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Tag Archives: biography
No Domain: The John McAfee Tapes
No Domain: The John McAfee Tapes© 2021 Mark Eglinton271 pages When the talking heads begin rattling on about notable deaths of 2021, they will mention all manner of useless, uninteresting people — politicians, athletes, pop musicians. They will not mention … Continue reading
A southern trilogy: Rick Bragg’s folks
All Over but the Shoutin’ is perhaps Rick Bragg’s most well-known work, beginning a trilogy that, in its focus on one family in the early and mid-20th century, takes readers into the generally ignored territory of the poor white working class of the South. … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Alabama, American South, biography, Of Boys and Men, poverty, Rick Bragg
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Of anthropology, Solzhenitsyn, and a return to the gulag archipelago
If I’ve been quiet as of late, I’ve been bedridden with a severe sinus infection, one that came with headaches so severe that I couldn’t even use my four days off of work to read. Yesterday was the first day … Continue reading
Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews, science
Tagged anthropology, biography, Joseph Pearce, Russia, Russian Literature, science
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Back to Earth
Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet and our Mission to Protect It© 2021 Nicola Stott304 pages A staple of astronaut memoirs is the attempt to communicate the near-religious experience of seeing the Earth … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged biography, civic activism, climate change, human space flight, ISS, women
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Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars
Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars© 2021 Eileen Collins314 pages Eileen Collins was obsessed with flying. Maybe it was an unusual preoccupation for a girl, but her parents – despite their struggles with mental illness and alcoholism – always … Continue reading
It’s not so lonely out in space: three to celebrate Apollo 11
Fifty-two years ago, men from Earth touched down on the moon and inaugurated a new era in human exploration. I usually re-watch From the Earth to the Moon (a Tom Hanks docu-drama that is in my “Everything is burning but … Continue reading
Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews, science fiction
Tagged biography, H.G. Wells, human space flight, memoir, Star Trek, vintage SF, William Shatner
4 Comments
Spaceman
Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey© 2016 Mike Massimino336 pages All his life, Mike Massimino wanted to be an astronaut. He was six when he saw Neil Armstrong’s famous small step, and he wanted to be out there with the men … Continue reading
Permanent Record
Permanent Record© Edward Snowden352 pages Nearly a decade ago we bore witness to magnificent acts of rebellion and alarm-calling, as dissidents like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden began exposing DC’s global surveillance state and abuses of power. DC acted with … Continue reading
Napoleon: Life and Legacy
Napoleon: Life and Legacy© 2011 Alan Forrest403 pages Napoleon is an unavoidable figure of European history, and enjoys no shortage of admirers even today. For years he dominated a continent, using native talents given abundant opportunities opened by the revolution … Continue reading
Posted in history, Reviews
Tagged biography, Europe, France, history, The Napoleonic Wars
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Harvard and the Unabomber
Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist Original title: A Mind for Murder © 2003 Alston Chase 352 pages Ted Kaczynski was hunted fruitlessly by the FBI for eighteen years, until finally being done in by his … Continue reading
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