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Brandon W

Brandon W

  • Chicago, Il, United States
  • member since December 30 2007

Reviews

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Displaying 1-10 of 73 reviews
  • My Friend Leonard
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I hope Frey writes a third memoir. I will read it.

    Highly recommended. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Them
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I would like to interview Jon Ronson. I find his books very interesting and very funny. He writes about the fringes of society and finds some common ground with everyone. It makes sense why his books are being turned into films.

    I like "Them" more than "The Men Who Stare At Goats". It has a broader appeal and a time line that couldn't have been better. He started writing about Al Queda extremists in the mid to late 90s. The book wraps up a few months after September 2001. There's no pre/post world in this book, just a portrait of a few years that can no longer be written with such clarity.

    People that don't read many books would like this. Maybe a good bathroom book. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • A Million Little Pieces
    • Rated 4 stars

    “It doesn't matter what Oprah or what Oprah's Book Club has to say, this book is great. Sure, some parts may be exaggerated or completely made up, but as a piece of art, this book works.

    Frey was an alcoholic and addict to pretty much whatever drug he could get his hands on. He underwent dental procedures without any drugs. He went into a crack house to get the woman he loved. Those are the things you might have already known. Those are some of the things that may have been exaggerated or completely made up. Once again, it doesn't matter. The book flows like every good book should. I feel like an asshole for judging the people that read this book when it was an Oprah pick. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • McMahon!McMahon!Jim McMahon, Bob Verdi
    • Rated 5 stars

    “Hell yeah McMahon! He likes beer! Fuck it! Fuck yeah!

    What a wonderful book. Slightly more than 200 pages, stories of the 85 Bears, McMahon drinking beer and telling everyone else to pretty much fuck off. Wonderful. He doesn't care about the book and neither should you. Just read the book and relax from reality for a few hours. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Everyman
    • Rated 4 stars

    “This is one of those short books that seem like anyone could write it but if you actually try it's damn near impossible. In other words, this under 200 page novel is to the point but clear. Roth does a lot with a little, unlike this odd review I'm writing.

    My girlfriend bought this book in a hospital gift shop. It's about the life and death of a 70-something year old male. We're taken through his life from early childhood to five years before death. It seems like it would be an awful book to read in a hospital.

    Read this book. It's sound in every way. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire
    • Rated 4 stars

    “After fifty pages I began to enjoy Tiabbi's angry and mean musings. After three hundred pages I'm glad I stuck with the book. I haven't been swayed in any way, but I don't think I was meant to. I don't think anyone would be swayed by "The Great Derangement," but what are you going to do?

    If you believe in Jesus Christ and believe that he is the one true savior of the world and that those who don't repent are doomed to hell you probably won't enjoy this book. Tiabi goes undercover and joins a Texas MegaChurch. He sits through services and prayer meetings and retreats. He becomes friends with fellow parishioners. He comes to the conclusion that most of the people in the church mean well but are just lonely and loneliness will lead you to groups that believe in hellfire.

    If you believe 9-11 was an inside job you probably won't enjoy this book. Tiabbi is targeted by the 9-11 conspiricists because he makes an off-handed remark in one of his columns. After that he meets some of these people and reads site after site of 'truths' and calls government officials and scientists. He becomes sympathetic to these people. He comes to the conclusion that most of the people that believe 9-11 was an inside job are just lonely and loneliness and a good internet connection may lead you to paranoia.

    I know people like this. People on both sides. They're good people. I want to give them a hug but don't want them too close to me. Their sadness weighs me down and I don't know what my role should be. So I read books like this and feel no different. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
    • Rated 3 stars

    “Either Venkatesh is the most naive grad student of all time or wrote this book down to the reader. He never portrays the actions of the gang or their associates or the projects as a plague, but as just the way things get done. For example, the representative of one project essentially blackmails the tenants into selling themselves, products, loved ones and more in order for anything to get done. Anything usually meaning a new door or working electricity. I understand that our author couldn't confront this woman, but he didn't have to keep his mouth completely shut. I probably shouldn't write this so quickly after finishing. I was able to finish this book quickly and that definitely says something about it, it's a good, quick read. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • More Information Than You Require
    • Rated 4 stars

    “John Hodgman's reading in October at Second City Etc. was the best reading I've attended. It hurt to breath for almost two hours. I was thrilled to read his second book of complete world knowledge. I began the book the day it came out. It took five months to finish it. It became my bedside book, something I read in small doses. I think I made a mistake. I read Hodgman's first book in a few days. I loved it. This one, not so much.

    Book two has a page a day calender, a novel idea. On each page is the days date and an interesting made up fact to go along with it. This little snippet on each page makes it a little difficult to concentrate on the text. I know I shouldn't be complaining about a page a day calender in a comedy book, but it does take away from the main jokes, if that's even possible.

    Molemen names are not as funny as hobo names. I'll never figure out why.

    You know this guy. He's the PC in the Mac Vs. PC commercials. He's also on "The Daily Show". He had a small role in "Baby Mama". He's a funny and smart guy. I like the guy a lot. I just didn't enjoy this one as much. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Batboys and the World of Baseball (Studies in Popular Culture)Batboys and the World of Baseball (Studies in Popular Culture)Neil D. Isaacs
    • Rated 1 stars

    “Quite possibly the worst non-fiction book I've ever read. Why did I keep reading it? Why do people follow baseball? Sooner or later you expect to see a home run. Most of the time you just get two old timers reminiscing about times that don't exactly remember.

    This book has a lot of footnotes. It's barely 200 pages long and has a shitload of footnotes. For what? It's about bat boys. It's not a list of facts or series of charts and data. It's about some bat boys that don't' have interesting stories or anecdotes or anything worth saying. In fact, they seem to not want to talk to the author. They sensed something I could not detect.

    He seems to have a lot of disdain towards bat boys. He sounds jealous. He writes that it's boys work in a boys game, that the game itself is for boys and an escape from reality and fuck this guy. Fuck. This. Guy. Fuck me for reading it.

    So fucking bad. Please, someone, buy this on Amazon from me. It's the only way this awful experience could turn out well. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • Fire & Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Mike Tyson clearly never beat Robin Givens because if he did, her skull would be detached from her body and that has not yet happened.

    My friend and I tend to talk about Mike Tyson when we've been drinking and we have a computer in front of us and it's 3am and we're out of cigarettes and all that's left to drink is vermouth and scotch that's been missing a cap for weeks. We'll watch clips of Mike Tyson destroy people in the ring and then read his Wikipedia page. We'll laugh and end up watching cartoons til 5am. Apparantly our talks wasn't enough to quench my Tyson interest so I picked up the recently deceased Jose Torres biography. I'm glad I did.

    The book doesn't get to the downward spiral of Tyson's career. It doesn't even get to the 90s. It may be better this way. We get to see Tyson grow up from the projects of Brooklyn to an ideallic country house in northern New York to hotel rooms in Vegas that make him claustrophobic. We get to see Tyson nurtered by a caring old timer on his way out. We get to see Tyson lose his bearings when that old timer passes away. It's a sad story. It's a quick read. It's a good book.

    I don't think someone without a small interest in Tyson could enjoy this book. It's not nearly scandalous enough for those just interested in the celebrity of Tyson. It's for the casual boxing fan that may want to know how this phenom was able to become the most dominant boxer of the 1980s. ”

    Brandon W wrote this review Friday, April 24 2009. ( reply | permalink )
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