tlariv rated The Message: 4 stars
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates originally set off to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwell’s classic Politics and the …
Very useful and accessible
Reviews and Comments
Some middle-aged white dude originally from New England but long since transplanted to Chicago. h/h
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tlariv rated Dialogues avec un sauvage: 3 stars
tlariv rated AI Snake Oil: 4 stars
AI Snake Oil by Arvind Narayanan, Sayash Kapoor
From two of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI, what you need to know about AI--and how to defend …
tlariv rated Néandertal nu: 5 stars
tlariv finished reading AI Snake Oil by Arvind Narayanan
From two of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI, what you need to know …
tlariv reviewed White Rural Rage by Tom Schaller
Why Harris picked the right VP
4 stars
An excellent explanation of why rural White voters wield outsize influence in US politics, why they feel betrayed, and how the Republican party has used them to further its own goals.
In retrospect (I finished the book a while ago) Schaller and Waldman could not have done a better job of explaining why a small-town-Minnesota-high-school-football-coach-turned-congressman-turned-governor (turned very progressive governor) being tapped as Kamala Harris' running mate would short all of the GOP's circuits.
tlariv started reading Mother Water Ash by Nicole Cooley
Do not read anyplace where you might be embarrassed if you tear up a little. These are very raw poems of loss.
tlariv rated White Rural Rage: 3 stars
tlariv finished reading White Rural Rage by Tom Schaller
A worthwhile read on the causes of anger and resentment among rural White Americans, the ways in which those feelings are manipulated for political gain by a party that has no intention of doing anything to make rural life better, and the way that our culture and constitutional system give excessive reverence and clout to the rural White population. With that said, you can get most of the important points from the authors' defense of their work here: newrepublic.com/article/180570/trump-rural-white-resentment-honest-assessment
Lahontan's recollections of his conversations with the Wendat (Huron) diplomat Kandiaronk. Cited extensively by Graeber and Wengrow in The Dawn of Everything.
Actor's nightmare: An accountant named George Spelvin is mistaken for an actor's understudy and is …
Hilarious for Catholic-school veterans of a certain age
4 stars
Very much as I remember the two plays from seeing them on stage in the '80s. I do wonder how much of the humor in Sr Mary Ignatius would work for someone who was not raised Catholic or who was much younger than Durang (or me). The 1995 edition includes performance/directing/casting notes from the playwright that are extremely interesting in their own right.
Actor's nightmare: An accountant named George Spelvin is mistaken for an actor's understudy and is …
I saw these with my family as a double bill off-Broadway when I was in high school and remembered a few hilarious lines. About to see how well they've held up.
tlariv reviewed Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
The author shows that before there was money, there was debt. For 5,000 years humans …
Graeber wasn't afraid of big topics
5 stars
Profound and compelling. It has changed the way that I see money, debt, and ideas of morality.
tlariv rated Que notre joie demeure: 4 stars
Que notre joie demeure by Kevin Lambert
L’éblouissante Céline Wachowski, architecte de renommée internationale, dévoile enfin le Complexe Webuy, le premier grand projet public qu’elle réalise pour …