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A dark book but a deeply meaningful book. A great book. The mood and characters are detailed and authentic.It gives you empathy for broken people who spiral and make bad choices. The terrible tragedy about a murder in some town you see in the news , where someone "just snapped", and think about for 20 seconds. This book lays out the backstory of a life that leads there.

This is the first book I have read by Russell Banks - great writing. There are several scenes of difficult, awkward and angry human interactions are brilliantly painted.

This is an odd book, and I mean that in the best possible way. It is not really plot driven - there are several disjointed stories linked together. It is not really character driven -- unless you consider the Ragtime era (roughly 1900-1917) to be the main character. It mixes historical figures and events along with fictional ones -- but in a way that you learn a lot about the real history and zeitgeist of that era. But it all somehow works spectacularly -- i was engrossed in the book and read it very quickly. The writing is amazing -- very clear, concise sentences that work together to be vivid thought provoking. it was written 50 years ago about a time 125 years ago..but it is extremely current and relevant as it is about culture going through great changes.

This was the first book I have read by Doctorow, and now I want to read his others.

9 reviews November 18, 2024 This is an odd book, and I mean that in the best possible way. It is not really plot driven - there are several disjointed stories linked together. It is not really character driven -- unless you consider the Ragtime era (roughly 1900-1917) to be the main character. It mixes historical figures and events along with fictional ones -- but in a way that you learn a lot about the real history and zeitgeist of that era. But it all somehow works spectacularly -- i was engrossed in the book and read it very quickly. The writing is amazing -- very clear, concise sentences that work together to be vivid thought provoking. it was written 50 years ago about a time 125 years ago..but it is extremely current and relevant as it is about culture going through great changes.

This was the first book I have read by Doctorow, and now I want to read his others.

I wish every American would read this book.

I recall hearing about the Rawandan genocide in the 90s with the Tootsies and the Hutus ethnic groups (and also in neighboring Burundi). It was something that seemed horrific yet something remote and having little to do with my life in America.

This book is not a history book - it is a true story about one young man who lived through it and miraculously escaped and ended up as in illegal refugee in New York city. It covers multiple stories: - how foreign immigrants are mistreated and despised in America - how a the leaders of some colonial Aftrican country carried out many of the divisions and oppressions practiced earlier in order to maintain power - how unjust societies can "suddenly" erupt into insanity - how a society can try to heal itself - how a few acts of kindness by strangers can help an individual and how that can have enormous dividends down the road

It is a reminder that you can never really know what someone has or is going through and have some empathy and reserve some judgement until you know more. Also -- when there is societal pressure to demonize other groups, you should be very suspicious that there is a coordinated effort to demonize.

Simply one of my favorite books I have read over the last 5 years. Beautiful, thoughtful, humorous, wondrous -- Brian Doyle dazzled me with plain spoken language that reminds me what is the the core of being human.

Simply one of my favorite books I have read over the last 5 years. Beautiful, thoughtful, humorous, wondrous -- Brian Doyle dazzled me with plain spoken language that reminds me what is the the core of being human.

When Steinbeck is at his best, he is one of my favorite authors. He has a way of layering in detailed descriptions and feelings that should seem complex but somehow come across very simple and direct. This book is almost like a collection of inter-related short stories, with each chapter a short scene of life in a time and place. About 3/4 of the chapters build upon one another to tell a kind of loose plot, but a quarter are unrelated and just set a tone or mood -- these stand-alone chapters are some of my favorites.

"...the things people admire in men, such as kindness, generosity, and honesty, are often seen as signs of failure in society, while traits like greed and self-interest are seen as signs of success."

Now I want to take the two hour drive down to Monterey and walk around Cannery Row.

I avoided this book for a long time. I suppose because I judged it based on some of the authors interactions in interviews. But a friend of mine convinced me to read it. He said it was funny. I also read reviews that said none of the characters are sympathetic.

Those things are only half true. There are funny parts, but they are almost always uncomfortable funny parts - the laugher is nervous because it reminds you of things you or someone close to you has done. All of the characters have some awful selfish behavior ... but the reason they are that way is the brilliant part of the book. They usually recognize when they rare behaving poorly, cannot "correct" them, and then tear them selves up about it. In fact, this might be one of the saddest books I have read. The family is dysfunctional in he way that most are: people hiding their true inner selves out of pride/ego/embarrassment. They are searching for "corrections" when what they really need are "connections".

Overall the writing is excellent. There were some passages that felt a little too clever, but many passages which were so devastatingly clear describing a character's inner turmoil.

I do not really like depressing books, but I think books that help you become more self aware, and sympathetic to others who are struggling are good investments. This book does that.

This book pulled me in and grabbed my attention. I read it at a much faster rate than normal because I became very invested in the kids and the coaches. The world that these kids grew up in is very difficult and dangerous -- this is something I "knew" but that is very different than "feeling" and understanding. The writing is very authentic and simple but effective.

It is inspirational in two different ways. If you are facing huge obstacles it give you hope; if you are privileged it inspires you to find meaning and happiness by connecting with others.

While the book is specifically about Government IT iniatives, it is more broadly about how large organizations made of constituent with different incentives are badly hampered from serving their users.

Politicians make policies to further their agenda, and then leave it to implementers to sort through all the ambiguity, inconsistencies and deliver something useful. Failure is almost assured at the outset. Much of the description rang true to me as a software developer in the private sector -- I experience the same sort of issues but perhaps at a smaller scale.

But the most interesting thing to me was Pahlka's argument that the impact of failed process is much worse than a bad user experience, a budget overrun, or a delay ... it is undermining trust in Government.

If you work in software/IT you will greatly enjoy this book. And if not, you will still find the sociology and a look at how the sausage gets made enlightening.