reviews

A Slapstick Escapade Through the Woods Author: Bill Bryson With Bill Bryson hitting up some local colleges in Frederick, my book club decided to shift the schedule and include a Bryson book read-athon in preparation for his speech. I recalled hearing of Bryson and seeing this particular book cover way back in the mists of time when I was first in college. I knew Bryson had been a big-name author of general non-fiction ranging from every topic under the sun – camping to the dynamics of the English language. However, I didn’t know he was still, as they say, “a thing.” [...]

 “See what courage sounds like. See how brave it is to reveal yourself in this way." -Abraham Verghese, in the foreword to When Breath Becomes Air Author: Paul Kalanithi Dr. Paul Kalanithi is finishing up ten grueling years of training as a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist when he makes his most earth-shattering diagnosis to-date: he has stage IV lung cancer. Kalanithi opens his generous and haunting memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, with this agonizing scene of discovery. Dressed not in doctor’s scrubs but in a patient’s gown, wife by his side, he sneaks a peek at his CT scan and sees [...]

Translations Matter: Lang's Sanitized Version of The Arabian Nights Translator: Andrew Lang  Continuing my long-standing classics kick, I returned to an old childhood favorite, The Arabian Nights. A little intimidated by the complete sixteen volume 1001 Nights compendium translated by someone named Burton (despite the great deal on Kindle), I did some searching for an unabridged best-of compendium to get me started on the adult version of the tale. Being available in an Audible version for my scenic work commutes was likewise a requirement. And so with little search and great trust, I landed on the Andrew Lang version and swiftly downloaded it. What I didn’t [...]