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wampusreynolds's reviews
486 reviews
Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock
3.0
This is more like 3.5. It's such a wild interesting tale and well-researched, but parts are overwritten where dry understated detail would be more effective and situations and dialogue are embellished to the point of frustration and distraction.
But still worth reading for the hilarious saga of Dr. B.
But still worth reading for the hilarious saga of Dr. B.
That's How I Roll by Andrew Vachss
2.0
It's a relief to see other reviews saying this is Vachss's worst book because it would boggle the mind that he is so popular with stuff no better than That's How I Roll. Plot holes, cardboard characters, misguided ideas on what a genius is, and an ending that defies legal and rational sense. It really reads like a first draft.
Crawlspace by Herbert Lieberman
3.0
It's a relic of another time. It's a PG-rated (not even PG-13) horror novel that doesn't scare and doesn't disguise its Freudian psychology under much. I give it a good rating because of some great details and that it shows the lynch mob/conformist mentality isn't confined to the South. But still, when friggin' coffee grounds on a wall are some of the most graphic details in a scary book that means give it to your minister.
Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny by Nile Rodgers
4.0
4 stars may seem high, but for its genre it earns it. Nile Rodgers has lived a wild life with the paradoxical themes of excessive abuse and strict self-discipline in music. His big chapters/sections are on the big stars he's worked with (Diana Ross, Bowie, Madonna, Michael Jackson), but I bet he could write a second better book on the little-knowns he's worked with with better insights, stories and jokes.
His voice and ideas really are appealing, though in my life the albums he worked on never really spoke to me. But it's inspiring to see what painful circumstances he triumphed over.
His voice and ideas really are appealing, though in my life the albums he worked on never really spoke to me. But it's inspiring to see what painful circumstances he triumphed over.