The Real Stars: In Today's America, Who Are the True Heroes? by Ben Stein

Thoroughly enjoyable. Quick, thought-provoking read

Published by New Beginnings Press in 2007

The Real Stars: In Today's America, Who Are the True Heroes? is inspired by Stein's "Nick and Jessica" column - a column that was copied and pasted and forwarded to millions of e-mails across the world. Stein has collected a series of columns from the years 1978-2006, mostly from the 1998-2005. Topics range from Elvis and the celebrity culture to Richard Nixon to current foreign policy to the widows and orphans of fallen soldiers to the deaths of his parents.

Ben Stein

Often profound and usually very funny, Stein usually has a gentle wit and tries to put a gentle spin on things. But, 2 or 3 of these essays demonstrate that Stein can be cutting (however, his cutting observations are correct) and those are all of the more powerful since they stand out from the norm.

Although this is a relatively short book, Stein's essays about his parents are worth the price of the book all by themselves. If his comments about his father ("My Father's Estate") don't bring a tear to your eye your soul is in serious trouble.

Ben Stein - a Hollywood insider, a political insider and, more importantly, a guy that does get it - he understands what's really important in this life.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here:
The Real Stars: In Today's America, Who Are the True Heroes?

Reviewed on September 27, 2007.

A People's Army (kindle) by T.C. McCarthy

Published in 2012 by Orbit

This short story (Amazon's Kindle Store estimates its length to be about 32 print pages) is the tale of a North Korean tank commander named Choi Chung Ho in a future war against the Americans on a frozen planet. The North Koreans and the Chinese combined forces are taking a beating from an advancing formation of American tanks. There are four people in Choi Chung Ho's damaged tank and two are rookies. His under-gunned, practically crippled tank is the only thing that can prevent the American forces from completely sweeping the field.

Kim Il Sung (1912-1994)

The story of how Choi Chung Ho repairs his tank and goes back into the fight is interesting enough, but McCarthy spices things up by throwing in little tidbits like having the North Koreans cloning Kim Il Sung (the original member of the Kim family to rule North Korea) over and over again to lead North Korea. Kim Il Sung #58 is in charge now. It seems a little crazy at first, but then again, maybe not. North Korea is more than a little odd and they still refer to him as the "Eternal Leader" and his son has been given several posthumous jobs (yes, he still gets work, even though he is quite dead).

T.C. McCarthy

A frequent theme of the story is the ubiquitous presence of the North Korean propaganda machine and how the experienced soldiers just aren't buying it any more. This is not just a North Korean issue - in all wars the propaganda just loses most of its meaning when the bullets are flying and your friends are dying. It is interesting to watch the changes in one of the newbies as the story moves along.

I was also struck by the parallels to the Korean War. One of the most famous battles is the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the "Frozen Chosin" we have the position reversed - overwhelmed American forces barely escape an onslaught of Chinese and North Korean troops.

With top rate action and plenty to think on as you read, A People's Army is a great one sitting short story.

I rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

You can find this short story on Amazon.com here: A People's Army

Reviewed on June 21, 2012.

A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Davis Hanson

Published by Random House Trade Paperbacks in September of 2006.

A War Like No Other is classical historian Victor Davis Hanson's offering on the Peloponnesian War - the 27 year struggle between the Delian League (Athens and its allies) and the Peloponnesian League (Sparta and its allies) that ran on and off again from 431 to 404 B.C.

Hanson's book is perhaps also a "book like no other" if I may borrow a phrase. Despite the prominently placed quote for the New York Times on the front cover proclaiming that it is a contemporary retelling of the war, this is not a narrative history of the war. Rather, it does exactly what the subtitle promises - it tells the reader HOW the war was fought. It analyzes the techniques, the weapons, the strategies and the tactics but it is not a history per se. The book vaguely follows the course of the war, but often shifts backwards and forwards through the decades of the war and even before and after the war.

Victor Davis Hanson

Giving this one a rating is tricky. It is well-researched and well-written. Hanson does a tremendous job of linking the events of the past with more current events, such as World War II, the Cold War and terrorism. In a way, you could say that the quote (and title of the book) from the ancient historian Thucydides was really not true, this war was not a war like no other, instead at least parts of it are like every war that followed since.

While well-written, I think that Hanson's decision to break the book up into thematic units ("Fire", "Disease", "Terror", "Armor", etc.) made the book less strong than if it had been told in more of a narrative manner. Hanson provided tons of endnotes to document his work which is a strength and indicative of the quality of work that Hanson creates, it was also quite annoying. Not the notes themselves, but the fact that they were endnotes with commentary requiring the reader to constantly flip back and forth to the end of the book and to keep two sets of bookmarks- one for the text and one for the endnotes. If a writer plans to write additional commentary in his or her notes common decency would suggest that footnotes are better for the reader. The continuity and flow of the main text is not broken by constant flipping to the back of the book. Shelby Foote did this to great effect in his gigantic 3 volume Civil War series. Tom Holland uses both in his book "Rubicon" - notes at the end, additional commentary at the bottom of the text.

As a history teacher, I found immediate uses for portions of the book in my classroom. I read to my class from Hanson's description of life on the Greek naval vessels and was able to use his information to give a brief description of the war and the experience of the soldier. I do recommend this book for serious world history teachers and any aficionados of classical ancient history.

I rate this history 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: A War Like No Other.

Reviewed on October 6, 2007.

Killer Smile (Rosato and Associates #9) by Lisa Scottoline

Mary DiNunzio is back for more.

Published in 2004 by HarperCollins 

I have a soft spot for Lisa Scottoline. Many years ago I was working in a used book store when I ran across her first book, Everywhere that Mary Went and I loved it. We had two copies of that book and we must have re-sold them a dozen times after I started recommending them to people who asked for someone new to read. Pretty soon, Lisa Scottoline was one of our hottest items - we even special-ordered in some new copies! I like to think that I had a very, very small part in her success, even though the used book store is now defunct.

Killer Smile continues on with several familiar themes in Scottoline's books. Once again Bennie Rosato's all female (with the exception of an office manager) law firm swings into action in a case involving the Italian neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Mary DiNunzio, Scottoline's original character is back with a pro bono case based in history. Some Italians were sent to internment camps during World War II (much like the Japanese camps but not nearly as numerous) and this is at least the second book in the series that focuses on this sad fact of American history.

Lisa Scottoline

DiNunzio is investigating the mysterious death of a prisoner in an Italian internment camp, despite the 60+ year time lag. And, it turns out that some people do not want this old case solved and are willing to use violence to keep Mary away.

This is a fun, quick read - great escapist reading.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book is available at Amazon.com here: Killer Smile.

Reviewed on October 6, 2007.

Superman/Batman Vol. 1: Public Enemies (graphic novel) by Jeph Loeb

A review by an infrequent reader of comics

Published in 2005 by Titan Graphic Novels.
Originally published in 2004 by D.C. Comics

First things first.

If you are a writer, Superman can be limiting as a character. He can't be hurt (technically, I know he can but who has Kryptonite sitting around?), he has the tools to deal with any situation. He has a healthy psyche. Good guy to have on your side but not particularly interesting. 

Batman, on the other hand, he oozes character exploration opportunities.

Surprisingly, Loeb and company have made Superman very interesting, by looking at him through the prism of Batman, and also by seeing Batman through Superman's eyes. Their chosen format of having dueling interior thought lines from Batman and Superman offer the reader an interesting opportunity to see these tried and true characters anew.

This was a fun plotline - an interesting and entertaining read. The choice to use the Adam West TV show Batmobile was great, since it was by far the coolest of the bunch. There are lots of inside jokes, such as having lines lifted from the various TV shows and movies that have featured Batman and Superman.

Highly recommended.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman/Batman Volume 1: Public Enemies

Reviewed on October 6, 2007

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland

Published in 2005 by Anchor

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic is a well-written fact-filled narrative interpretation of the end of the Roman Republic. Interpretation? Of course - all history books are the author's interpretation. Holland has his biases, but it does not distract from the power of the book. With the exception of a slow bit in the middle, this is an entertaining read and worthy to sit on the shelf next to other histories of Rome.

I wholeheartedly recommend this one for enthusiasts (his spin on things should pique your interest) and also for newcomers to Roman history. It is a fine springboard for further study.

Tom Holland

That being said, I do have a little bone to pick with the author, on a topic that has little bearing on the text as a whole. On p. 21 (paperback) Holland claims that the Circus Maximus, the chariot racetrack, was the largest sports arena in the world (200,000 spectators) and it still holds that title today. That is an oft-repeated by British authors and documentaries. As an Indianapolis resident I must correct this - the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has permanent seats for more more than 250,000 and more than 400,000 have been known to cram in to the track in May to watch the Indy 500. Around 300,000 come to the Brickyard 400 as well.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic.

Reviewed on October 22, 2007.

A Scanner Darkly [Graphic Novel] by Philip K. Dick

I was expecting more

 Published in 2006 by Pantheon

I may be living in a box because I had not heard of this book or the movie before I found the graphic novel. When I saw it was based on a Philip K. Dick book I was hopeful - after all, he is the author of such thought-inducing works as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (A.K.A. Blade Runner) and he is the inspiration for The Minority Report and Total Recall (Not that Total Recall is as deep as the other two, but there are some themes that the three share, including a caste system based on birth, be you an android, a mutant or someone who can see the future).

What I hoped would be a thoughtful commentary on the "War on Drugs" and/or the damage that drugs do to the user turned into a rambling work of several episodes in the lives of some druggie pals and the undercover narc officer who has caught himself in the web of addiction. Sometimes funny, usually odd, this book just never lived up to the other Philip K. Dick works mentioned above. It never gelled, it never reached that critical mass where it started to make commentary on the folly of drug use, or the folly of empowering our government to go after users, etc.

Much like its characters, this book never really got off the couch and did anything, despite a series of fits and starts in which I thought that it might finally be going somewhere.

I rate this graphic novel 2 stars out of 5. This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: A Scanner Darkly (graphic novel).

Reviewed on December 13, 2006.