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Nothing short of honest

Revisado: 03-16-25

Love how it’s written. Much like her songs. I’m about the same age as Neko Case and related to so much. So much. I’m glad she read the audio version.

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Amazing Book. Perfect for Audio.

Revisado: 08-02-22

I wasn’t expecting the optimism. I’m grateful for that and feel I have a better understanding of a possible future.

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Without Awe What Are?

Revisado: 04-10-22

This book is incredible. Such a delight to listen to. If you consider yourself a polymath or a person just as comfortable and interested in the Buddha Mind and Newton’s law of gravity or Gnosticism and Astro-biology then this book is for you. As a collection of facts, I have to admit knowing a good deal of them, but there is something amazing and absolutely enlightening about the way the book is written and arranged. I feel as though I crossed over some bridge of pessimism and that this book has given me strength that I had forgotten or lost. Can’t say enough. Ending is superb.

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Puts the Pieces Together

Revisado: 07-22-21

As a kid growing up in the eighties and early nineties I had the deeply unfortunate experience of being exposed to skinheads. Mostly at shows. This book only touches on skinheads, but provides the backdrop to the whole white power movement, which really helps me contextualize some of my experiences with them. The last chapter on Timothy McVeigh really puts the pieces together and shows how nefarious this whole thing is. This book is timely and necessary.

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A Triumph!!!

Revisado: 03-04-21

I’ve always read and listened to history books. Never fiction. Never historical fiction. I have to say this was an amazing book. So funny and smartly written. And Cicero is such a likable character, which is key to the story working so well. The narration was superb. Really turned me around to seeing the artistry of an audiobook. I’ve always needed to do something when listening to them. This book found me on the couch relaxing with my headphones on. Carried away. I have the next audiobook in the series lined up and ready to go. I thought about reading the next one...but I saw the same narrator did it and thought otherwise.

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Justice for Monk

Revisado: 08-05-20

Monk truly deserved to have this book written. After all the nonsense said about him, he deserved this. Beautiful and touching. I feel so honored to listen to his music and to understand his life through a masterful and sympathetic writer. Thank you both. Justice for Monk. And god bless Nellie.

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A Complicated Person. A Brilliant Biography.

Revisado: 11-21-18

Burroughs was a complicated person. And this is a brilliant biography. I did walk away from it with some of my assumptions in place—that he exploited desperate boys and young men—because of his status. That the root of his famous paranoia was the fact that he was very much the exploitative person he professed to criticize. That he neglected his son and genuinely appeared, at times, to lack empathy. Yet the work also showed that he struggled like anyone else. He had deep friendships and people loved him. The book also explained the biggest mystery to me: why someone who lived in so many amazing places would spend the last 15 years of his life in Kansas.

Needless to say, Miles is truly masterful. He presented the information about Burroughs in an oddly contradictory way—both intimate and objective at the same time. And his understanding of how Burroughs life was unfolding at the time of his works was a true gift. Elucidating without dwelling on them in some pedantic way. His explanation of Burroughs connection to painting and how it evolved in his last years was equally insightful.

Yet more than anything, this book made me want to write and create. I felt Inspired, which I wasn’t expecting. And perhaps more than that, it helped me see Burroughs as an artist. It dispelled some of the myths that made him an icon. Things I’ve been carrying around since first encountering him. It also made me believe, once again, that cut ups might possibly be interfering with the space time continuum. And for that I am truly grateful.

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Waves or particles? Same old telling

Revisado: 06-23-16

I know this guy would run circles around me. I can also appreciate the fact that he's a genius scientist. Yet I was really hoping for an in-depth overview on particle physics. Like the specifics. What I got, instead, was the same historical narrative that didn't, frankly, hang together all that well compared to some other versions of it. I feel bad writing that, but you can tell he's having a hard time breaking it down, and when he does, it's nothing new. So if you have not heard the story about Einstein and the light wave and his skepticism about quantum physics and how the atom doesn't really have particles flying around it and so on...it might be interesting for you. Yet if you have learned all that before, I'd pass.

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Outstanding. An Overview of Things Overlooked

Revisado: 07-24-15

Professor Johnson is an amazing and compelling teacher. He takes a subject which is often marginalized in the world of "ideas" and shows its relevance. He shows how these ancient individuals have much to offer our daily lives.

Personally, I've been greatly interested in Epictetus for quite sometime. The people who list him as an influence is long. For me that was Ralph Waldo Emerson. Professor Johnson does such incredible justice to him, and I learned a great deal that I didn't know before.

If you are looking for something thoughtful, or for something to help you through an especially difficult time or transition, than these authors have much to offer. This is a great starting place to get to know them.

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A Rather "Spatial" Take on Philosophy

Revisado: 12-29-13

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

There is no doubt that Robinson is extremely learned. He's also a little self-impressed. His style can sometimes catapult you into the stars, or drive you nuts, depending on how well you're paying attention. Now, if your looking for a linear take on the history of philosophy, where the lecturer lays everything out according to a strict chronology and a "cause and effect" approach, you would probably do better with another overview. Yet if you're interested in being pulled through 2,500 years of thought according to an extremely erudite professor, who has, mind you, some eccentricity thrown in for good measure, than you will appreciate this approach. In other words, Robinson likes to go for the big ideas. And he likes to spend a lot of time building up to those big ideas. If you're patient and can follow his near-prose style of speaking, it does pay off. And, to his credit, he's working very hard to set things up so you can have your own epiphany with the ideas, which is what great philosophy professors should do. But then again, sometimes you just want the facts, and you want them laid out clearly and concisely. I sometimes found myself thinking "this is amazing," and other times, I found myself thinking, "ok, yeah, yeah, yeah, think I'll forward to the next lecture now." In all he gave me some great insight, some "great ideas," but I did feel it was a lot of work sometimes, and a lot of highs and lows.

What did you like best about this story?

Robinson is smart as hell and passionate, and this comes across in many of the lectures. He seems to do a little bit better with modern philosophy, starting with Bacon.

You're best off finishing a lecture if you happen to start it.

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