Aaron Cammarata

What a disappointment. I'm a huge fan of Lewis Black's political commentary, but this book is an attempt at a humorous autobiography.

Turns out listening to him rail on about the 60s, suburbia, and regale us with tales of his drug experiences...not funny. I didn't even finish it.

Awful.

If you've ever seen a computer before, you know more than Mr. Brown, apparently.

Sorry. No good.

This is two stories in one book, neither of which is given a chance to fully flower, or is inherently interesting. Skip it.

I was interested in this for two reasons. 1) Like everyone else, I'm interested to learn about Afghani culture in the wake of recent events, and 2) it's a local interest story to me in Fremont.

I didn't know quite what to expect in terms of plot, and was ready to go along with the autobiographical nature of the book.

Then I learned that the author is a bit of a weasel. A spineless, spoiled coward, with no character. He disappoints at every turn, and then spends the latter parts of the book trying to make amends. He does some good deeds, but they still reek of selfishness.

Finally, the writing itself is of mediocre quality, so even if you wanted to taste the truth of his character, the bitter with the sweet, the book is just plain not enjoyable.

This is a fairly convoluted story that really requires the listener's full attention. All is not as it seems, which made for some cool scenes and "wait - did he just do that?" moments, but the whole thing is told through a number of different voices, some speaking "in the moment", others remniscing back...it's confusing at times. It takes you an hour or two just to figure out the relationship between the different characters.

That, in an of itself is not necessarily a problem - but it has to come together into a solid web at some point, which this story fails to do.

It tries a lame attempt at a dramatic ending, which again falls short, and leaves me wondering why I didn't quit after 4 discs like I wanted to.

A classic of the cyberpunk/sci-fi genre. Well written, well read - this one's a keeper.

I didn't particularly care for the content in the book, though some of the stories were mildly entertaining. Useless, but entertaining.

More importantly, though, I was chatting with a friend who had read the paper book, and he commented on some important tables that illustrated concepts wholly missing from the audiobook.

If you REALLY want to check it out, go to your local Border's, get a coffee, and read it there. Or heck, even buy it, though I don't think it was worth a purchase.

But definitely do not take it in as an audiobook.

You can buy real estate.
Real Estate has tax advantages.
You don't have to buy it all - you can let the bank pay for 80-100% of it.
It doesn't need to be near your home.
You make money by cash-out refinancing, not by selling.

There. You read the book.

This is really 2 books. One about the author's participation in the poker tournament. The other is basically an all-out personal attack, backed by circumstantial evidence, against the folks suspected of murdering Ted Binion. I enjoyed the former, not so much with the latter.

Well voiced, generally worthwhile.

This is a collection of short stories, all loosely related by a framework that ties them together by a common theme. It's enjoyable enough, though feels somewhat dated.