Da Vinci Code Snobbery
So, it appears that the Da Vinci Code film is a bit of a dud, judging by the ratings on IMDB and the few criticisms of it that I’ve read. Disappointing. I, like two billion other people, really...
View ArticleThe Death of Books?
Jeff Jarvis, via whose site Buzzmachine I found the link to the Andrew Brown essay, writes that the era of the book is soon coming to a close. I disagree, and was going to write why, but instead one...
View ArticleThe Mosquito Coast
Allie Fox, the protagonist in Paul Theroux’s novel The Mosquito Coast (published in 1982), believes himself to be the "last real man in America". He is fond of regaling his family with pablums against...
View ArticleBeppe’s Chat
Last night the Italian-American Institute put on a special presentation by Beppe Severgnini, a foreign correspondent for Italy’s Il Corriere Della Sera newspaper who has recently written a book trying...
View ArticleOracle Bones
I just finished reading Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler, and my goodness: what a phenomenal book it is. Unlike Hessler’s first work (the wonderful River Town), which functioned mostly as a memoir of his...
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Mao and an Important Milestone
I recently finished reading Jonathan Spence’s brisk biography of Mao Zedong, published ten or so years ago. Unlike other biographies, Spence kept his focus narrow; he merely documented Mao’s life and...
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China Underground- Everyone’s Wasted!
China's Tawdry Underbelly No country in the world conjures up the image of ‘the masses’ quite like China. News stories about China invariably contain stock footage of thousands of black-haired men and...
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The Multitudes of Christopher Hitchens
Recently I finished reading the memoirs of Christopher Hitchens, entitled Hitch-22. Anyone who has read much of his work would understand the title’s appropriacy. A Trotskyite socialist neo-con...
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Some China Book Notes
Not long after moving back to the US, I indulged in a book buying spree. Unsurprisingly, China-related books was the theme of my new purchases, and after several weeks of grad-school induced fatigue I...
View ArticleKunming Is Not Horrendous…Yet
Ever since I discovered him by chance in a second-hand bookstore in Thailand, Paul Theroux has been one of my favorite writers. His travel narratives- characterized by cantankerous, unflattering...
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