By tom | September 2, 2006
The misery continues. After my last post on despair – on the withdrawal from reading life, or the duplicity that is Amazon’s recommendations – I embarked on Robert Fisk’s monumental The war on Civilisation, its 1283 pages traversing the life of Bill Fisk and the modern Middle East that was bequeathed to us by his [...]
Also posted in bookology |
For two successive days this weekend, I wandered around Kinokuniya determined and a little anxious to make a purchase; not just any purchase, of course, but a “something” that will restore some semblance of balance between the forces of light and darkness, wisdom and ignorance. A tall order, and no doubt a reflection of recent [...]
Philosophical Myths of the Fall, by Stephen Mulhall, is my 15th purchase of 2006. It is a fine book, and follows his earlier effort On Film. Stephen taught at Essex’s Philosophy department during my time in the mid-1990s; he lectured in an always clear and exhilirating manner, free from the ego-dramatics that consumed Mark [...]
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I must tell you all about the new kid on the block, Books2Anywhere.com (www.books2anywhere.com). Their website is basic, without screaming graphics or user ratings; you can’t read excerpts and individual book information (publishers, etc) is non-existent. Oh, and they “only” sell books.
But their pricing is very competitive and they don’t over-charge on shipping either, unlike [...]
There is usually little reward to accompany the swelling of one’s throat; perhaps a hidden blessing, the littlest joy, is the lowering of expectations, in not being expected to speak; or, conversely, in the discretionary powers of being able to forestall conversation. Such soreness eventually requires a visit to the doctor’s, however much [...]
Also posted in Singapore |
By tom | February 1, 2006
Blake and I were first brought together by a shared fondness for books. He was joint-owner of the now-defunct “Blake’s Books”, an online store specialising in used scholarly books. What is startling is that our relationship has lasted the best part of 9 years, and survived (on my part) several job changes, shifts in learning [...]
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By tom | January 25, 2006
Malefactor, at .40 nap, lamented the disturbance of silence; it set off a chain of thought that lead to this post.
Nothing exceptionally special happens on the Friday before Christmas, be it in 2005 or 1005. This past Christmas was no different. I was at the only bookshop in Singapore – Border’s doesn’t count – [...]
By tom | January 18, 2006
Seldom one to read “travel books” – I’d rather just go – Peter Moore’s Swahili for the broken-hearted came as a surprise. Together with Annie Caulfield’s Show me the magic: travels round Benin by taxi, these two were my first foray in to this genre. Sadly, the diagnosis is not good: strictly toilet reading.
[...]
By tom | December 29, 2005
I wonder what goes on in the mind of a publisher when sizing up evaluating a book proposal. Wit? Market segmentation? TV appeal? Jerry Springer potential? Pitch to the pained population?
Riquette Hofstein’s Grow Hair Fast: 7 Steps to a New Head of Hair in 90 Days begins in dramatic fashion with cinematographic intent:
In the summer [...]
By tom | December 28, 2005
So many books is Gabriel Zaid’s macro-history of the book. What it lacks in fluidity, it compensates with ample anecdotal antibiotics to cure curiousity of Biblical proportions. It prompted me to dash to the care of dusty tomes, and assuage a “to be read” shelf which at time of writing includes two Eco novels, the [...]
