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Tag Archives: reviews
Rule #1: if critics love it, it sucks.
WE HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT LIKE SCARFACE AND GOODFELLAS, but when it comes to pure shmaltz, American Gangster takes the cake. The “true” story chronicles Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington). a heroin dealer who adopts the financial wizardry … Continue reading
Motherless Brooklyn
Here’s the thing: you are Jonathan Lethem, bookish writer, raised by bohemian parents in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn, as a kid read a lot — books, magazines, the newspaper — graduated high school and went to college. Now, … Continue reading
Best book about 9/11
THOUGH EVERY TV SET IN THE WORLD WAS TUNED TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ON SEPT 11, those trapped in the North Tower had no idea that the South Tower had collapsed. And we who watched from our rooftops (see … Continue reading
Posted in Books/Films/Media, The City
Tagged Jim Dwyer, Kevin Flynn, non-fiction, reviews
376 Comments
Why not just stab us?
Before we picked it up, Atonement fit all our don’t-read-this-suck-ass-thing criteria: a) it is a Big Important Book b) it is a bestseller and c) it came highly recommended by a lot of people. Think The Kite Runner. And for … Continue reading
Raymond Chandler: flawed master.
Pick-up on Noon Street, by Raymond Chandler. Chandler is about style. Fashion, interiors, language–spare, readable, cynical language. The language of people wounded by life, clinging to particles of self-respect. Those are Chandler’s strengths. Plot is not his strength. After reading … Continue reading
The Worst Book Ever
Dear Mr. Coelho: Here at Recharger The Dog, we have a rule: never read a bestseller recommended by more than one person. Ignoring our own advice, we started The Alchemist with trepidation. It began with a cliché that we’ve come … Continue reading
Island at the Center of the World: by Russell Shorto
Dear Mr. Shorto: Trademark your name; I will drink any chocolate milk called Shorto. As for your enlightening, lugubrious history of New Amsterdam—Manhattan–I was disturbed for the following reasons: It gave me a creepy case of the academics. I did … Continue reading
How To Lose Friends and Alienate People
Dear Mr. Young, I too was a New York loser-journalist guiltily-smitten with celebrity, though I worked at the Village Voice, and my celebrities were not as Brad Pittish as yours. The Voice is not Vanity Fair, but the high-school cliques … Continue reading
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
To: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, authors, Freakonomics. Dear Steven and Stephen, Having read Malcolm Gladwell’s rave, having understood and loved the book’s premise—that hidden statistics we don’t want to look at tell the real story—we expected a … Continue reading
Posted in Books/Films/Media
Tagged freakonomics, non-fiction, reviews, Stephen J. Dubner, Steven D. Levitt
421 Comments
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning
Son of Sam. The Blackout Reggie’s 3 for 3 Bella, Mario, Ed, Abe Arguably the freakiest summer in New York history. Yet…the book is oddly, frustratingly flat.
Posted in Books/Films/Media, The City
Tagged Jonathan Mahler, non-fiction, reviews, the Bronx
457 Comments