3 posts tagged “reread”
Title: Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
Author: Chuck Klosterman
Genre: Pop Music Reference
Format: Quality Paperback
Publishing Info: Scribner; Reprint edition (June 6, 2006)
List Price: $14.00
ISBN: 0743264460
BINC:
Page Count: 245
Summary: Klosterman follows up on 2003's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by expanding on an article he wrote for Spin about driving cross-country to visit several of America's most famous rock and roll death sites, from the Rhode Island club where more than 90 Great White fans died in a fire, to the Iowa field where Buddy Holly's plane crashed. Along the way, Klosterman opines on rock music, never afraid to offend—as when he interprets a Radiohead album as a 9/11 prophecy or reminds readers that before Kurt Cobain's suicide, many preferred Pearl Jam to Nirvana. The quest to uncover these deaths' social significance is quickly overwhelmed by Klosterman's personal obsessions, especially his agonizing over sexual relationships. He applies semifictional techniques to these concerns, inventing an imaginary conversation in the car with three girlfriends that becomes the book's centerpiece. (amazon.com)
Best Bit: Klosterman's tales about drug use always fascinate me and sort of horrify me at the same time. Also, his dedication to picking CDs for the massive amount of time he will spend in a car makes me feel better about myself.
Quick Review: Well, it's hard to live up to the genius of Fargo Rock City and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. While the idea is a great one, the book fails to form a cohesive whole. That doesn't mean, however, that it stops being entertaining.
Final Grade: B
Author: Chuck Klosterman
Genre: Pop Music Reference
Format: Quality Paperback
Publishing Info: Scribner; Reprint edition (June 6, 2006)
List Price: $14.00
ISBN: 0743264460
BINC:
Page Count: 245
Summary: Klosterman follows up on 2003's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by expanding on an article he wrote for Spin about driving cross-country to visit several of America's most famous rock and roll death sites, from the Rhode Island club where more than 90 Great White fans died in a fire, to the Iowa field where Buddy Holly's plane crashed. Along the way, Klosterman opines on rock music, never afraid to offend—as when he interprets a Radiohead album as a 9/11 prophecy or reminds readers that before Kurt Cobain's suicide, many preferred Pearl Jam to Nirvana. The quest to uncover these deaths' social significance is quickly overwhelmed by Klosterman's personal obsessions, especially his agonizing over sexual relationships. He applies semifictional techniques to these concerns, inventing an imaginary conversation in the car with three girlfriends that becomes the book's centerpiece. (amazon.com)
Best Bit: Klosterman's tales about drug use always fascinate me and sort of horrify me at the same time. Also, his dedication to picking CDs for the massive amount of time he will spend in a car makes me feel better about myself.
Quick Review: Well, it's hard to live up to the genius of Fargo Rock City and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. While the idea is a great one, the book fails to form a cohesive whole. That doesn't mean, however, that it stops being entertaining.
Final Grade: B
Title: Cell
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
Format: Mass-market Paperback
Publishing Info: Pocket Star; Reprint edition (November 21, 2006)
List Price: $9.99
ISBN: 1416524517
BINC:
Page Count: 449
Summary: In Cell King taps into readers fears of technological warfare and terrorism. Mobile phones deliver the apocalypse to millions of unsuspecting humans by wiping their brains of any humanity, leaving only aggressive and destructive impulses behind. Those without cell phones, like illustrator Clayton Riddell and his small band of "normies," must fight for survival, and their journey to find Clayton's estranged wife and young son rockets the book toward resolution. (From amazon.com)
Best Bit: Everything about Tom McCourt of Malden, MA. I think Tom could actually be my second favorite King-character, after Nick from The Stand.
Quick Review: Um, it's actually basically The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but better. YES. I SAID IT. Stephen King should have obviously won the Pulitzer Prize.
Final Grade: A
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
Format: Mass-market Paperback
Publishing Info: Pocket Star; Reprint edition (November 21, 2006)
List Price: $9.99
ISBN: 1416524517
BINC:
Page Count: 449
Summary: In Cell King taps into readers fears of technological warfare and terrorism. Mobile phones deliver the apocalypse to millions of unsuspecting humans by wiping their brains of any humanity, leaving only aggressive and destructive impulses behind. Those without cell phones, like illustrator Clayton Riddell and his small band of "normies," must fight for survival, and their journey to find Clayton's estranged wife and young son rockets the book toward resolution. (From amazon.com)
Best Bit: Everything about Tom McCourt of Malden, MA. I think Tom could actually be my second favorite King-character, after Nick from The Stand.
Quick Review: Um, it's actually basically The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but better. YES. I SAID IT. Stephen King should have obviously won the Pulitzer Prize.
Final Grade: A
Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Genre: Fiction/Literature
Format: Quality Paperback
Publishing Info: Harper Perennial Modern Classics (May 23, 2006)
List Price: $15.95
ISBN: 0061120081
BINC: 8258291
Page Count: 336
Summary:
According to Amazon: A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father -- a crusading local lawyer -- risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Best Bit:
Calpurnia. I love her. Also, Atticus, in general, because he is so clueless sometimes about raising Jem and Scout, but he really does everything right.
Quick Review:
Uh, it's pretty much a classic. I reread because I haven't read it in ages, and had pretty much forgotten most of the major plot points. But how can you "review" a book like To Kill a Mockingbird?
Final Grade: A
Author: Harper Lee
Genre: Fiction/Literature
Format: Quality Paperback
Publishing Info: Harper Perennial Modern Classics (May 23, 2006)
List Price: $15.95
ISBN: 0061120081
BINC: 8258291
Page Count: 336
Summary:
According to Amazon: A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father -- a crusading local lawyer -- risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.
Best Bit:
Calpurnia. I love her. Also, Atticus, in general, because he is so clueless sometimes about raising Jem and Scout, but he really does everything right.
Quick Review:
Uh, it's pretty much a classic. I reread because I haven't read it in ages, and had pretty much forgotten most of the major plot points. But how can you "review" a book like To Kill a Mockingbird?
Final Grade: A
