I'm just, uh, just feeling kinda... truthsome right now. And, uh... life's just too damn short for ifs and maybes.

Mal ,'Heart Of Gold'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


brenda m - Dec 13, 2006 4:44:06 am PST #1660 of 28160
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

Yeah, there was that. And he touched on social changes going on that meant there were a lot of young women flocking to the city in a way that hadn't been typical before...touched repeatedly on it, but without ever really going any further than that. (And in fact, he kind of contradicts his own point on that, because it was by and large the families of these young women who drove the investigation.)

So...eh. It's frustrating because I felt like he was almost on to something, but not quite there.

OTOH, a book about architects and Chicago history on its own wouldn't have gotten nearly the play sans serial killer, so I guess that's a plus in its own way.


sumi - Dec 13, 2006 4:52:00 am PST #1661 of 28160
Art Crawl!!!

Remember: it also included the Titanic.


Lee - Dec 13, 2006 5:39:58 am PST #1662 of 28160
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.

It's frustrating because I felt like he was almost on to something, but not quite there.

I felt this too, though I may have liked it a little more than you did. For some reason, the thing that made it more frustrating is that one of my very favorite non-fiction books ever A Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea is also a "split story", but a much more successful one, IMO.

(In case you missed it, that was a pimpage for A Ship of gold in the deep blue sea, which I think everyone everywhere should read.)


Consuela - Dec 13, 2006 5:58:03 am PST #1663 of 28160
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Lee! I didn't know anyone else ever read Ship of Gold. That's a great read, especially if, like me, you know a bit about the law around archaeology and salvage. Cool stuff.


Lee - Dec 13, 2006 6:01:46 am PST #1664 of 28160
The feeling you get when your brain finally lets your heart get in its pants.

Consuela! I should have guessed you would have read it.

I think I need to reread it soon.


brenda m - Dec 13, 2006 6:51:06 am PST #1665 of 28160
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

On a similar subject, if you have an Atlantic Montly subscription (and if anyone does, let me know...) this is a marvelous article about a the sinking of the ferry Estonia in the early 90s. [link]


erikaj - Dec 13, 2006 8:06:39 am PST #1666 of 28160
Always Anti-fascist!

So much true crime is written by people who...kinda don't write very well. I suppose that's why "A Year On The Killing Streets" was such a revelation.


flea - Dec 13, 2006 9:09:43 am PST #1667 of 28160
information libertarian

Brenda, I can email you that article. Gimme a little while as I'm typing one-handed.

)because of the BABY. you people.)


brenda m - Dec 13, 2006 9:17:45 am PST #1668 of 28160
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there

I was gonna say, it's not that good of an article.

Thank you! I read it when it came out and kept meaning to try to track it down.


Polter-Cow - Dec 14, 2006 1:06:25 pm PST #1669 of 28160
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I just got a gift certificate to a bookstore! Now it's time to give me recommendations!