Marty

Jack Kerouacs prose, like that of James Joyce, gets into your head and races over the reticulations and slaloms down the grooves kicking up powder everywhere. Once you have tasted his best work there is no going back to the safety of the restrained and structured prose of Dostoyevsky, Faulkner, and Hemingway. Big Sur is arguably one of Kerouacs best novels. It documents the personal crests and troughs between his initial fame that catapults him into the limelight and a downhill slide to what eventually becomes a self-destructive, terminal binge. It takes a much brighter look at his experience tower sitting on Desolation Peak than does Desolation Angels. Tom Parkers narration does justice to both the pace and tone of Kerouacs voice. Leave your slippers and smoking jacket at home and put on your walking shoes. Big Sur is waiting just over the edge of the Pacific bluffs.

To those who read horror, Richard Matheson's stories are legend. What is often overlooked is his mastery of the writer's craft. I am Legend is exemplary of his talent and skill. Anyone familar with the 70s movie Omega Man based on this story will be surprised at how different the book is from that script. Those familiar with The Last Man on Earth will be delighted at its faithfullness. These are not Stoker's vampires. Suspend your disbelief and enjoy this modernization of the vampire mythos that was unique for its time.

I love all things Vonnegut but particularly his short stories. Vonnegut brings his usual foresight and visceral wit to bear on an inevitable human problem of what to do when everyone can live as long as they want, a problem that becomes more relevant as medicine advances beyond our cultural maturity. Whether you have read it or this is your first encounter with Vonnegut, it is a great listen.

I applaud George Guidall for taking control of the entire scope of Dostoevskys novel. This is a fantastic performance not just a passive reading of the book. Guidall captures the paranoid, neurotic Raskolnikov and the sly detective Petrovich who is, in my opinion, the precursory archetype of almost every psychology-drenched criminal profiler of contemporary fiction and television. He even performs the deceptively amoral Svidrigailov with deft depth avoiding an often mistaken melodrama. Those familiar with the novel will enjoy the vitality that Guidall brings to the work and strangers will find it accessible.

Ethan Hawke gives a new voice to our old friend Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut triumphs with this odd tale of one mans mind as it travels the psychological minefields of World War II and the 1950s. The interview with Vonnegut at the end is a nice bonus for old friends. For those who find comparisons to contemporary writers helpful, I think anyone who enjoys Chuck Palahniuk will love this book.

The autobiographical style of this book might disappoint those expecting the short barbs of Blacks usually cutting standup humor but it will delight book readers. Lewis Black takes the reader on a nostalgic journey through the times of his life with particular focus on the sixties and that decade?s influence on contemporary culture. There are many funny moments but mostly it contains a contemplative humor and anecdotes. This is a good book not a standup comedy album.

If you are interested in Artificial Intelligence, E-Business, or politics this book will tickle your neurons and tighten your synapses. Take the book in whole rather than approach each chapter as a separate lesson. Those unfamiliar with mathematics theory should understand that the early chapters deal with theories that the later chapters prove inapplicable to scale-free networks and the World Wide Web. So do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Wayne Koestenbaum looks past Warhols blond wig but he sees through rose-colored glasses. This worthwhile and entertaining book fails to balance criticism of Warhols failures with its gushing praise of his successes. Koestenbaums analysis of Warhols work in various media does not substantiate his wholesale acceptance of them. Nevertheless, the book orients the wide spectrum of Warhols prolific vision and influence in Art History.

This Ellison classic is quintessential short fiction produced by the incomparable Yuri and with a cast topped by Williams? dramatic and zany performance as the revolutionary Harlequin. Any well-read reader will hear echoes of Huxley, Orwell, Heinlein, and Vonnegut in this excellent, thought-provoking, and entertaining fiction. It is one of the best of the 2000x series.