Tag: nonfiction

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#BookReview: The Lost Supper by Taras Grescoe

Intriguing Romp Through The History Of Food That Fails The Sagan Standard. One of the core features of the scientific method, and indeed of rational thought more generally, is what is known in some circles as the “Sagan Standard” after he quoted it so much: Extreme Claims Require Extreme Evidence.

And this is where this otherwise truly intriguing tale utterly fails, coming in at just 10% documentation despite claims as extreme *even in the prologue* as claiming that 90% of US milk production comes from a particular breed of cows and ultimately is the product of just two bulls that ultimately created that particular breed.

Reading the text as less science and history – even though much science and history are discussed – and more as the “creative nonfiction” Grescoe writes of once describing his writing to a security officer as, the book flows quite a bit better and provides quite a bit of interesting and intriguing nuggets for people of various persuasions to track down on their own. For example, the global histories Grescoe explores, from the Aztec culture of eating certain bugs to the Phonecian/ Mediterranean culture of eating very fermented fish to the Canadian First Nations’ peoples’ culinary pursuits and several others as well all provide rich stories that *beg* for a more documented history. On the other hand, if one is more gastronomically inclined ala the author, perhaps one simply wants to try to track down these particular foods and techniques for him or herself to sample these items as the author did – including a particular breed of pig that “originates” from a small island not far from where this reviewer lives on Florida’s First Coast.

Ultimately, once one abandons any standard of documentation the way one would abandon any sense of “reality” upon entering a cinema to watch the latest MCU movie and appreciates the sheer spectacle of what is presented to you… this is a truly great book that foodies in particular will absolutely love. Given the literal hundreds of different shows about food and culinary pursuits, including several actively traveling around the world highlighting various dishes and techniques just as this book does… clearly there is a market for exactly this kind of tale, and this one does in fact appear to work perfectly within that market. Very much recommended.

This review of The Lost Supper by Taras Grescoe was originally written on September 3, 2023.

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#BookReview: Right Kind Of Wrong by Amy C. Edmondson

Well Documented Examination Of How To Make Failure Work *For* You. This is one of those organizational psychology/ self-help pop psychology books that is fortunately about as light on the psychobabble bullshit as such as a book can be, and instead focuses on the science of how to fail intelligently and how to mitigate, minimize, and learn from other failures as well – yes, even some of the most catastrophic failures of the past 50 years or so (where most of Edmondson’s examples come from) can be at minimum learned from, and this is one of the large points of the text here. At roughly 30% documentation, it is on the higher end of average in my own experience, which is a great thing given all of the claims here. Organized into just a couple of handfuls of chapters, each built around explaining one of Edmondson’s core principles, this is a book that will work well in any learning environment, from college level business education classes to corporate book clubs/ leadership retreats to personal self development. And it is in fact quite practical, with quite a few lessons that can be easily (or at least readily) applied in almost any situation that seems to be becoming SNAFU or even FUBAR. Very much recommended.

This review of Right Kind Of Wrong by Amy C. Edmondson was originally written on September 3, 2023.

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#BookReview: Mass Supervision by Vincent Schiraldi

‘Rise Of The Warrior Cop’ – For Probation And Parole. A decade ago this summer, one of the best books on policing I’ve ever encountered was released. A year before Michael Brown’s murder and the American people becoming aware of a group called “Black Lives Matter”. That book traced the history of policing from its earliest roots in the British legal system through its then most modern incarnations in the US legal system, and offered a few modest proposals on how to correct its worst current abuses.

This book does largely the same thing, but with the concepts of probation and parole, rather than policing itself. At 30% documentation, it is reasonably well documented, and the author claims to have worked in several relevant areas and appears to currently be an activist within this space. He is also clearly a New York Liberal Elite… and this flavors his overall discussion quite heavily. Still, that is a more “your mileage may vary” level, and like with the more libertarian bent of Rise of the Warrior Cop… you need to read this book anyway, no matter your politics, if you truly want to be informed of the scope of the actual problem here. Yes, the “solutions” tend to essentially be “take money from prisons/ courts and give it to these other areas” or even simply “give more money to these other areas”, as one would expect from a New York Liberal Elite, but there are also quite a few realistic and useful approaches, such as Schiraldi’s discussion of having his offices switch from in person check-ins to computerized check-ins that both saved money and allowed a greater opportunity for those under his supervision to comply with the relevant controls.

Overall a mostly solid overview of this particular area, though it does gloss over several other realities better discussed in other works, and it does in fact focus on the “black men are disproportionately affected” statistics based lie that belies the reality that more white people are supervised under these programs as an actual whole. But there again – New York Liberal Elite. So this is expected. Read this book. Learn some things (assuming you weren’t already familiar with this space – and even there, there is likely *something* here for you to learn). And go and do.

Very much recommended.

PS: Because I know some reader of this review is at some point going to want a list of other recommendations for other books within this space, here is a list of others I’ve read in and around this space over the years, in alphabetical order by title:

Free by Lauren Kessler.
In Their Names by Lenore Anderson.
Just Dope by Alison Margolin.
Pleading Out by Dan Canon.
Punishment Without Trial by Carissa Byrne Hessick.
Rise Of The Warrior Cop by Radley Balko.
The Plea Of Innocence by Tm Bakken.
The Shadow Docket by Stephen Vladeck.
Torn Apart by Dorothy Roberts.
When Innocence Is Not Enough by Thomas Dybdahl.
When We Walk By by Kevin Adler and Donald Burns.
Why The Innocent Plead Guilty And The Guilty Go Free by Jed S. Rakoff.

This review of Mass Supervision by Vincent Schiraldi was originally written on August 27, 2023.

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#BookReview: Travel As A Political Act by Rick Steves

Interesting Take On Travel. I fully admit to traveling more for leisure than learning and certainly more than being some kind of activist. I try to be a decent enough human being no matter where I am, whether that be in my own home or some far-flung place. And I actively try to avoid other nations’ political issues – and wish to God their own citizens would join me in that, rather than constantly complaining about some aspect of the US. Indeed, there is exactly *one* spot that still stands that I would potentially like to see for something other than leisure, and that is the town of Nocher, Luxembourg – where my grandfather earned his Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions in the closing days of the Battle of the Bulge. Beyond that, I’m all about relaxing and enjoying the scenery – not activism – in my travels.

But here, Steves does a remarkable job in showing his own travel style and general philosophy, of always trying to make the world a better place, of constantly trying to understand the people of wherever he finds himself through their eyes, of perhaps trying in some small (or sometimes not so small) way to leave their land better for his having been there, even briefly.

It is certainly an interesting approach, and overall his thoughts on the places he has been and the things he has seen… well, your own mileage may vary quite greatly indeed based on your own experiences either as a native of those lands or as an American who may have different views. Some reviewers have called this book “racist”, and to be crystal clear: I did not see any hint of that at all in this text – or at least the Audible version of it I consumed. But I’m also a white dude who grew up in the Southern part of the US, in the land still literally scarred by my own country’s Civil War over 150 years ago – so there are likely many in the US and internationally who automatically and irrevocably think *I* must be a racist, just because of my skin color and where I am from. Ironically, the entire point of this book is basically dispelling similar notions mostly from an American audience looking to potentially travel to other lands or even inside our own vast country.

Overall this was an illuminating read that, when read at 1.8 speed on Audible and thus taking roughly half the time its over 10 hr actual runtime indicates, was actually quite enjoyable. Dare I say that it could even be a good read/ listen… while traveling yourself? 😉 Very much recommended.

This review of Travel As A Political Act by Rick Steves was originally written on August 2, 2023.

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#BookReview: Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter

Entertaining Discussion Of An Esoteric Topic. Up front here: I can’t judge this book’s bibliography, as I listened to the Audible version of it, which doesn’t have that. I’m also no linguist, more of a polyglot who knows a little (or a lottle) about a lot and is interested in learning about… well, damn near everything. Thus, someone who read the text version of the book and *can* speak to its breadth or dearth of bibliography may or may not deduct the star I normally do for dearth, and an actual linguist, or at least someone more familiar with the field, may have more cohesive arguments for or against the actual points raised here.

Those caveats noted, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. McWhorter reads his own work in the Audible form, and he uses enough humor here to make what could be an extremely dense topic rather enjoyable to learn a little about. Further, his arguments *seem* at minimum plausible, and possibly exactly correct – again, at least to someone completely untrained and mostly unknowledgeable in the field at hand. And the arguments he presents are also quite compelling and interesting to boot, which is generally a sign of at minimum a well thought out and well written nonfiction piece. Further, at just 250 or pages in print and just 5 hrs or so in Audible… this isn’t exactly a huge time sink if it turns out to be not your thing… and you’ll still learn at least a few things while reading it.

Overall, this is absolutely a book that will leave you thinking a bit and perhaps having learned a bit too. It will expand your horizons to think more about *how*, *exactly*, humans communicate with each other and what the grammars of our various languages say about how we think about things – and the arguments that perhaps it says absolutely nothing at all. Very much recommended.

This review of Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter was originally written on August 2, 2023.

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#BookReview: Ira Hayes by Tom Holm

Johnny Cash Was (At Least Partly) Wrong! Admittedly, the title of this review is mostly click-bait. But it *is* an accurate summary of this text – and yes, the text does at least briefly examine the song itself as well. Holm does a remarkable job of showing the history that created Ira Hayes, one of the six men immortalized forever in “The Photograph” of the American flag raising at Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima during the WWII battle which became the basis of so many memorials… including a not-small one in Washington, DC. As with the better history books, Holm shows the relevant histories that lead into the famous events at hand- and the biography and histories of the fallout of the events, including the various impacts to both the man Ira Hayes and the cultural icon/ touchstone Ira Hayes. Yes, including the various movies, the various incarnations of The Ballad of Ira Hayes (including the Man in Black’s), and even discussing the book The Flags of Our Fathers and its movie incarnation as well. At 22% documentation, it is reasonably well documented, and there are no overly startling revelations here – though there is perhaps much new knowledge, depending on one’s own knowledge set when coming into this book. For example, the histories of the Akimel and Apache wars and interactions, and even how they waged war (both the weapons involved and the tactics and ceremonies) was new knowledge to me – and utterly fascinating.

Overall a well told and well examined history with no obvious flaws or even any overt political diatribes, this is a book that anyone interested in a more complete tale of Ira Hayes will enjoy. Very much recommended.

This review of Ira Hayes by Tom Holm was originally written on July 28, 2023.

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#BookReview: When We Walk By by Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes

Elite Sociology Types Explain Homelessness. In a spirit of full disclosure up front, I’m a guy that literally has “Real Is Real” – the subheading of Part III of Ayn Rand’s magnum opus Atlas Shrugged – tattooed on his wrist, along with a few other tattoos of various Christian thinking, both common (Triune God) and more obscure (Christ’s death redefines religious laws). And yet I’ve also presented at a sociological association’s conference, over 20 years ago while still in college. With that noted, let’s get into my thoughts on this book, shall we? 🙂

Coming into this review moments after reading this book, I wasn’t going to rate it 5*. There is quite a bit of rampant elitism and racism here, from forgetting just how horrid public housing has proven to be to openly advocating for several explicitly racist programs such as Affirmative Action and reparations. And yet, while admittedly deep into the text… the authors own up to their racism and elitism, unlike so many other books in this space. So there went that potential star deduction. And I was thinking that the book was only about 16% documentation, and it actually ended with about 18%. While still *slightly* lower than the more normal 20-30% I’m accustomed to seeing in these types of books, even I have noted in at least one or two reviews over the last few weeks that given how many more recent books are coming in somewhere in the teens, I may need to revise my expected average downward a few points – which would put this 18% within that newly revised range, almost assuredly. Thus, there went that potential star deduction.

So what I’m left with is an idealistic book that bounces between firmly grounded in reality in showing the full breadth and scope of how so many people come to a state of homlessness and how and why so many programs built to “combat” or “end” homelessness fail and even actively harm the people they claim to he trying to help to being truly pie in the sky, never going to happen “solutions” such as Universal Basic Income. And yet, here again, some of the solutions proposed – such as tiny house villages and container box conversion homes – are ideas that I myself have even proposed.

Admittedly, I chose to read this book this week because of the ongoing struggles in Gastonia, NC, where the City Council is currently threatening to entirely shut down a local church because of its efforts to serve the local homeless population, efforts brought to media attention by the efforts of Libertarian activist (and rumored potential 2024 Presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party) Spike Cohen. Unfortunately, I’ve seen myself over years of even casually watching the issue that the current events in Gastonia are simply far too common – which is one of the things this text gets quite right in covering while never really going in depth with any specifics. Even down to also addressing, again at a high level, the all too common practice of hostile design.

At the end of the day, there are very clear differences in how the authors here and I approach this (and likely many) issue, and I suspect that will be true of many who read this book as well. But if you’re interested in the issue of homelessness at all, if you’re truly interested in trying to help end this problem, if you’re searching for something you can personally do to help, if you’re looking for ideas to work at any level to assist… you should read this book. It really is quite a solid primer, despite the authors’ clear bents, and at minimum it will help you avoid pitfalls that are far too common even among those with quite a bit of experience working within these communities. Very much recommended.

This review of When We Walk By by Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes was originally written on June 23, 2023.

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#BookReview: Cask Strength by Mike Gerrard

Solid Look At History, Current Uses, and Future Of The Barrel. At just 240 pages or so – and just 14% or so of that bibliography, which is where the single star deduction comes in – this is far from a truly in-depth look at the topic. But as kind of a “Barrel 101”, this book really works. The majority of the text focuses on the various current uses of barrels, mostly dealing with the various forms of alcohol stored in them – everything from liquors to wines to even beers – but also delving into even, surprisingly, hot sauce. Shorter sections deal with the millenia-old history of the barrel and with its most modern incarnations and looking to what the future might hold for the technology.

Indeed, for what it is, the only truly glaring weakness here is in fact the dearth of a bibliography, clocking in at just about 14% of the overall text, when 20-30% is more typical in my extensive experience with nonfiction Advance Reviewer Copies.

Overall a quick, fun, and informative read that will give you yet more esoteric knowledge and trivia and thus expand your horizons just that much more. Very much recommended.

This review of Cask Strength by Mike Gerrard was originally written on June 18, 2023.

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#BookReview: Catastrophic Incentives by Jeff Schlegelmilch and Ellen Carlin

Thorough Examination Of The Field. This is a look at the history of disaster response (mostly in the US, and primarily over the last 50 some odd years) and the incentive structures of the various players in the field – and what those incentive structures lead to, for good and bad. It also has a few recommendations on how to move forward, as most books of this type do, though as with most all recommendations of most all books of this type, these very much come down to a Your Mileage May Vary situation. Though I do appreciate that the authors are realists and openly acknowledge that some would be easier to achieve than others, and some of the recommendations are about as close to “never going to happen” as anything ever truly gets. At 34% documentation, it is even on the high side of average in my experience – which is always a plus. Overall a solid and informative look at a lot of aspects of disaster response – and particularly disaster response coordination – that most even within the field probably aren’t fully aware of, and for this alone it is absolutely essential reading for anyone who may ever experience a disaster. Which is everyone, everywhere. Very much recommended.

This review of Catastrophic Incentives by Jeff Schlegelmilch and Ellen Carlin was originally written on May 26, 2023.

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#BookReview: The Peer Effect by Syed Ali and Margaret M. Chin

Overt Racism And Extensive Elitism Mar Otherwise Intriguing Premise. In “shit sandwich” form, let’s start out with something good, shall we? The premise here, that peer groups affect behavior more than most other factors, is one that few sociologists – at least those I’ve seen in my 20+ years on the outskirts of that field – have openly espoused. Thus, this book was immediately intriguing and in fact had at least some promise here.

But then we get to the overt racism against anything white male and the extensive elitism in promoting New York City and in particular one particularly exclusive high school as the epitome of virtually everything, openly declaring multiple times that NYC is the cultural heart of the US, among several other elitist (and typical New Yorker) claims. The longer the text goes, the more and more overt the authors get in showing their anti-white male racist misandry, until finally at one point, after clearly establishing “cultures that are longstanding” and similar phrases to mean “white male”, the authors openly state “Cultures that are longstanding have a built-in legitimacy to them; to change them means that people inside and outside of that culture *have to see aspects of their identity, their culture, as illegitimate, as immoral, as wrong.*” (emphasis mine). Imagine the outcry if a white author had made the same statement in reference to virtually any other demographic – and *that* is my standard for detecting bigotry: invert the demographics involved. If there would be outcry, it is likely bigoted. Thus, one star is deducted for the overt racism in particular, and the other star is deducted for the pervasive elitism.

Finally, I can say that the bibliography being roughly 20% of the text was perhaps a touch low, but at least on the low end of *normal* in my extensive experience with Advance Reviewer Copies. And yes, as I am writing this review almost fully six months prior to publication, this means that I am in fact reading and reviewing an ARC here.

Overall, there is enough positive and worthy of consideration here to keep this fairly safely above my dreaded “gold mine” label, but there is still enough detritus here that one should approach the text a bit warily. Still, it does in fact bring some worthy wrinkles to the public discourse, and for that reason it *should* be widely read. Recommended.

This review of The Peer Effect by Syed Ali and Margaret M. Chin was originally written on May 24, 2023.