Reader’s Diary

Daniel Suarez

This is the conclusion to the story begun in “Daemon” and shares most of that book’s virtues.  It’s a little less grounded in present-day reality than its predecessor and is more of a quest with comic book enemies than “Daemon” was.  The most interesting parts were the sections set in the self-sufficient communities built by the Darknet followers and attempts by the forces of corporate oppression to destroy them.  This book is hard to put down, but less though-provoking than “Daemon”.

Richard Polsky

This memoir is an amusing series of anecdotes about the art business of the 80′s loosely organized around the author’s quest for a Warhol painting that he could afford.  I’m not a Warhol fan and not fond of modern art, but I enjoyed Polsky’s stories, many of which left me wondering how some of of these dealers manage to stay in business.  It’s about buying, selling, dealing, partying, and posturing.

David K. Leff

This retracing of Thoreau’s 1839 boat trip sounded promising, but I really didn’t enjoy it.  If my copy had been a library book I would have returned it unfinished, but since I had received it as a gift (at my own request) I felt obligated to finish it.  By the second chapter I was already sick of Leff’s monotonous repetition of the phrase “deep travel”, not to mention the wooden – and, I suspect, made up – dialog he stuck in the mouths of his traveling companions, who must have been terribly embarrassed by the way he portrayed them.