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Posts Tagged ‘Book Review’
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Good grief… When you read a book like this one, you really begin to understand what a disaster of a state we live in here in New Jersey. The Soprano State, authored by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, details about as much of the Garden State’s seedy underbelly that any one person can stand without dropping the book in frustration. Seriously, it took me a little bit longer than usual to read this otherwise short book (336 pages) because I would get so discouraged while reading it that I’d put it down for a few days at a time.
Look, we all know that there is corruption inherent in the government. What we do not know is if the system that corrupts the politicians or if it is the politicians that corrupt the system. After going through this book, I don’t think that I’m any closer to answering that question than I was before reading it, but I do think that I am convinced more now than I ever of one thing…
I’m registered as an independent voter due, in part, because I don’t want the Republican or Democratic parties in New Jersey to think that they can always bank on my vote. Well, after reading The Soprano State, I am convinced that staying on the rolls as an independent voter is the right thing to do in the Garden State. Why, you ask? Simple. Backroom deals and the utter waste of taxpayer dollars has been perpetuated by both political parties in this state.
The Soprano State goes in depth on many of the political backroom deals that drive the voters in this state crazy. But what I really liked was when I went to The Soprano State’s website and noticed that the authors have added, free of charge, updates on more political garbage that you can only expect to find in the Garden State. Here is a sampling from the book’s website:
New Jersey’s long-suffering taxpayers deserve better. Newly sworn-in Gov. Chris Christie said it took him two hours to learn that instead of a $500 million surplus, he was inheriting a $1 billion revenue deficit for the budget year ending June 30. The kicker is that Gov. Corzine, also in his last week, sent by wire transfer $121 million in special municipal aid to five cities. Add that to the news that in his final week, Corzine transferred $1 million to the Legislature. Most of the money, $800,000, went to the Democratic controlled Assembly where salary accounts had been overspent in 2009. This kind of behavior is what cost the Democrats the governor’s seat.
- Michael Symons, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 24 and Jan. 20, 2010
Lee Solomon stepped down from a county judgeship to become president of the Board of Public Utilities. Solomon has worn a lot of hats over the years: assemblyman, Camden County freeholder, county prosecutor, and first deputy U.S. attorney. The Soprano State (chapters 5,6 and 7) does not have warm and fuzzy things to say about Solomon. But this is his chance to make a difference, to end globetrotting at the BPU, to scrutinize its bank accounts, its audits and its files and to hold people accountable. It’s time to give citizens of New Jersey some confidence in the board that regulates utilities. Seems like a judge and a prosecutor would be the perfect person to do it. We shall all see if Solomon fits the bill.
- Bob Ingle, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 22, 2010
Don Norcross, brother of South Jersey political boss George Norcross, has leapfrogged into a state Senate seat. When Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts decided to depart, Norcross got his Assembly seat. As soon as Norcross was sworn in, he was tapped for the Senate seat left vacant by the departure of Sen. Dana Redd, who became mayor of Camden. Don Norcross said he’d draw from the experiences and advice of Roberts and new Senate President Steve Sweeney. The message to taxpayers: nothing is going to change.
- Jeremy Rosen, Courier-Post, Jan. 19, 2010
- Bob Ingle, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 18, 2010
Ahhh…nothing like wasting taxpayer dollars to help your family and friends get ahead in New Jersey, huh? If you’re interested in learning more about the politics of New Jersey, then I suggest reading this book. From my perspective, I think that The Soprano State is required reading for all New Jerseyans.
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews, The State of New Jersey | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 11th, 2010
As an avid reader, I always like picking up full autobiographies or books where interesting people write about themselves and their experiences. A while ago I was at the Barnes & Noble and I picked up “blue collar” comedian Ron White’s mini-autobiography/comedy book I Had the Right to Remain Silent… But I Didn’t Have the Ability. I gotta tell you, this is a pretty funny book.
A large portion of the book is Ron White’s stand-up act transcribed into the written word. You have to watch his act once or twice to understand his pacing, but if you understand his pacing then you’ll be able to read through the comedy bits relatively quickly. And even though I’ve heard White perform most of this material before, I did find myself laughing out loud two or three times at some of his jokes. Fans of White’s comedy will surely enjoy reading his jokes almost as much as they enjoy listening to him deliver them.
The book intersperses pieces of White’s comedy routine between pieces of his life story. And it’s an interesting story to say the least. I don’t want to give away any of the more entertaining parts, but I think the story of White going to Mexico to work on some sitcom was pretty entertaining (in a sick sort of a way). Also, the stories also show how White has depended on his friendship with Jeff Foxworthy to help him break through some of the stigmas that were attached to him due to his drug use. White heaps a ton of praise and thanks on Foxworthy and it comes across very clear to the reader that White attributes a great deal of his success to his friendship with Jeff.
Overall, I think that this is a good book for the price. You can probably find it in the bargain bin at your local Barnes & Noble for a few bucks. So if you’re looking for a very quick, very cost effective read that will also give you some laughs while telling a great human interest story, then you’ll want to pick up a copy of Ron White’s I Had the Right to Remain Silent… But I Didn’t Have the Ability. Enjoy!
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews, Jokes & Humor | No Comments »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
When you’re constantly trying to lose weight (or, in my case, trying to find the time in your day to just get to the gym), you come across a lot of different diet books, workout regimes, and “quick fixes.” With respect to the quick fixes, I don’t buy into any of that stuff because the quick fix is usually depriving your body of certain essential items (such as fat or carbohydrates – the body needs these things!).
The other day I was watching one of the morning talk shows before leaving for work and one of the guests was a woman that lost a ton of weight. Part of her routine was the Eat-Clean Diet. I’m always interested in what people are doing to lose large amounts of weight. Usually, I’m looking to see if those people are finding success while juggling a crazy professional and personal schedule. In other words, I want to see if anyone can lose 100+ or 150+ pounds when they are busy from 7am through 10pm on most days. I haven’t found that success story yet…
But I digress. I looked into the Eat-Clean Diet for Men and was immediately happy to see that it isn’t so much of a diet as it is a plan to eat natural foods in proper portions. The Eat-Clean Diet for Men, created by Robert Kennedy and his wife Tosca Reno, focuses on creating a schedule of food intake that works for a man to achieve whatever he wants to achieve (be it losing weight, gaining muscle, or maintaining a certain weight). Folks, I’ve been on all sorts of diets and when I did manage to lose 120+ pounds a few years ago (before gaining it back), I did it by staying away from fad diets and, instead, just eating smaller portions and working out more often. That’s what I liked about the Eat-Clean Diet – it’s not a fad diet. Instead, it focuses on eating real foods.
And as it turns out, I’ve been eating the same foods that are recommended by the Eat-Clean Diet for Men for years. I take the supplements that they suggest taking and I eat the food that they suggest eating. My problem for the last few years where I’ve gained the weight back has always been on two issues. The first is portion size. I eat gigantic sandwiches and large bowls of pasta and I shouldn’t do that. I get progressively better at reducing these portion sizes as time goes on, but I still sometimes have portion sizes that are too big. The second problem is timing.
During the college semester, it’s very hard for me to get to the gym for an intense workout. Sure, I can get to the gym and have a half-assed workout at the end of the day for about 30 minutes, but it’s not worth the effort since I’m not achieving anything in that scenario. Between the two hour daily commute to and from my day job, teaching two nights per week, and attending a class on a third night each week, I get pretty tired by the time I get home at night. Further, when I do get home it is usually between 9pm and 10pm after having been awake since 6am.
For me, the Eat-Clean Diet for Men plan doesn’t address how to juggle a ridiculous professional and personal schedule and thus doesn’t add much “new” information for me. In fact, the information presented in the book (which is a very well prepared book, by the way) is nothing new to anyone who has been researching health and healthy lifestyles. In fact, there was nothing new in this book on that front. However, I can see how this book can be a very valuable resource to those people who do not know which foods are good and which ones are bad for improving health.
I’d recommend this book for someone who is in that latter group and for someone who has the time to dedicate to really changing their entire lifestyle for the cause of improving health. For those of us who are over-scheduled from the morning hours through the late evening, the only new thing you’ll find in this book is which foods are good and which are bad. For those of you who already know which foods are good and which are bad and if you’re over-scheduled and trying to find a way to lose weight, then the Eat-Clean Diet for Men might not be for you.
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews, Gym Stories | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
First, I have to contradict something that I wrote a few days ago. If you read my entry from this past Sunday, I commented on how sometimes it takes me a year to get through a single book due to problems with timing. That wasn’t the case with Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. I began reading this book about a week ago and I couldn’t put it down; I had the whole thing completed in about four days.
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I had no idea what to expect coming into this book. A few years ago I read Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and I enjoyed his writing style. So, based on being pleased with the other book, I picked up A Thousand Splendid Suns and let me tell you – this is one hell of a story! It’s the story of two women in Afghanistan and their struggles for respect and the ability to live a decent life in a country that is seemingly in a constant state of war. The novel is brilliantly written and is at times both heart-wrenching and brutal. At some point in the novel, the reader is actually pressed to expect the worst outcome for these women in any pending situation. Hosseini captures despair unlike any other writer that I’ve read in the last few years.
The story’s two main female characters are Mariam and Laila. The two women are separated by a number of years, but they wind up as wives to a hardcore man who beats and humiliates them. It’s tough to read at some points, but the quality of the writing makes it worth the intensity. Though these two are wives to the same man, their histories are anything but similar. Mariam grows up as the unwanted child of a wealthy man who conceived her with a servant woman. Being of such a history, Mariam is cast aside and literally lives in a hut until her mother passes away (the story kicks into high gear at this point, but I won’t spoil it for you). Mariam is then sent off to marry a man name Rasheed who requires her to follow a strict Islamic lifestyle, which includes wearing a burqa and being subservient to her husband.
Laila, on the other hand, grows up across the street from Mariam and Rasheed. Her father is a university professor before the Soviets begin to occupy the country. As a professor, he stresses the importance of Laila getting an education which ultimately brings Laila’s life full circle (you need to get to the end of the book to understand that piece of the story). Laila grows up with a young boy named Tariq. The two of them share a budding love story until the war gets so bad that Tariq’s family is forced to leave Kabul (which is where the bulk of the story takes place). From that point, the story take a variety of twists and turns.
After her family is killed, Laila winds up as Rasheed’s second wife. One of the most well written parts of the book is when Laila gets beaten for the first time by Rasheed. It really puts the reader in a position to hate Rasheed, which is where I found myself about midway through the book.
The rest of the story deals with Laila’s children, her desire to preserve what she had with Tariq, and Mariam wanting her life to mean something of importance (which it ultimately does). Of course, there’s a lot more to this story to fill its 415 pages and I encourage you to read the novel to get a full picture of this wonderfully written story.
In an Afterword, Hosseini asks his readers to look at the United Nations website regarding refugee services and support. Feel free to click on that link to see the website. And, if you’re looking for a startlingly powerful and brilliantly written read, then I suggest picking up A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews | 1 Comment »
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Sometimes I buy a book and it takes me forever to read the thing. Not because it’s a bad book, but rather because I sometimes just don’t have the time to sit down and read! That’s what happened to me with The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. I bought this book in October 2008 and it took me about a year to get through it.
However, do not interpret that last sentence as a criticism of this book! No, in fact this is one of the best sustainable living/organic food books that I’ve ever read. Pollan is a master at bringing out the larger issues in our food system. In this book, he manages to achieve that success by following the food from its humble beginnings in the field (or on the industrial farm, as it may be) all the way through when we eat it. The book is a really fascinating look at what happens to our meat and produce before it gets to our tables.
But those with queasy stomachs beware. While Pollan doesn’t talk too much about the gore associated with creating the food that we eat, he talks about it enough to allow the reader to infer just what is going on. From chickens getting their throats sliced and drained of their blood to cows being shot directly between the eyes to kill them, this book will tell you about exactly how our ground beef and chicken cutlets come into being before they hit our dinner tables.
But it’s not all dying animals and blood. In fact, Pollan spends a great deal of time talking about the industrial food system and how we’ve changed the base of our diets from a variety of original sources hundreds of years ago (and even decades ago) to a base of corn. Yes, that’s right – corn. Pollan talks about the ways in which corn is broken down into a whole collection of different components and how those components are used to construct any number of new products. One of the facts that I read in this book that has stuck with me is how we now feed our livestock a corn-based diet at industrial farms and how that diet has changed the very meat of these animals. It all makes sense though, right? If you change what you feed animals that you intend to eat, then you are essentially changing what you intend to eat. There is some discussion about our change to a corn-based system leading to the increasing obesity epidemic in America, too.
Combining Pollan’s natural wit and his great storytelling ability, this book presents the type of information that our society needs to know about in order to create a mass change in our diets. If you’re interested in the slow food movement, local organic farming, or any sustainable living topic in general, then I think that you’ll enjoy this book. Use the link above to read more reviews from Amazon!
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews, Sustainable Living | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
Immediately upon seeing the title of this entry I’m sure that most of the readers of this blog think to themselves, “Oh hey! I read that book once when I was in school!” And that’s probably correct. The first time I read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 was in school – high school, I think. So I do not think it will do anyone any great good to recap the novel to any great length in this space. However, some of the themes captured in the book are worth revisiting.
In short, this is a story about censorship and an overreaching government that controls the lives of its citizens to their great downfall (a nuclear blast). The story is set in a future America where firemen have become fire starters. The subject of their blazes are the homes of those who would harbor books and the “nonsense” inside of them. As Fahrenheit 451’s antagonist, Fire Chief Beatty, suggests – books are filled with nothing and that “nothing” evokes emotional sentiments from their readers which puts undue stress on the populace. As such, books have been deemed a public nuisance by the government and are systematically destroyed when they are found.
The novel’s protagonist is Guy Montag, a fireman who realizes the error of his ways and begins saving books. Ultimately, Montag’s actions cost him his wife (who is completely controlled by the government) and his easy life. At the same time, though, Montag’s decision to become enlightened by breaking Plato’s chains and leaving the proverbial cave saves his life. Shortly after Montag escapes his home city, he watches as it is annihilated in a nuclear blast. The blast is delivered as a part of the war that the country is fighting that most of the population is oblivious towards thanks to the government.
One can draw many parallels between portions of Fahrenheit 451 and today’s current state of affairs. With two wars being fought around the globe and unfriendly countries taking a nuclear leap forward in their missile testing, the comparisons between book and reality are certainly valid. What strikes me as the most stunning parallel between Fahrenheit 451 and our current reality is the lack of a clear “truth” in most cases. For example, how can it be that Republicans say “Fact A” is the best solution to a problem while Democrats say “Fact B” is the best solution – all the while the vast majority of the American public believes that “Fact C” is the best course of action? Further, while public debates over essentially non-issues abound, there are real dire situations that are being overlooked by the pathetic news media.
When was the last time a real, in-depth report was produced on the current situation in Afghanistan? And when was the last time that an in-depth report was biased for or against a particular political persuasion? It’s scary when you start think about all of the ways that Fahrenheit 451’s themes are present in our world today. Another example – did you hear about how Washington State University nearly banned one of Michael Pollan’s books about the food industry? Why did they almost ban the book? It turns out that large agricultural companies that had some influence at WSU suggested that the book was anti-their industry and should be removed from reading lists.
Thankfully, an influx of e-mails (including one of my own) and phone calls led to WSU putting the book back on the reading list. The university saved face throughout the situation by saying that the entire snafu was related to a budget crisis and that an individual had come in to fund this particular program. Sounds good for the media, but the truth is that a book was almost banned because a large industry didn’t like its message regarding the truth about where our food comes from. Scary.
So I join the chorus of the hundreds and thousands that have before me recommended reading Fahrenheit 451. One final note before I end, though. For those of you that read Fahrenheit 451 while you were in school, I redouble my suggestion about picking up a copy of this book and giving it a read (go for the 50th anniversary edition since there are additional bits of information in the back such as a Coda and an interview with Ray Bradbury). I’ve found that purchasing books that I was once forced to read in school and re-reading them at my own leisure has allowed me to increase my appreciation and fundamental understanding of the books and the issues presented therein. I think that you’ll find the same to be true for you – especially with masterpieces like Fahrenheit 451.
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews | 2 Comments »
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