I want to feature three new items from my library each week. I'm hoping to mix it up into a really strange combination of things each time. Now, these can't technically be called "reviews" as I haven't read any of these items. They just sound really cool.
Next we have Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks. Now, I've only read bits and pieces of Sacks' books; his most famous arguably being Musicophilia and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat. Sacks is a neurologist and his books are always about strange neurological disorders written with a literary style. Sacks is also a mad scientist of sorts who is not above self experimentation in order to do research.
His newest, Hallucinations, is about people seeing, hearing, and smelling things that are not there. Crazy people, sane people, people who seek visions via substances, etc. Sacks dabbled in these experiences himself in the 1960s and has this to say as way of an introduction:
Finally, we have Insane City by Dave Barry. Why a novel by Dave Barry? Um because he is "one of the funniest writers alive." So sayeth another funny author, Carl Hiaasen. But really. If you've ever read his news articles or any of his books, fiction or otherwise, you already know this. There will be at least two instances of snort-inducing laughter per book. I think that should be a guarantee that Barry puts on the cover of his books: "Guaranteed to make you snort with laughter at least twice or your money back!" Seriously Dave Barry, get on that.
At any rate, Barry's third novel stars average Joe Seth who is getting ready to marry the rich, gorgeous and successful Tina. Seth just has to show up and say "I do" but since this is a Barry novel, there are lots of other plots and hijinks that make this less than simple. Filled with an assortment of wacky characters, Insane CIty has been described as part Hangover plus part Miami Vice. Again, I have not had the pleasure of reading this yet, but I can only assume that since it is Dave Barry, it will be hilarious.
Here is a random quote about a cake:
There you go. Three completely unrelated, yet awesome books that you should probably go read. Happy Friday!!!!
Today's Three Things:
First up, Badass Ultimate Deathmatch by Ben Thompson. This book looks AWESOME!!!! I just checked it out and have only finished the first few entries. Basically, if you like epic battles and badassery, this book is for you. Here is a fun exerpt:
"The Battle of Thymbra is the terrible true story of how a devastating one-two dickpunch of face-eviscerating scythed war chariots and hilariously pissed-off camels helped the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great forge the biggest and most powerful empire in the ancient world."And it continues on in that fashion describing crazy epic battles for the entire book. Awesome. Thompson has also written two other works of badassery: Badass and Badass: The Birth of a Legend. Also, his author photo is him punching a giant great white in the face so that's pretty badass too.
Next we have Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks. Now, I've only read bits and pieces of Sacks' books; his most famous arguably being Musicophilia and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat. Sacks is a neurologist and his books are always about strange neurological disorders written with a literary style. Sacks is also a mad scientist of sorts who is not above self experimentation in order to do research.
His newest, Hallucinations, is about people seeing, hearing, and smelling things that are not there. Crazy people, sane people, people who seek visions via substances, etc. Sacks dabbled in these experiences himself in the 1960s and has this to say as way of an introduction:
"Many people experiment with drugs, hallucinogenic and otherwise, in their teenage or college years. I did not try them myself until I was thirty and a neurology resident. This long virginity was not due to lack of interest."I would not be able to read what basically amounts to a medical text written by anyone else but Sacks. His books are filled with bizarre and varied accounts about many quirks of the human neurological system. I can't wait to read it.
Finally, we have Insane City by Dave Barry. Why a novel by Dave Barry? Um because he is "one of the funniest writers alive." So sayeth another funny author, Carl Hiaasen. But really. If you've ever read his news articles or any of his books, fiction or otherwise, you already know this. There will be at least two instances of snort-inducing laughter per book. I think that should be a guarantee that Barry puts on the cover of his books: "Guaranteed to make you snort with laughter at least twice or your money back!" Seriously Dave Barry, get on that.
At any rate, Barry's third novel stars average Joe Seth who is getting ready to marry the rich, gorgeous and successful Tina. Seth just has to show up and say "I do" but since this is a Barry novel, there are lots of other plots and hijinks that make this less than simple. Filled with an assortment of wacky characters, Insane CIty has been described as part Hangover plus part Miami Vice. Again, I have not had the pleasure of reading this yet, but I can only assume that since it is Dave Barry, it will be hilarious.
Here is a random quote about a cake:
"The food came in courses, each more delicious than the last. FInally, when everyone was stuffed, it was time for the serving of the Groom's Cake. The Groom's Cake is allegedly an old Southern wedding tradition that nobody ever heard of until about five years ago when the wedding industry, always on the lookout for ways to make weddings more expensive, started hyping it. The idea is to have a special cake just for the groom, reflecting some special thing about him. Tina had commissioned a high-end New York cake designer to produce a cake shaped like a football, sporting the logo of the New York Giants and and amazingly lifelike portrait, in frosting, of Eli Manning."In addition to this, uh, wonderful Groom's Cake, Seth's parents accidentally leave out a container of special brownies at the rehearsal dinner. So that's gotta be great.
There you go. Three completely unrelated, yet awesome books that you should probably go read. Happy Friday!!!!
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