Recent Reads

Crazy Horse, by Larry McMurtry -- I have a pinky-nail's worth of knowledge of the old west and Native American history so this book was an eye-opener. A humbly submitted biography of the famous and seminal Sioux, Crazy Horse opened with fascinating detail about the Indian way of life in mid-nineteenth cenury America. I was completely enthralled by the first half of the book. But the book is so brief and simple that it assumed a lot about my apriori knowledge during this period, and ultimately confused me and began to bore me because I didn't have enough context. A great introduction for me--it has whet my appetite for more. Grade: B-

The Italian Secretary, by Caleb Carr -- I was attracted to this further adventure of Sherlock Holmes by contemporary writer Carr, but Carr strives so hard to be true to the language of Holmes' British era that reading this novel was a chore. I felt the mystery was a weak attempt at capturing the intrigue of The Hound of the Baskervilles, a masterpiece by Conan Doyle. I started reading the print version of this book, but finished it with the audio version, just to get it over with. Torturous. Grade: D-

Fade Away, by Harlan Coben -- Since I've read all but one of Coben's modern thrillers, I thought I'd go back to his earlier work featuring the detective work of sports agent Myron Bolitar. This was vintage Coben, although certainly at a minor-league level compared to his skill today. I found Bolitar to be an appealing enough character, especially his backstory--star NCAA basketball star suffers a career-ending injury before his first NBA game, and is given a chance at NBA redemption 12 years later. Twist ending is reminiscent of contemporary Coben works, but in this case, it was kind of lame. Grade: C+

While I Was Gone, by Sue Miller -- Loaned to me by a friend because of it's first-person perspective (an example I could apply to my own work-in-progress novel), this book focuses on a middle-aged woman at a crossroads in her life. A newly-minted empty-nester, she is affected by haunting memories from her past when an old acquaintance resurfaces. Grade: C+

Adams v. Jefferson, by John Ferling -- A remarkable tale of the on-again/ off-again friendship between the second and third presidents of the United States. I knew that they were bitter rivals who later became letter-writing friends, what I didn't know is that they were friendly rivals for years and years until a misunderstanding completely dissolved their friendship and left them sparring publicly throughout their political careers. Jefferson was actually Adams' vice-president, but they couldn't tolerate each other, and Jefferson ran against Adams in the ensuing election of 1800. This election ended with a tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, which was finally decided in the congress. Jefferson seems to have catted around for much of his bachelor years, while Adams (who I previoulsy had tremendous respect for) harbored tremendous petty jealousies against his peers nd unforgiving sternness toward his children. Alexander Hamilton also comes off here as small--though a brilliant and innovative man. At times, Adams v. Jefferson is a mesmerizing historical account, what bogs it down in the end is its overemphasis on policy and smaller-political manueverings. Grade: B

The Education of a Coach, by David Halberstam -- This biography of New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick focuses heavily in the early going on his father. Though Steve Belichick was a remarkable man, I didn't want to read quite this much about him. The book really sails when Belichick begins his up-and-down relationship with Bill Parcells. In the end, I was amazed by the coach's preparation, organization, and relentless perfectionism. His character and discipline are tremendously inspiring, but he has exercised both at the expense of his marriage. Grade: B-

Comments

[Michelle]

hi, I just wanted to know if anyone had read the novel Burr by Gore Vidal. I have a paper due n i lost the book and i dont know how the book ends. So if anyone could help me out it would really help
~Michelle~