Fully Operational

January 31, 2013

By J. Goodman

I have owned a flimsy paperback edition of The Hobbit since i was in junior high. On the cover is an artist’s rendering of Bilbo Baggins and Gollum. Bilbo is portly and Gollum looks demonic and demented, even more than his film recreation. Growing up, I opened the book a few times thinking that I would read it, but I never did. I’m pretty sure that, in flipping through its pages, I came across all of those bloody songs - they are always breaking out into songs - and I was turned off. What young boy wants to read a book with songs?

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December 22, 2012

Book Review: Let Me Tell You a Story

By J. Goodman

Let Me Tell You a Story: A Lifetime in the Game by John Feinstein & Red Auerbach is, not surprisingly, about Red Auerbach. If you were born in the 80s (maybe) or 90s or 00s or 10s (or if you hate sports), there’s a strong likelihood that you don’t know who Red Auerbach is.

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December 21, 2012

Book Review: American Lion

By Dre Rivas

This was NOT a book about cats! See, the above picture is of an “American Lion”, otherwise known as Panthera leo atrox, a rather large cat (even for a lion) that has been extinct for thousands of years now. And as much of a badass this cat looks to be (seriously, that sleek mane gives it a sort of villainous look, doesn’t it?), I did not read a book about Panthera leo atrox. Instead, I read about an entirely different sort of American, in some ways, equally lethal. I read about Andrew Jackson, appropriately but less literally nicknamed, the “American Lion”.

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November 2, 2012

Book Review: Walden

By J. Goodman

It’s been quite a while since we’ve posted a book review. Our faithful readers probably assumed that neither Dre nor I know how to read anymore - that we we’ve lost the manual dexterity to flip pages or scroll with our fingers. You’d be dead wrong. Personally, I’ve never stopped reading. The problem is most of what I’ve been reading hasn’t been book review worthy. So it’s only fitting that the book I review next, Walden, is one I didn’t even bother finishing. But let me explain.

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(Notes: 1)

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September 20, 2012

I’ll Be Book!

This might be the best (by best I mean, most cliched) title ever. As soon as I came up with it, I just knew I nailed perfection. Pretty much the same way Arnold Schwarzenegger nailed syringes in his buttocks when he won 6 straight Mr. Olympias. The same way he nailed perfection when he decided to A. Write (who are we kidding, commissioned someone else to write) his autobiography, and B. Create a ~~movie~~ book trailer for it.

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Filed under: J. Goodman fullyoperational arnold schwarzeneggar Total Recall biography book trailer book Dre Rivas Junior Predator The Running Man Commando Mr. Olympia

September 5, 2012

Book Review: Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72

By J. Goodman

We’re doomed to repeat past mistakes. Nothing new there. No matter how often we try to improve upon our predecessors we rarely learn from their errors and indiscretions. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand and one times: people are people (I’ve actually never said that, but I do know a guy who once said, ‘pink is pink’). We have the same vices, the same egos, the same kind of nightblindness to the needs of others.

You can (and people do) say this about so many books. Namely: ‘It’s like it was written yesterday.’ It’s almost always true, as it is in this instance. That has to mean something about us, right?

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Filed under: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 Gonzo Journalism Hunter S. Thompson J. Goodman book book review fullyoperational presidential election ADD attention span 1972 2012 Barack Obama Mitt Romney George McGovern Richard Nixon

September 3, 2012

Book Review: Talent is Overrated

By Dre Rivas

As the story goes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born with the gift of music. He played the piano at three years of age, and was composing by the time he was five. Before long, Mozart’s undeniable genius was the envy of many. It’s an oft-told summary of a life blessed with melodic genius, an example of how every once in a while, someone just so happens to be born with an innate gift and there is no reason that can be explained as to why Wolfgang had it and others have not. He just sat at a piano, was shown a few keys and it all made sense to him.

This is a version of the story we are comfortable with because it makes us feel a better about ourselves. But the story, as accounted above, simply isn’t true.

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(Notes: 3)

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August 22, 2012

Book Review: The Education of a Coach

By J. Goodman

Stumbling through the aisles of one of the smaller less occupied NYC library branches, I came across the sports section. I like sports. I’ve read a number of books about sports. I’ve even read a number of books about sports by David Halberstam. I saw his book, The Education of a Coach, about Bill Belichick, and thought this could be a fun read.

Three things you will get out of reading this book:

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August 16, 2012

Book Review: The Art of Fielding

By J. Goodman

Sometimes I’m in a book club. What I mean is, I’m technically in a book club and sometimes I:

A. Read the book we’ve picked,

B. Attend the meeting we’ve scheduled, and

C. Do both of those things.

Too much lately, I don’t do any of those things, but that’s not important right now.

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August 2, 2012

Book Review: Tangled Webs

By J. Goodman

The essence of a good novel, fiction or non-fiction, is the story. Is it a good one? Is it compelling? Do the words that you read across the page interest you enough that you wish to continue to the next word and the next word or are you so disinterested that you just skim whole pages until you stumble across an interesting passage? Sure, you can have beautiful language that is intelligent and thought provoking, but without a strong story component, you might as well be reading poetry.

July 23, 2012

Book Review: Power of the Dog

By Lawrence Lyman

Can you judge a book by its cover? I was browsing at the bookstore and saw the cover for Savages, the novel by Don Winslow that was recently adapted into a film by Oliver Stone. Next to the trade paperback was another Don Winslow novel: The Power of the Dog. As fetching as Blake Lively is, I went with Power of the Dog and was rewarded with the best historical novel about the War on Drugs.

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Filed under: Fully Operational Lawrence Lyman book book review books california fire and ice don winslow fullyoperational power of the dog santiri savages war on drugs oliver stone

July 13, 2012

Book Review: The Checklist Manifesto

By J. Goodman

The other day I reviewed a relatively recent pop-psychology book called, The Art of Choosing. Along with many others, I casually mentioned author Atul Gawande. This book is his.

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July 4, 2012

Book Review: The Art of Choosing

By J. Goodman

The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar, which came out in 2010, is the type of pop psychology book that Malcolm Gladwell made famous, and was mimicked by about a hundred other writers. Atul Gawande. Steven Levitt. Sam Gosling, Nassim Taleb. Alexandra Robbins. Jon Ronson. I can keep naming them. Barbara Ehrenreich. Dan Ariely. Charles Duhigg. Steven Pinker. Barry Schwartz. Jeffrey Kluger. Geoff Colvin. Too many.

So how does the Art of Choosing stack up?

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Filed under: The Art of Choosing Sheena Iyengar Sophie's Choice Choice Choose book book review Malcolm Gladwell Meryl Streep

June 27, 2012

Book Review: Soldier Dogs

By J. Goodman

I’ve never had a dog. That may be the reason why I have absolutely no interest in reading Marley & Me or The Art of Racing in the Rain. After watching the author, Maria Goodavage, on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, however, I felt like I would enjoy Soldier Dogs. The book tells the story of our military working dogs (MWDs), how they save lives and are an essential part of our military operations. Not to be confused with Dog Soldiers, a British horror flick where (human) soldiers are attacked by werewolves in the Scottish Highlands.

June 18, 2012

Popular Tabloid

By J. Goodman

When I first read American Tabloid I was blown away. It was over 10 years ago and it was the first book I read that took such pleasure in its rhythmic language, its time period - 50s/60s historical fiction based on the years leading up to Kennedy’s election in 1960 and the years after. It’s about Cuba and Castro coming into power; the FBI and its cross-dressing, paranoid leader, J. Edgar Hoover; Howard Hughes and his stash of morphine; Jimmy Hoffa skimming the Teamsters’ Pension Fund; JFK banging anything with a vagina; RFK crusading against evil; the Mafia’s control of all things behind the curtain; the CIA and agents-provocateur straddling fences, mixing allegiances, compartmentalizing their involvement so at the end of the day motives were untraceable.

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