https://slackersmuse.com/tags/2022/ Recent content in 2022 on Slacker's Muse Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_goodomenstheniceandaccuratepropheciesofagnesnutterwitch/ Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_goodomenstheniceandaccuratepropheciesofagnesnutterwitch/ A Review: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch Title of Work: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch Author: Terry Pratchett Format: Published: 1990 Started: Finished: 2022-12-16\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 It’s funny; it’s British humor. It pokes fun at religion and government and society at large but not in a snobbish way. We’re all in on the joke and the humor is almost respectfully critical. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_lolita/ Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_lolita/ A Review: Lolita Title of Work: Lolita Author: Vladimir Nabokov Format: Published: 1955 Started: Finished: 2022-12-11\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 5/5 Lolita and Shame This story has long existed at the periphery of my literary awareness, always inexplicably important but subdued within a dark air of shame and perversion. I could acknowledge its existence only with sidelong glances, perhaps feeling if I looked at it directly, if I picked it up and turned to the first page, that I would be forced to stand before interrogations to which I did not yet know how to reply: why would you read that? https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_breakfastofchampions/ Wed, 30 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_breakfastofchampions/ A Review: Breakfast of Champions Title of Work: Breakfast of Champions Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Format: Published: 1973 Started: Finished: 2022-11-30\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 When I first thought to write this review my mind settled on playful, tongue-in-cheek imitation of Vonnegut’s style. Mimicry of motifs really. From there, it lurched onto a brief archival stack of Goodreads comments I must have set aside in some dusty corner up there for reasons unknown to you, me, or science (at least any science I’ve had the pleasure to know). https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_acarnivalofsnackerydiaries20032020/ Wed, 09 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_acarnivalofsnackerydiaries20032020/ A Review: A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 Title of Work: A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 Author: David Sedaris Format: Published: 2021 Started: Finished: 2022-11-09\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 3/5 Okay, I’ll be brief. David Sedaris is funny, I like his sense of humor, and I’ve had great things to say about his writing in the past (just look at my Me Talk Pretty One Day review). That said, this one was LONG, probably too long. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_heartofdarkness/ Wed, 09 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_heartofdarkness/ A Review: Heart of Darkness Title of Work: Heart of Darkness Author: Joseph Conrad Format: print Published: Started: 2022-11-09 Finished: 2022-11-09\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Review pending. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_lincolninthebardo/ Sat, 05 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_lincolninthebardo/ A Review: Lincoln in the Bardo Title of Work: Lincoln in the Bardo Author: George Saunders Format: Published: 2017 Started: Finished: 2022-11-05\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 What the hell is a bardo? Well, it’s not quite heaven or hell but adjacent in a way. Bardo is a Tibetan Buddhist tenet for the space between death and reincarnation. A sort of purgatory where souls linger after exiting their earthly bodies but before descending again into the land of the living. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_greenlights/ Fri, 04 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_greenlights/ A Review: Green Lights Title of Work: Green Lights Author: Matthew McConaughey Format: Published: 2020 Started: Finished: 2022-11-04\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 This one has been on my to-read list for a while but I think I had been putting it off under suspicion that it might be a self-helpy “how I made it against all odds!” sermon-disguised-as-memoir from another rich celebrity. Probably ghost written. I was recommended the title again recently by a close friend who thought I might find portions of it relatable given my current phase in life. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_threefamousshortnovelsspottedhorsesoldmanthebear/ Fri, 28 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_threefamousshortnovelsspottedhorsesoldmanthebear/ A Review: Three Famous Short Novels: Spotted Horses / Old Man / The Bear Title of Work: Three Famous Short Novels: Spotted Horses / Old Man / The Bear Author: William Faulkner Format: Published: 1958 Started: Finished: 2022-10-28\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 3/5 All three stories had large sections I found beautifully written. Deep and rich, each with distinct and palpable setting. I was present in the corral with the horses, I was careening down engorged tributaries of the Mississippi, and I sat frozen in the dawn air of a familiar forest as The Bear stalked into view. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_theessayasform/ Sat, 22 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_theessayasform/ A Review: The Essay as Form Title of Work: The Essay as Form Author: Theodor W. Adorno Format: Published: 1958 Started: Finished: 2022-10-22\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 0/5 While difficult, I found this to be valuable supplementary material in my continued investigations of the essay as a literary form. Generally, it includes observation, defense, and justification of the essay relative to other more traditional and formulaic forms. This felt dense. I’m not sure if my brain is just dumb right now—I do find myself chronically dehydrated lately— or if this writing is outdated and academic enough that I would never be able to reflexively comprehend and shouldn’t expect to. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_tenthofdecember/ Sun, 16 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_tenthofdecember/ A Review: Tenth of December Title of Work: Tenth of December Author: George Saunders Format: Published: 2013 Started: Finished: 2022-10-16\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Man, I felt so much more than I anticipated here… Saunders took significant liberties with form, stripping some of these stories down to the shorthand one might find in diary entries written late at night following the grinding down of a long days’ work and the emotional taxation of keeping life together at home. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thankgodfortheatombombotheressays/ Sun, 16 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_thankgodfortheatombombotheressays/ A Review: Thank God for the Atom Bomb & Other Essays Title of Work: Thank God for the Atom Bomb & Other Essays Author: Paul Fussell Format: Published: 1988 Started: Finished: 2022-10-16\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 This was a very high value thrift store find. Took a chance on this one because it only cost me a nickel and the title + cover art were tempting enough. While not all great, there are quite a few excellent essays in this collection and I was happily thorough with my highlighting and annotating once I got going. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_metalkprettyoneday/ Tue, 11 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_metalkprettyoneday/ A Review: Me Talk Pretty One Day Title of Work: Me Talk Pretty One Day Author: David Sedaris Format: Published: 2000 Started: Finished: 2022-10-11\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 I am of the simple-minded folk that find David Sedaris hilarious. I have seen those scathing and exasperated reviews in which the reviewer, probably ivy-educated and with a sense of humor much finer than my own, just doesn’t get the love, adoration, and guffaws showered upon our dear David and even goes so far to riducule the sheep who let fly a bleating chuckle every time he jokes about how gay he is or how grumpy and old or how much of a sissy coward. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_imastrangerheremyselfnotesonreturningtoamericaaftertwentyyearsaway/ Mon, 03 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_imastrangerheremyselfnotesonreturningtoamericaaftertwentyyearsaway/ A Review: I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away Title of Work: I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away Author: Bill Bryson Format: Published: 1998 Started: Finished: 2022-10-03\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 How have I made it this far in life without receiving the blessing of Bill Bryson’s observant wit on eyes or ears? He amuses us with the frustrations and musings of a multi-decade American expat to England, returned and living out middle age in New England. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_therumdiary/ Mon, 26 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_therumdiary/ A Review: The Rum Diary Title of Work: The Rum Diary Author: Hunter S. Thompson Format: Published: 1998 Started: Finished: 2022-09-26\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 An amusing account of a vagrant — sorry, freelance — journalist’s drunkenness and dereliction set in Puerto Rico of the late ‘50s. Angry editors, stolen lovers, skulls bashed, cheeseburgers ordered and rum swilled in the spots the gringo expats could “get away from those disgusting gringo tourists”. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_adultchildrenofemotionallyimmatureparentshowtohealfromdistantrejectingorselfinvolvedparents/ Sun, 18 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_adultchildrenofemotionallyimmatureparentshowtohealfromdistantrejectingorselfinvolvedparents/ A Review: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents Title of Work: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents Author: Lindsay C. Gibson Format: Published: 2015 Started: Finished: 2022-09-18\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 Perhaps a bit of over-sharing ahead. When I was younger, searching for answers to the distance and anger I felt within my relationship with my parents, I reached out to the internet. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_foundationfoundation1/ Wed, 07 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_foundationfoundation1/ A Review: Foundation (Foundation, #1) Title of Work: Foundation (Foundation, #1) Author: Isaac Asimov Format: Published: 1951 Started: Finished: 2022-09-07\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 3/5 Let’s say 3.5/5 Excellent world building and large scale sci fi ideas that stretch across incomprehensible expanses of space and time. Read this if you like the ten-steps-ahead-of-you, triple agent, you bluff me I’ll bluff you type of political/military subterfuge. And in this case, Asimov’s introduction of “psychohistory” — the scarily accurate computation and prediction of historical events thousands of years into the future — takes predestination and absolutely nerdifies it. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_pilgrimswildernessatruestoryoffaithandmadnessonthealaskafrontier/ Wed, 20 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_pilgrimswildernessatruestoryoffaithandmadnessonthealaskafrontier/ A Review: Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier Title of Work: Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier Author: Tom Kizzia Format: Published: 2013 Started: Finished: 2022-07-20\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 2/5 The (true) story is fascinating, the writing is ok, the pacing sucks. Large sections of the book felt like a slog. The writing is clearly on the wall about half way through how things will end with the Pilgrim/Sunstar/Hale family but we’re kind of gratingly dragged through exhaustive accounts of their chronic land disputes and court proceedings to arrive there. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_elsewhere/ Thu, 07 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_elsewhere/ A Review: Elsewhere Title of Work: Elsewhere Author: Richard Russo Format: Published: 2012 Started: Finished: 2022-07-07\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 I would not have taken a chance on this memoir had my sister not recommended it to me. I was staying with her and her family for several months and we often comiserated over our shared blend of neuroses, a particular amalgam of genetics and rearing that only we were fortunate enough to have been… blessed with by our mother. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_scatteredallovertheearthscatteredallovertheearth1/ Wed, 25 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_scatteredallovertheearthscatteredallovertheearth1/ A Review: Scattered All Over the Earth (Scattered All Over the Earth #1) Title of Work: Scattered All Over the Earth (Scattered All Over the Earth #1) Author: Yōko Tawada Format: Published: 2018 Started: Finished: 2022-05-25\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 2/5 I’m relieved to finally be through with this novel - but it’s not all bad news. The concept is interesting enough that I was floated into the middle chapters where the boring and underdeveloped characters started to flit around the (deliberately? https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_barbariandaysasurfinglife/ Mon, 16 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_barbariandaysasurfinglife/ A Review: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life Title of Work: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life Author: William Finnegan Format: Published: 2015 Started: Finished: 2022-05-16\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 5/5 I really should have written this review back in May when I read the damn thing. At the time, I thought I would let the book “soak” a bit before putting thoughts to page. Procrastination got to that idea and I see now that I treated this review not unlike the lasting remnants of a satisfying meal left clinging to the pan after a sloppy but at least marginally successful attempt at some culinary technique just outside my wheelhouse. https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_slaughterhousefive/ Sun, 08 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://slackersmuse.com/posts/br_slaughterhousefive/ A Review: Slaughterhouse-Five Title of Work: Slaughterhouse-Five Author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Format: Published: 1969 Started: Finished: 2022-05-08\ Posted: Goodreads Rating: 4/5 An engaging, quick book broken up into digestible scenes and memories teasing out the beauty and brutality of life and especially war. I found myself coming “unstuck in time” on several occasions, ushered away by Vonnegut’s masterful craft of phrase to memories of my own past and future. Some of these excursions brought joy and some brought pain.