gh wrote:What's a "DK"?
When I see DK, I think of Democratic Kampuchea, better known to most people as the Khmer Rouge... as well as the best band in history, the Dead Kennedys.
And to get back on topic, I'm reading The Subterraneans by JK.
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What are you reading now?
When I see DK, I think of Democratic Kampuchea, better known to most people as the Khmer Rouge... as well as the best band in history, the Dead Kennedys. And to get back on topic, I'm reading The Subterraneans by JK.
OK, I just finished a stunning little tome. Let's see if anybody can figure out what it's about, since it contained about a word-per-page that I was unfamiliar with. Fortunately, most made sense in context.
What book would contain these words? rheology teocuitlatl abstergents refection transfection encopresis Stercoranists frass (extra points for being able to define all the words) (all without looking of course!)
Encopresis and transfection are the only words above I am familiar with. No idea about the book.
Those are all pizza toppings in latin of course.
For light reading, a few months ago I discovered the novels by John Sandford, centered around Twin Cities cop Lucas Davenport, who tracks down BAD, repeat BAD guys. Good stuff.
For knowledge reading, it is a constant array of non fiction history narratives. Too many to list here.
I went 0 for 8. 
I am trying to read a 940 page doorstop Theodore Roosevelt biography ,"Wilderness Warrior", focused on his lifelong interest in stuff like that. I am almost duty bound to read it and report back to my only Republican daughter who gave it to me, unaware that, rather than being politically historical, it is largely dedicated to meticulousy enumerating every bird and animal he collected and stuffed and how he arranged them on the shelf from age eight on. (Ok, slight exaggeration but not much) Last edited by lonewolf on Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The book's title is
Merde (Excursions in Scientific, Cultural, and Socio-Historical Coprology) by Ralph Lewin Merde, of course, is the French word for shit. This excerpt gives you an idea of where teh guy goes: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/disp ... ew=excerpt
The Meaning of Evolution..........George Gaylord Simpson
Interesting read 
As this is the bi- and sesqui-centennial of Darwin and TOOTS, I thought that next year I would search out some good books on evolution (have read some of Gould in the past). I will take nominations from this crowd! I just finished Guns, Germs, and Steel, which touches on some of that stuff. On to Lewis and Clark in the form of Ambrose's book.
My paper just had a review on Richard Dawkins' latest work The Greatest Show On Earth, and it may well fit your evolution bill.
Lengthy review here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1A8NU9.DTL
Thanks. I have stayed away from some of the polemical argument books because for me I am not interested in a book aimed primarily at a debate rather than in the somewhat educated, non-polemical reader. This sounds like it might fit the bill.
Just finished Superfreakonomics (not as good as Freakonomics) and What the Dog Saw - a new book by Malcolm Gladwell which is a compilation of his New Yorker columns. Pretty good, as he usually is.
That reminds me. I've been on a bit of binge lately (lots of reading time on planes) and have ripped through a stack of things, including:
Levitt & Dubner, "Freakonomics" Arthur Goldwag, "Cults, Conspiracies, & Secret Societies" Jeffrey McMillan, "Delightfulee: THe Life and Music of Lee Morgan" Raymond Chandler, "The High Window" Edward Larson, "Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory" Rick Shenkman, "Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter" David Byrne, "The Bicycle Diaries" T. S. Eliot, "Selected Prose" Tanenhaus, "The Death of Conservativism" Paul Boghossian, "Fear of Knowledge: Against Relativism and Constructivism" David Drake, "Sartre" James Wood, "How Fiction Works" There are about a dozen 10-foot stacks still to get to...
WTF are you doing HERE??!! 
Re: What are you reading now?
James Lee Burke's THE RAIN GODS, William H. Holden's SACRAMENTO,; MIXED BLESSINGS (multicultural art) by Lucy Lippard. I won't say which one is the bathroom book. 
Al2O32SiO22H2O
That's the formula for "perfect" clay, as expounded in Clay (The History & Evolution of Humankind's Relationship With Earth's Most Primal Element) Actually far more interesting than it sounds, as it ranges far and wide into food preparation and storage, housing and architecture, etc., as well as just making pots.
The most recent book I finished was Joseph Kanon's "Stardust". Much better than his last effort. I have gotten way behind on my reading. Hell, I still have a half finished copy of Ulysses, which I picked up for something to read during my free time at the '01 worlds. I guess the novel is timeless, so it will keep.
Just finished "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein- the life of a race car driver narrated by his dog, Enzo. Brought me to tears near the end.
Currently skimming through "Apeoples History fo the United States" by Howard Zinn. I never knew Chris Columbus was such a badguy. Waiting in the wings- "Small Wonders" by Barbra Kingsolver- somehow missed this one amongst all of her others.
I finally started the lastest Robert Jordan (although finished up by another since RJ died). I picked that up in Oct. It is not very well written, but I like the story, so .....
as also posted on the Xmas Books thread:
<<I went the SciFi route, got the trilogy that's the prequel to Frank Herbert's awesome Dune series. Co-written by his son and a pro. Halfway through the first one (The Butlerian Jihad) and it's almost as good as dad himself could have done.>> Since my original assessment, my praise for the book has gone way up. They're juggling about 6 threads at once, but they're handling it very well by keeping chapters to 3-4 pages, which means it's never too long before you've had a refresher on all the relevant bits.
Finally got around to the Abe Lemons bio.. He was funnier in person than in 287 pages of one-liners... the author did not include Abe's advice on coaching quarter milers but did mention Abe ran a 64 second quarter mile on Walters, OK mile relay team circa 1937.
I don't remember the context but my favorite quote from the book, "Doctors bury their mistakes, ours are still on scholarship". 
Bunion Derby: The 1928 Footrace Across America, which is the second book I have on the subject.
I just put in an order for Running: A Novel by Jean Echenoz, a fictionalized biography of Emil Zatopek. Originally in French, it's just been translated, and the excerpt in the current issue of Marathon & Beyond magazine was great.
Finished reading it a couple of days ago and I learned a lot. Highly recommended.
"Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity, 1650-1750" by Jonathan I. Israel, an astonishingly deep and detailed study of--essentially--the intellectual and cultural ramifications of Spinoza's profound challenge to religious orthodoxy. It's 810 pages, but--for a certain kind of nerd--a veritable page-turner...
Re: What are you reading now?
The Lexicographer's Dilemma (the evolution of "proper" English, from Shakespeare to South Park) by Jack Lynch.
You don't have to be an editor to enjoy this one. If our mother tongue's history, and how dictionaries work, is of any interest, this is a great read. (The coining of "ghoti" wasn't by George Bernard Shaw, by the way)
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