reviews

Elegant emotional exertions... Author:  Paul Bloom  It’s the pinnacle of human emotion.  Of all its finer qualities, empathy has long been considered to occupy the apex of humanity’s emotional development.     But maybe the modern quest to increase everyone’s empathic abilities – from police officers and politicians to doctors and teachers – is misplaced.  In a book that turns everything you thought about being a good person on its head, Yale-based psychologist Paul Bloom dissects our most cherished emotion and finds it lacking.  Sure to make you think, Against Empathy is an interesting trip into the depths of human psychology. After [...]

A Sardonic Look at the Pain and Beauty of Life Author: Fredrik Backman Inspired by both personal recommendations and a book club assignment mishap, I delved into famed blogger Fredrik Backman’s bestselling story of a hopeless curmudgeon (very similar to Victor Meldrew from the BBC series One Foot in the Grave which you can watch on YouTube at the hyperlinked location) and his one-man-fight against the world, A Man Called Ove.  Originally chosen as our February read, shifting schedules moved poor Ove all the way to April, but I had already started on the novel and had absolutely no intention of setting [...]

Brothers and crime... Author:  Beth Macy It’s a biographical excursion into the unknown.  They were two of most famous entertainers of their time, yet almost nothing is known about them.  George and Willie Muse were the brothers’ given names, but on stage their monikers varied over time.  Known as the “Ambassadors from Mars”, or the “Sheep-Headed Cannibals from Ecuador” and finally just “Eko and Iko”, they traveled the world as circus freaks, amazing audiences for decades.  In a feat of truly bold biography, journalist Beth Macy tells their story in Truevine. But before they were celebrities, they were little boys, [...]