Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge, by Mark Yarm. I know the hipsters on this sports board are too damn cool for these bands, so blow me, ya clowns. I keep thinking it was compiled by Mark *Arm*. Anyway, fun to page through. As much as Buzz Osbourne hates the media, he doesn't ever seem to turn down an interview. It's an oral history, so it is easy to read and re-read and just flip through.

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Tanto and the Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie. Short stories. I read a long time ago, but am reading it now. Uneven, but worth it.

The Great Gatsby gets better each time I read it.

Is Hussra still posting? Unfortunately, I don't think he is. He gives good recommendations & hand-jobs.

Warren Newson? I need something different.

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I am just finishing up Witness about Whitaker Chambers. It is boring.

Going to move onto Abundance by Ezra Klein. His interview with Lex has me intrigued.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I can't help you with the hand-job. Also, this list is complicated by the fact that the last two real good books I read (Sacred Hunger and The Narrow Road to the Deep North) you recommended to me. But, here goes:

1. There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A.” and the End of the Heartland, Steven Hyden- I have vague memories of the Born in the U.S.A tour, largely because of that car accident that killed seven kids from Joliet, but I didn't get into Springsteen until his Greatest Hits album was released in 1995. Therefore, I was too young and too disinterested to really appreciate Born in the U.S.A., in context, in the mid 80's. This book definitely gave me some context. If you're a Bruce fan, it might be worth checking out.

2. The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, Timothy Egan- part natural history, part travelogue, part political science commentary. It's filled with unusual facts. Did you know that, before the advent of dams, salmon used to make it all the way from the Pacific to Idaho to spawn and die? Also, it's an older book so, while it does have some political commentary, it's not crazy or heavy handed.

3. Solomon Gursky Was Here, Mordecai Richler- this is an absolute hot mess of a book, but provided a pretty enjoyable reading experience. Very Jewish, very Canadian.

4. The Voyage of the Narwhal, Andrea Barrett- a fictional account of a doomed polar expedition from the mid 19th century. Good characters and a lot of good natural history. I thought about this book more than once when reading Sacred Hunger.

5. Sophie’s World, Jostein Gaarder- I detested philosophy when I was an undergrad and have been regretting it ever since. A fun, very meta, fictional survey of all of the great philosophers of Western Civilization. I decided to keep the book just so I could open it up and get a thumb nail sketch of a philosopher if I need it.

Whitaker Chambers was one of the biggest douches of the 20th century.

Ezra Klein is one of the biggest douches of the 21st century.

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I am starting to turn to these. Gracias!

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Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien

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TM and CH will like this book because it explores where Liberals have got it wrong. I am early on, but it interesting is that the housing crisis has exacerbated income inequality because places like NYC and SF where wages for low income people are highest are priced out of being able to take of those jobs without either long commutes or devoting the extra wages to housing costs.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I’ve got one for you Denis. Protection or Free Trade by Henry George. It was written in 1886. I found it in an antique store and after glancing at it was drawn in by the parallels to the philosophy of the orange idiot who views the gilded age as America’s peak. note: the author actually argues against tariffs.

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“How do you get to be president and you’re stupid?” Donald J Trump - 4/10/25
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus. - Turkish Proverb

I've started "Twain" by Chernow...you might need to send out a search party for me...quite a tome, and I'm hauling around the 8 lb book. Seems promising

Wanna read that.

His book on Grant was amazing. But it took a while to get through.

Please report back.

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He's an interesting subject but, before I read a book about Twain, I feel like I should read most of the books by Twain.

Read this over 10 years ago but Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides is another book I couldn't put down. About James Earl Ray and the planning and aftermath of the MLK assassination

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My daughters have been trying to get me to read The Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros. Any of you guys read it?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I read The Fourth Wing. Meh. My wife likes the series but she gets into the fantasy stuff more than I.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

I just read James, a take on Huckleberry Finn from Jim's perspective. It's okay, but Jim is a little too much of a genius.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I was concerned that the social commentary in that book would be so overwhelming that it would swallow the story, but judging from your more or less favorable review, I'm guessing that's not the case.

I'm looking for a good alternative history book. The Phillip Dick one was TOO alternative and not really believable.

Not sure if it's what you are looking for but I read this a few years back and recall enjoying it. It may have been a rec here, I'm not sure....

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Not really. There was a little of that. But it was fine. It would be interesting to read it next to the original book which I haven't read in a long time.

Like I said though, Jim was almost like a super genius. Much smarter than anyone else in the book. It's fiction so I guess the author can write him that way if he wants.

And the Duke and the Dauphin are absurdly funny no matter who is writing about them.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

"A what if thriller" is on point what I'm looking for. As long as the what if a solid what if.