My most recent read is about a very polarizing figure in the George W. Bush Administration – Donald Rumsfeld. His book, Known and Unknown: A Memoir, chronicles his life – mainly his political life. It is not a quick read by any imagination at 726 pages, but it flows well for the most part. The book is divided into 14 parts which generally cover his childhood, Navy career, Congressional terms, various roles in the Nixon and Ford Administrations, private sector career, and stint...
Tag - memoir
"Into My Father's Wake" records the 5000-mile solo sail of journalist Eric Best as he struggles to come to terms with a recent divorce, solitude at sea and the impact of his powerful father in his life.
–>Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistanby Ali Eteraz Publishers Weekly Eteraz, known for his blog Islamophere, opens his memoir with a vivid description of his father promising Allah that if God bestowed him with a son, that boy “will become a great leader and servant of Islam.” The rest of the book finds Eteraz, whose given name is Abir ul Islam (which translates as “Perfume of Islam”) trying to come to terms with his father’s mannat, or covenant, and understand the...
I hope to actually start to digging my way out of my read-but-not-reviewed hole this week. In the meantime, checkout these well reviewed works coming out in paperback (or will soon). –> The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington by Jennet Conant Publishers Weekly What could be more intriguing than the young writer Roald Dahl—destined to create such classics as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—assigned by His Majesty’s Government to...
As the players struggle to get their rounds in at rain soaked Bethpage Black what better time to take a look back at last years amazing US Open golf tournament. Are You Kidding Me?: The Story of Rocco Mediate’s Extraordinary Battle with Tiger Woods at the US Open by Rocco Mediate and John Feinstein does just that and in entertaining and enlightening fashion. For those of you not golf fans, or who inexplicably didn’t follow the amazing events of last year, here is recap. Tiger...
–> The Stalin Epigram by Robert Littell Publishers Weekly Veteran espionage novelist Littell (Vicious Circle; The Company; etc.) trades cold war spies for interwar Russian poets in his wonderful new novel. In 1934, real-life poet Osip Mandelstam struggles to get published in the totalitarian state. A battered idealist who has witnessed his share of Stalin-orchestrated horrors, Mandelstam feels writers have an abiding responsibility to be truth tellers in this wasteland of lies. Much to...
–> The Stalin Epigram by Robert Littell Publishers Weekly Veteran espionage novelist Littell (Vicious Circle; The Company; etc.) trades cold war spies for interwar Russian poets in his wonderful new novel. In 1934, real-life poet Osip Mandelstam struggles to get published in the totalitarian state. A battered idealist who has witnessed his share of Stalin-orchestrated horrors, Mandelstam feels writers have an abiding responsibility to be truth tellers in this wasteland of lies. Much to...
I first heard about Joe Mackall at an event at Ohio State this past summer with Dinty Moore. I like what I heard and so picked up both Last Street Before Cleveland and [amazon-product region=”us” text=”Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish” type=”text”]0807010650[/amazon-product]. I had some interest in the Amish as I had once worked for a State Senator who represented the area in which the book was set and had has some interaction with Amish...
For some reason if a book doesn’t get reviewed relatively quickly I struggle mightily to get around to it at all. This habit vexes me to no end and this year I have tried, with varying degrees of success, to be better about not allowing books to get lost. Joe Mackall’s [amazon-product region=”us” text=”The Last Street Before Cleveland” type=”text”]0803232551[/amazon-product] was one book that got lost in the shuffle somehow and sat in the...
