|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Future Book by Author
words will be here
Skip Dogg Says: "."
White House Inc. Employee Handbook by
the writers of Whitehouse.org
As you may have noticed I like whitehouse.org. I have a link to the site on my home page. I think it is very funny, even when I disagree with something there. I had very high expectations for this book. Notice I wrote "had". Put this down as yet another book not even worth finishing. What went wrong? I think it's the perspective. At whitehouse.org the satire is of the image King George II and company want to present to the outside world. In this book the satire is of the reality of what King George II and company are doing in the White House. It just doesn't work. Don't get me wrong, there are some funny bits. Like Dick Cheney's biography which has a large portion blacked out. Just not many. One major problem is that a lot of the jokes don't really relate to the current administration. Example, a bit about all interns who leave the oval office have to have their clothing checked for stains with ultraviolet light. This would be funny in a book about King William, but has nothing to do with King George II. It's satire, but it's not relevant. Another problem is that the authors are nutless. They try to present King George II as a racist from the evil south, specifically Texas. In the book blacks are routine referred to as "negro". I am from Texas, I know lots of racist people and I can tell you none of them use the word negro. They call 'em niggars. If you want to write satire like this, then either have the balls to use the word niggar (as King George II would) or go home and play dolls with the little girls. Don't think it's about avoiding bad language either. The book has the work "fuck" in it, so it has nothing to do with language. It has to do with being scared of using the word "niggar". Liberals who are cowards. Wow, what a surprise. This is why I will always hate Democrats more than Republicans, no matter how much I hate Republicans (and I do).
Skip Dogg Says: "This isn't "the" bomb, it's a bomb. The stink type."
Teh Dinner Club by Shannon Henry
You would think a book with the subtitle "How the masters of the internet universe rode the rise and fall of the greatest boom in history" would be interesting. You would be wrong. This book is about some of the richest people in the States. Men of wealth, power and vision. Or so one might think. Instead I found that Steve Case, Russ Ramsey, Bill Melton, Alfred R. Berkeley III and all the other members of the Capital Investors are actually pretty boring and stupid men. So boring in fact that I could not finish this book. For months I tried to get thru it but to no avail. I have an interest in business and creating something from nothing as the great businessmen have done. These men however are just losers. How they got where they are must have been dumb luck because I saw no glint of brilliance here.
Skip Dogg Says: "Boring to the max. Don't waste your time."
Doc Savage - The Whistling Wraith by
Kenneth Robeson
Most of you probably don't even know who Doc Savage, The Man of Bronze is. If memory serves me the Doc Savage books first came out in the 1930s. There have been a number of Doc Savage movies also. The setup in a nutshell: Doc Savage is a rich scientist with huge muscles. With the assistance of five multi-talented sidekicks he fights crime, solves mysteries and travels the world. This book was actually written in 1993 but reads just like it was written in the 1930s, which is the style of all the Doc Savage books. It is action/adventure, but also very melodramatic and "sexist" because none of the dames are feminists. In this story Doc & Company take on the ghost of a long dead king who seems to be bent on taking the lives of his successors. If you are a liberal do not touch a Doc Savage book. It will burn your skin. If you like action, imaginative science and have a sense of humor pick up this one, or any other Doc Savage book.
Skip Dogg Says: "Look for a used copy."
Anthem by Ayn Rand
I never knew Ayn Rand could write anything under 1000 pages, but Anthem clocks in at 125. This is a novel of where the liberals would like to take society and what they would like to take away from people. This is a novel about just how terrible totalitarian collectivism is and why we should fear it. You are going to read this and say "that could never happen." People would never let themselves be enslaved like that. And I will say "never underestimate the stupidity of people."
Skip Dogg Says: "I pity the fool who doesn't read this book."
The Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov
A bit farther down this page I rip on Asimov for the week-ass "Robot" novels. The reason I rip on him is that I know he can do better, like The Stars, Like Dust. Now boys and girls, this here is a SF novel. Read it and learn how it's done. Great ideas, well thought out concepts, believable societies and situations, action -- all in 192 pages. Now, the ending is a bit "much" in this day and age, but remember this was written in 1950.
Skip Dogg Says: "You need this book."
The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
We've all heard of this one, and it's long. I started off not knowing what to expect as I have never read any Wolfe before. I almost put it down because it was a boring-ass-soap-opera. Wolfe's writing is so strong that I kept plowing on. Around page 75 or so I found that in fact I was enjoying the book. Not only was the writing great but the characters were three dimensional. These were people I could believe, with motivations and ideas I could believe. The writing was good, the plot was good, but it was the characters and how stunningly real they seemed that make this book. I also enjoy the fact that it's open ended. Things don't come to a tidy resolution at the last page as many books do. You finish this one knowing that "life" goes on for all those you found in the pages. I highly recommend this one.
Skip Dogg Says: "I pity the fool who doesn't read this book."
Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov
I almost didn't read this sequel to The Robots of Dawn since the previous book was so boring. The previous book also held great ideas, so I decided to chance it. While not placing in my top 100 SF books ever, this one is much better than the predecessor. Again great concepts but this time a faster story. No agonizing over urination this time since Eije Baley is long dead in this book. Also a very interesting theory tying the emergence of intelligent life on Earth to the Moon.
Skip Dogg Says: "Get it from the library."
The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
This book is a follow up to The Caves of Steel and The Naked Sun, Asimov's first two robot books. This book is also very boring. Let me give Asimov his due: I've read stuff of his that I have liked. The Robots of Dawn does have some interesting ideas. Asimov is good at predicting what might happen, how societies might evolve, how people might react to circumstances. Asimov can make it all come to life, to make it so damn real . . that you think it's real. And reality is dull I mean really, the protagonist Lije Baley spends pages and pages of this book agonizing over things like how he is going to urinate in an unfamiliar latrine. This is what I mean by too real. Too believable. Too slow and boring. Great ideas, bad execution.
Skip Dogg Says: "If you can't sleep."
Cradle by Arthur C. Clarke & Gentry Lee
Clarke gave us 2001, 2010, 2061 and 3001, not to mention a host of other science fiction books and is regarded as one of the masters. Reading this book, you would never know why. The cover of Cradle reads above the authors name "Rivals 2001!" -- United Press International. My ass. Rivals a bloody sleeping pill. The "Odyssey" books were great stuff. This is a predictable yawner. There are a few good moments, some nice alien ecology. But mostly its just stuff you've seen before. This one is not worth your time.
Skip Dogg Says: "Burn it."
Barbarians Led by Bill Gates by Jennifer
Edstrom and Marlin Eller
I hate Bill Gates as much as anyone for the crap software he has given us. I admire Bill Gates as much as anyone for making all that money. I mean hey, if you people are dumb enough to buy Windows why the hell shouldn't he sell it to you and make money? I'm all for separating the stupid from their cash. This book is a great read as it takes you behind the scenes and into the offices and cubicals of M$ (MicroSoft) from the very beginning. The rise of the giant is documented in first hand accounts. How Windows was basically an accident that no one cared about at first. M$ really was going to go with OS/2 until a programmer just decided that he could turn Windows into a multitasking OS and did so. One of my favourite stories: Marlin Eller, making reference to a major design flaw in BASIC which he had fixed says ". . . who was the jerk who wrote this brain-dead piece of shit." to Bill Gates. After Bill pushed his glasses up and walked away a co-worker explained that Bill Gates wrote that brain-dead piece of shit. It's a story of the conflict between programs who want to make good software, marketers who want to make money & deadlines, and a piece of shit named Bill who wants to rule the world. An entertaining book and a fast read. So much that I read this puppy twice.
Skip Dogg Says: "You need this book."
Contact Page