Hobbes in Dobbs

A Good Story, But…

Reviewed: 02-19-25

I was a little disappointed in the story because of the apparent naivete of the author with life outside the monastery. He had all the intelligence to discuss meditation and a lot of Buddhist thought, but when it came down to him catching a stomach virus, he almost dies by not getting simple help. I would think most travelers would be aware of the possibility of catching something like this while traveling in India, no matter what kind of food they eat or where it is from. Otherwise the Buddhist topics discussed where well done.

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The Life of a Family

Reviewed: 01-16-25

Are there many books like this? Not so well written, and not so all-encompassing. There is much sadness and much happiness mixed together in the story of a family told by the older son. There is so much life in this book, so much living, and of course, death. It is well read, comprised of smaller stories that makes sense up the whole. Highly recommended!

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The Story of Relationship

Reviewed: 04-24-24

I read part of this book after reading “Life, Interrupted” by/about Spaulding Gray. Oliver Sacks saw Mr. Gray near the end of his life (Mr. Gray suffering from a head injury that led to Mr. Gray disappearing in Jan. 2013 and Mr. Sacks disappearing in 2015.

This book is a wonderful story of Mr. Sacks and Mr. Hayes meeting and getting to know each other, growing together with time. It is also a story about Mr. Hayes’ relationships with New York City and the people he meets and shares with parts of himself. It is sad Mr. Sacks leaving the story, but happens quite simply.

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The Last Dialogue

Reviewed: 04-22-24

A heart felt tribute to an unforgettable human. It filled in a lot of things I hadn't known that led up to his passing, therefore more informational than entertaining.

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Excellent Pre-Covid Virus Tale

Reviewed: 01-01-24

Mr. Gardener was able to more than well sustain the uniqueness of every character throughout the length of this hefty tome. I listened to King’s 11/22/63 as my first introduction to his sci-fi sort of fantasy writing that I never knew of and was hooked for the length of that story, then decided I wanted to try another. The Stand proved to be quite an entertaining story, as well as providing a lot of mixing of humor, sarcasm, terror, ruthlessness, mirrors on the soul, mirrors on human values, as well as speculation on the future as well as illuminating the current humorous state of humanity in all its foibles. I couldn’t help flashing on the idea that came to me many times during Covid, that we were better off going backwards from technology and fossil fuel when Covid brought cities to a grinding halt at points when the hospitals were all filling with people having breathing problems and complications from Covid. It was strange also to think that the political situation during Covid was also in a downswing…and did that influence the severity of the virus spread. This was a thoroughly enjoyable story, with excellent characterizations and settings…the descriptions of various areas of the USA seemed very spot-on, and had me assuming most of the descriptions of various settings were more than likely truthful, at least in part. Again, one more shout out to the narrator, whose performances made the book come alive in its various characterizations and accents.

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Short and Sweet

Reviewed: 09-11-23

Contemporary art collaged into a mysterious story both of human interactions and hidden feelings. A story for today.

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6 people found this helpful

John Lurie Reading

Reviewed: 09-01-23

It was so nice to hear John Lurie reading his new memoir. I didn’t know about any of his life besides the music of the Lounge Lizards and the paintings he has been doing since. One thing that stuck me was the way other people blamed him as being difficult, whereas it was “always” the promoters, producers, record company executives that were obviously trying to short change him. It kind of makes one feel kind of paranoid after awhile hearing that this happens so much, and it makes one wonder whether one is a difficult person. It takes time to figure out that the world is full of people that want to take advantage of successful people for their own feelings of self-worth.

I look forward to reading Part 2 of John’s memoir to hear how he has fared with his life post-Lounge Lizards.

It is quite an entertaining memoir. Highly recommended!

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Since he was gone

Reviewed: 06-08-23

Since he was gone, it has been hard to read anything about him due to the strong feelings I get when thinking about the influence his music has had on me throughout my life. This book, as well as Simon Critchley’s book of the same title have filled in some of the gaps in my Bowie listening history due to my hanging on to my favorites, Hunky Dory, Station to Station, and Lodger. I just ordered a copy of Moonage Daydream…I wish Bowie could have narrated it. In any case, this book is a fine remembrance of the author’s love of the icon Bowie was and still is.

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An Entertainment

Reviewed: 02-20-23

As a piece of poetic literature, the Rho Series is not…however it is a cleverly built sci-fi entertainment in the vein of the Twilight Zone, which is tongue and cheekily mentioned within the series. It reminds me of early Tom Clancy, in its descriptions of fighting and the close future extrapolations of possible technologies. It also reminded me of Tade Thompson’s writing. Enjoyable reading.

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A book rich in imagery

Reviewed: 01-27-23

A travelogue of a search for one’s mother and father that bears listening to and reading, as both methods of taking in the contents of a book have pluses and minuses. The book is a pleasure of description.

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2 people found this helpful