Book Review: The Night of the Gun by David Carr

The Night of the Gun by David Carr

Published by Simon & Schuster

Rating: 4 stars


This book is David Carr's very unique memoir about his battle with drug addiction and subsequent recovery. A reporter by profession, he decided to return to his hometown and interview friends, family and ex-girlfriends about their experiences with him. This, as Carr explains, is to fill in the gaps between where his memory fails him and to try to remain as true to reality as possible. Readers learn about the ups and downs of his past including multiple arrests, the birth of his twin daughters, and his battle with cancer.

The premise of this book intrigued me and I was really interested to see how the people in David Carr's life recounted past events and especially their feelings towards him and those experiences. The result is an interesting mix of different stories and events that colored Carr's life and shaped him into the person he is today.

My only problem with the different chapters lies in their lack of cohesion. Some of the chapters seemed out of place and left me feeling a little confused as to their purpose in the book. What I did really enjoy however, was how concise they were and their inclusion of photographs and other documents that helped paint the complete picture of what was being described. Some memoirs tend to include far too many details but this one kept things fresh and engaging, always leaving me wanting to read on.

What makes this story so amazing is that I kept forgetting I was reading a memoir because some of the events are so unbelievable and shocking. What's even more amazing though is how David Carr actually lived through all of those events and I have to admire how he was able to turn his life around. This memoir shows many different facets of Carr's life and it was interesting to see how people can come out of the same experience with such different memories and viewpoints.




I requested this book from MiniBookExpo – BIG THANKS to Lex and Simon & Schuster Canada!

Book Review: The Impostor by Damon Galgut

I requested this book from MiniBookExpo – BIG THANKS to Lex and Random House Canada!

“The Impostor” by Damon Galgut

Published by McClelland & Stewart, an affiliate of Random House of Canada

Rating: 4 stars

“The Impostor” is the story of Adam Napier, a lost soul who was recently fired and forced to leave his house. He takes residence in a country house that his brother purchased years earlier but has since been vacant. He seeks to reconnect with his inner poet, and spends much of his time alone in the quiet community in a rural part of South Africa. After a chance encounter with a childhood acquaintance named Canning, Adam’s quiet existence begins to take on new meaning. It does not take long however, for Adam’s involvement with Canning and his wife Baby, to become complicated and dangerous.

It comes as no surprise to me that Damon Galgut has received much recognition and praise for his writing, as his words and imagery were incredibly powerful throughout the novel. I felt Adam’s intense loneliness, as if it were a tangible presence, with the turn of every page. That is exactly why I have contradictory feelings about this book. On the one hand, Galgut’s writing transported me into the novel and I couldn’t help but read on to see how he would continue to convey such raw emotion. And yet, it is that same beautiful writing that left me with a gloomy feeling that was hard to shake.

It’s not that I only like books with happy endings or light material, but the bleakness of this book was striking. In that respect, saying that I enjoyed reading the book would be incorrect. Rather, I was in awe of the beauty of the writing and just how much I internalized Adam’s conflicts. I recommend this book because it is wonderfully written, even though the writing itself evokes some difficult emotions.

Book Review: Entitlement by Jonathan Bennett

I requested this book from MiniBookExpo – BIG THANKS to Lex and ECW Press!

“Entitlement” by Jonathan Bennett

Published by ECW Press

Rating: 5 stars

Andy Kronk is from a lower-class family with little chance of ever leading a privileged lifestyle until he is discovered by an elite private school for his hockey abilities. There he is quickly befriended by Colin Aspinall, who is a member of one of the wealthiest families in Canada. Andy is thrown into the lavish yet complicated life of the Aspinalls when he is taken under their wing and spends his summers living with them.

Years later, biographer Trudy Clarke is doing an expose book about the lives of the Aspinall family and is trying to her to uncover the secrets that lurk within their personal and professional lives. Andy thought he had severed his ties with the Aspinalls until Trudy comes knocking on his door and they embark upon an in-depth interview forcing him to confront the demons of his past.

That is all I choose to say about this book’s plot because I feel that revealing any more would ruin the reading experience. There are a number of twists and turns that arise and I found myself really surprised by the turn of events in this book.

After a few minutes into my reading, I completely forgot that this book was a fictional and became engrossed into the lives of the Aspinalls and the mesmerizing hold they had over Andy. I really liked that I got a glimpse into each one of the characters lives and that alternative perspectives were included because it helped give a well-rounded account of what was going on. Jonathan Bennett’s writing is so compelling and he paints such detailed pictures of his characters that I actually had to look them up just to be sure that they were merely a figment of his wonderful imagination!

This book has so many interesting facets to it and brings up meaningful issues such as greed, power, identity and sexuality in an insightful and almost poetic way.

I read this book in one sitting because I literally could not put the book down. This is one of the best books I’ve read all year and I cannot recommend it enough!!

Book Review: Click by Bill Tancer

I requested this book from Mini Book Expo – BIG THANKS to Lex and Hyperion!

“Click” by Bill Tancer

Published by Hyperion

Rating: 4 stars

“Click” follows in the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell and the “Freakonomics” duo, by analyzing modern-day trends and extracting meaning behind society’s behavior through the use of data and statistics. There a number of different topics discussed including politics, entertainment, and consumer behavior. What makes “Click” unique is that all of Tancer’s findings are based upon search engine data and all his conclusions are drawn from how Americans spend their time on the internet.

My goal in reading “Click” was to learn more about online behavior and to see a different view of the internet’s role in our society. In that respect, I can say that I’m satisfied with the book. I was introduced to some unique information and learned some interesting facts. The downside is that because Tancer covers a lot of ground, he also chooses to focus on very specific examples and doesn’t always provide enough of the bigger picture. I also didn’t feel that there was sufficient cohesion among the different chapters, which I would have liked.

What I really appreciated about the book was Tancer’s “love of data” and passion for numbers. His anecdotes about the conferences he has attended and his ability to produce data charts in no time were pretty humorous. I only wish there would have been more content on his personal experiences with his research and less on publicizing the company he works for and what they do.

Overall I enjoyed “Click” and would recommend it for anyone who is curious about how online data can teach us about our society as a whole and in some cases why it fails to lead to accurate conclusions. Bill Tancer certainly convinced me that “we are what we click”!

Book Review: Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain! by Scott Adams

I got this book from MiniBookExpo - BIG THANKS to Lex and Penguin!

“Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain” by Scott Adams

Published by Penguin Group Canada

Rating: 3.5 stars

Scott Adams is the creator of the infamous Dilbert comics, which I must admit to never having read. If anything though, not being a Dilbert groupie makes me an unbiased reviewer. The title of Scott Adam’s latest book is pretty reflective of its contents: funny, silly, self-deprecating and slightly offensive. The book contains over 150 short pieces which are not so much stories as they are random musings on human behavior, dating, sports, travel, dieting and everything in between (and some topics that I could definitely have lived without, such as Chinese striptease funerals). Adams also includes some Dilbert comic strips and provides some background explanation and commentary on them, which I found pretty interesting.

Adams is a good writer and there were quite a few times when he did make a good point or provided some interesting insight. Then I would question my opinion after reading on to a crazy comment, such as the idea of the asterisk being the most obscene letter in the English language (I wasn’t aware that it was a letter…hmmm). But to be fair Adams adds that “the asterisk protects you from seeing naked cuss words that would otherwise blind you and put you on the slippery slope to porn addiction”. Thanks for clearing that one up Mr. Adams :)

On a serious note, this book cannot nor should not be taken too seriously. It’s intended to make people laugh and so it succeeds. There were some sections I loved, others I liked, some I found offensive and others just left me dumbfounded - but for the most part, still laughing. No matter what my specific reaction was though, I think the point is that I did react. It made me think. It made me laugh. It made me blush.

It is my understanding that all of the pieces in the book originated from Adams’ blog which would explain the over all offbeat nature of the writing topics, which definitely makes it a unique read.

This book is a good one to leave on your night table and read every once in a while for a good laugh or in some cases a good scare. It’s the kind of book that can be picked up at any time and read in any order over and over again, which I probably will.

Finally I’ll leave you with Adams’ thoughts on marriage (from the back cover):

“Now I’m married, and that means I have to explain myself a lot. I can no longer leave a hot iron on my shirt just to see how long it takes to burn it, then draw more comics and buy another shirt. Suddenly that sort of thing is wrong”.

For more of Scott Adams’ humor, visit his blog