Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
by BikeSnobNYC, aka Eben Weiss
ISBN 978-0-8118-6998-0
Eben Weiss adores bicycles. (Most bicyclists he's not too crazy about but he loves their bicycles.) He doesn't adore bicycles without reservation, though. He adores them for what they can do for us, for the freedom that they can bring us. He thinks that the bicycle is a Truly Great Invention (one of the few). He defines a cyclist as "a person who rides a bicycle even when he or she doesn't have to" and who "values the act of riding a bicycle over the tools one needs in order to do it." A shorter version of this is "a person who has incorporated bicycles and cycling into his or her everyday life." So, basically, a bike is a wonderful tool that we should all love and use--just don't get all obsessive about it.
The book starts out with an interesting history of the bicycle and the passion it engendered--once the kinks were worked out. There used to be social rides and serious races all over the country on many weekends and even during the week. It was a highly popular form of transportation and recreation. Until the automobile came on the scene. The author re-creates, for himself, one of the popular rides from the turn of the 19th century, from Manhattan to Far Rockaway (now a virtually indistinguishable suburb subsumed in the mass of Greater New York City, then a bucolic country seaside village far from the bustle of the urban center).
There are three main reasons to be a cyclist. They: lead secret double lives; have supernatural powers; and are free from the rules of humanity. Once you've been convinced by these serious advantages, you'll want to become a cyclist and have to decide what kind of cyclist you'll become. Weiss groups the species of cyclist into eleven main categories. Although the categories seem distinct and mutually exclusive, I found that I probably fit into two, maybe three of the categories. This chapter is interesting and fun, even though the stereotypes drawn all end up being somewhat negative.
The next section of the book talks more of the practicalities of urban cycling, starting out with one of the most frequent cyclist-asked questions: "why is everybody trying to kill me?" This is the most important chapter of the book for anyone new to cycling and most of the people who have been doing it for a while. It explains why it seems that motorists are trying to kill you (mostly they just don't care about you and/or think you're in their way). It also gives short, sweet pointers to common problems and helps quell the fear that all non-cyclists and a great many cyclists have about cycling in traffic. It's nice that it's short because it keeps things simple. But, it would be nice, too, if it were longer because it could give more detailed examples of the types of behavior that work to keep cyclists safe. Even a pointer to other resources, such as John Forester's Effective Cycling would be helpful.
The third section of the book talks about bikes themselves, not why to ride them or how to ride them in traffic but how to take care of them and basic information about how to ride them in or out of traffic. The best new idea that I got from this section is "your bike is already stolen." In other words, no one should put so much time, energy or money into their bike that, when it's stolen (which is inevitable) it will be devastating.
This is a great book for anyone who rides a bike or is thinking about it. It's full of good practical information. It's well written by an obvious expert in the field. It's not full of itself but it clearly says to those who are full of themselves, "Get over it. And go for a ride."
More Bike Snobbishness can be found at the author's blog. Highly recommended for any cyclist or cyclist-wannabe (that's a good thing).
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Book Review--Absence of Mind
Absence of Mind
by Marilynne Robinson
ISBN: 978-0-300-14518-2
The inside cover of this book promises a good read: "In this ambitious book, acclaimed writer [ML] applies her astute intellect to some of the most vexing topics in the history of human thought--science, religion, and consciousness." As someone who is very interested in all of these topics I was eager to read the book. Until I opened it up. Try as I might I could not get past the first twenty-six pages--the Introduction and halfway into the first chapter.
I only wish ML has applied her astute intellect to making the book readable. It reads as if it were written for upper-level philosophy students. And written in reply to someone else's book(s)--but without the courtesy of quoting or even paraphrasing the book(s) so that you could understand what she was responding to.
There is one good thing about the book. It uses lots of commas. So, even though the sentences are tortuous and of boggy consistency, at least you can use the commas to help parse out some small part of the meaning.
Maybe I'll pick up this book again. But only after I figure out what book(s) it's in response to.
by Marilynne Robinson
ISBN: 978-0-300-14518-2
The inside cover of this book promises a good read: "In this ambitious book, acclaimed writer [ML] applies her astute intellect to some of the most vexing topics in the history of human thought--science, religion, and consciousness." As someone who is very interested in all of these topics I was eager to read the book. Until I opened it up. Try as I might I could not get past the first twenty-six pages--the Introduction and halfway into the first chapter.
I only wish ML has applied her astute intellect to making the book readable. It reads as if it were written for upper-level philosophy students. And written in reply to someone else's book(s)--but without the courtesy of quoting or even paraphrasing the book(s) so that you could understand what she was responding to.
There is one good thing about the book. It uses lots of commas. So, even though the sentences are tortuous and of boggy consistency, at least you can use the commas to help parse out some small part of the meaning.
Maybe I'll pick up this book again. But only after I figure out what book(s) it's in response to.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Book Review--Fever Dream
Fever Dream
by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
ISBN 978-0-446-55496-1
© 2010
Fans of Aloysius Pendergast and Vincent D'Agosta (and a host of other interesting characters) will welcome them back. Readers new to this series (don't worry, the authors do a decent job of reminding us all of the backstory whenever it's necessary, but not so much that it bogs down the action) will enjoy the story.
It turns out that the aloof and guarded FBI agent Pendergast was actually married to a vivacious and intelligent red-head, Helen Esterhazy. Unfortunately, she died several years before the series started in a tragic accident. We get to see what Agent Pendergast might have been like if he and Helen had been able to continue their happy relationship. Sadly, that was not to be and the main character of the series suffers a major, traumatic loss and now lives in a state of grief. But, several years after Helen's death he discovers that what he thought was a horrible, unlikely accident was actually murder (most foul!). It also turns out that much of what he knew about his wife was…incomplete, at best.
What follows is a tense journey through such wildly dissimilar locales as the sweltering veldt of Zimbabwe, the jungles of New York City and the swamps and bayous of Louisiana (perhaps they're not so dissimilar after all). Pendergast dragoons NYPD Detective Vinnie D'Agosta to work with him and the pair travel the globe uncovering clues but also learning of a string of seemingly unrelated deaths along the way.
We are introduced to a John James Audubon whom most of us have never met, an indifferent artist who suffered a grievous illness, recovered to become a fabulous naturalist and artist but died (in this story, rather mad) with much of his work incomplete. And, along the way, a bit of the veil, that shrouds the life of Pendergast's "ward" Constance Greene, is lifted to give us some notion of just how bizarre the life of this long-time character in the series really has been.
The writing team of Preston and Child propel the crime-solving team of Pendergast and D'Agosta and a host of other memorable characters through a fast-paced mystery with as many twists and turns as the Mississippi river that flows past Pendergast's childhood home in New Orleans. Along the way some of the terrifying science brought to us by Preston's brother Richard in the Hot Zone adds to the drama. And, of course, the tension between "traditional" detective work and Pendergast's "unique" justice-finding methodologies adds to the interest level. This is one of the better books in the series and should not be missed.
by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
ISBN 978-0-446-55496-1
© 2010
Fans of Aloysius Pendergast and Vincent D'Agosta (and a host of other interesting characters) will welcome them back. Readers new to this series (don't worry, the authors do a decent job of reminding us all of the backstory whenever it's necessary, but not so much that it bogs down the action) will enjoy the story.
It turns out that the aloof and guarded FBI agent Pendergast was actually married to a vivacious and intelligent red-head, Helen Esterhazy. Unfortunately, she died several years before the series started in a tragic accident. We get to see what Agent Pendergast might have been like if he and Helen had been able to continue their happy relationship. Sadly, that was not to be and the main character of the series suffers a major, traumatic loss and now lives in a state of grief. But, several years after Helen's death he discovers that what he thought was a horrible, unlikely accident was actually murder (most foul!). It also turns out that much of what he knew about his wife was…incomplete, at best.
What follows is a tense journey through such wildly dissimilar locales as the sweltering veldt of Zimbabwe, the jungles of New York City and the swamps and bayous of Louisiana (perhaps they're not so dissimilar after all). Pendergast dragoons NYPD Detective Vinnie D'Agosta to work with him and the pair travel the globe uncovering clues but also learning of a string of seemingly unrelated deaths along the way.
We are introduced to a John James Audubon whom most of us have never met, an indifferent artist who suffered a grievous illness, recovered to become a fabulous naturalist and artist but died (in this story, rather mad) with much of his work incomplete. And, along the way, a bit of the veil, that shrouds the life of Pendergast's "ward" Constance Greene, is lifted to give us some notion of just how bizarre the life of this long-time character in the series really has been.
The writing team of Preston and Child propel the crime-solving team of Pendergast and D'Agosta and a host of other memorable characters through a fast-paced mystery with as many twists and turns as the Mississippi river that flows past Pendergast's childhood home in New Orleans. Along the way some of the terrifying science brought to us by Preston's brother Richard in the Hot Zone adds to the drama. And, of course, the tension between "traditional" detective work and Pendergast's "unique" justice-finding methodologies adds to the interest level. This is one of the better books in the series and should not be missed.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Book Review -- Intelligence: A Story of the CIA by Susan Hasler
This is a spy novel unlike any other spy novel. It's full of dark humor and haunting surrealism. In fact, it's so surreal that it goes all the way around and comes back to reality. Reading it, you just know that, although the names have been changed to protect the guilty, this book really tells you what it's really like to work at the country's biggest spy agency.
Maddie James works at that spy agency. In a cube farm known as "the Mines." She's not a spy, she's an analyst. One of the people that sift through mountains of information for puzzle pieces that, even though they don't fit well together, show a picture of what is about to happen. She's dis-heartened, dis-enchanted and dis-interested in her job and her career. She (and the rest of the agency) failed to stop "the Strikes" (planes that crashed into the twin towers, the Pentagon and the ground a few years ago). Now, she's deathly afraid that she'll fail to stop some other disaster from occurring. She's afraid to sleep at night because she dreams of disasters and is unable to stop them. She's afraid to be awake because she knows disasters are lurking just around the corner and she'll be unable to stop them.
But, she has to work against both the terrorists who are plotting new mayhem but also her boss and the politicians who all have their own agendas.
Through the lens of Maddie's struggles, both past and present, we learn more about how the intelligence business strives to protect our country while being pulled in many directions by bureaucrats and politicians. Real truth is often sacrificed to find a palatable truth, the truth that "the President wants to hear."
Maddie and a group of sometimes lovable, sometimes distasteful colleagues are hot on the trail of a new group of terrorists with an unknown plan to attack in an unknown city. The trail leads through many twists and turns. And it constantly leaves the reader wondering "how, with all the obstacles in its way, does the CIA ever get anything done right?"
The first half of the story is darkly humorous and engaging. The second half is a fast-paced, engaging thriller. Together they make for a fascinating read.
Intelligence: A Story of the CIA
Susan Hasler
ISBN 978-0-312-57603-5
Maddie James works at that spy agency. In a cube farm known as "the Mines." She's not a spy, she's an analyst. One of the people that sift through mountains of information for puzzle pieces that, even though they don't fit well together, show a picture of what is about to happen. She's dis-heartened, dis-enchanted and dis-interested in her job and her career. She (and the rest of the agency) failed to stop "the Strikes" (planes that crashed into the twin towers, the Pentagon and the ground a few years ago). Now, she's deathly afraid that she'll fail to stop some other disaster from occurring. She's afraid to sleep at night because she dreams of disasters and is unable to stop them. She's afraid to be awake because she knows disasters are lurking just around the corner and she'll be unable to stop them.
But, she has to work against both the terrorists who are plotting new mayhem but also her boss and the politicians who all have their own agendas.
Through the lens of Maddie's struggles, both past and present, we learn more about how the intelligence business strives to protect our country while being pulled in many directions by bureaucrats and politicians. Real truth is often sacrificed to find a palatable truth, the truth that "the President wants to hear."
Maddie and a group of sometimes lovable, sometimes distasteful colleagues are hot on the trail of a new group of terrorists with an unknown plan to attack in an unknown city. The trail leads through many twists and turns. And it constantly leaves the reader wondering "how, with all the obstacles in its way, does the CIA ever get anything done right?"
The first half of the story is darkly humorous and engaging. The second half is a fast-paced, engaging thriller. Together they make for a fascinating read.
Intelligence: A Story of the CIA
Susan Hasler
ISBN 978-0-312-57603-5
Book Review--The Domino Pattern by Timothy Zahn
Murder-on-a-train mysteries have been pretty much relegated to the ranks of historical fiction. Until Timothy Zahn mixed Murder on the Orient Express with space opera and came up with The Domino Pattern.
It’s never exactly clear how trains will become the dominant form of trans-galactic luxury travel in the future (at least not to me--maybe it's explained in an earlier installment of the series). And you have to suspend a fair amount of disbelief when you learn that this is a non-stop train express that travels for six weeks and can’t (not won't, can't) stop anywhere. But if you get past that point you find yourself in a fairly engrossing tale of intergalactic mystery and intrigue.
Frank Compton and his partner, Bayta, work for the Quadrail system (the Orient Express of the future) and do battle against an alien hive mind that is bent on galactic domination. First, though, they have to figure out who is killing their fellow passengers, how they're doing it and why. We know this is going to be a difficult task because the "how" seems impossible. The Quadrail system automatically scans all passengers, luggage and cargo for all known weapons or poisons (ignoring the fact that we all know that a well-trained assassin can kill with any number of things, including rolled up magazines--but again, we've suppressed our disbelief).
Luckily, Frank is carrying his portable gas chromatograph (that still uses an open flame--oops) and he is able to find out how the victims were killed. But that leaves two huge questions--why and by whom. Frank and his partner, along with some likely and very unlikely allies speed through intergalactic space, hot on the trail of the killer.
If you're looking for intellectual engagement, you should already know better than to pick up anything even approaching space opera. But, if you're looking for light entertainment and a throwback to yesteryear (through the far future) this is your book.
Book Review
The Domino Pattern
Timothy Zahn
ISBN978-0-7653-2212-8
Monday, June 21, 2010
Book Review--The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw
This is a book unashamedly and unapologetically in the "DaVinci Code" genre. I love these books but I love them for a couple of specific reasons:
So, we already know most of what The Atlantis Code has to offer. At least I already knew all this. But I'm jaded--I've read dozens of books in this genre. There was little new here. But was The Atlantis Code a good escape? Sadly, no. It was hard to get lost in (and these books should be easy to get lost in). The plot twists were predictable--or, at best, predictably unpredictable--and most of the characters were one-dimensional. If you are just starting out in your journey in this genre this might be an interesting book. For just about everyone else, though, leave it on the shelf. There are a lot more interesting escapist thriller reads available.
The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw ISBN 978-0-7653-1531-1 Published 2009 by Trident Media Group, LLC
- Education. You get to learn a lot. They're full of cutting-edge science, puzzles, mysteries and journeys through new and different locales.
- Escape. You can let all your cares and woes fly away while you're wrapped up in the exciting adventure and characters.
So, we already know most of what The Atlantis Code has to offer. At least I already knew all this. But I'm jaded--I've read dozens of books in this genre. There was little new here. But was The Atlantis Code a good escape? Sadly, no. It was hard to get lost in (and these books should be easy to get lost in). The plot twists were predictable--or, at best, predictably unpredictable--and most of the characters were one-dimensional. If you are just starting out in your journey in this genre this might be an interesting book. For just about everyone else, though, leave it on the shelf. There are a lot more interesting escapist thriller reads available.
The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw ISBN 978-0-7653-1531-1 Published 2009 by Trident Media Group, LLC
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