From: dmpowell@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Darin M. Powell)
Subject: Recent Reading
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 92 13:34:31 EDT

OK, here are some books I've been reading over the last
few weeks, accompanied by my unsolicited opinions:

_Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?_  by Molly Ivins.

   A wonderful collection of pieces from one of our better
   political columnists.  Witty, pointed and funny stuff,
   although most of the pieces are from magazines like
   "Mother Jones" and "Texas Montly," rather than the
   Dallas Times-Herald.  I had the pleasure of having a
   beer with Ms. Ivins at a recent writers conference, and
   am happy to report she's just as abrasive and funny in
   person as she is in print.

_Boy's Life_ by Robert R. McCammon.

   A nice coming-of-age story combined with your typical
   evil-goings-on-in-a-small-town motif. Probably the most
   fully realized of McCammon's books, IMO. If you like
   Stephen King...well, you know the rest.


_Shoeless Joe_ by W.P. Kinsella

   Brilliant. I cried.  Baseball and J.D. Sallinger.
   What else is there?


_The Kingdom & The Power_ by Gay Talese.

   I really liked this book, although it was dense at times and
   occasionally hard for me to relate to, time-wise. (It covers
   events in the late 50s and early 60s, and I wasn't yet born.)
   The real inside story of what goes on inside the New York times
   from the power struggles to the reporting assignments. Behind
   the scenes with Scotty Reston, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, Tom
   Wicker, Russell Baker, Arthur Krock and the rest of the gang.
   Reccommend for journalism junkies and people who *really* like
   the Times.

_Watchers At The Strait Gate_ by Russell Kirk.

   From Arkham House (yes, home of HPL), more tales or terror from
   conservative philospher Russell Kirk.  He tells damn good ghost
   stories, and is able to philosphize without moralizing or preaching.
   The characters are often pious, religious people (often priests)
   whose faith is tested by the supernatural. Doesn't include my
   favorite Kirk story, "There's a Long Trail A' Winding", but that
   stories main character does make a nice (post mortem) appearance.
  
_Deadwood_ by Pete Dexter.

   Dexter is one of my favorite current writers. This, his second
   novel, is a Western, following the last days of Wild Bill Hickok.
   Very funny...people carrying human heads around, trying to
   collect the bounty, proping heads on bars, shooting each other
   in the back, etc. Less serious than _Paris Trout_, _God's Pocket_
   or _Brotherly Love_, but just as engaging.

_Grendel_ by John Gardner

   I liked this a lot too. Re-telling of Beowulf from Grendel's
   point of view.  In essence, a long speech by Grendel, a childlike
   creature all alone in the world, who is fascinated by humans,
   grows to hate them, and is resigned to his fate. Enjoyable.

_The Making of the President 1960_ by Theodore H. White.

   This book revolutionized how books on politics are written. I
   enjoyed it, but it is very slow in places, as White tries to
   drown the reader in strategy and numbers...but very revealing
   look at how Kennedy won the White House. And in many places,
   the parallell to Clinton-Bush (in terms of how they campaign
   was run) are intriguing.


   Darin Powell
   Syracuse University