Monthly Archives: January 2021

I’ve read a few Bukowski books, starting with “Notes of a Dirty Old Man,” which was probably my favorite. I’ve learned a bit about his storied life. I thought this book was going to be like the two books on writing I’ve read from Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King. It’s not. It is a series of repetitious letters to his magazine editors, dated from 1945 to 1993. Continue reading →

The book earned the 2014 Man Booker Prize, given to the best novel written in English, published in the UK. I’ve read plenty of the previous winners including “The God of Small Things,” “Amsterdam,” “Life of Pi,” “The Sense of an Ending,” and “Lincoln of the Bardo.” Continue reading →

This book feels like it falls right in line with “The Dharma Bums” and “The Art of Travel.” It’s about trails, written by a guy who has done some epic hikes, but he starts the book by talking about the concept of trails, a meditation on trials, how and why they are formed and by whom. Continue reading →

The group of mostly non-sailors experienced things very few humans have had or will ever have, crossing the ocean with no motor, just the wind and the currents. Thor Heyerdahl wanted to prove the so-called primitive people from South America settled Polynesia in pre-Columbia times. He was right. They created a raft using only the materials, like balsa logs, and technologies available in the pre-Columbia times. In three months at sea in 1947, the men float along the ocean encountering all manner of sea life. The story is really unbelievable. Continue reading →

The pivotal scene of the book, set on a university campus, is when an English professor … SPOILER ALERT … who has been placed in charge of the department, picks up a goose and – in front of television cameras – threatens to kill a duck a day until his department gets its funding. That was an awesome scene. Continue reading →