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The thrill of the crime, the thrill of the hunt
Paul O’Connor finds that this 2023 nonfiction book ranks right up there with the best of thrillers. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THERE WILL BE FIRE: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History. By Rory Carroll. G.P. Putnam & Sons. 416 pages. $30, hardcover. Also available from Penguin Audio, read by John…
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The will, the need to win
Paul O’Connor, a proud Notre Dame alum and fan of the Fighting Irish, takes a look at a new biography of one of Notre Dame’s most successful and storied football coaches. The saga takes readers into the tensions between football and academics at a great university in the 1940s and ’50s, and it describes developments…
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Words and language, served with laughter
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DAMN ENGLISH! By Gary Sherbell. Black Rose Writing. 131 pages. $15.95, paperback. If you are a writing and word nerd, or if clever humor and good laughs would lift your spirits, you’ll probably enjoy spending time with Gary Sherbell’s new book, Damn English! Sherbell, a New Yorker who has also…
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Telling the future who you were
This book particularly resonates with Paul O’Connor because it applies to a project he’s been involved in for quite a while, but, he says, this useful guide has a message for all of us. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE BOX OF LIFE: A GUIDE TO LIVING LIFE WITH PURPOSE AND PRESERVING WHAT MATTERS MOST.…
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Apple’s predicament, detailed
Paul O’Connor has long been a fan of Apple computers and other products, but a book about how Apple is in thrall to China has given him much to consider. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor APPLE IN CHINA: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company. By Patrick McGee. Scribner. 448 pages. $32. Also in audiobook…
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Speaking truth to corrupt, incompetent power
Paul O’Connor, longtime newspaper journalist and something of a world traveler, reviews a memoir by a courageous man who died an early death last year after having been a relentless critic of the Putin regime in Russia. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor PATRIOT: A MEMOIR. By Alexei Navalny. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. 496 pages. $35, hardcover.…
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Stories from the heart
Paul O’Connor recently listened to Al Pacino’s memoir. He encourages us to do the same. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor SONNY BOY: A MEMOIR. By Al Pacino. Penguin Audio. 12 hours, 28 minutes. $45. Read by Pacino. Also available in hardcover: Penguin Press. 384 pages. $35. It sounds almost contradictory to say, but there are…
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Flutes, feathers, fly-tying and a surprising mystery
Paul O’Connor takes a look at a true-crime book published six years ago, one that should satisfy those who love reading truly orReviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE FEATHER THIEF: BEAUTY, OBSESSION, AND THE NATURAL HISTORY HEIST OF THE CENTURY By Kirk Wallace Johnson. Viking. 243 pages, hardcover. $27. Also available in softcover, $18, by…
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A recipe for trouble
Paul O’Connor takes a look at a memoir from someone who’s seen in person how Vladimir Putin operates and what he’s trying to achieve. The author puts what’s happening in the U.S. now into troubling perspective.. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor. MIDNIGHT IN MOSCOW: A MEMOIR FROM THE FRONT LINES OF RUSSIA’S WAR AGAINST THE…
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Take me out to the ballpark – and watch that crowd…
Now that basketball season is over and spring is here, how about a fun book about baseball that will entertain and enlighten you? Paul O’Connor has just the thing. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor FINDING AMERICA IN A MINOR LEAGUE BALLPARK. By Harris Cooper. Skyhorse Publishing. 199 pages. $35, hardback. As the spring of 2022…