Category Archives: non-fiction
Visit Sunny Chernobyl
I have to thank Andrew Blackwell for the time and effort that went into researching and writing this fascinating book of industrial disaster areas (some still serving industrial functions) throughout the world. As I might want to visit some of … Continue reading
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The Mark Inside
The Mark Inside (2012) tells the fascinating story of a swindled Texas rancher who refused to rest until he got his revenge against each member of the team that took him for $45,000. But what I fond most interesting was … Continue reading
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Island of Vice
The subtitle of Richard Zacks’s Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York (2012) gives away the result — hard-charging reformer Teddy Roosevelt aims to clean up New York City as a Police Commissioner, but … Continue reading
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The American Way of Eating
Tracie McMillan’s The American Way of Eating (2012) should be required reading for any American who eats regularly. One blurb describes it as “Nickled and Dimed meets Fast Food Nation”;that pretty much sums it up. The author picks garlic in … Continue reading
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Fakers
In Fakers: Hoaxers, Con Artists, Counterfeiters and Other Great Pretenders (2008), Paul Maliszewski draws on his own experiences as a frustrated newspaper reporter who wrote fictitious letters to the editor and other submissions as a lens for viewing other liars, … Continue reading
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The Big Roads
In The Big Roads, Earl Swift tells the history of the conception and creation of the Interstate Highway System. For those of us who have lived only in the age of super highways, it is an interesting and well-told … Continue reading
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Wild Bill Donovan
In Wild Bill Donovan (2011), Douglas Waller tells the story of the Buffalo native who help create and oversee most of the nation’s espionage activities during World War II. Donovan was quite a character. A World War I hero, he … Continue reading
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102 Minutes
In 102 Minutes (2005), Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn tell some of the stories of courage and tenderness, and of survival and death, inside the WTC complex on 9/11/01. I decided to read this to emotionally prepare myself for the … Continue reading
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The Man in the Rockefeller Suit
Vanity Fair writer Mark Seal tells the absolutely awesome story of Christian K. Gerhartsreiter, a 17-year old German immigrant who transformed himself into “Clark Rockefeller.” I first read about it here, when he went on trial. Read book reviews in … Continue reading
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Scorecasting
Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won (2011) by Tobias Moskowitz and Jon Wertheim can be best described as “Sports Illustrated meets Freakonomics.” The authors crunch the data and challenge the conventional wisdom. In … Continue reading
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