How familiar are you with the Qu’ran? Do you think you ought to more about it? William Federer thinks you do. In his book, What Every American Needs to Know About the Qu’ran - A History of Islam & the United States, he offers quick snippets of history that bring you up to date on the highlights of Islam since Mohammed appeared on the [...]
I’m into heroes these days. My heroes are men and women who stick to their consciences, in spite of legal and social harassment. You’ve met a few of them here. Today, we feature a few long-dead heroes. Harold Rawlings examines the lives of John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Martin Luther and others in his book, Trial By Fire: The Struggle to Get the Bible into [...]
In Paul Bloom’s Against Empathy, the author takes on the idea that, for too many people, empathy is “the cure,” “the magic bullet of morality.” He’s not so sure of that. Neither am I. So, let’s get started, I told myself, rubbing my hands together as I opened his book. Empathy can be “short-sighted,” “myopic,” and “insensitive . . . To costs and benefits.” [...]
Somebody needs to induct author Ron Chernow into the Writer’s Cramp Society of America. He can take his place beside James Michener and David McCullough for writing huge-but-readable books big enough to break your wrist every time you pick them up. He may be most famous for Alexander Hamilton, the book that inspired the runaway-hit musical. His latest is Grant, as in Ulysses S., [...]
If your parents had strict rules and you are still feeling upset about it, perhaps you would rather have had Moira Greyland’s parents. Moira’s mother was Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of the Mists of Avalon series. Her father, Walter Breen established himself as an expert numismatist (coin collecting). Now that we’ve got their public personas out of the way, let’s turn to Greyland’s account [...]
Maybe you follow the news closely enough that the name “Blackwater” rings a bell. As for me, I had never heard it until I ran across the book, Civilian Warriors, by Erik Prince. The book is Prince’s rebuttal to all the bad press his company received for their mistakes in the Iraq War. Prince is a former Navy SEAL. After his service, he noted [...]
Happy Easter to you! Every year, when the grass greens up, when the trees bud out, when the weather softens, it’s hard to miss the larger meaning of life renewing all around. This year, the symbolism of renewed life is bolstered by a book we covered here a few weeks ago. It was so illuminating, so perspective-changing, it was as if I could suddenly [...]
I don’t remember where I ran across the book title, The Courage to Be Disliked, but it snagged my attention right away. We’ll get to why in a minute. But anyway, I tracked it down at my library and found myself something like eighth in line. As my name slowly advanced up the queue, and as I finally got my hands on it (electronically) [...]
I traveled to South Bend, Indiana, last spring, to hear Elizabeth Smart speak. It was a treat of a day, both the road trip and the chance to hear more angles on her ultimately happy story. You may also remember that we reviewed her book here. But what about her parents’ story? Bringing Elizabeth Home by Ed & Lois Smart starts a little slow. [...]
I know we have some Read Fast, Eat Slow readers that would love to be a fly on the wall in the operating room. Until such a feat becomes possible, you might get your fix by reading Atul Gawande’s Complications. Many chapters originally appeared in his column in The New Yorker. As a fly on Gawande’s wall, you will witness him making his incisions, guiding [...]
