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jroberts3456's reviews
434 reviews
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
3.0
Vance can write, and he writes well and knowledgeably on his subject. While the memoir does offer insight into the heart of middle America, seeing it from a limited perspective only barely lifts the veil on the concerns of the population there. Still, a good place to start for anyone looking to understand more of an oft overlooked segment of society.
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
4.0
It takes some time to get into, but the payoff is experiencing another Eugenides novel. Never as fantastic as Middlesex or Virgin Suicides, Marriage Plot still manages to weave a solid anti-romance that pays off, for the most part. At times it gets a bit too full of itself and it's hard to reconcile reading yet another story about Ivy League love, but Eugenides has a knack for turning the mundane into poetry.
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery by Sam Kean
5.0
Kean's best, most fascinating book so far.
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
4.0
Kean's knack for creating story out of scientific history is a kind of alchemy. This is a great read for laymen who are fascinated by the ideas of chemistry but who don't care about the process. Kean makes science accessible.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
5.0
Far and away the best book of the 21st century so far. Diaz has the soul of a poet and the eye of an artist. A masterpiece of modern fiction.