reviews

Dirt is destiny... Author:  Paul Bogard When’s the last time you walked barefoot anywhere?  Outdoors?  In some natural area?  The beach hardly counts.  If you’re like me, it’s probably hard to remember a time. It’s this sad fact that served as one of the motivators for The Ground Beneath Us, writer Paul Bogard’s exploration of an often overlooked part of our planet.  He eloquently argues that by paving up and plowing under much of the Earth we’ve lost touch with the natural world.  Quite literally, we’ve lost the physical connection between our bare feet and the soil, a remarkable microcosm [...]

Evolution and Ethics... Author:  Greg Graffin Ethicists have been guided by the natural world for millennia.   But it’s a practice fraught with hazards.  Should we emulate the swan for its admirable monogamy or shall we follow the bonobo chimp’s lead and engage in frequent sexual orgies?   Anyone who pays any attention to the natural world knows that you can support or condemn any human behavior by finding a creature that exemplifies your particular passion.  It’s cherry picking in the extreme.  Not surprisingly, as scientists continue to improve their understanding of life on Earth, new attempts to use the natural world [...]

Psychological Tension and Abandoned Paris Ghettos Author: S.L. Grey Enticed during a luxurious book store peruse by its moody cover and hints of ghostly paranoia, I added S.L. Grey’s The Apartment to a growing pile of to-be-reads and promptly forgot about it – until Halloween decorations and leering pumpkins began showing up everywhere. In the mood for a new author I started The Apartment with the usual level of giddy excitement and soon became drawn into an Alfred Hitchcock-esque story that concentrates on palpable paranoia and the seeping poisons of human mental fragility engulfed by barren expanses of empty, abandoned space where anything can [...]