Geisha by Liza Dalby

In the mid-1970s, an American graduate student in anthropology joined the ranks of white-powdered geisha in Kyoto, Japan. Liza Dalby took the name Ichigiku and apprenticed in the famed Pontocho district, trailing behind “older sisters” bemused by this long-legged Westerner intent on learning their arts and customs. Some time ago I wrote about [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

F.Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald

“I used to wonder why they kept princesses in towers,” the romantic and possessive young officer F Scott Fitzgerald wrote to the Alabama belle Zelda Sayre. Zelda was charmed at first, but quickly noticed that he seemed obsessed with the image. “Scott, you’ve been so sweet about writing,” she replied, “but I get so damned [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

Book Review Blog Carnival #38

Many thanks to all the contributors in this edition of the Carnival.
Novel
Clark Bjorke presents The Highest Tide posted at I’ll Never Forget the Day I Read a Book!.
Jim Lynch’s first novel is a magical realist coming of age story with a marine biology theme.
Ranjita Patra presents ‘That’s The Life Baby’ – A Perfect Novel for [...]

Written by vorsta on November 13, 2009

The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson and Martin Dugard

In The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard discovered through masses of suggestions- X-rays, Carter’s files, and myths related during the ages- to appear at their own account of King Tut’s life and death. The result is an amazing true crime tale of intrigue, passion and treason, that casts fresh light on [...]

Written by vorsta on November 6, 2009

Secrets of Angels, Demons & Masons

Dan Brown’s most recent success, The Da Vinci Code, has garnered widespread attention. Before Brown’s better known book found success, another novel of his, Angels and Demons, laid out the pattern of things to come. Both stories follow the exploits of the character Robert Langdon, who is a Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard University. [...]

Written by vorsta on May 27, 2009

The Next 100 Years by George Friedman

George Friedman, chief intelligence officer and founder of Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor), a private intelligence agency whose clients include foreign government agencies and Fortune 500 companies. Gathering information from its total network of operatives and analysts (drawing the nickname “the Shadow CIA”), Stratfor produces introspective and genuinely fascinating analysis of international events daily, from possible [...]

Written by vorsta on March 26, 2009

House of Cards By William D. Cohan

A firm that was established on May 1, 1923, and stayed through the 1929 crash and the Great Depression, had been ruined by bad management and the crisis of 2008. In famous March 2008 when the 85-year-old firm Bear Stearns crashed and burned in little over a week, it became a herald of the credit [...]

Written by vorsta on March 24, 2009