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essentialsaltes Some of my read-books have piled up for various reasons. Anyhoo.
Speculative Los Angeles (Akashic Books): Alas this was one I finished first and remember least about. There's a dedication to Octavia Butler and it goes downhill into mediocrity town after that.
The Best of RA Lafferty: One of the best things about the book are the varied introductions from everybody from Gaiman to Patton Oswalt to Harlan's original introduction from Dangerous Visions. But I wonder at the story selection -- it seems to favor stories where Lafferty really goes off the narrative rails. I like Lafferty when he's funny, and when he's absurd, but many of these wander too far into incoherence. I'm not sure it's either his best or his most representative. But still plenty to love. One thread that does come together well is (him being an Oklahoma writer) his way of tying the Native experience to the alien experience.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I seem to have read most of On the Road In the Air, which doesn't seem quite right. I don't see what the fuss is about. Sure, I get the allure of the open road, but otherwise it's kind of interchangeable medley of feckless losers getting drunk, chasing tail and committing petty crimes.
A Convenient Hatred: The HIstory of Antisemitism by Phyllis Goldstein
Not a cheerful read by any means, but interesting to see things traced from Roman times through 'Christ-killers' to the blood libel, to the Protocols to the Holocaust and later times. As much as the story is often about individuals (or mobs) who scapegoat the Jews, it's also interesting to see some of the allies who made efforts here or there to turn back the tide of hatred (seldom for long, alas)
[Soldiers restored order in Karlsruhe after civil nrest and anonymous messages called for a massacre of Jews] A "new message read, "Emperors, kings, dukes, beggards, Catholics, and Jews are all human and as such our equals." To emphasize that idea, the grand-duke of Baden showed his solidarity with the city's Jews by spending the night at the home of a prominent Jew. The gesture helped restore calm to the city."
Speculative Los Angeles (Akashic Books): Alas this was one I finished first and remember least about. There's a dedication to Octavia Butler and it goes downhill into mediocrity town after that.
The Best of RA Lafferty: One of the best things about the book are the varied introductions from everybody from Gaiman to Patton Oswalt to Harlan's original introduction from Dangerous Visions. But I wonder at the story selection -- it seems to favor stories where Lafferty really goes off the narrative rails. I like Lafferty when he's funny, and when he's absurd, but many of these wander too far into incoherence. I'm not sure it's either his best or his most representative. But still plenty to love. One thread that does come together well is (him being an Oklahoma writer) his way of tying the Native experience to the alien experience.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I seem to have read most of On the Road In the Air, which doesn't seem quite right. I don't see what the fuss is about. Sure, I get the allure of the open road, but otherwise it's kind of interchangeable medley of feckless losers getting drunk, chasing tail and committing petty crimes.
A Convenient Hatred: The HIstory of Antisemitism by Phyllis Goldstein
Not a cheerful read by any means, but interesting to see things traced from Roman times through 'Christ-killers' to the blood libel, to the Protocols to the Holocaust and later times. As much as the story is often about individuals (or mobs) who scapegoat the Jews, it's also interesting to see some of the allies who made efforts here or there to turn back the tide of hatred (seldom for long, alas)
[Soldiers restored order in Karlsruhe after civil nrest and anonymous messages called for a massacre of Jews] A "new message read, "Emperors, kings, dukes, beggards, Catholics, and Jews are all human and as such our equals." To emphasize that idea, the grand-duke of Baden showed his solidarity with the city's Jews by spending the night at the home of a prominent Jew. The gesture helped restore calm to the city."
