Michael's profile

111 ratings | 7 reviews
avg rating: 3.99

Michael's bookshelves

read (111)

currently-reading (2)

to-read (1)

Michael is currently reading

	10/19 Michael is currently reading: Amsterdam (Paperback) by Ian McEwan bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
	add a comment
	08/05 Michael is currently reading: Murphy (Paperback) by Samuel Beckett bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
	add a comment

Michael's recent updates (rss)

April 27
	Michael gave to: Gravity's Rainbow (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Thomas Pynchon	my rating:
	add a comment
October 19
	Michael is currently reading: Amsterdam (Paperback) by Ian McEwan bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
	add a comment
	Michael gave to: The Skull Mantra (Mass Market Paperback) by Eliot Pattison	my rating:
	read in October, 2007 Michael said: "A wonderful example of a detective novel more concerned with place than detection. Pattison uses the genre to present the plight of the Tibetan people, and especially the Buddhist priesthood, in especially harsh terms. The atmospherics, in other word...more " add a comment
	Michael gave to: Motherless Brooklyn (Paperback) by Jonathan Lethem	my rating:
	read in October, 2007 Michael said: "This is the most engaging American novel I've read in quite some time. A brilliant conceit (an orphan is duped by a petty mobster into thinking that he, and three other kids from the same orphanage, are detectives), brilliant writing (driven by the w...more " add a comment
September 10
	Michael gave to: Mountains of the Mind: A History of a Fascination (Hardcover) by Robert Macfarlane	my rating:
	read in September, 2007 Michael said: "While I would recommend this book to hikers and climbers--people in love with mountains--it is peculiarly unsatisfying. The premise is interesting (construct a cultural history of the various aspects of our fascination with mountains, including their...more " add a comment
September 06
	Michael gave to: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Paperback) by John le Carré	my rating:
	Michael said: "As many once "serious" literary reputations continue to slide toward oblivion, LeCarre's continues to rise. And much of that is based on the Smiley trilogy. Tinker, Tailor and Smiley's People are among the greatest English-language fictions...more " add a comment
	Michael gave to: A Season with Verona: Travels Around Italy in Search of Illusion, National Character, and...Goals! (Paperback) by Tim Parks	my rating:
	recommended for: Italophile soccer fans Michael said: "This book sits rather uneasily between categories. It is in some sense the third volume of Parks's trilogy on Italian society from the perspective of a permanent resident (it follows Italian Neighbors and Itialian Education). And it is clearly a cont...more " add a comment
	Michael gave to: Italian Education (Paperback) by Tim Parks	my rating:
	recommended for: Italophiles read in January, 2004 Michael said: "A somewhat cynical follow-up to the wonderful Italian Neighbors, this loosely linked series of essays on living as a foreigner in Italian society has its moments, but too much of the writing and insight seems forced and trite. I'm a Tim Parks ...more " add a comment
	Michael gave to: Red Square (Paperback) by Martin Cruz Smith	my rating:
	recommended for: mystery fans; art lovers read in January, 1995 Michael said: "This is one of the best entries in a very good series. A startling change from the brutal edge of Gorky Park and the unrelenting bleakness of Polar Star, the novel adds a touching romance and an art historical subplot to the element tha...more " add a comment
September 04
	Michael gave to: Wolves Eat Dogs (Paperback) by Martin Cruz Smith	my rating:
	read in September, 2007 add a comment