Crystal Fire
Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age by : Michael Riordan & Lillian Hoddeson (Norton) the story of the invention of the transistor Not reviewed
Non-Fiction
Touching the Void
Touching the Void: The Harrowing Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival by : Joe Simpson (HarperCollins) I should start by mentioning that I have a strong tendency to be overly …
Fermat’s Enigma
Fermat’s Enigma by : Simon Singh (Walker) I think — make that hope — that there’s a trend brewing here. Last year I reviewed an extraordinary book by Dava Sobell called Longitude (a new …
The Majors
The Majors by : John Feinstein (Little, Brown) John Feinstein’s A Good Walk Spoiled was a double-threat treat that not only provided golf fans a rare glimpse behind both the …
Dutch
Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan Edmund Morris (Random House) Reading Dutch, I couldn’t help but be struck by a feeling I haven’t had since the much-maligned The Bell Curve inflicted itself upon …
The Great Game
The Great Game: The Emergence of Wall Street As a World Power, 1653-2000 by : John Steele Gordon (Scribner) What on earth is he doing (you’re thinking) recommending a history …
Which Lie Did I Tell?
Which Lie Did I Tell: More Adventures in the Screen Trade by : William Goldman (Pantheon) In his previous book about Hollywood, Adventures in the Screen Trade, legendary screenwriter Goldman (Butch …
Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials
Sleeping With Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and Perils of Piety by : Wendy Kaminer (Pantheon) As someone who thinks that the greatest threat we face is the abandonment of …
Failure Is Not an Option
Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond by : Gene Kranz (Simon & Schuster) Just a kid when the Mercury astronauts were first …
The Gifts of the Jews
The Gifts of the Jews : How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels by : Thomas Cahill (Anchor Books) Normally, I only include books …