Shelf Life

Steve Jobs

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:57:08 -0400

Innovator, mogul, genius, madman, revolutionary, pioneer and pirate; all monikers that follow around the man whom invented the Mac and revolutionized the computer industry, Steve Jobs. Walter Issacson delves into the curious enigma that captivated the technology world in his literary portrait of the inventor of the IPod and Mac book. One in a million Steve Job was and the author sets the biography up in such a manner that the audience is captivated and desires to learn more about the complex iconic figurehead of Apple Computers. The memoirs were published just after the death of Steve Jobs, making this mogul of global proportions even more of a curious object than he was when he was alive. An interesting introspective look into the life of one of humanity’s innovative geniuses and how Steve Jobs truly changed the world through technology and his ideals throughout the duration of his lifetime.

“That’s been one of my mantras-focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

The F*** Up

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 15:27:41 -0500

Subway rat races, foraging for food, reading the Village Voice, all part of a native New Yorkers daily routine; however there is the occasional individual that despite their best efforts everything seems to end up going south for them, enter the Fuck-Up. The foremost character in this novella cannot make a decision that benefits himself or others throughout the whole duration of the glimpse into his screwed up life. Arrested development in early adulthood is the main line that keeps this mass of a train wreck boy-child chugging through the trials and plethora of tribulations that provide fodder for the audience. A read for the morning commute to work or just as a quick pick-me up to let you know that despite how dire your life seems some where there is a glimmer of hope that things will get better.

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Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:33:24 -0400

The Virgin Suicides

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:57:07 -0400

What is the price of life according to adolescents on the precipice of becoming an adult in an oppressive household in American suburbia? The answer is obvious to the Lisbon girls, suicide. A means to a situation that seemingly had no alternative and created a mysterious aura that surround the familial unit for a year until all that remained of the kin was a shell of a mother and father. Loss of innocence is a gross understatement in Jeffrey Eugenide’s novel. Sisterhood is a sacred bond that gives life to the words on the page as the sisters captivate the hearts and occupy the minds of the neighboring boys who tell their loss of innocence and idealities of American living through exploring the pain the Lisbon girls experience, albeit it a voyeuristic point of view. Rumors begin to fly as the suicide of the youngest Lisbon daughter, Cecilia circulate through the town and question the moral fiber of the town. The novel itself evokes deep questioning gnawing at the reader, such as when is eternal gloom too much to handle, the phenomena of suicide and what are adolescents so attracted to this taboo phenomena? Majority of the questions proposed by the author are given a definitive answer and leave the audience to determine the answer for themselves based on their own individual basis. A defining read in American literature that irks uncomfortable questions regarding oppressive societal norms, parenting, smothering and what is the exact cost of a human life when one is suffering so much? “didn’t matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn’t heard us calling, still do not hear us, up here in the tree house, with our thinning hair and soft bellies, calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time, alone in suicide, which is deeper than death, and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.”

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Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:28:05 -0400

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Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:22:01 -0400

A Confederacy of Dunces

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:21:00 -0400

Jambalaya Recipe:

½ a cup of Communism

1 cup of colloquial language and Southern phrases

1 tablespoon of ambiguous morals amongst the principal characters

1 lb of flannel shirts

A smattering of New Orleans flavor

A pinch of French Quarter seasoning

1 bowl of a large loveable “village idiot” or genius (depending on perspective)

1 small dysfunctional family; preferably two zany characters (mother and son to be exact)

Mix in a bowl about 405 times

Blend all ingredients together and dredge covers with a few meaty asides. Let the mixture simmer at temperatures in the 1960s range.

After you remove the concoction from the oven you have The Confederacy of Dunces penned by John Kennedy Toole; a picaresque novel that studies the life of a character rather than driven by a plot or a didactic undertone. The novel is character driven and delves into the taboo topics of the zeitgeist in which it was written such as the McCarthy witch-hunt fall out, the civil rights movement beginnings, the mother and son relationships, exploring the undertones of the Oedipal Complex and dysfunctionalism, a struggle of the class system and the notion of the village idiot. A laughable read brimming with whit, sarcasm and genuine bluntness that is rare to find in a book nowadays; an entertaining read for all types of readers who enjoy a picaresque novel or just something to gauge their own life experiences against.

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Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:35:50 -0400

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Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:35:37 -0400

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Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:25:01 -0400

Black Swan Green

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:09:00 -0400

Surrounded on all sides, both geographically and in his life so far, Jason Taylor attempts to navigate the most trying year in his young life, stutter and all, during Cold War England in the neon clad, feather donned 1982-1983 era. Undertaking the transformation from childhood to adolescence is intricate and full of mishaps, David Mitchell navigates the reader through the troubled waters of Jason Taylor’s transformation from the ugly duckling toward the metamorphism of becoming a swan. Thirteen is the most trying year as Jason experiences gypsies, extreme bullying, older siblings, cigarettes, divorce, older women, poetry, and the pains of growing up. Jason’s tale is told in thirteen chapters symbolizing a month in his life and the events that culminate the thirteenth year of his life. Power of words, anonymity, sense of tradition, morals being skewed, lack of communication, and being a misfit in a small town; a bildungsroman speaks to the lost child in every reader and beckons the question “when will I finally fit in and be accepted?” no matter where we are on the journey of life.

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Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:59:16 -0400

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Thu, 03 May 2012 12:23:25 -0400

1972, Rolling Stone Magazine, a suitcase full of potent drugs, a red convertible, the willingness to journey into the American Dream unrelentlessly and the complete disregard for an authoritative power , mix together in a dark basement and cook over an open flame ; the ending result is the autobiographical novel authored by the notorious drug user Hunter S. Thompson. The novel is sporadic, told through a stream of consciousness, avoidance of law enforcement and zany antecedents that pepper the novel, giving it unique flavor never seen before or after its initial publication. Definitely a zeitgeist piece of literature and look into the culture of the 1970s without all the tarnish of trying too hard to impress others, rather just written as the events unfolded before them. Gonzo journalism was the heart of the novel and pumped life into the drug counterculture of the early 1970s; Thompson’s novel is a must read for anyone seeking an adventure that has no set destination or a joy ride through Death Valley and Las Vegas compressed into a compact portable form.

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Thu, 03 May 2012 12:20:10 -0400

"For what it’s worth: it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re..."

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:02:01 -0400

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald (via seersuckerandmagnolias)

Care to Make Love In That Gross Little Space Between Cars

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:45:38 -0400

Sarcasm run amok in this collection of misconstrued “Dear ________” letters answered by leading comedic identities, peppered with mundane questions and irrelevant answers this is a lighthearted read that is a beach bound. Filled with stagnant humor and one too many tongue-in-cheek jokes this edition to the Believer magazines repertoire of books lacks the pizzazz the first one had; this collection did not seem to have the zip or order to the letters that the previous book had. Maybe the Believer should just believe in the publication of magazines for the next couple of months and really put effort into the publication of their third book.

two-color: The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:15:48 -0400

two-color:

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

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Fri, 13 Apr 2012 21:46:36 -0400

The Hunger Games

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:31:51 -0400

A vile tyrannical dictator ruling over 12 districts that reap the land for sheer survival and in return the “beloved” capitol reaps each district ever year for one female and male to fight to death in an arena for entertainment/a reminder about the uprising that split the country almost a hundred years ago. Enter an obstinate female Katniss, who along with her male counterparts Peeta, Gale, Haymitch set the country of Panem “ablaze” both figuratively and literally. The subsequent volumes in the series follow the uprising of the Panem districts and the inevitable outcomes of action based on Katniss and company’s antics. Add a smidge of father issues, a web of tangles love, confused feelings and heavy doses of morphiling, poverty, starvation, destruction, breaking of the human spirit, a flash of color and attempting to find you under the microscope of an entire country, this is the true Hunger Games. Looking to fuel the “hunger” for an entertaining read, look no further than the worldwide phenomena of the enchanting, structured world of Panem.

May Day

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:24:00 -0400

Picturesque background, ball gowns, liquor bottles strewn across the floor, men in uniform, crushing socialites and socialists, add together and stir with a the historical truth of the May Day Riots of 1919 and in about 100 pages you have the novella penned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This novella is a thematic mash up of stagnation of a nation and a polarized society that precedes the “Jazz Age” of the 1920s, where decadence and opulence ran the country. Mingling the storylines of the principle players as Fitzgerald does through vigilantly choreographed prose, the story is given life. Memory is treated as a central character cautioning the audience not to forget the reasons why the events in the story unfold in the manner that they do. Edith and Gordon are the lay man and woman that can be identified by a vast populous of people, thus the basis for the appeal to read this novella. A clear narrative tone and a surprise ending, this is a must read for any Fitzgerald fan or someone just looking for a poignant read depicting a historical hiccup in the timeline of humanity.