I’ll say this for Jorma Kaukonen’s autobiography Been So Long: My Life and Music—of the books on musicians I’ve read over the years, Kaukonen’s is the only one where a passion for speed skating saved the subject of the book from completely succumbing to the ills of drugs and alcohol. Kaukonen admits that he was … Continue reading
In her nonfiction book The Real Lolita, author Sarah Weinman explores the kidnapping case that writer Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita was partially based on as well as Nabokov’s development and writing of the novel. In 1948 eleven-year-old Sally Horner was abducted by Frank La Salle, a drifter who had served time for the statutory … Continue reading
Jill Lepore’s biography of Joe Gould, enticingly titled Joe Gould’s Teeth, is about a writer who couldn’t stop writing. Joe Gould claimed for years to be writing the longest book ever written, a book he called “The Oral History of Our Time.” In her book, Lepore searches through various archives for any parts of Gould’s … Continue reading
The non-fiction book discussion participants were very interested in reading this. The group was given two and a half months to do so, but only two actually finished it. So first, let’s get the negativity out of the way. Here are those comments: “WAY, WAY, WAY too long.” OK, that is true. “WAY, WAY, WAY … Continue reading
According to author Jeff Guinn’s research for The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, the commonly used expression “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid” should actually be “Don’t drink the Flavor Aid.” It was this cheaper version of Kool-Aid that Jim Jones’ most devoted followers mixed with cyanide on that day at the Jonestown … Continue reading
It’s always interesting in seeing a young person evolve from child to adult and Anne Frank is no different. Her world was very different from that of a normal 13 year old, but her process of maturation was not. She talked too much, often disliked her mother, thought everyone believed her older sister was perfect, … Continue reading
A book built on two literary elites arguing about the translation of Russian writer Alexander Pushkin’s narrative poem “Eugene Onegin” may not sound like thrilling reading. While I won’t say it’s on par with Stuart Woods or Lee Child, Alex Beam’s The Feud: Vladimir Nabokov, Edmund Wilson, and the End of a Beautiful Friendship is … Continue reading
