Review: The Realist Turn: Repositioning Liberalism

The Realist Turn: Repositioning Liberalism by Douglas B. Rasmussen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In Norms of Liberty: A Perfectionist Basis for Non-Perfectionist Politics, Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl argued that the liberal order is best defended by grounding it on a neo-Aristotelian perfectionist ethics. In The Perfectionist Turn: From Metanorms to Metaethics, they defended that perfectionist ethics and its meta-ethical basis. In their latest work, they shift their defense of liberty, natural rights, and the liberal social order to metaphysics and epistemology. In particular, a defense of metaphysical realism, which in basic terms is the view that (1) there are real things that have natures independent of and apart from any cognition of these things; and (2) we are capable of knowing these things and their natures.

The authors argue that natural rights, since they rest on an appeal to human nature, is best grounded in metaphysical realism. And, further, since the individualist perfectionist ethics they defend also rests on an appeal to human nature, human flourishing, and natural goodness, they need to defend the case for metaphysical realism and how it supports those concepts.

As they defend their neo-Aristotelian-Thomistic account of realism, their primary target is Hilary Putnam and what they call neo-pragmatist accounts of ethical and epistemological constructivism which reject aspects of or all of metaphysical realism. They are also targeting other classical liberal and libertarian thinkers who have shied away from or rejected natural rights and natural goodness as the best ground for the liberal order.

The first half of the book is restatement of their arguments for natural rights and natural goodness, with an eye towards why metaphysical realism undergirds these arguments. The second half of the book is a defense of metaphysical realism along with the critique of Putnam and the pragmatist constructivist views.

I’m largely in agreement with Rasmussen and Den Uyl; whatever criticisms or disagreements I might have are largely nitpicks and rhetorical. I certainly see the value of using Putnam as a foil for their own view and the value in showing why those pragmatist, constructivist views fail (especially in terms of engaging with those with hold more to those ideas than Dougs’ views). But at the same time, I personally found those sections of the book the least interesting and engaging. Nevertheless, they are valuable as critiques of popular contemporary views in philosophy.


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Review: Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender, and Identity - and Why This Harms Everybody

Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender, and Identity - and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay have done a lot of the hard and dirty work for those of us who cannot stomach wading through the incoherent works of Critical Theory. Stephen Hicks’ Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault did this for Postmodernism: showing how the ideas of the Counter-Enlightenment (starting with Rousseau) evolved into the Postmodernism of the mid-twentieth century. Pluckrose and Lindsay pick up the baton and carry the analysis forward showing how Postmodernism evolved into Critical Theory and Social Justice Theory – what they aptly call Applied Postmodernism.

They start by presenting the foundations of Postmodernism in the 1960s with a lot of attention on Foucalt, Lyotard, and Derrida. They lay out the essential principles and themes of Postmodernism. Then they discuss how several new approaches emerged out of this intellectual funhouse. These new approaches, postcolonialism, queer theory, and critical race theory, where more activist that the earlier postmodernisms: they were on a mission to end social injustice and rebuild a new, more just order.

Pluckrose and Lindsay move through each iteration of these theories. They identify the main intellectual roots of these approaches and how they currently manifest themselves. They also persuasively argue that these are theoretically hollow, incoherent, and have pernicious effects – often the very opposite of their self-proclaimed social justice mission.

They discuss the philosophical roots of this hollowness and incoherence. Most of these theories build on postmodernism’s rejection of objectivity in metaphysics and epistemology. Once objective reason and reality are thrown out, everything is up for grabs. (Personally, I think they could have done more here, but that becomes a different book. Moreover, Hicks book, Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, does this for Postmodernism and the same criticisms would apply).

They close with discussion on how best to challenge and beat these theories in the marketplace of ideas. The two main themes here: demands for theoretical and scholarly rigor and openness to challenge and critique.

Throughout the work, Pluckrose and Lindsay do a good job of explaining and exposing the ideas behind these theories. Though their disdain for the ideas is evident, they take them seriously and do not engage in straw man arguments.

By appealing to a broad-based, reasonable liberalism, they are able to show how we can be against sexism, racism, oppression (little s, social injustice) without having to be in league with Social Justice Theory. We can acknowledge the many social problems that we have and work to fix them without all this fashionable nonsense. Indeed, the authors make a strong case that we have to reject these theories and their supposed solutions in order to make progress.

The world has made tremendous progress against all forms of injustice and oppression in the last few hundred years because of Enlightenment liberalism and humanism. To continue that progress we need to affirm and strength these ideas, not reject them. It is, as Pluckrose and Lindsay argue, this applied postmodernism, beyond being incapable of making further progress, has started to reverse some of that progress. These theories have reintroduced and reinforced identity stereotypes and categories. Instead of appealing to common humanity and reason, they make differences more salient inviting hostility and antagonism among members of different identity groups. The intolerance for critique or challenge (branding those who offer intellectual critiques as racist for example) has tended to silence the moderate voices, leaving only the extremes on the left and right to be vocal. And because these theories tend to reject objective reason, all that is left is force.

I think the authors are correct that if exposed to sunlight, these ideas would largely wither and die on their own. That is why they suggest making sure the marketplace of ideas is kept free and open; that ideas need to be open to challenge and criticism without punishment. And they recognize that we need good, reasonable ideas, theories, and methods that can tackle the issues. That is, in rejecting Social Justice we cannot reject the need to work towards more justice and freedom for all individuals. And we need good theories to do this. Their broadly construed Enlightenment liberalism is a good start.



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Review: Someone to Watch Over Me

Someone to Watch Over Me by Ace Atkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have enjoyed all of Atkins' Spenser novels, but this might be my favorite. (Though I admit recency bias is probably in effect). It has all the right beats of a Spenser novel and Atkins is very nearly able to capture Parker's style. I like the way he integrates his plots with past books--both his and Parker's (and this one more than most). Atkins is also quite funny. Parker was witty, but Atkins gets me to laugh out loud at times.

As I write in all my Atkins Spenser reviews: Atkins gets about 80-90% there, but there is something ineffable that is off. I can almost forget at times that this isn't Parker, but there is something, always, that subtly reminds me that it is not. Maybe it's just the voice in my head as I read; it is slightly different than when I read Parker. In any case, I still love it. Atkins has allowed us to continue live in Spenser's world and I am grateful for that.

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Review: Shōgun: The Epic Novel of Japan

Shōgun: The Epic Novel of Japan by James Clavell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

James Clavell's classic epic novel Shogun lives up to its reputation. Though only spanning 6 months or so, it truly is epic. The book tells a fictionalized version of the rise of the long ruling Tokugawa shogunate through the eyes (at least in part) of a English pilot who shipwrecks in Japan (and is the first English person to get to Japan--based on the real life account of William Adams). Clavell switches the point of view through out the book, allowing the reader to get different perspectives on the events and motivations of the characters. In particular, by shifting from Blackthorne (the Englishman) to various Japanese characters, one can see how each saw the other. This is especially true early on in the novel, where Blackthorne saw the Japanese as uncaring about life and all too willing to kill, and the Japanese regarded Blackthorne as a barbarian and uncivilized. Through the novel, they grow to appreciate and respect each other's strengths and reconceive what they initially saw as barbaric until more understandable differences of worldview. One of the main themes of the book it the interplay of these differences/oppositions, be it more explicitly religious (between various versions of Catholic, Protestantism, Shintoism, and Buddhism), cultural (food, sexual mores, etc), or views of life and death (seppuku plays a prominent role through out the novel).

The novel shows a lot of how feudal Japan worked, what the values and ideals of the ruling classes where, and how they viewed the rest of the world. I often found myself leaving the book to read up aspects (a battle, a city, a historic individual, etc).

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Review: The Perfectionist Turn: From Metanorms to Metaethics

The Perfectionist Turn: From Metanorms to Metaethics by Douglas J. Den Uyl
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For those familiar with the work of Den Uyl and Rasmussen, there is not a lot here that is new in terms of their theory of individualistic perfectionism. What is new here and helpful is the work they do connecting and contrasting their arguments and theories with other thinkers and accounts. They contrast their views with competing Neo-Aristotelian accounts. They also take on various critical challenges to central parts of their approach, including the is/ought gap and naturalistic fallacy. There is a lot, and I mean a lot, to chew on here. Their earlier books, Norms of Liberty and Liberty and Nature, are much better entry points if you are new to their work. TPT is definitely a work intended for more experienced philosophers. For those more in the Neo-Aristotelian ethical traditions, there is much to learn about what makes Den Uyl and Rasmussen's Individualist Perfectionism unique. And for those in more mainstream ethical traditions, there is much to learn about the Neo-Aristotelian approaches that too often get overlooked.

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Review: From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back by Elizabeth Schaefer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

These stories are great. Like the movie itself, there is often a tragic element, though always with an undercurrent of hope. It gives so much more texture and context to the Star Wars universe. I'm always intrigued by the focus on low-level imperials. Why do they support the empire or why are they imperials at all? Like the first volume tracking with A New Hope (also excellent), we also get the perspective of droids and sentient creatures. These often provide rather different perspectives of the conflict between the empire and rebels. All in all, this is a must for any Star Wars fan. The audio book is a must; the readers and sound effects help to bring the stories to life.

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Review: The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority

The Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority by Martin Gurri
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating and important book. Gurri’s thesis is worth examining and reexamining. While he probably overstates its explanatory power; it goes far in explaining and tying together many of the events in the last decade.

The essential idea is that the digital revolution has swept away the authority of traditional institutions leading to a public that is more and more negating and rejecting these institutions. In so doing he links together Egypt’s Tahrir square, the Arab Spring, the Indignados movement in Spain, Obama, the Tea Party, the Occupy Movement, the Tent Protests in Israel, Brexit, and the rise of populism and figures like Trump. At first glance it seems bizarre to link such disparate things, but Gurri’s idea is that these can be explained by the crisis of authority caused by what he calls the Fifth Wave, or the information tsunami.

The thumbnail sketch is that the authoritative institutions of elites have long governed our world by controlling information. The government, media, academia, corporations, religious institutions enjoyed a near monopoly the creation and dissemination of information. This gave these institutions legitimacy and authority. But much like the printing press destabilized the creation and control of information in the 15th and 16th centuries, new digital and network technologies have empowered the public to upend the established order.

Gurri loves to point out that in the year 2001 the amount information created doubled all the information that had ever previously been created in history. And then 2002 doubled 2001. This is why he characterizes the digital revolution as an information tsunami. This wave came in fast and high – and washed away the foundations of the established institutions.

The digital revolution lowered the barriers of entry for anyone wanting to create or distribute information. Information was being created by everyone and could be shared by anyone. Experts didn’t need a Ph.D. and bloggers didn’t have to be Walter Cronkite. The ‘guild’ of information creation and control was broken open and anyone could enter: and almost everyone has. With this, however, all the conceits, errors, and mistakes of the established order get exposed. And elite and institution failure is everywhere. From scandals and corruption to the false promises of utopian ideologies; every mistake, every failure has it is proverbial 15 minutes of fame.

This all leads, argues Gurri, to the erosion of the authority and legitimacy of these institutions and the elites running them. The public is angry, dissatisfied, and disillusioned. It wants change. But the public, as a public, doesn’t have a positive alternative to propose. The public is a many, not a one. It is endlessly fractured and dispersed. While it can come together, it seems to be able to only to do so to repudiate. It is, as Gurri says, always against. We see this in Cancel Culture: the twitter-sphere just calls for people’s heads, for trivial and grotesquely awful behavior alike. It offers no chance of redemption, no hope for forgiveness and rebuilding. Just rejection.

And this is, I think, one of the most interesting parts of Gurri’s thesis. The public revolts, but only offers negation and nihilism. The system must be torn down, “defunded,” or the swamp drained, but no alternative is in the offing. We must reject new things: be it immigrants or technology. The world must be destroyed in order to save it.

Importantly, Gurri points out this rejection is not explained by economics: many of these movements and protests originate in the middle-class, the well off. This is not the revolt of the proletariat. Nor is it merely an issue of throwing off authoritarian regimes. Again many of these protest movements are in the freest democracies in the world. What explains and unites all these movements, if Gurri is right, is a worldwide rejection of elite and established institutions. In the eyes of public, these institutions have no more legitimacy and no more authority. But the public has nothing to offer to replace them.

Towards the end of the last chapter, Gurri gestures at some positive ways forward. Nevertheless, the picture he paints is a scary one. Far more so because I think he’s right in a lot of ways. That said, Gurri presents this as a thesis to be continually tested, not just accepted.

Covid and the responses to it, by the traditional authorities and the public, will likely prove to be an interesting test of his thesis. In the short term it appears to give the elites the veneer of authority and legitimacy. They have the answers. They issue mandates. They are doing something. Listen to the Science. So far the public has gone along—whether out of fear of the virus or out of a newfound respect for these authorities. But over the medium and long term, if Gurri is right, the failure (inevitable or not) to contain the pandemic will undermine the authority and legitimacy of these institutions even more. I think we can see that already in the attention and gleeful repudiation of the politicians caught breaking their own lockdown rules.

I’m not sure Gurri is right about everything; indeed, I’d bet he’s wrong about a lot. But I find his overall thesis and explanation of it intriguing. It seems to explain a lot of events and how they connect in some fundamental ways. It is worth a good long think.

(Russ Roberts has a great interview with Martin Gurri about the book: https://www.econtalk.org/martin-gurri-on-the-revolt-of-the-public/ )

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Review: Queen's Shadow

Queen's Shadow by E.K. Johnston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There were many interesting elements in this book. We see Padme turn from Queen to Senator, and how she forms many of the relationships that play important roles in the Clone Wars series. There is also some interesting set up for the current Marvel run of Darth Vader. But otherwise the story kind of goes nowhere. It's really more of a slice of Padme's life during transition and then abruptly ends. There is a lot of detail on Padme's clothing, which is not uninteresting. What sometimes looked rather silly in the movies gets context and background. But there is much more of this than I was interested in. Seeing the behind the scenes so to speak of her handmaidens and the roles they played also was fun, but not enough for a great story.

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Review: Sport and Moral Conflict: A Conventionalist Theory

Sport and Moral Conflict: A Conventionalist Theory by William J. Morgan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My review of William Morgan's new book, Sport and Moral Conflict: A Conventionalist Theory is published at the Nordic Sport Science Forum:. https://idrottsforum.org/klesha_morgan201217/

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Review: Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan

Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan by Robert K. Fitts
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The subtitle of the book way oversells it. There is not a lot of assassination or espionage or intrigue even. There is plenty of baseball though: most of the book details the travels of the 1934 all-star American League baseball team and the action and box scores of the games palyed against the Japanese (and a few other national teams) This is not uninteresting (though it did get tedious) but also not what I was expecting or hoping for.

To be honest, the book felt like a long-form magazine article that got stretched into a book, with the breakdown of the games inserted to provide the fat for the bones of the book.

That said, Fitts provides good context for the history of baseball in Japan, as well as the growth of the militaristic and nationalistic ideas that contributed to the tensions between Japan and the US (and eventually leading to the war). There are no doubt better sources for these histories, but the context of the US and Japan teams playing baseball helped to concretize both.

The last few chapters were the most interesting. Fitts reports the reactions of the players on both sides of the Pacific to the war. He discusses how the outbreak of the war affected some of the stars of each team personally: some went to war, others helped with their countries’ war efforts on the home front. There is a particular focus on Moe Berg—though ultimately that too falls short of the intrigue and espionage promised by the book. Fitts also discusses how, after the war ended, baseball and the connections made from the 1934 tour were used to helped rebuild the Japanese national morale and to some extent the social institutions. Baseball was used to help reconnect Japan to it is pre-war past and its post-war future.


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Review: How to Fight Anti-Semitism

How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an important book. It say things that need to be said, that need to be understood, and that need to be shared widely.

It is not a detailed book; it is a not deep theoretical analysis of anti-Semitism. It is not a rigorous history of anti-Semitism: either through the ages or in contemporary America. It touches on all these in a way: pulling from works and thinkers who do engage in those more detailed analyses. The point here is more to get both the sense of the reality of anti-Semitism in the here and now, and through ages, in order to affirm that anti-Semitism is still a threat, worldwide and in America. All this to lay the groundwork for what Jews (and non-Jews) need to do to fight against anti-Semitism.

Weiss briefly recounts the history of anti-Semitism, then looks at anti-Semitism (and its growth) on the right, on the left, and in the Islamic world. She then closes with advice on how to fight anti-Semitism. If you lean more to the right, you will likely find her at times ungenerous to the right. But, similarly, if you lean left, you will likely find her ungenerous occasionally to the left. Both concerns may be accurate, though it strikes me that she strikes a good balance.

Two points that struck me and will stay with me:

1. Anti-Semitism at root is a conspiracy theory. It is not merely or even hatred of Jews. It is not just another form of racism. It is, at root, a conspiratorial idea about the Jewish people as a nefarious, dangerous, or powerful force behind whatever one takes as bad or powerful in the world. In this way, it is paradoxically compatible with being friendly to Jews or being pro-Israel—if the root of this friendliness, admiration, or support is based on this conspiracy theory about the Jews. Though eventually, this conspiracy theory calls for extermination: either by murder or by assimilation.

2. The best way to fight anti-Semitism is to build and to affirm. Build one’s life, one’s community. Affirm one’s Jewishness and values:
“we fight by waging an affirmative battle for who we are. By entering the fray for our values, for our ideas, for our ancestors, for our families, for our communities, for the generations that will come after us” (168).


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Review: A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A wonderfully fun and imaginative novel. It explores important themes of individuality and conformity; love and respect; independence and courage. It is understandable why it is such a classic and beloved young adult novel.

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Review: Kindness Goes Unpunished: A Longmire Mystery

Kindness Goes Unpunished: A Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The third Longmire takes things in some different directions. First, it takes place in Philadelphia. Then, the sort of crime it deals with is different. It's much more personal. There are some relationship developments I'm not entirely sure about--but we'll see how they get played with as the series grows. I love the dynamic between Henry and Walt: their love and respect for each other under-girds so much of these novels.

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Review: Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race

Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race by Thomas Chatterton Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thomas Chatterton Williams’ memoir is a deeply personal exploration of the evolution of his thinking about race and identity. The candor and honesty with which he engages these often divisive and controversial issues is refreshing. And, maybe more importantly, enlightening. I am not sure I quite fully agree with or even wholly understand some of what Williams is arguing. But he asks and attempts to answer for himself important questions about his own identity and what that suggests about the issues of race and identity more generally. Though the cases are somewhat different, these questions are quite relevant for my own questions about my Jewish identity.

The basic idea I take him to be arguing for is that we need to transcend race. He is, as I understand him, arguing that we need to find a way to celebrate or just acknowledge the connections we each individually have with our family, culture, and history (and the diversity these all contain). But, he argues, race is an artificial construct that adds little, if anything, to this. He’s not striving for a muting out of differences, but a recognition that the categories of race just don’t capture what is important about each person. But we have come all too often to treat these categories as totalizing; we reify them in ways that have caused so much harm and damage – for everyone.

Williams uses his own family to illustrate and motivate this mediation. He comes from a mixed family: his mother from European ancestry and his father with African ancestry by way of slavery. Williams married a French woman with whom he has had two children—both of whom by his account are blonde, blued-eye Parisians. This straddling of so many different concurrent identities is part of what makes Williams well-situated to ask these questions: it both gives him the space to ask them and the motivation to do so.

In the end, agree with his view about race and identity or not, Williams’ poignant engagement with these issues is definitely worth one’s time.


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Review: Apocalypse Never: How the Left's New Lies About Climate Change Hurt People and Nature

Apocalypse Never: How the Left's New Lies About Climate Change Hurt People and Nature by Michael Shellenberger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is an eye-opening book. Shellenberger takes on several sacred cows of contemporary environmentalism with detailed and persuasive arguments.

Shellenberger is not rejecting environmentalism. He is not denying climate change or other serious environmental problems. Not by a long shot. By all accounts he is a deeply committed environmentalist who wants to save the planet and cares intensely for animal and human life and its continued existence and flourishing.

What his goal is, and I think he largely succeeds, is to argue for these four main points.

1. Apocalyptic or alarmist accounts of environmentalism are not based on the best available science. It is more like religion than science. The end of the world is not nigh. Things have, on the whole, actually gotten better, not worse.

2. The people involved in the environmental alarmist movement are either severely hypocritical or corrupt, and frequently both.

3. There are mitigating strategies for most of the pressing environmental problems, but all of these are fundamentally based on economic growth, poverty reduction, and the policies that encourage and allow these.

4. The only way forward is to produce and use more energy (not less) and the only way to do that without causing more pollution and other environmental problems is nuclear power. Fears of nuclear power are largely unfounded, based on misconceptions and ignorance about how it works (and often those ideas are spread by those funded by producers of natural gas: see #2)

I am for the most part persuaded by Shellenberger’s arguments. He brings forward the evidence and discusses the counterevidence and counterarguments. He strikes me as honestly trying to evaluate and interpret the available evidence. That doesn’t mean he’s always going to get it right, but he is sincerely presenting how he has come to think the way he has. He explains his own mistakes and errors and what he learned that led him to correct those.

One doesn’t have to agree with all his arguments to see that this book is important for two main reasons (beyond the particular claims of its content): (1) we must challenge and criticize any and all views, no matter how “settled”. This is how we discover new truth, correct falsehoods and errors, and, just as importantly, come to better understand the grounds for these settled truth. So even when we are firmly convinced of the truth, we need to challenge it to understand it. (2) We must not mistake consensus and narrative for truth, knowledge, or understanding. The consensus might be true, the narrative might capture and express knowledge, but we have to do the work to discover that: we can’t just take it for granted. And we can’t assume we understand what the consensus seems to hold without really looking at it, challenging it, digesting it. This books helps us do that about environmentalism, and so if taken seriously, should help us better understand how to continue to make the world a better place for all us.



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Review: Caliban's War

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A terrific follow up to Leviathan WakesLeviathan's Wake. It has a different feel, I think mainly because the central characters and setting are already established. This allows the authors to focus on some of the new characters, as well develop the established ones more. The pacing here felt different as well; the first book took time setting things up and slowly pulling things together to its climax. This book jumps right in. I love the story telling; the different point of views for each chapter (like George RR Martin does in fire and ice) creates a more dynamic story and allows us to get to know each main character a little better. We see the character's own view, and then how other's see them. It also allows us to see the same situation from somewhat different vantage points, giving the reader of a more expansive sense of the world.

I'm definitely ready to dive right into to book 3.

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Review: Doctor Aphra

Doctor Aphra by Sarah Kuhn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Doctor Aphra is a great character; one of my favorite in Star Wars (sort of a darker timeline female Han Solo). This is a dramatic adaption of her first appearances in the Star Wars comics. If you've read the Vader and mainline Star Wars series, you'll be familiar with all the events here. It's told here as a recording Aphra is making. So it's all from her point of view, with more of her inner thoughts about her motivations, plans, and how the events unfold. Even though I knew the story, there were some aspects that get better developed or explored in the audio. I don't think you need to have read the comics to follow along, though I could see how some of the context, characters, and settings might be confusing if you don't know the fuller picture that is presented in the comics. In any case, if you are a Star Wars fan you should be reading the comics anyway! Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this and I think you will too.



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Review: How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom

How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom by Matt Ridley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Innovation is necessary for living flourishing lives and innovation requires freedom to flourish. This is the overall theme of Ridley's latest book. Ridley goes through the history of many essential innovations in energy production, medicine, transportation, food, communication, and more. He distinguishes between innovation and invention: arguing that often the innovations are more important than the invention. The innovations are often what makes a barely workable prototype into a practical and effective tool for our lives. Another important aspect of innovation he explores through out the book is the idea that innovators are more often than not people outside of the status quo: they are not the respected scientists of the day, but tinkerers looking for a way to do something a little better, a littler quicker, and little more effectively. Often innovations predate the developed scientific understanding of the innovation itself and help lead the scientists and theoreticians towards that understanding. This is part of why innovation is so unpredictable: we are often not paying attention to the area from which the innovation will come.

One of central features of innovation, argues Ridley, is trial and error experimentation. The innovators need the freedom to think outside of the box, to try and to experiment. And to try again and again after they fail. This is why freedom is so important to innovation. Where freedom is curtailed, this experimentation is curtailed as well. If people are afraid to fail, then they won't innovate.

He discusses various kinds of impediments to this freedom to try: often from governments of course, but from other sources as well. In this vein he looks at intellectual property (copyrights and patents) as one such impediment. I am not convinced he makes the case here for their abolition, but I am persuaded that the ways in which we grant and deal with IP needs reform.

Overall, it's a fascinating look at the history of innovation and innovators.



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Review: Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Moral Mess of Higher Education

Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Moral Mess of Higher Education by Jason Brennan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jason Brennan and Philip Magness present a clear and very readable critique of higher education. Having followed their work online for a while, there wasn’t a lot new to me. However, these are important criticisms with which many may not be familiar (or they are not familiar with the research that backs up the criticisms). The main lesson of the book is that the main problems of academia are not caused by bad people but by out of whack incentives for faculty, administrators, and students. The problems they focus on are: universities make lots of claims about supposed benefits that they don’t actually deliver on; student evaluations are an invalid and harmful way of evaluating teaching effectiveness; grades and GPAs are too inconsistent to be meaningful; general education requirements don’t work and are just ways for departments to get students (and money); and universities produce too many PhDs and do so primarily for their (and the professors) own standing and reputation; and lastly, students learn very little but cheat a lot. For each of these, there are incentives for otherwise well-meaning individuals to act in ways that make higher education worse.

None of this is good. As an academic, I have direct experience with pretty much each of these and their criticisms certainly fit with that experience. Unfortunately, the authors don’t have solutions: they end by saying that the only way to fix higher education is to change the incentives, but no one (including themselves) have the incentive to make the changes. (Maybe COVID will disrupt higher education enough to change some of those – so long as I don’t lose my job!)

I think Bryan Caplan’s critique of education { The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money} is a better overall book about the problems of education; but Brennan and Magness do look more closely at factors that Caplan doesn’t take on. So these go well together.


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Review: The Order

The Order by Daniel Silva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gabriel is back, this time helping his friends at the Vatican again. Although some might say it was too Dan Brown-esque, Silva is telling a different kind of story, and Allon is digging into the Vatican's secrets for different reasons than Langdon. Like many of Silva's novels, he finds a way to balance the improbability of the plot elements with great characters. The dialogue is great, and the book crackles; I really enjoyed it.

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Review: Shadow Woman

Shadow Woman by Thomas Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A slow start, but picks up in the last half. There were a few things in the beginning that I didn't like regarding Jane and Carey's relationship: aspects of it that seemed out of character for Jane. It makes sense for the plot, but just didn't seem consistent. Once that wasn't the focus, the story got more focused.

Jane is a terrific character and seeing what and how she does what she does is very interesting. Things get a bit unsettled for her and her 'client' and this presents new challenges to Jane that ultimately make the book a good thrill.

There was not as very little Native American mythology or history and that is one of things I enjoyed about the first two books. I will read the fourth book to see what Jane does next, but I was a bit disappointed with number three.



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Review: The Rise of Athens: The Story of the World's Greatest Civilization

The Rise of Athens: The Story of the World's Greatest Civilization by Anthony Everitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A sweeping history of Athens. I enjoyed it, though it was not as good as I was expecting. Everitt's book on Cicero was amazing, so I was expecting something on par. In part this may be the nature of the subject: it is too epic and sweeping, and Everitt was trying to cover too much in too little space. Another weakness was that the focus of the narrative was too often on battles and military campaigns. No doubt these are essential to understanding the rise of Athens: you cannot (and should not) separate the history of Athens from its battles with Sparta and Persia. But it seemed to take up too much of the space, pushing other elements to the side.

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Review: F. A. Hayek and the Epistemology of Politics: The Curious Task of Economics

F. A. Hayek and the Epistemology of Politics: The Curious Task of Economics by Scott Scheall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An important work of scholarship on Hayek and his ideas. The depth of research into Hayek's ideas on psychology, epistemology, and economics, as well as the history of Austrian economics more broadly, is evident through out this readable and approachable work. Scheall pulls these ideas together to formulate a novel approach to understanding and developing political thought, one that focuses on political epistemology and the limits of what any one, especially policymakers, can know. This is not just a book for Hayek scholars though, I highly recommend for anyone interested in economics, political philosophy, or policy.

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Review: Thrawn: Treason

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this third book in the new Thrawn trilogy was much better than the second entry in this series. The story is tighter and better plotted. I enjoyed it; it was a fun read.

Where the book was weakest was in character development. There is little we learn about Thrawn and some of the other returning characters. They are who they are and do not develop beyond that. There are several new characters -- but not a lot is done with them. We do, though, learn more about the Chiss and the Chiss navigators. There is still a lot of untapped potential here that I hope Zahn explores in future books.

Thrawn is a great character -- one of the best in the Star Wars universe. Though he orchestrates a lot of it, he was not as directly involved as one would expect in a lot of the action of the story.

Even with these criticisms, it was fun and engaging read. One most fans of Thrawn and Star Wars will enjoy.



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Review: The Concrete Blonde

The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fantastic balance of courtroom drama and detective thriller. Connelly's plotting is masterful.

It was a bit strange to read this after not having read a Bosch novel in a while but recently watching season 1 on Amazon. Titus Welliver just is Bosch now. Interestingly, there are a lot of elements and characters from this book that worked their way into the first season of Bosch -- though their roles in the plot and their outcomes are quite different.

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Review: The Age of Pericles

The Age of Pericles by Jeremy McInerney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A wonderful sweep through the history of ancient Athens. McInerney is a great lecturer, a pleasure to listen to. He covers the political and economic history of Athens, and also its cultural innovations and importance from drama to philosophy. The title might throw some people: it's much less about Pericles than it is about the Athens into which Pericles lived. (Hence The Age of ...)

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Review: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Haidt is a wonderfully clear and effective writer. He is able to condense scientific and technical ideas and evidence and make them accessible and understandable. Part of his appeal is, I think, that he comes across as intellectually honest and diligent.

This book put Haidt on the public intellectual map—or at least it seemed that way to me. I recall the book creating quite a stir when it came out in 2012. Reading it now in 2020, many of the ideas already strike me as quite familiar. This is a huge complement to Haidt: what seemed at first novel is now commonplace. After almost a decade of this kind of social psychological thinking (not just Haidt, but others such as Daniel Kahneman) working its way into the discourse, it doesn’t quite come across as ground-breaking any more.

That said, it is still an important book. It examines important questions about how our moral ideas and foundations are formed and how that affects how we think about all kinds of things in our world: but most importantly religion and politics. As contentious as these issues might have been back in 2012, they only seem to have gotten worse. And even though there is in his arguments much I am not ultimately persuaded by, the perspective he offers can still help each of us better understand each other.

If there is a core theme to take away from the book: it is that most people are not evil or out to destroy everything you hold sacred; so try to understand where they are coming from and why. You might find that although you still disagree with them, you can understand why they think the way they do (as well as better understand why you think the way you do). This opens the door to the possibility of communication and less divisiveness.


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Review: Storm of Locusts

Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love what Roanhorse does with the characters: the five-fingers and gods. But especially the gods! The world she has created is fascinating--I wouldn't want to live there, but I enjoy reading about it. She creates great tension, a little horror, and well-placed humor. I like the first book a little better--it was a bit more focused. We get several new characters here and since we go outside of the Dinetah this time, we see more and learn more about what else is going on. So that spreads the story out a bit. (I would still love a map.) But these additions are still on the whole improvements; there is just more to track. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

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Review: The First Rule

The First Rule by Robert Crais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well-plotted and kept you on your toes. I love how Crais explores Pike's personality and character by bringing him into the foreground. I like Cole and the early novels a lot, but through Pike, Crais seems to be finding more of his own voice in the genre.

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Review: Ahsoka

Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I first started watching Clone Wars, Ahsoka was whiny and annoying. Now she is easily one of my favorite Star Wars characters. Her arcs in Clone Wars ( especially in the final season) are some of the best in Star Wars. So it is a tall order to follow, but Johnston's book does not disappoint. It adds to and reinforces the character we know, while showing her growth and adaption to life in the new Empire. It also provides a great bridge from Clone Wars to Rebels.

That it is a YA novel doesn't really show except in a few places where more 'adult' elements might have been explored. It's not at all juvenile or simplistic.

There are a few minor differences between the last few episodes of the Clone Wars and this, but nothing serious. Plus, if abide by Obi-Wan's maxim regarding Star Wars: it is always 'from a certain point of view'.


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Review: Why Not Socialism?

Why Not Socialism? by G.A. Cohen
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

It's shocking that any thinker takes this famous book at all seriously. While I didn't expect to agree with Cohen or find his arguments ultimately persuasive, I did expect at least to find an argument. But this is how I would summarize the book: "Let’s assume markets produce unjust results. Let’s assume socialist equality is ideal. Therefore, socialism--even though I admit it is not feasible. " The camping trip thought experiment is utterly unconvincing and not realistic. It baldy confuses cooperation with collectively. His extension of this to his claims about socialism is a spectacular non-sequitur.

Cohen may deserve his philosophical reputation for his other work, but this book is just embarrassing.

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Review: Talking God

Talking God by Tony Hillerman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chee and Leaphorn are each working on their own mystery that ultimately ties together into one. It takes a while for these two threads to become one, but it's worth it. I like the way Chee and Leaphorn work together. It plays against expectations a bit: Chee is younger, but he's not a protege or sidekick to Leaphorn. They are characters different, with different ways of going about solving their cases. But they respect each other and work well together.

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Review: Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Expanse had been recommended to me several times, from several different people. I'm glad I finally listened! This is great sci-fi, but with elements of horror and noir. It has touches of 2001 and elements reminiscent of Asimov. It's not hard sci-fi in so far as there isn't a lot of technical nit and gritty (though there is some); but it does work at being seeming plausible and accurately extrapolated.

The world-building of humanity spread across the solar system, and in particular the asteroid belt, is very cool. The plot itself is intriguing and nicely integrated across the 500+ pages. The two main characters are really interesting-and make for great foils. The authors do a great job of pitting two 'good guys' against each other as the main conflict. This is not a manichean story/dark vs light story-- though there definitely are good guys and bad guys here; it's that the main conflict that pushes the story forward is between two protagonists and their conflicting visions of how to act.

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Review: Sporting Gender: The History, Science, and Stories of Transgender and Intersex Athletes

Sporting Gender: The History, Science, and Stories of Transgender and Intersex Athletes by Joanna Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One of the most contentious issues in sport is that of transgender and intersex athletes. It is an extraordinarily complex and fraught mix that often seems like it pits two important values against each other: opportunity and fairness. Sport should be open to all those who wish to complete and to compete at the highest levels they can. Sport, at its best, also seeks to create fair and meaningful competitions. So, on one hand, sport should be open to all athletes able to complete: it would be wrong to limit the opportunities of transgender and intersex athletes. But, on the other hand, there is a concern that if those opportunities aren’t limited in some way, specifically that if trans and intersex women compete without limitations against cisgender women, it could undermine the fairness of such competitions.

I don’t think there is a straightforward or obvious answer on these issues: and there are good, reasonable arguments (and many bad arguments too) for many different positions on all the various aspects of these issues. That said, my default position is towards the liberty of athletes to compete in the sport of their choice. I don’t mean to say that is the answer: but only that it is my starting point. It is the presumptive position that I think any argument to limit this liberty and opportunity needs to overcome.

Joanna Harper’s Sporting Gender is a good starting point for looking at many of the issues and arguments that might defeat or sustain this presumption. Harper’s book, as the subtitle indicates, takes you through the history, science, and stories of transgender and intersex athletes.
Starting in the early part of the twentieth century, she presents many stories of the individual trans and intersex women and their struggles to compete in sport. Many of these stories are tragic; too often rooted in ignorance and prejudice. For those that think these issues start and end with Castor Semenya, this history is essential.

Harper also discusses the science of sex and its impact on exercise and athletics. She details the many different ways that one might not fit neatly into either of the more familiar categories of male and female. Biological sex is nowhere near as simple as one might assume. (Not to even get into issues of gender.) There is some technical stuff to wade through, but the general gist should be digestible by those without much science background. This is summary, though; there are better places to look for more detailed discussions of the science (much of which can be found in the book’s endnotes).

Another important element of the book is Harper’s discussion of some of the legal cases that punctuate the history of trans and intersex athletes. The details and decisions of these cases are historically important and they had direct influence on the current regulations and guidelines of the major sport organizations like the IOC and IAAF.

Much of the latter half of the book focuses on two recent important Court of Arbitration cases involving intersex athletes (Chand and Semenya). Harper was involved in both cases as an expert witness. While I appreciated the inside look into these cases, this is where the book was at its weakest. I wasn’t all that interested in Harper’s evaluation of the various lawyers involved and whether their closing remarks were powerful or not. There was a lot of that sort of thing in these sections and that took away from the more important issue of rehearsing the arguments presented.
Harper is a trans woman and a runner, and she uses her own experiences to help frame parts of the book. This is both a blessing and a curse. It helps to contextualize and humanize much of the more abstract history and science. But it also means that the book is part memoir and so there are various tangents about her own life that were not part of my reasons for reading this book.

Harper’s ultimately position is that elite competitive sports needs to find the right balance of rules and methods to maximize “the possibility that all women can enjoy equitable and meaningful sport” (247). Furthermore, that there are good reasons to keep separating athletes in to male and female divisions and that the use of testosterone levels is the best current method to make this distinction (247). Though she does provide reasons for why this is her position, the book is not really set up to be a clear and cogent argument to support these claims. Its focus is more on presenting the history (both personal and legal) and the science. And on that front, I’d recommend it for those interested in this issue.

I don’t think the book deals enough with the philosophical and ethical aspects of trans and intersex athletes. What makes for fair and meaningful competition? Why are male/female divisions important? If there is a performance advantages by being trans or intersex, why should that matter and how is it different from other kinds of (non-doping) performance advantages? Harper broaches these questions to a degree, but she is not a philosopher and so the discussion is, in my view, too superficial and limited. There is also almost no engagement with the sport philosophy literature that discusses these issues. I still would recommend the book for the history and science angle, but it is not going to answer the meatier questions of philosophy or ethics.



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Review: The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought

The Infidel and the Professor: David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Friendship That Shaped Modern Thought by Dennis C. Rasmussen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An important work to help understand the relationship and mutual influence of Smith and Hume. Rasmussen explains how the men met, how their relationship developed over the years, and how they influenced each other. It dispels many of myths and half-truths on all these fronts. Rasmussen does such a great job, that by the end, as he discusses Hume's death, you really feel Smith's loss. The depth and poignancy of their friendship shines through.

The reader, Keith Sellon-Wright, was excellent.

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Review: Star Wars Lost Stars, Vol. 1 (manga) (Star Wars Lost Stars

Star Wars Lost Stars, Vol. 1 (manga) (Star Wars Lost Stars by Claudia Gray
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(covering all three volumes)

This is an enjoyable secondary Star Wars story. It doesn't expand on the universe or introduce anything new, but gives us a look into the how the rise and fall the Empire affected the lives and relationships of the main characters: Thane and Ciena. The story does a good job of integrating with the mainline Star Wars story without stepping on it.

I haven't read the Gray's original novel on which the manga is based, so I can't speak to the adaption, but the art in the manga captures the cinematic elements of Star Wars in away that helps bring the story to life. As young adult graphic novel, it has some juvenile aspects but not too many. I definitely enjoyed it (I devoured them in two days).


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Review: Death Without Company

Death Without Company by Craig Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Johnson has created such an interesting and compelling cast of characters. Though they play on various character types, none of them feel stereotypical. I am not entirely sure about the supernatural elements, but they are not central and they add a bit of spice. I enjoy the the descriptions of the Wyoming landscape and environment. I also think Johnson does a good job of realistically integrating indigenous people and cultures. The mystery is fine, but seems a bit secondary to the interplay of the characters.

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Review: Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration

Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent presentation of the economic and moral arguments for open borders. Zach Weinersmith's (of SMBC comics) wonderful art makes the arguments more interesting and more approachable. Caplan doesn't just give his argument. He takes seriously the most influential arguments against open borders. He gives his reasons for rejecting these arguments, but never merely dismisses them.

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Review: Dark Disciple

Dark Disciple by Christie Golden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ventress is one of Star Wars best anti-hero characters. Her arc in the Clone Wars was a great part of a great series. Dark Disciple continues and close that arc. Her growth and redemption was well done. But even more interesting was Vos's descent to the dark side and his ultimate redemption. The fall to the dark side can sometimes be construed in simplistic terms: the character just wants power or is crudely selfish. But Vos's descent -- not unlike Anakin's -- is fueled by love and commitment. This is far more interesting and allows the reader to explore the relationship between light and dark.

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Review: Titanshade

Titanshade by Dan Stout
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So many sci-fi/fantasy books run through the same cliches, but Titanshade is a delightfully original novel. It's also a great mash-up of genres: part noir, part detective, part fantasy, part sci-fi. The characters and settings are well drawn and engaging. I recommend it.

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Review: Master and Apprentice

Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an enjoyable look at the early relationship of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. It was not as good Claudia Gray's Star Wars: Bloodline, but I still enjoyed it. The story itself raises interesting questions about the role of the Jedi in the Republic and the Galaxy--both what it was pre-Civil War and and what it ought to have been. Rael is an interesting character that is explored a bit more. The vague, background references to Dooku added a bit of intrigue. Reading this so soon after listening to Dooku: Jedi Lost both helped and hurt. It helped because it gave me some background to the connections between Qui-Gon, Rael, and Dooku. Hurt in the minor sense that there were ways in which the stories were not always seemingly in line. I wouldn't say conflicted or inconsistent, but I felt like that the authors maybe have had different visions of Dooku post Jedi/pre-sith lord. I liked some of the quirky supporting cast as well. And the way the story unfolds was well done.


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Review: Dooku: Jedi Lost

Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An entertaining exploration of Dooku's fall from grace. In the prequels and Clone Wars, Dooku is a pompous villain with no regard for anything but his power. In Jedi Lost, we see that he was not always that way and makes the character all the more tragic in his downfall. Told in flashback from Ventress's reading of Dooku's journals, there is an element of how much of the story is true--though in keeping with Star Wars, it is true 'from a certain point of view.'

The fact that this was an audio performance, with different voice-actors and sound effects, adds to the overall experience. (Though there are a few voices hear and there that are hard to decipher clearly.)

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Review: Resistance Reborn

Resistance Reborn by Rebecca Roanhorse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Enjoyed this immensely. A good lead up to Episode 9.

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Review: Bit by Bit: How Video Games Transformed Our World

Bit by Bit: How Video Games Transformed Our World by Andrew Ervin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The subtitle of the book: “how video games transformed our world” is probably a bit too ambitious and overstates what the book is really about. It is far more of a memoir of the author’s, Andrew Ervin, jaunt through the history of video games. I get the sense the point of the book changed over time: that at first Ervin was looking to write a history of the video game — and the book largely tracks that history. Ervin tracks down original versions of old games to play them. He talks with some of the original designers. But along the way, we get more and more of Ervin’s experiences—not just of the game but of his life story. Not a lot, mind you, it’s not an autobiography. But his life forms the context of much of the storytelling about video games, just like the way such narratives set the backstory for many video games.

The other layer is the cultural impact of video games. Ervin weaves in cultural, art, and literary criticism into the discussion of video games. These parts were uneven. Sometimes insightful, other times insipid, and occasionally pompous or overwrought.

The book is definitely at its strongest on the first two fronts: as a history and a memoir of a gamer. Ervin’s own experiences playing Minecraft or Adventure resonated more with me than discussions about Dadaism, Moby Dick, or militarism. Much of the history can be gathered elsewhere, but Ervin’s conversations with the creators and designers added a novel aspect to the standard histories. Lastly, some of the games Ervin plays and discusses are ones that are outside of the mainstream (or are at least ones I had never heard of). This broadens the subject to include different kinds of video games to show how varied and diverse the genre really is.

Overall, the book is interesting and worth a read if you are interested in gaming.

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Review: Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier: The Penguin Library of American Indian History

Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier: The Penguin Library of American Indian History by Timothy J. Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An informative history of the Iroquois's complex relationships with the British(later Americans) and French in the 17th and 18th centuries. At times, I got bogged down in names, dates, and some of the finer details (a function, for me, of listening rather than reading) but the general account was worth it. Granted some of this is limited by the available sources, but I would have liked more about the Iroquois and their relationship to their indigenous neighbors. Most of this history is about the diplomacy with the European powers.

The history here is fascinating and nuanced. The author balances things well; and anyone coming in with a view that the Europeans were simply and only just imperialistic, racist land grabbers or that the Iroquois were innocent noble savages that were exploited will be disabused of these notions. The Europeans were often that but not only or always that. Along with the cynical treaties merely meant to push the Iroquois off their land, there were sincere efforts at relationship building that were successful and long-lasting. And the Iroquois were far from innocent dupes being played and exploited. They were quite astute and played the French and British off each to great effect. And the Iroquois were sometimes intentionally party to the exploitation of other native nations by the Europeans. History is always a lot more complicated and lot more interesting than what we learned in school.


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Review: Eight Million Ways to Die

Eight Million Ways to Die by John K. Snyder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A classic detective noir retold in graphic novel form. I haven't read the original, but the graphic presentation was excellent. It helped to set the mood and setting; it captured the tension felt by Scudder and his relationship to alcohol. The story was well-plotted and interesting; though the resolution came rather quickly. I wish there were more graphic novel adaptations like this.

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Review: Robert B. Parker's Angel Eyes

Robert B. Parker's Angel Eyes by Ace Atkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really do miss Robert Parker. Nevertheless, Atkins does a great job at capturing Parker's style, the feel of a Spenser novel, and the underlying morality of it. He even gets close to Spenser's wit--though it's not quite as snappy or droll as Parker's dialogue.

Atkins had some fun with this one. He always does some call-backs to earlier Parker novels, but this one had several laugh-out-loud references. One was a hilarious and not-so-subtle dig (maybe?) at the new Wahlberg Netflix series. Another was a completely out of the blue and unprecedented Joe Pike sighting. There was also another not-so-subtle dig at Robert Kraft (which as a Pats fan I found less amusing).

If you miss Spenser and want to spend time in that world, Atkins provides a reasonable simulacrum of it. There is always something a little off, but it is still a good read.

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Review: Ancient Civilizations of North America

Ancient Civilizations of North America by Edwin Barnhart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Barnhart is a great lecturer; and I enjoyed listening to him. The history was very interesting, and I learned a lot. I liked the structure of the lecture of the series, as he moved through the different regions and their history.

I did tend to get lost and daydream as he got into the details of pottery shards, ancient middens, and other archaeological particulars.

As with many teaching company courses, the first half/third of the series was the best. (not sure why that is, but it is very common.) In this case, the latter half was dealing less and less with ancient civilizations and more with pre-contact cultures of the 13th and 14th centuries. Still important, interesting stuff, but not what I was expecting.

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Review: If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir

If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir by Ilana Kurshan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ve long had a fantasy of reading and studying the Talmud. I’m intrigued by the history of it; the philosophy and theology that it contains, its structure and methodology, and its centrality to Jewish thought. But it’s such a huge challenge. Never mind language, but the very structure and methodology that fascinates me is one of the significant hurdles to overcome. And then its sheer length. It’s long. Really long. It’s a serious commitment; one that would absorb almost all my time.

But then, in Ilana Kurshan’s memoir, If All The Seas Were Ink, I learned about Daf Yomi. A project by which one reads one page of Talmud every day, completing the whole Talmud in seven and half years. Still a long time and a commitment, but this made it seem more feasible. I started to look into a bit more after starting her book. A new cycle starts in January. Maybe I could do this.

But, by the end of Kurshan’s book, I’m over it (mostly). I realized through Kurshan’s discussion of her daily reading, ironically, that I don’t want to read the whole Talmud. I’m interested in reading parts and pieces, or reading about parts and pieces. But the whole thing? Every day for seven and half years? That’s a lot of discussion of religious minutiae that holds no interest to me.

The memoir itself is interesting. To be honest, I didn’t love it. There were some beautiful parts; some poignant moments, aspects that prompted self-reflection. But overall, I didn’t connect with Kurshan. I am not sure why: maybe her intensity, her idealistic romanticism, or something else. But whatever it was, she always felt somewhat distant to me—even as she shared intimate aspects of her life.

The book started strong. I was pulled in by the idea of using the reading of Talmud daily to give herself structure and direction as she rebuilt her life. But there were a few things as the book went on that helped to create some of that distance I mentioned above. One, there was a lot of coincidence between the daily study and things in her life. On one hand, that’s kind of the point of the book. Moreover, who doesn’t have that experience of reading about something and then seeing that something everywhere? But on the other hand, after a while, it felt a little inauthentic.

Two, she seemed to be running out of interesting things to say by the end. As her life gets back on track and things are going well, it’s just not as interesting from a story point of view. And at this point, it becomes a lot of being thankful for her blessings and tying this into her study of Talmud. On personal level, that’s great. But as reader, it doesn’t make for great reading.

I did appreciate reading Kurshan’s point of view. Though far more religious and traditional than I could or would ever be, she was not orthodox or dogmatic. She bristled at the sexism in the tradition. She had difficulty with traditional prayer. At the same time, I think some of her more overt religiousness contributed to my felt distance from her. I would have also liked more of daily Israeli life. And more than just Jerusalem. She seemed to live in a somewhat religious bubble in Jerusalem and I didn’t get a sense of the much broader picture of life in Israel.

The book is at its most interesting when Kurshan weaves together ideas from the Talmud and how it helped her to think about her life. While I complained above that there were a lot of coincidences between her life and study, it didn’t bother me when she used this to show how this affected her thoughts and actions. It was more the hokey way she sometimes used the coincidences to introduce or set up the chapter. That’s when it felt forced and inauthentic.

I’m glad to have read it. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. It gave me some insight and inspired some reflection, but also left me with the feeling that something was missing or incomplete.


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Review: Loyalty

Loyalty by Ingrid Thoft
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There is a lot to like here. The main character, Fina, is solid. She's not all the way hard-boiled or all that original; but she's tough, smart, and a wise-cracker. The setting is Boston--always a plus, though there wasn't that much Boston in it. It could have been Philly for all you knew. The story moves along and though not terribly original, it wasn't totally obvious.

The writing itself was not strong. Plenty of cliches and too much telling instead of showing. The secondary characters were also a bit 'standard-issue' and stereotypical of the genre.

Fina is strong enough that I'd be willing to give #2 a try; though in the summer. This is definitely more of a beach/summer read. It's fun, it moves and entertains, but not much more than that.

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