Keith

An interesting take on how economics impacts history

Revisado: 08-27-23

I have a strange penchant for enjoying history of commodities and how they intersect with politics and history. This book successfully tells the story of silver and it’s significance in America over the past century or so. The chapters on the Hunt family and William Jennings Bryan are particularly engaging. The writing is not spectacular, but it tells the story in a way that keeps a reader’s attention. He gives mostly unspectacular descriptions of the players involved and never really gets past surface descriptions in a way that makes you connect with anyone. But he does have a knack for keeping the story moving. I really could have lived without hearing silver referred to as “the white metal” over and over again as if that term has some sort of magisterial elegance. There were a few similar quirks that drowned out some of the better moments of the book, but not to the point of ruining the experience.

The author’s somewhat amusing detour into creating a potential JFK assassination conspiracy around silver is a clever bit of satire in a place I did not expect it. That was a clever and unexpected turn. While he’s clearly doing it tongue-in-cheek it is an amusing broadside at many of the underlying notions of motive that exist at the heart of conspiracy theories.

The reader’s voice is strong and clear, telling the story with appropriate enthusiasm and interest. I can imagine being locked away in the studio for 30 hours talking about “the white metal” over and over again trying to keep my focus and struggling. Yet, the reader makes you feel like each sentence is worth your time. A very professional job.

Full disclosure… I initially started reading this book because I thought it might help me with insomnia. I was shocked that it not only kept me awake, but I even felt moments of excitement reading it. I don’t mean that as an insult… I don’t sleep well and finding a simple story that won’t hook me too much can be really helpful. It certainly outperformed my rather pedestrian expectations.

This won’t be your favorite book ever, unless you happen to be deeply curious about the life of Bunker Hunt or have a peculiar obsession with “the white metal”. But, if you give it a chance, I think you’ll find some real value in this… Wait for it… Hidden gem of a book. I mix metaphors terribly.

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A book nearly as long as it’s subject matter

Revisado: 06-30-23

This was a very good read… I was impressed that Glasser was able to get as much out of a very short historical moment. Occasionally, some of the points and quotes were repeated, which felt unnecessary. But, it’s a pretty fascinating story and definitely helps a reader understand the forces at work in a major American political campaign circa 1972.

The narrator did an outstanding job with one minor issue. In quoting the Yeats poem at the end of the book a very critical line was misread as “things fly apart”. I only point this out because it’s one of my favorite poems ever and I hate to hear it misquoted. Feel free to edit the recording and delete this part of my review. Beyond that, the narrator was spotless and has a remarkable voice.

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What might have been?

Revisado: 05-09-23

I picked this up because I am a huge fan of "The Exorcist 3" and Blatty's forgotten masterpiece "The Ninth Configuration". I really enjoy Blatty's style of writing and I feel like this book had the potential to be truly great. It is instead only "very good". The first half really got me. Kindermann walks around crime scenes as if he's Colombo written by GK Chesterton. He practically ignores everything around him and launches into 20 minute monologues on metaphysics and evolution. That part is just phenomenal!
It feels like Blatty had a ton of great ideas for essays, but had to smuggle them into a horror novel to get them read. He does it beautifully with some absolute zingers like his riff on MacBeth being about the "numbing of the moral sense" and witty observations on the evolutionary patterns of birds.

Really, the only problem with this book is the point at which Blatty feels compelled to settle in and actually write the horror novel the audience was expecting. It's fine for horror, but the second half is weighed down by blood and guts. It feels like a little bit of a let down when the tone shifts to darkness. That probably has to happen in a horror novel about the problem of evil, but I found myself wishing Kinderman would just continue on with his Henny Youngman as the Absent Minded Professor schtick. Maybe Blatty is trying to point out that the idea that the seriousness of the nature of evil overwhelms everything it touches, but I really didn't need or want that pointed out to me. The epilogue wraps things up much more in the spirit of the first half of the novel, with Kinderman blathering on about God and pickles. I'd have liked to see more talk about pickles and less about how to properly syphon blood out of a human body. But, I'm probably in the minority of the audience in that regard.

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Wow

Revisado: 04-14-23

That was about as jarring book as I’ve ever read. Horrifying in ways few things have ever dared. Richard Poe absolutely nails, the reader on this. The writing is just remarkable.

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Pretty good follow up

Revisado: 04-12-23

His first book was remarkably engaging and I was hooked right away. This one took me longer and was not as eclectic or fun as the last one, but I learned a lot about how propaganda has changed significantly over the past decade or two. His mixture of personal stories and interviews with critical figures blends together seamlessly and creates a moving listening experience. Not a masterpiece, but a pretty great read.

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"I'll have what he's having!"

Revisado: 02-13-23

I've spent most of my life trying to make sense of the world. Cioran does it in 2 hours and 33 minutes.

Read anything by him. It doesn't matter where you start. It's all fantastic.

In a perfect world, they would start kids as young as three years old on Cioran. Give them an idea of what they are getting into. Of course, in a perfect world, Cioran's books wouldn't exist.

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I prefer not to

Revisado: 01-22-23

I prefer not to. I prefer not to. Four more words? How about…I prefer not to?

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An experience worth having

Revisado: 01-20-23

I don’t know what “truth” is, but the words in this book feel like what I would imagine it to be. To see my worst fears laid bare with such elegance is a gift. Because if the worst is true, and it can be expressed with such power and magnificence, maybe I can stare into the abyss with impassivity and strength. If Sartre is right and “the dreadful has already happened” Cioran has found words that make proposition one I can accept.

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