Category Archives: non-fiction
The Numbers Game
In a nutshell, The Numbers Game is Moneyball for soccer. But like a lot of people, I find it something of a challenge to look at soccer in the same manner as stat-heavy baseball. But the authors do come across … Continue reading
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Floating City
Floating City, the memoir of Columbia sociology professor Sudhir Venkatesh, offers a fascinating view of New york City’s underground economy, specifically the trade in sex and drugs. The book is part sociological study, and part personal journey. A very interesting … Continue reading
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Detroit: An American Autopsy
Even though I am genuinely interested in understanding what happened in Detroit and why, there a certain level of guilt involved in reading a book like Charlie LeDuff’s Detroit: An American Autopsy. Don’t get me wrong — it’s a great … Continue reading
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Racing the Beam
I’d never heard of “platform studies” before, but in “Racing the Beam” (2009) Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost do a good job of telling the history of the Atari 2600 gaming console from the perspective of its game developers. The … Continue reading
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The Age of Edison
In “The Age of Edison,” author Ernest Freeberg reminds us of what we take for granted every time we flip a light switch or plug in a smartphone. The energy ecosystem that we enjoy today — power plants, transmission lines … Continue reading
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Punching Out
In “Punching Out” (2011), Paul Clemens spends a year at the massive Budd Detroit Automotive Plant, Stamping and Framing Division in Detroit — the year after the plant has been shut down. He chronicles the plant’s press lines being disassembled … Continue reading
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Exploding the Phone
Phil Lapsley’s “Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell” tells the story of the underground “phone phreaking” culture of the pre-PC era. That group included Steve Wozniak (who wrote the book’s forward … Continue reading
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The Idea Factory
In The Idea Factory (2012), Jon Gertner tells the story of Bell Labs, the “idea factory” of the title. Bells Labs was established as the research & development arm of AT&T (once known as “Ma Bell”), which was committed to … Continue reading
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Trading Bases
I very much enjoyed Joe Peta’s Trading Bases: A Story About Wall Street, Gambling, and Baseball (Not Necessarily in That Order). The product of a horrible collision between the author and a New York City ambulance (not to mention the … Continue reading
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Elsewhere
Richard Russo’s memoir “Elsewhere” (2012) is, quite simply, required reading for anyone who has enjoyed Russo’s work, especially his earlier books. Sadly, the decline of upstate New York cities like Gloversville, where Russo grew up, has only hastened since Russo … Continue reading
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