Magazine Review: Lapham’s Quarterly: Spring 2015 Swindle & Fraud

Magazine Review: Lapham’s Quarterly: Spring 2015 Swindle & Fraud Edited by Lewis H. Lapham Mr. Lapham’s literary magazine is based on the principle that history has much to teach the present on many subjects, so presents excerpts from many famous (and not so famous) authors on a loose topic for the education and entertainment of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Lapham’s Quarterly: Spring 2015 Swindle & Fraud

Comic Book Review: Parallel Man: Invasion America

Comic Book Review: Parallel Man: Invasion America Written by Jeffrey Morris & Fredrick Haugen, Art by Christopher Jones During World War Two on an alternate Earth, the United States did not develop the atomic bomb.  Instead, they developed the ability to travel to parallel timestreams, which they first used to win the war.   Fair… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Parallel Man: Invasion America

Book Review: Analog 1.

Book Review: Analog 1 edited by John W. Campbell Astounding Science Fiction was one of the most influential science fiction magazines from the 1930s to the 1950s.   But long-time editor John W. Campbell had felt for years that the title did not reflect the more mature, “hard” science fiction he preferred to run.  So… Continue reading Book Review: Analog 1.

Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson One hundred years ago this month, May 7, 1915, the Cunard Lines ocean liner Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine, the U-20, killing over a thousand crew and passengers (and three German stowaways whose true identities were never determined.)  123 of… Continue reading Book Review: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott: Volume 1

Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott: Volume 1 written by Sheldon Stark, art by Jerry Robinson It is the very near future, and science is advancing rapidly.  Sometimes it’s misused and disaster looms; then the U.S. government calls upon the Office of Scientifact and its top agent, Jet Scott.  Scott travels the world battling criminals and… Continue reading Comic Strip Review: Jet Scott: Volume 1

Book Review: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Book Review: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner Economics can be a deadly dull subject, at least when dominated by stuffed shirts talking about trade deficits, returns on annuities or fiat currency.  But the basics of economic theory can be used to learn… Continue reading Book Review: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Book Review: The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair

Book Review: The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair by Barbara & Robert Tinker with Pendred Noyce, illustrated by Yu-Yu Chin Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Once again the Galactic Academy of Science must reach out to kids from the 21st Century to… Continue reading Book Review: The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair

Book Review: Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year

Book Review: Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year by Tavis Smiley with David Ritz Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.  My copy was an advanced reading copy, and the final product (due out September 2014)… Continue reading Book Review: Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Year

Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind

Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind edited by Franklin Foer Disclaimer:  I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it.  The copy I read was an uncorrected proof, and changes will be made in the final edition.  (Specifically, a second introduction by Leon Wieseltier–an index may also be forthcoming.)… Continue reading Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind

TV Review: The Man Behind the Badge

TV Review: The Man Behind the Badge It’s back to the big box set of old TV shows with this anthology series that ran 1953-55, with Charles Bickford as the host.  This one is interesting because it didn’t concentrate on one law enforcement agency or type of crime, instead featuring public servants of all kinds.… Continue reading TV Review: The Man Behind the Badge