The Stuff: This book consists of short, interrelated essays and anecdotes on writing and being a writer—being a human—grouped around larger themes. The parts are 1) Writing, 2) The Writing Frame of Mind, 3) Help Along the Way, 4) Publication and Other Reasons to Write, and 5) The Last Class. One of the essays inContinue reading “Review of “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life” by Anne Lamott”
Category Archives: book review
Review of “The Frontiersman: The Real Life and Many Legends of Davy Crockett” by Mark Derr
The Stuff: This is a non-sensationalized biography of early American Davy Crockett (1786-1836), frontiersman and congressman, written by a distant relative. Author Mark Derr seeks to wade through the many myths and find the person behind the stories. He adopts a more-or-less neutral tone, neither excoriating nor lionizing the book’s subject. He openly admits, forContinue reading “Review of “The Frontiersman: The Real Life and Many Legends of Davy Crockett” by Mark Derr”
Review of “The Roman Way” by Edith Hamilton
The Stuff: The author wishes to portray Roman culture and character based on the writings of Roman poets and playwrights. Despite her awareness that this strategy leaves out vast swaths of the Roman world, including women, slaves, artisans, and the disadvantaged, she confines her study to the lettered, leisured male. Proceeding roughly chronologically, she beginsContinue reading “Review of “The Roman Way” by Edith Hamilton”
Review of ““And So It Goes”: Adventures in Television” by Linda Ellerbee
The Stuff: This is a memoir/autobiography by American journalist Linda Ellerbee, covering her years in television up till the mid-80s. She describes her times as a Washington correspondent for NBC and an anchor on a late-news magazine program called Overnight, among other things. She discusses little of her private life but focuses on the professional.Continue reading “Review of ““And So It Goes”: Adventures in Television” by Linda Ellerbee”
Review of “Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter”
The Stuff:This is a biography of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer who was wrongfully convicted along with his friend, John Artis, of a 1966 triple homicide in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. Carter and Artis were convicted twice and finally exonerated in 1985 in a federal court. The book follows not only his legalContinue reading “Review of “Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter””
Review of “Reading Like a Writer” by Francine Prose
In discussing writing workshops and classes, author Francine Prose writes, “But that class, as helpful as it was, was not where I learned to write. Like most—maybe all—writers, I learned to write by writing and by example, by reading books.” (p .2) But using what the author calls “close reading,” a writer can learn variousContinue reading “Review of “Reading Like a Writer” by Francine Prose”
Review of “Banned Books: The World’s Most Controversial Books, Past and Present”
The Stuff This is a survey of approximately one hundred books that have been banned or challenged, beginning with the fourteenth-century work, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, and ending with the 2021 book by Chinese author Ai Weiwei, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows. The entries are arranged chronologically. One or two pages are dedicatedContinue reading “Review of “Banned Books: The World’s Most Controversial Books, Past and Present””
Review of “In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692”
The Stuff:Author Mary Beth Norton, Professor Emerita at Cornell University, writes that the Salem witch crisis took place in the midst of another crisis—the devastation of the First and Second Indian Wars (King Philip’s War) of the late seventeenth century, which wreaked havoc. Traumatized refugees fled south. While the “afflicted” people spoke of the devilContinue reading “Review of “In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692””
Review of “Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World” by Irene Vallejo
The Stuff: In her preface, author Irene Vallejo asks: “Why did books first appear? What is the secret history of efforts to reproduce or destroy them? What was lost along the way, and what was saved? Why have some of them become classics? How much has succumbed to the jaws of time, the talons ofContinue reading “Review of “Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World” by Irene Vallejo”
Review of “The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of The Women Who Helped Win WWII” by Denise Kiernan
Plot: Most of those who helped develop the atomic bomb at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the Manhattan Project were unaware of what they were doing other than their jobs benefited the war effort. Because many men were gone with the wartime draft, many were women. The author seeks to draw on the experiences of variousContinue reading “Review of “The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of The Women Who Helped Win WWII” by Denise Kiernan”
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 