I have become a big fan of Jon Ronson from listening to him on podcasts. He’s a nerdy effeminate British dude which is kind of my kryptonite. In my admittedly lazy fandom, I hadn’t realized that he was the author of this book. One of my personal goals is to read everything on my “to be read” shelf and review it for CBR. As a frequent browser of used book stores who also experiences poor impulse control, the unread pile is a little out of […]
On Bereavement and Raptors
Helen Macdonald’s memoir H Is for Hawk received outstanding reviews and several prestigious awards last year. It is the beautifully written story of her grief after her father’s sudden death, the depression that followed, and her attempt to lose herself in falconry. Macdonald is a member of the research faculty at Cambridge University’s Department of History and Philosophy of Science, and her skills as both researcher and historian are on display throughout the book. She weaves her personal story into the larger world of falconry […]
Angry people making pretty dresses
It was a fashion battle of the bands. In November 1973, American and French designers went head to head in an ostentatious and outrageous fashion show in Paris. The competition, set up by American fashion publicist Eleanor Lambert with the assistance of French aristocrat Marie-Helene de Rothschild, was held in the Theatre Gabriel in the Chateau de Versailles. It was ostensibly a benefit for charity; the evening would be dinner and a fashion show between five French (Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, […]
America, You Great Unfinished Symphony
Losing Our Way is just about the saddest book I’ve ever read. It took me well over a month to read it, even though it’s great, because I had to keep stopping so I wouldn’t sink into a terrible depression. Losing Our Way is basically the story of everything that’s wrong with the United States today, from our failing infrastructure, to struggling schools, to wage stagnation and income inequality, to endless wars in the Middle East. Bob Herbert knows his stuff, and he doesn’t pull […]
Cerebral palsy, the sexiest of the palsies.
Firstly, whether or not you end up reading Zach Anner’s book, it’s definitely worth a trip over to YouTube to check out some of his videos. (Might I recommend this one, this one, and this one?) The guy is goofy and slyly funny. It’s always a happy day when one of his videos shows up in my inbox. He’s the kind of guy who decides to create a video series where all he does is give people virtual high-fives. Often he’ll make a joke that […]
Behold the Hamiltome
I’m a huge fan of all things Hamilton and pre-ordered this book the second I found out about it. I’ve listened to the soundtrack approximately 18,500 times, watched every #Ham4Ham I can find on YouTube (and every other tangentially related video on there), and am still harboring a little resentment toward Genevieve Burgess for not writing about the Hamilton bootleg until it had been taken down. There’s not much for me to say about this book, other than I loved it. Originally I ordered it because I was eager to see the […]
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