ALT.SF4M

  Reading

   • s******j@f****.**o.com
     20/11/1999 00:00:000 UTC

     Stuff on the Stack:

     _Writings from Japan_ by Lefcadio Hearn.

     Essays and travlogues and stories by a 19th Century cosmopolitan freak

     a zoid. Makes Edo period Japan seem like a Faery Kingdom endangered

     by industrialists. Great ghost stories.

     _A Brief History of Time_ by Stephen Hawking, AKA "That Wheelchair Guy"

     Good background stuff on cosmology. More straight-out than the more

     autobiographical _The Inflationary Universe_ (Guth).

     _Fermat's Last Theorm_ by Amir Aczel.

     Tiny little book, recounting the solving of the ancient puzzle. Aczel

     pads the thing out with the history of mathematics, which is pretty good

     actually.

     _Naked_ By David Sedaris

     Autobiographical essays, plus some wacked-out stories. I think. I have

     nothing in common with Sedaris; I suspect I would get a kick out of

     beating up the cynical slacker prick. But he's funny, and searingly

     honest, and insightful. I listen to NPR's "This American Life"
     faithfully

     in case they run one of his harrowing / funny stories. Like the time

     he and his sister (Amy, lead actor on "Strangers with Candy") went to

     a focus group for a candy bar ("If it were up to me, it would be wrapped

     in tar paper and labled 'who cares'.") Or working as a xmas elf at

     Macy's.

     Stefan

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       • Gary J. Weiner
         20/11/1999 00:00:000 UTC

         "Stefan E. Jones" wrote:

         > Stuff on the Stack:

         Last Amazon order:

         _The Eternal Footman_ by James Morrow

         Last of Morrow's "Godhead Trilogy" and, if this is possible, the

         weirdest one of the three. Morrow is a great writer and the prose
         draws

         you through the pages like a you're caught on a big fishhook.

         Unfortunately, the book devolves in sermonizing and I found the
         ending

         unsatisfying. Still, highly recommended.

         _Bios_ by Robert Charles Wilson

         Wilson's books always seems to start out with interesting, but

         "conventional", SF ideas which slowly change into odd, metaphysical

         meandering by the end. A great read and interesting concepts,
         although

         the book is far to short and ends abruptly without adequate
         exploration

         of the characters or the world. Recommended.

         _Dragon Weather_ by Lawrence Watt-Evans

         Mr. Watt-Evans self-proclaimed attempt to do the "big fat fantasy"
         genre

         right. Certainly not up there with Melanie Rawn as far as poundage,
         but

         a respectable 500 pages in hardcover. Somewhat darker than the usual

         fantasy fare with a compelling story, but unfortunately most of the

         characters are little more than cardboard cutouts. If you've got
         that

         fantasy jones, not a bad choice to satisfy it. Warning, this is the

         first book of a trilogy, although that isn't mentioned on the cover.

         --

         Gary J. Weiner \ "We've got a blind date with Destiny...and

         w********r@h******k.net \ it looks like she's ordered the lobster."

         http://www.hatrack.net \ -The Shoveler, "Mystery Men"

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