-
A sense of duty, a desire to win
Amid the sound and fury of the presidential campaign, Paul O’Connor finds that the new biography of George H.W. Bush presents a thought-provoking contrast. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor DESTINY AND POWER: THE AMERICAN ODYSSEY OF GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH. By Jon Meacham. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Paul Michael. 25 hours. 20 CDs.…
-
The death of the republic
A new semester of commuting to the journalism school at Chapel Hill provides new opportunities to listen to outstanding audio books. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson DICTATOR. By Robert Harris. Read by David Rintoul. Random House Audio. 11 CDs; 14 hours. $45. Also available in print from Knopf, $26.95. Cicero comes down to us through…
-
A worthy conclusion
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson GOLDEN AGE. By Jane Smiley. Read by Lorelei King. Random House Audio. Nine CDs, 17 ½ hours. $50. Also available in print from Knopf. If you’ve read the first two volumes of Jane Smiley’s Last Hundred Years trilogy, which, by all accounts I’ve found, are masterpieces, all you need to…
-
Fighting back
Tom Dillon put off reading this book for quite a while, but after he picked it up, he was glad he did. Reviewed by Tom Dillon FACTORY MAN. By Beth Macy. Little, Brown and Company, 2014. 451 pages. $28. You know that bricked-up abandoned factory down the street, the one you remember from the golden…
-
A fresh perspective: The exotic and the universal
Reviewed by Nikita Mathur DON’T LET HIM KNOW. By Sandip Roy. Bloomsbury. 244 pages. $25. While the shell of Sandip Roy’s novel Don’t Let Him Know may tackle issues such as the silent taboo of homosexuality in Indian society or the conflicts faced by Indian expatriates in the U.S, the book explores far more deeply…
-
A fresh perspective: Nerd fiction
Reviewed by Jessica Coates WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE .By Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. Harper Perennial. 401 pages. $19.99 Welcome to Night Vale is probably the most highly anticipated piece of 2015 nerd fiction you’ve never heard of. It debuted at No. 4 on The New York Times bestseller list, just below J.K. Rowling’s Career…
-
A fresh perspective: Bold gambit
Here’s another of our interesting and well-done reviews by students in the opinion-writing class at the University of North Carolina’s School of Media and Journalism. Reviewed by Nick Niedzwiadek DISCLAIMER. By Renée Knight. Harper. 336 pages. $25.99. Starting a story by introducing a book-within-a-book — and having it be central to the plot— is a…
-
A fresh perspective: Not just formula
Reviewed by Brianna Crane SEE ME. By Nicholas Sparks. Grand Central. PAGES? $27.00 An unlikely couple looks out across the Atlantic, letting their thoughts drift gently with the tide; all is well. As the waves begin crashing, however, the couple is consumed by a wave of fear. The early plot of See Me is similar…
-
A fresh perspective: Not in control
Here’s another in our series of reviews by students in the opinion writing class at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism. Reviewed by Bradley Saacks GOLDEN STATE. By Stephanie Kegan. Simon & Schuster. 288 pages. $24.99. The fragility of life is a much more subtle universal fear than the always-present worry that we…
-
A fresh perspective: Grisham’s lawyer pushes the limits
Here’s another review by a student in the opinion writing class at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism. Reviewed by John Thomas ROGUE LAWYER. By John Grisham. Doubleday. 344 pages. $28.95, hardcover. John Grisham’s latest legal thriller, Rogue Lawyer, follows the story of defense lawyer Sebastian Rudd, a self-described “lone gunman” who loves…