Objectivism: an extreme philosophy that is to the free market what communism is to liberalism, just in the opposite direction. Instead of glorifying collective action, it glorifies the individual, the ego, denigrating all else–love, charity, God, and any kind of shared effort or brotherhood. I’m all about independence, freedom, and self-reliance, but Rand sees no need for sacrifice, charity, or love. [cont…]
5 Minute Book Review: “Heroes” by Robert Cormier
January 4, 2012 by
For those of us who have never known war, there’s something chilling about the post-war experience of those who have. For all the bullet-dodging action heroes that Hollywood produces and America consumes, we rarely get a taste for the horrors that the scarred veteran must face upon return to the home-front. Even when a movie does try to convey that horror, it remains a visual experience.
Robert Cormier’s “Heroes” has no such problems. {cont…}
E-Book Review: “Chasing the Runner’s High” by Ray Charbonneau
December 29, 2011 by
If there’s one thing Ray Charbonneau understands, it is runners. In Chasing the Runner’s High he may claim that he isn’t sure what a typical runner is, but if the proof is in the pudding, not only is Charbonneau a true blue, died in the wool, run in the sun, rain or snow runner, but he talks […]
A [very] Short Book Review: “The Appeal” by John Grisham
December 23, 2011 by
I read this in April of 2008 after Justice Nehring (of the Utah Supreme Court) told me he was listening to it on CD during his commute each day. Three quarters of my way through it, he told me it was not worth finishing. He was right.
Book Review: “In My Time” by Dick Cheney
November 28, 2011 by
What will history think of Dick Cheney? That jury’s still out, I think, but I know one thing: Cheney is doing his best to steer the criticism. I’ll be honest: I only read this up until the chapter when Cheney starts his account of 9/11 and its aftermath. At that point, I decided that his […]
Book Review: “1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus” by Charles C. Mann
November 27, 2011 by
I’ll be the first to admit that my interests in the historical have generally been Eurocentric, especially the Roman Republic and Empire. Recently, though, I found reason to pick up Charles C. Mann’s “1491,” and I have had a hard time putting it down since. The children’s nursery rhyme reminds us that “In 1492, Columbus […]
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