VICKI'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2013

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

I guess you were not keen on the Sherwood book.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

34. by Rex Stout

Finish date: April 7, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B

Review: This one is ususual, in that the client is a character from a previous book, Too Many Cooks. The client, Paul Whipple, was a Negro busboy in the previous book who gave Wolfe information which allowed him to solve that case. Now he asks Wolfe to find out what's wrong with his son's white girlfriend (since there must be something). Not long after, she's killed and the son is arrested. Much less use of the n-word in this one than in the previous one, but it's still jarring, as is the use of "Negro" and "colored." I guess we're just not used to those labels now.

by Rex Stout

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

35. Rex Warner (no photo)

Finish date: April 15, 2013
Genre: Roman fiction
Rating: B

Review: This is the sequel to Young Caesar, and covers the period in Caesar's life from the beginnings of the Gallic wars through the morning of his assassination. It takes the form of his reminiscences of the events and people he has encountered. He has always been very ambitious, and has tried to procede without breaking any laws, but his enemies have forced him to cross the Rubicon and declare civil war. There are times in battle when he very nearly failed, but his courage, his tactical intelligence and the quality of his troops pulled him through. Even though there's virtually no dialog, this is a very readable account of the life of a fascinating character.

(no image) Young Caesar by Rex Warner (no photo)

[Judy]

Vicki wrote: "35. Rex Warner


Looks like another add to my TBR pile..both of them.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

36. by Benoît B. Mandelbrot

Finish date: April 15, 2013
Genre: Math
Rating: C+

Review: Benoit Mandelbrot lead a very long and peripatetic life, and unlike most mathematicians, whose major work is done when they are relatively young, his groundbreaking The Fractal Geometry of Nature wasn't published until 1977, when he was 53. Born in Warsaw in 1924 to Lithuanian Jewish parents, he and his family escaped the Nazis to settle in France, where he studied math. He was always interested in applying math to different fields, like economics, fluid dynamics, information theory, many more. He worked at IBM, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and at universities in France and Switzerland. While his life was interesting, this memoir felt a bit disjointed. He completed it not long before his death in 2010.

by Benoît B. Mandelbrot

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

37. by Simon Garfield

Finish date: April 19, 2013
Genre: Other non-fiction
Rating: A

Review: This is a fascinating look at the history of maps in their many forms. It's not strictly chronological, and skips around some. There's an amazing amount of detail and lots of pictures. He even gets down to current efforts to map the brain, and devotes a chapter to video games which depend on maps, such as Grand Theft Auto.

[Peter]

Vicki wrote: "37. Simon Garfield

Finish date: April 19, 2013
Genre: Other non-fiction
Rating: ..."

Sounds interesting!

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

38. by Ian McEwan

Finish date: April 21, 2013
Genre: Other fiction
Rating: B+

Review: Michael Beard is an aging Nobel physicist who's managed to snare (and lose) 5 very attractive wives, losing them because of his numerous affairs. We drop in on a few days of his life in 2000, 2005 and 2009, while he is investigating how to commercialize artifical photosynthesis as a cheap and inexhaustible power supply. His messy personal life keeps intruding. He's not very likable but the messes he gets involved in are pretty interesting, as is the discussion of physics here and there.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

39. by Rex Stout

Finish date: April 23, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B

Review: Another set of three novellas, no one stands out. I keep wondering why Inspector Cramer keeps pulling Archie in for questioning, holding him overnight in many cases, when he knows full well, after having been involved with dozens and dozens of cases with Wolfe, that Wolfe is always right and anyway, Archie is not going to give him anything useful. I guess there wouldn't be any conflict without Cramer's amnesia.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

40. by Pamela Wharton Blanpied (no photo)

Finish date: April 27, 2013
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: B

Review: This was a very interesting book, treating dragons as though they were just another creature, albeit a very strange one, living with us on Earth. It takes the form of a scientific monograph, with a bibliography and index, and ends with excerpts from the journals of two researchers who became very close to the "worms." They learned the dragon language, and dragons more easily learned ours, but they also caused a lot of destruction and death. This book might make you believe they could exist.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

41. by Rex Stout

Finish date: April 28, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B

Review: Wolfe has a formidable opponent in this one. His client is being followed and otherwise harrassed by the FBI and Wolfe has to find a way to make them stop. He decides the best way is to prove that the FBI didn't murder a man writing an expose of them, which Inspector Cramer belives is what happened.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

42. by Rex Stout

Finish date: April 30, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B

Review: One of the operatives Wolfe uses often, Orrie Cather, is accused of murdering a woman he was sleeping with. She's a very secretive person, so it's hard to come up with any other potential culprit. Possibilities are the man who was paying for her apartment (not Orrie!), her sister and brother-in-law, or one of her very narrow circle of friends.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

MAY

43. by Térence

Finish date: May 4, 2013
Genre: Roman fiction
Rating: C+

Review: This is the first comedy written by the Roman playwright Terence, supposedly when he was 19, in 166 BC. He took many of the elements of the story from an earlier Greek play by Menander. It's fairly standard, with a love-sick son, a stern father, wily slaves and a girl the father doesn't approve of - in this case she's pregnant. All's well in the end, of course.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

44. by Thornton Wilder

Finish date: May 6, 2013
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: B-

Review: Wilder took the characters and basic plot from Andria by the Roman playwright Térence, but without the wily slaves. The lives of people on a Greek island in roughly the 300 BC era are imagined, along with the restrictions placed on young people and the responsibilities felt by their parents to give them a good start in life. The Woman of Andros is Chrysis, a hetaira, a high-class courtesan who entertains young men in town, most especially a young man who falls in love with her sister, who becomes pregnant. The young man wants to marry her, but his father is against it.

by Térence

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

45. by John Steinbeck

Finish date: May 8, 2013
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B-

Review: This is the first Steinbeck I've ever read, and I really enjoyed it. There's not much of a plot, mostly just character sketches and descriptions of the area in Monterey. And most of the characters are of the down-and-out variety, with various schemes to get by without working too much, including drinking as much a possible. But they're all people you wouldn't mind having a conversation with.

[Jill H.]

Your review makes me think that I may have to revisit Steinbeck again, Vicki.....it has been years since I have read one of his books.

John Steinbeck

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

Jill wrote: "Your review makes me think that I may have to revisit Steinbeck again, Vicki.....it has been years since I have read one of his books."

I just started Sweet Thursday, the sequel to Cannery Row, and it has the same humorous feel. I imagine that some of his others, like Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, are more grim.


by John Steinbeck

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

46. by Ian Matthew Morris (no photo)

Finish date: May 9, 2013
Genre: History
Rating: A-

Review: I was a bit daunted when I got the book from the library and saw how big it is. But it was not at all hard to read - his style is somewhat humorous and he explains things well. He starts way back, before there was such a thing as humans, but the really interesting stuff happens around the invention of agriculture. Apparently there were more types of plants and animals in the West that were amenable to domestication and selective breeding than in the East. He compares East and West using four measures - energy consumed (human and animal food, as well as fuels), size of the largest city, information technology (books, phones, etc.) and war-making ability. The West was ahead until about 500 CE, when things fell apart in the West, while the East got its act together. But once industrialization was "invented" in the West, they took off exponentially. I really enjoyed this book, with its sweeping view of history, although the Chinese history was pretty much new. It definitely made me want to delve more into different parts of the past. There were recommendations for a few interesting books in the Further Reading section.

[Jill H.]

Vicki wrote: "Jill wrote: "Your review makes me think that I may have to revisit Steinbeck again, Vicki.....it has been years since I have read one of his books."

I just started Sweet Thursday, the sequel to C..."

They are, Vicki, and rather sad.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

47. by Rex Stout

Finish date: May 11, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B

Review: A young woman comes to Wolfe with $250,000 in cash, saying her mother had put $1000 away every month since her birth and that it came from her father. Her mother had been killed recently in a hit-and-run, and she wants Archie, whom she trusts absolutely, to find her father. They have very few clues, and don't even know the real name of the mother, but they prevail. An interesting case.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

48. by Sandra Hempel (no photo)

Finish date: May 19, 2013
Genre: History
Rating: B

Review: I discovered this book while reading On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks, where it was referenced because of the map John Snow made of cases of cholera in London in 1854. They were concentrated around a particular public water pump. Snow was convinced that cholera was disseminated through dirty water, but most physicians believed it was bad air. He was finally vindicated, after having been ignored for a long time, but his fame came after his untimely death. The book covers how physicians were educated, the discovery of anesthesia, which Snow was also connected with, and the discovery of germs. Sadly (or happily?), this book leads to three more that look very interesting. I'll never get through my to-read list at this rate.

by Simon Garfield

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

49. by John Steinbeck

Finish date: May 20, 2013
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B+

Review: This is a sequel to Cannery Row. It takes place after WWII, when most of the canneries have been closed due to overfishing. Many of the characters from the previous book have moved on, but Doc and the boys at the Palace Flophouse are still there. This book even has a plot of sorts. All the folks in the area want to do something nice for Doc, and they decide he needs a permanent girlfriend. There are lots of stumbles on the way to the end, and it's very entertaining.

by John Steinbeck

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

JUNE

50. by Harry Sidebottom

Finish date: June 7, 2013
Genre: Roman fiction
Rating: B+

Review: This takes place in 255-256 CE, at the easternmost frontier of the Roman Empire, in a city on the banks of the Euphrates. The Emperor knows the city will soon be attacked by the Persian empire, and sends General Ballista there to organize the resistance to the upcoming siege. This is a rather strange novel about Roman warfare, because there's not a lot of action until the siege starts. The first two of the three parts of the book are about preparing for the siege, and even the siege itself doesn't have much action. But surprisingly, I found it really interesting. The author is a history professor and works in details quite well. Also the characters are all quite distinct and you feel the loss when some of them are killed. This is the first in a series with five books so far.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

51. by Rex Stout

Finish date: June 10, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B-

Review: The murder in this book happens a couple of weeks before the opening of the book, in Montana at Lily Rowan's ranch, where Archie has been vacationing. The ranch foreman has been arrested, but most people who know him are convinced he's innocent. Archie writes Wolfe that he'll have to stay in Montana until he can spring the foreman, so Wolfe comes out (a practically unheard of occurrence) to help. I prefer the stories which take place in New York, where Wolfe can have all the suspects together in his office, but this was fairly interesting.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

52. by Rex Stout

Finish date: June 12, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B-

Review: Wolfe's doctor wants Archie's help with a man who's come to a doctor friend of his complaining of blood on his hands that won't wash off. Archie finds out this is connected to the bomb which was put in the desk drawer of a TV executive which killed a different executive. Pretty convoluted.

[Jill H.]

Vicki wrote: "51. by Rex Stout

Finish date: June 10, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B-

Review: The murder in this book happens a couple of weeks..."

Not my favorite.....like you, I feel more comfortable in the brownstone!!

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

53. by Rex Stout

Finish date: June 13, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B+

Review: This is the last Nero Wolfe novel, written 41 years after the first one. What I like about this series (aside from the engaging characters and clever plots) is that each book is independent of all the others - the characters don't change and you learn everything you need to know about the situation at Wolfe's brownstone in NYC in each book, so you can read them in any order. It seems as though Stout meant this to be the last one because something rather terrible happens to one of Wolfe's extended "family," the people he relies on. I can't say more for fear of ruining the plot. Wolfe's favorite waiter from Rusterman's comes to tell Archie he thinks he's going to be killed, so Archie lets him stay in the house. But just after the waiter is left in the guest bedroom, he's blown up by something he brought with him. Tracking down the murderer is more tricky than usual, but Archie and Wolfe manage. The conclusion was pretty shocking.

[Jill H.]

Vicki wrote: "52. by Rex Stout

Finish date: June 13, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B+

Review: This is the last Nero Wolfe novel, written 41 yea..."

This book was a real shocker indeed, Vicki. And Stout still could write after 41 years!!!! I kept putting off reading it because I did not want to know the plot twist......but when I did, I have re-read it a couple of times since. It may be one of the best Wolfe of the novels. I have not read any of the Wolfe books written by Robert Goldsborough after Stout's death and probably won't. You can't beat the master!

Robert Goldsborough

[Jill H.]

I am now blaming you because I am getting ready to start a Wolfe book that I have read before (I have read them all). But you got me thinking about how much I miss reading them periodically, so I am putting aside by TBR list and it is all your fault!!! :>)

by Rex Stout

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

Mea culpa! I really should be reading books I haven't read before, but my excuse is that I'm trying to clean out my bookshelves and I wanted to reread these before I give them to the library. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Jill H.]

At least you have an excuse!!!!

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

54. by Rex Stout

Finish date: June 16, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B+

Review: This appears to be the last Rex Stout book published, although the three novellas contained in it aren't new ones, but new versions of already published works. The first one, Bitter End, originally had another detective, Tecumseh Fox, as the main character, who had to soldier on without his own Archie Goodwin. The second one, Frame-Up for Murder, was originally Murder Is No Joke, which appeared in And Four to Go. The last one, Assault on a Brownstone, was originally Counterfeit for Murder, and appeared in Homicide Trinity. I much preferred the original story for this last one. There's an interesting introduction by John J. McAleer, who was Stout's authorized biographer.

by Rex Stout

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

55. by John Mortimer

Finish date: June 22, 2013
Genre: Other fiction
Rating: B+

Review: I watched the PBS series before reading any of the Rumpole stories, so I visualize Rumpole as Leo McKern, who was so perfect in the role. The book contains six stories, where Rumpole is defending various types of people. He generally prefers minor London "villains," who are always so grateful and helpful in their own defense. He's put upon at home by his wife Hilda, "She who must be obeyed." All of the various characters are wonderfully portrayed, sometimes by just a few lines of dialog. Many of the episodes are available on YouTube and elsewhere on the Web.

[Jill H.]

I love the Rumpole stories and have a couple of the books. And you are so right.....Leo McKern was Rumpole...the perfect casting.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

56. by Paul Waters (no photo)

Finish date: June 28, 2013
Genre: Roman fiction
Rating: B+

Review: In the mid fourth century, in Roman Britain, young Drusus is sent to live with his uncle in London when his father is called to Trier in Gaul, charged by the current emperor Constans with treason for supporting Constantine II. Uncle Balbus is a merchant and seems fond of the boy, but his wife is unfriendly in the extreme and his son Albinus torments Drusus. Drusus meets another teenager Marcellus and they become fast friends (and more). There's a good bit of religious strife between the ascendant Christians and the believers in the old Roman gods - the Christians seem like bullies and hooligans. The book presents a picture of what happens when an orderly society breaks down, and it's not nice. You really get the sense of being there - Waters does a good job of describing what it was like.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

JULY

57. by John Mortimer

Finish date: July 2, 2013
Genre: Other fiction
Rating: B+

Review: Another group of six stories about Horace Rumpole, a London barrister who mostly defends petty crooks and sometimes gets them off. My favorite in this collection was "Rumpole and the Age of Retirement." Rumpole is feeling weary, and his family and co-workers think he's about to retire. Hilda, his wife, and Nick, their son, assume the elder Rumpole's will move to Baltimore to be with Nick and his wife. But Rumpole would rather die than retire, as everyone finds out at his retirement party. Like other Rumpole stories, this was on PBS and is available on DVD.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

58. by Erich S. Gruen (no photo)

Finish date: July 4, 2013
Genre: Ancient history
Rating: B+

Review: Gruen examines the institutions of the Roman Republic in the decades before Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and precipitated the civil war that ended the Republic. He looks at political alignments, elections, criminal trials, legislative activity, the plebs and the army, and concludes that the fall of the Republic wasn't inevitable, that there was no gradual decline, but that the civil war and its aftermath was so broad and damaging that the institutions of the state couldn't continue as they had for ages. Perhaps the personalities of the main players - Caesar, Pompey and Cato - were so strong and opposed that nothing could have prevented the final outcome. One of the most interesting and striking things about the book was the voluminous footnotes referencing Cicero's writings. Obviously if those hadn't been preserved, we would know much less about this period of history.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

59. by Paul Waters (no photo)

Finish date: July 8, 2013
Genre: Roman fiction
Rating: B+

Review: This is a sequel to Cast Not The Day. Drusus and Marcellus have been arrested in Britain and are sent to Gaul, to be transferred to Emperor Constans' court, but when they arrive in Gaul, they are treated as guests and not criminals, and become part of the court of the current Caesar (a sort of vice-emperor), Julian. As in the previous book, the "enemy" are Christians, at least some of the higher-ups. Julian is a very interesting historical character, being a believer in the old gods, hence out of step with the series of Christian emperors, starting with Constantine. As the book ends, it seems like Waters may write a third in the series, at least I hope so.

by Paul Waters (no photo)

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

60. by John Mortimer

Finish date: July 11, 2013
Genre: Other fiction
Rating: B

Review: More Rumpole short stories. This is the fourth in the Rumpole series (I skipped the third because it's a novel but I think I need to go back to it.) In "Rumpole and the Gentle Art of Blackmail" he is defending a young man against a charge of blackmail by a college professor, and at the same time Hilda, Rumpole's wife, is sort of blackmailing him into getting covers for their sofa. Hilda is an interesting character. She always seems to be irritated by Rumpole; I wonder that she doesn't have an ulcer.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

61. by David G. Compton (no photo)

Finish date: July 16, 2013
Genre: Science fiction
Rating: B+

Review: This is an unusual sci-fi book because it doesn't have any space ships or civilizations on other planets. It takes place in the near future (from the perspective of 1968, when it was published), which could almost be our present. A brilliant psychologist and an equally brilliant engineer have discovered a way to tape people's mental states, which can be played back by anyone. You might want to experience how a conductor feels leading a Beethoven symphony, or how a really responsive woman feels during sex. The story is told by the psychologist's wife, who is "in treatment" after being found guilty of killing her husband. Her treatment consists of daily doses of a "guilt" tape. She's only conscious for a few hours a day and we learn about her life, and eventually whether she is guilty.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

62. by Ross Macdonald

Finish date: July 20, 2013
Genre: Other mysteries
Rating: B+

Review: I think that MacDonald's The Zebra-Striped Hearse was the first mystery novel I ever read. I found it in the library - must have been attracted by the strange name. Once I had read it, I was hooked on the author and read all his books. This is one of the later ones. Lew Archer, the detective, is somewhat jaded, but not totally cynical, and does care about his clients, especially the younger members of the family. In this case, he's hired by an attorney to investigate the theft of a gold box and some letters. Some of the people involved in the case wind up dead, and his investigation leads back to a 15 year old murder. There are quite a few people with links to the crimes and to each other, and I sort of wish I had made a flow-chart of the connections. As in many of the later novels, this old murder had an effect on the son of the family who were robbed. I'm looking forward to rereading many of these mysteries.

by Ross Macdonald

[Jill H.]

Knowing that you like a variety of genres, I have a recommendation for you which I think you might like. It is a sci-fi book......or more a post apocalyptic book that was adapted for radio back in the late 1940s and is rated as one of the finest of radio dramas. I read it last year and really enjoyed it. You might want to give it a try.

Earth Abides

by George R. Stewart

[G]

Jill wrote: "Knowing that you like a variety of genres, I have a recommendation for you which I think you might like. It is a sci-fi book......or more a post apocalyptic book that was adapted for radio back in ..."

I have to agree. I think this is the best post apocalyptic book I have read, largely because I believe it can happen that way. Thanks for the info on the radio show. I am going to have to look for it.

Reading everyone's 50 books thread is really making my TBR list unmanageable. Thank you both!

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

Thanks Jill and G. Another one to add to my list. At this rate, I'd better live a very long life. I should probably stop reading books I've already read, but they're so enjoyable.

[Jill H.]

I know what you mean since you were the one who got me to start re-reading the Nero Wolfe series when I have hundreds of books on my TBR list!

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

63. by Kate Atkinson

Finish date: July 26, 2013
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A

Review: The book starts in 1930, with Ursula, the protagonist, about to kill Hitler. After that, we are treated to the many lives of Ursula, with her mostly living longer in each one. In the first life, she dies immediately, having been strangled by the umbilical cord. In the next one, the doctor arrives in time to prevent that, but then she drowns in the ocean at three. And it takes her a few "tries" to prevent succumbing to the 1918 flu epidemic. After a while she starts to get premonitions, feelings about what might happen if she proceeds on the same course. You are constantly rooting for her to overcome the obstacles she encounters. The most harrowing parts of the book are the portrayals of what life was like in WWII London and Berlin. There's a lot of variety in her lives and it never gets repetitive. This is a really entertaining book.

[Alisa]

Vicki I have been so curious about that book. Great to see your review. On the TBR list it goes!

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

64. by John Mortimer

Finish date: July 30, 2013
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B

Review: This is the novel I skipped while reading the short story collections. Rumpole and Hilda have left London and moved to Florida to be with their son and daughter-in-law. Things are too peaceful for Rumpole, away from the Uxbridge Magistrates Court and Pommeroy's Wine Bar. He gets a chance to get back in the fray when a letter arrives from Phillida Erskine-Brown asking a question about blood (Rumpole's specialty) connected to a murder case they're doing. Instead of just writing back, Rumpole hops on a plane and inserts himself back in chambers, much to the consternation of the two new barristers who have taken over his old room. The case is connected back to Florida by a weird religious cult, one of whose ex-members is the defendant. This novel is a bit less satisfying than the short stories, because a good bit of it happens out of Rumpole's presence, and the events have to be relayed to him by someone else, with him passing it on to us. But it's still a pretty good story.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

AUGUST

65. by John Mortimer

Finish date: August 2, 2013
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B

Review: This collection had a couple of really interesting stories. In "Rumpole and the Golden Thread" he has to go to an African country to defend a politician on a murder charge. And in "Rumpole and the Old Boy Network" we meet the new head of chambers (not Rumpole, alas), Sam Ballard, who replaces Guthrie Featherstone, who's been elevated to judge. Having watched the TV series, it's very easy to visualize the action. Leo McKern was just perfect in the title role.

[Vicki, Assisting Moderator - Ancient Roman History]

66. by David Sedaris

Finish date: August 3, 2013
Genre: Essays
Rating: B

Review: This collection of essays is entertaining, although not as funny as Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary. Most are written in the author's own voice, but a few are written as other persons, and not nice ones. My favorites were the one about Sedaris' colonoscopy and the poem about dogs - these were the last two in the book.

by David Sedaris