Frank McGeough
I just bought: ‘The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers: A Novel' by Thomas Mullen. Instead of getting a Kindle edition I got a used hardcover. It was $3.49 with no shipping charge vs. $11 for the Kindle book. In any case, the novel concerns the gangster Firefly brothers. Late one night in August 1934, following a yearlong spree of bank robberies across the Midwest, the Firefly Brothers are forced into a police shootout and die . . . for the first time. Are they inhuman? Are they superheroes? who knows. it sounded fun.
Brilliant twisting tale
Story starts traditionally but takes some unexpected and delightful turns. Loved the descriptions of places and characters. Very glad I picked this one up.
Without a knowledge of English history around the time of crazy King Henry it's difficult to understand the characters and their interactions. Its definitely got some interesting parts and I think if I come back to it a second time I'll pick up a lot I missed. This is all due to my lack of background on the history of that country and that time.
My very first vegetarian cookbook (along with tons of other people). The recipes are whimsically presented and some are quite delicious. I have made them over and over again in some cases (the lentil soup recipe is excellent). Definitely worth owning. It was re-released in later years with some recipes adjusted to cut down on fat - without losing the flavor.
I've always liked LA Confidential the movie. The book has all the elements in them that are portrayed in the movie but the movie is much better organized and a more straightforward story - for better or worse, depending on what you like. The book tends to ramble and assemble a narrative and then pull it apart - which is one of the key features of the movie as well. Its just a little too much of a good thing for me in the book. I think the screenwriter did a superb job in getting the essence of the novel's approach. This novel is probably the best that I've read from James Ellroy. Rambling and at times incoherent but the story surges forward to a great - and quite different - ending than the movie.
Good near-term sci-fi story about electronic brain enhancement with an emphasis on cultural, personal, relationship impact rather than the science.
I'm glad I read this collection of short stories. The crafting of individual sentences is quite amazing. It's very sad that his life was so short.
Enjoyable science thriller. Screams out to be turned into movie series although it presents some difficulties in picking leading man or woman and the very depth and preciseness of the tech descriptions might throw some roadblocks as well.
well written but I just couldn't work up much interest in Henry James and his life.
A hard novel to read. Its endless mindless savagery and violence and an incredibly weak plot. Or non-existant plot. There seems to be no reason, no purpose. Its emptiness and death and violence with no real voice of humanity in any of the characters. The most seductive character is the Judge who seems the most evil as well. So...why do people read it and continually give it 4 or 5 stars (myself included). Its hard to explain. For a plotless book the prose is gripping. It seems to be saying something important about that time in America and perhaps even about man's general state on Earth and our relationship to each other. So, the sentences that lead nowhere but to more scalpings, more babies being bashed together, more piles of bodies in saloons, are read carefully to try and figure out - what the heck is he trying to say here. The literary allusions - to Melville, to the Bible, to Paradise Lost - are all there and left to the reader to wrestle with and derive some meaning beyond the horrible bleakness of the violent life that is described. Its definitely not for everyone. It may take multiple tries to get through it. But its a novel worth wrestling with.
Enjoyed this one. If you haven't ever read Sedaris then you should get the audio book. Hearing David Sedaris read his own writing is the best way to enjoy his novels.
The introduction to the James Bond character. A good story. Nothing like the over-the-top movies. Enjoyable page-turner.
Wow. Just a remarkable little science fiction story - although only science fiction in terms of including unexplained time travel. The main character dies on the first page of the novel at 43 and reawakens at 19 in his dorm room at Emory University in Atlanta. After puzzling out what the hell happened he leads his life with his consciousness intact from this last life. He then dies again on the same day at the same time and comes back again...and again. Each time he retains his memory of his many lives. What is happening and why? Does it matter? What does it mean to lead a good life and does having multiple shots at it make it better.. or worse? What would we do different if given a second chance and why don't we do it differently when we do have a chance? And...is there anyone else out there having this same experience? This book was apparently the inspiration for the screenplay for “Groundhog Day”. So read it just for that if you want but its definitely worth reading. Not a long book - despite the repeating lives - and interesting throughout. Will have to read another from this author.
Just OK. The concept was somewhat interesting but the plot did not hang together well for me.
Really fun novel. Death, a Love Story. Mere mortal Milo falls for the immortal Death (who wants to be called Suzie). Milo is trapped between his love for Suzie and a looming threat of eternal nothingness as he reaches his allotted 10,000 reincarnations. It's definitely silly but the silliness carried me through easily to the end.
interesting book. a detective novel with Tourette's as the twist. Novel is in the first person. Narrator has Tourette's Syndrome. Not sure how accurate the description is of how the detective experiences the disease.
