A so-so biography with little character insight. It could have been written by some daily newspaper journalist. Hopefully there is something better out there on Baker than this.

A page turner cut right out of the TC Boyle Oeuvre. Normally I am not a fan of such quick reads, but the Doppelgänger routines in this one just had me hooked. This one is worthy in print, and probably would also make a fantastic film.

An interesting read, but like most business autobiographies, it fell flat and then I lost my trust in the not so factual narrative.

A great social criticism of the America that is, and not of the American dream. This book has all the classic Boyle elements: Doppelgänger, hatred, compassion, and characters who rise above it all to assume mythical proportions. Perhaps the ending was a bit overboard and heavy handed, but otherwise a true pleasure to read.

Gore is not an author (with a slightly better command of language than the guy who edged him out of the white house). What does make the difference is that he is intelligent in other areas, and this powerpoint to book to film is powerful in its own charming, eclectic way.

The book is another genre piece by T.C. Boyle with a biting sarcasm directed at the health craze stir created by Dr. Kellogg at the turn of the century. It is an interesting character study of the egomaniac personality, as well as an all too up-to-date profile of the modern fitness and health craze (except for the fact that its subject is 100 years older).

Cormac McCarthy displays a talent for language and storytelling that is unique and worthy of a re-read. Like Joe Christmas in Faulkner's Light in August, John Grady Cole is pulled by forces greater than himself through the novel. There are similarities to Faulkner, and there are differences. I think it is better to drop the comparisons and to enjoy the work for what it is: truly magnificent.

Based on a true story, McCarthy writes a history and myth at the same time. It is nearly like a polar opposite reading of Candide by Voltaire. Nothing saves you from the evil that lurks in man, and McCarthy manages yet to hold his reader by the intellect and by the story which is too macabre to be true. Read this book.

This is a harsh telling without a happy end. It is appropriate that this is filmed. In many aspects this did not feel like genuine McCarthy. In fact, this work seems almost too easy for him to have penned. Still, I am awestruck at his dialog. Best in writing that I know.

This was a quick read, and not at the level I had expected. When I read Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, I felt the tremors from a large monumental work. Not so, here. Still, the language deceivingly simple while you have to dig for the themes.

This work is on the level of complexity with Joyce's Ulyssees. It's a staccatto of vignettes, with some abrupt turns of course in between. The hallucinations near the end are of a manageable length, which helped me to enjoy them more than Joyce. A fine, albeit very complex book.