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devinsf's reviews
131 reviews
The Body Artist by Don DeLillo
5.0
A compact and powerful story concerning an artist moving through a cloud of personal tragedy. Captures the motion of abstract/un-worded thought patterns in its extremely particular writing voice. Out of everything I read last year, this book stayed with me the longest.
Hey, That's My Music!: Music Supervision, Licensing and Content Acquisition by Brooke Wentz
An introductory guide to licensing, written with musicians in mind. It provides an overview of several different positions (music supervisors, placement reps, creative directors, etc), and includes information not only on the nuts-and-bolts aspects of license requesting, but also the typical flow and etiquette of communications in the industry. If, like me, you're a musician who hasn't been spent much time with the bussines side of things, I'd recommend picking it up.
Editor to Author: The Letters of Maxwell E. Perkins by Maxwell E. Perkins, John Hall Wheelock
4.0
A massive work covering Perkins' correspondence from 1915 - 1947, occasionally including lengthy notes dressing a letter's context and footnotes regarding specific references therein. Correspondents include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Hemmingway, and many more — some notable, some forgotten. I casually skipped around these, finding the rejection letters or negative feedback to be perhaps the most interesting.
How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make by Denny Martin Flinn
4.0
A former mid-tier film exec takes you through some common (and sometimes quite subtle) screenwriting mistakes. Jaunty and quick, with plenty of real-world examples, both good and bad. YMMV depending on the flavor of screeplay which you're writing.
The Year of the Quiet Sun by Wilson Tucker
3.0
Cheap SF paperback. Written by a notable member of the 1960s SF fan scene, publisher of several heavyweight fan mags, and occasional writer of short stories and a few novels. (This one is considered his best work. It's somewhat rough around the edges, but above average for comparable SF of the era — the slow-burn first half in particular.) The plot revolves around a sociologist / translator who is recruited for a team of three which will use an H.G. Welles-style time machine to travel into the near future. Some unusual-for-the-genre commentary on race relations, and (usual-for-the-genre) dated gender dynamics.
South of Market by Janet Delaney
5.0
A collection of photographs from an artist who moved to South of Market in 1978, during the final stages of the YBC redevelopment. The photos cover 78-86 and are accompanied by contemporaneous interviews with some of the subjects depicted, as well as an historical essay by Erin O'Toole.
Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Empires of Eve Online by Andrew Groen
3.0
The topic of this book is outstanding, and author does an excellent job of tackling the details required in both the virtual history personal histories– however the writing itself leaves a little to be desired.
This book is a nonfiction history of the events inside a Sci-Fi themed MMO called Eve Online; which has some notable technical departures from comparable MMOs; notably that there is little to no outward direction on how players can organize themselves into (sometimes extremely large) organizations. The end results of these technical features of the game are that users band together to fight over and control resources and land in a variety of different political, sociological and economic manners; leading to a wonderfully rich "organic" development of corporations, alliances, empires all locked in (sometimes quite elongated) battles for control.
The additional layer of virtual space plays against the personal histories of these players; who approach their roles as leaders in a virtual space in varying ways in relation to their real lives. The way in which people organize in real life occasionally feeds back into the game, and vice-versa.
The topic is great; the historical details are juicy, and epic battles and political subterfuge are written with an easily approachable flow– however this book definitely feels like a "first novel". There are occasionally repeated phrases, off-kilter syntax, and some general inconsistency of tone which feel like a writer "finding his voice" amidst material which requires a healthy dose of "reporting the facts" while still maintaining flow. I feel like it would have benefited greatly from an additional editorial pass or two.
Honestly, I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone who wasn't already interested in diving into a topic of this sort, the writing's just not quite there yet. BUT- any writer who decides to tackle a subject this interesting and manages to pull it together into an interesting narrative is someone I am absolutely willing to stick with. I'm looking forward to the next book.
This book is a nonfiction history of the events inside a Sci-Fi themed MMO called Eve Online; which has some notable technical departures from comparable MMOs; notably that there is little to no outward direction on how players can organize themselves into (sometimes extremely large) organizations. The end results of these technical features of the game are that users band together to fight over and control resources and land in a variety of different political, sociological and economic manners; leading to a wonderfully rich "organic" development of corporations, alliances, empires all locked in (sometimes quite elongated) battles for control.
The additional layer of virtual space plays against the personal histories of these players; who approach their roles as leaders in a virtual space in varying ways in relation to their real lives. The way in which people organize in real life occasionally feeds back into the game, and vice-versa.
The topic is great; the historical details are juicy, and epic battles and political subterfuge are written with an easily approachable flow– however this book definitely feels like a "first novel". There are occasionally repeated phrases, off-kilter syntax, and some general inconsistency of tone which feel like a writer "finding his voice" amidst material which requires a healthy dose of "reporting the facts" while still maintaining flow. I feel like it would have benefited greatly from an additional editorial pass or two.
Honestly, I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone who wasn't already interested in diving into a topic of this sort, the writing's just not quite there yet. BUT- any writer who decides to tackle a subject this interesting and manages to pull it together into an interesting narrative is someone I am absolutely willing to stick with. I'm looking forward to the next book.