Robert

Nothing to be Frightened of is one of the most interesting books I have read/listened to in recent memory. There is no plot or narrative arc just writer Julian Barnes discussing life, death, family, writting, and the French writers who influenced him and like him tried to wrap their heads around the great unknown. The only real argument that Barnes seems to go give is 'he does not know'.

The books is a testament to Barnes writting ability, wit, and engaging the reader as the book is 10 hours of what seems like random thoughts. Once again there are no chapters, narrative arc, sections, or even a biographical narrative he just writes about what might pop in his head.as it relates to a few of the topics discussed above. But despite the lack of narrative this book is absolutely enthralling and accesible. 5 or 10 minutes do not pass when the reader is not given some great statement or turn of phrases that just gets you excited and wants to read on. I wish I could highlight the audiobook because I want to remember certain arguments and thoughts he has.

The book does start to wear out its welcome in the last quarter but even then I would not have dropped the later segments as they too contain some great momments worth the slog to get to.

A most original work,

I will say this I laughed lots during Romance and the play is definitely not for the politically correct but I was a bit taken aback that a great dramatist like Mamet would write such a silly and entertaining play with no substance that I could find.

Mamet has written some great comedies (Speed the Plow) but this is one of the only works I can think of that exists solely to be silly and make the audience laugh. The play is bordering on absurdist in ths structure and dialog but I could not really irk out a real theme or point in this work.

There is mention of justice, arab/jew/christian relations, and sexuality but I am not sure how Mamet wanted to tie those ends together. But as a whole a real funny (if empty calorie) play.

The highlight is Fred Willard (Best in Show) as the judge with a bad case of hay fever.

I would have given this collection of short stories a better review if the last 3 stories in the collection were not such an ordeal to finish. But the collection starts off great (the opening story is a fascinating/sad/funny vision of heaven) and is followed by some good stories with well realized (sometimes unlikeable) characters.

The book covers the modern US urban/smalltown west of Idaho and Utah (which is not given much coverage in contemporary literature) and also gives an interesting portrait of Mormons (ex-Mormons) that rarely moves into over characterization or grotesque.

Hardly in the same league as the latest collection by George Saunders but worth a look if you are interested in the short story genre/stories set in Idaho/the Mormon/ex-Mormon experience.

OK if you have not read/listened to the work of Bradbury start there. If you still want more this collection is a rather good collection of stories (not as good as Bradbury's classics).

Most of the stories focus more on his sci-fi/fantasy side rather than his nostalgic small town life side (Dandelion Wine). I would almost say that the Joe Hill story is worth the price of admission; One of the best short stories I have heard in recent memory.

Charles Yu is trying hard to write in the vernacular of a Philip K. Dick or Kurt Vonnegut (sci-fi as satire) but mostly fails.

I read this book a few months ago and I have no memory of a memorable story or even anything that made me laugh. With the abundance of quality short fiction out there this is definitely a pass.

Hitch leaves on a high note discussing his favorite topics religion (or his problems with it), literature, and life.

This is actually a real good jumping off point if one is interested in reading further Hitchens at it almost purely Hitchens and his articulate opinions.

I will just list the strengths of this collection of stories rather than an actual review

1) Emma Donoghue is a writter that manages to capture interesting literary themes in very accesible readable/page turning stories

2) The time and place of the stories are clearly set at the beginging so the reader is not spending time figuring what period a story is taking place

3) All/most of these stories are based on actual events. Donoghue is a real good researcher and historical writer

4) All the stories have a general theme of people leaving or finding a physical/mental place which ties the stories together well.

A definitie reccomendation

This book is not so much about the US Dream Team as much as it is about a golden age of hoops. McCallum does a good job profiling the personalities of the team and what made the players legends. He also goes into the behind the scenes working (and ego) that went into picking the team and how the players interacted with each other on and off the court. The book has a behind the scenes feel that does not feel gossipy or tabloidy. The only thing this book was lacking was tactics and real good summaries of the games but I was glad that was not in this book because it would have really weighed down the narrative.

Apparently this book was originally published as an online serialized book and you can really tell. There were numerous times when it was CRYING out for an editor.

There are some rather funny and interesting moments in the book but there was numerous times when I had no clue what was going on and/or the book could have used a good pair of scissors.

The narration is fine but be warned this book is really blue (lots of sex and potty humor) not for the squeamish.

This is a great primer on the excellent TV series. Zicree does go into good detail about the production of every episode and the TV show in general (including spoilers). A good book for someone who has seen the run of the series and wants more information. The guide format worked great for a anthology show like Twilight Zone but I did notice myself zooming out more than I would have a straight linear format. Stay tuned to the end of the audiobook with a rather funny interview with the great actor/TZ regular Burgess Meredith who does not suffer Zicree's dumb/non-topical questions.

It is hard to beat the price for this excellent collection of short stories. O Henry is one of the innovators of the genre and most of his stories hold up. These stories are great for people who want a short story that clearly follows the classic narrative structure of begining, middle, and end. I have read numerous short story collection reviews that complain about how the stories JUST END (I kind of disagree with this argument but that is splitting heirs). But if you want short fiction that has a clear structure (but still is innovative and exciting) with humour, heart (and captures his era) I reccomend O. Henry. The narration is also good. One of the best buys on Audible.