually answers DMs on Twitter, or questions on a Video Q&A. But they definitely help. He asks questions that I enjoy pondering. He writes ways that make sense in my synapses. His biases are always laid out, and he doesn’t pretend to be without.
Here he contemplates the notion that everything we think to be true today would seem ridiculous to someone looking at today from the lens of a few hundred years in the future. He contextualizes by saying how we’d look at Newtonian or Aristotelian Age in the same manner (why would anyone ever think that?). It’s Chuck, so obviously the pop culture influences remain, such as TV shows that will stand the time test, and what music from now will represent our Age in the future (Mozart is classical to us, and Sousa is Marching music. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have contemporaries who were famous and popular at the time, it just means they didn’t get remembered the same). The really fun part is the delving into physics and space, including Neil de Grasse Tyson, and lots of discussion about the Simulation Theory that if we can build a simulation (sims video game for instance) and a computer, and both get better with each time we redesign it, then there will eventually be computers that make a simulation so real we could be living in it right. Now....more
So...I'm kind of underwhelmed. I feel like this was a book that wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be...Gaiman says that it was originally to bSo...I'm kind of underwhelmed. I feel like this was a book that wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be...Gaiman says that it was originally to be a short story, and I think that might have worked better than this does. It felt to me like the ending of the book was done as quickly as possible and not in nearly as much detail and description as the rest of the book. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed parts of it tremendously, and it's not a difficult read at all, but this almost seemed like a children's book for a long time. That's not a knock, just this is not anywhere close to what I was expecting. I have read Gaiman's Black Orchid and Death Graphic Novels, so I am not unfamiliar with his work. His descriptions and ability to make me conjure up my own imagination is very good, and I enjoyed that part well. But I also felt like this just started to pull back the curtain of what he really thought was out there, or the nature of reality/life/death/Earth/time etc. I would like to read THAT book, about the other side, and not just the 7-year old boy's experiences told through a fairly blasé adult recalling them. It left me wanting more, which is good, but also kind of hollow in the end, like 'Oh OK, that's it? I was expecting more' which seems like what the main character almost felt like as well. Obviously the point is that we cannot ever fully know/recall the nature of the major ideas like life/death/meaning/time/etc. but that seems like a fairly obvious thing to say. I think this is a tremendously impressive book for older/bright children, but for adults, it is just a mild nostalgia trip that makes reality just that little bit sadder...that's sadly realistic, and not what I hoped to take away from things...
I didn't dislike this, I just wish I had liked it more. I almost feel guilty not enjoying this more. But I won't say it's a bad book, because it's not. Maybe I'll read it again at another point in my life and it will do more for me....but the writing itself is captivating in visual ways.
Read it all in one sitting! I got this at Christmas, and you'd think I hadn't wanted to read it or something, but I just barely started the first chapRead it all in one sitting! I got this at Christmas, and you'd think I hadn't wanted to read it or something, but I just barely started the first chapter during holidays. I finally had some time lately (and no comics on my pile!) so I went back and started fresh.
Klosterman has been one of my faves since I read 'Killing Yourself to Live' nearly a decade ago. Oddly, I remember not liking his SPIN columns, but that's probably because I was in High School and I like to think I was a bit smarter after I finished University (a bit I say, not a ton).
This is exactly what it says in the title: Grappling with villains. He examines what makes a modern villain, and the settings in which we see them (he's careful not to use the word context though, as that's a different thing). What follows covers everything from Batman and Charles Bronson in Death Wish, to OJ versus Kareem, Clinton and Lewinsky, Fred Durst, the Eagles, and a ton of other things.
As always, the man awes me with his knowledge of pop-culture. He's almost a decade older than me, but I find I relate to him and am on a similar page most of the time. I like to think I know quite a bit about a lot of things, but wow.
If you enjoyed any of his stuff in the past, then I probably don't need to convince you. If you're unfamiliar, this is a fairly quick read (less than 6 hrs) and covers a lot of ground. I would just tell you to read everything he's put out, but you have to start somewhere...I've found everything to be a page-turner, and his writing to be thought-provoking and measured.
He's also the Ethicist for the NY Times, so obviously he's no slouch. I still feel he would be a blast to sit down and conversate with for hours on end. This book just re-enforced that even more.
I wish I had put in more effort when I first started this in Feb...then I got sick, and it went back to the library unfinished. I finally got it back I wish I had put in more effort when I first started this in Feb...then I got sick, and it went back to the library unfinished. I finally got it back from the hold list, and boom.
I loved this. It was laugh out loud funny mixed with just enough interesting stories about real people, as well as Midwest wisdom, manliness, mustache info, and philosophical beliefs that I could relate to (more of personal codes and how to spend one's time than lefty/righty). Also really made me want to take up woodworking.
If you enjoy his films/work on TV, give this a go, I laughed my ass off, much to my wife's annoyance while she was reading some romance book lol. ...more
Yawn. Just a bunch of buzzwords/ideas strung together with the same Exponential graph illustration and Venn diagrams. Also a whole bunch of conflictinYawn. Just a bunch of buzzwords/ideas strung together with the same Exponential graph illustration and Venn diagrams. Also a whole bunch of conflicting suggestions. Absolutely fluff. No danger of being interesting after reading this book...just bored.
To quote Page 59: "...do not...sit through it...you will thank yourself."
Well; thanks self! You saved us from another 200 pages of this tedious filler.
Also, according to her book, my wife and I are both very interesting people; no wonder we enjoy each other's company so much....more
After so thoroughly enjoying 'Up Up and Away', Keri's new book on the Expos, I went after his first book, all about the Tampa Bay Rays. This book wasnAfter so thoroughly enjoying 'Up Up and Away', Keri's new book on the Expos, I went after his first book, all about the Tampa Bay Rays. This book wasn't the same history as the Expos book, but also a bit more examination of the forward thinking used by the Owner, GM, and other members of Tampa's braintrust. These men all left Wall Street careers for their true love of baseball, and took their bright ideas with them. This can be seen as a sort of companion book to Michael Lewis' 'Moneyball' which is far more famous (the Brad Pitt movie didn't hurt either). I suppose Moneyball will be next on my baseball reading list.
Jonah Keri loves baseball, all the simple little things about the game, the stats, the joy of everything from Spring Training to Game 7 of the World Series. Reading his work makes me remember just how much I used to love baseball, and how I'm getting close to where I used to be in loving it. I profoundly thank an author who makes me remember how much I love something, and who's writing makes me want to go devour more about that subject.
I look forward to the next book Mr. Keri writes, but for now, I'll have to settle for his columns, podcast, and the occasional Twitter response he gives to my questions/opinions.
A very enjoyable read for baseball fans, even if you're not a Rays fan or a Wall Street type. Highly recommended....more
3.5 stars rounded up for earnestness. I might have been more attached to “Love is a Mixtape”, but that’s me. This was fun and easy with hidden gems, muc3.5 stars rounded up for earnestness. I might have been more attached to “Love is a Mixtape”, but that’s me. This was fun and easy with hidden gems, much like the 80s themselves. A few of these I recall from the moment (New Kids lol) and after the fact (Duran Duran, Smiths, etc.). Sheffield is easily relatable, which helps. Loving music helps, having been a teenager helps, being old enough to look back helps.
Looking forward to the next one, something about Karaoke...might be enough to rope my wife into reading one of “my kind” of books......more
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