the Author, a longtime figure on the extremely conservative cable "news" network Fox News discusses the success of his new late night comedy program on the channel & how it came to be via a series of vignettes of his own life (experiences from past jobs & the like) and what he views as a series of political/social platform "flips" that have recently happened culturally, all with a little bit of his humor sprinkled in.

To be short, I vehemently disagree with him on most political matters (which I won't go much into here, as it's not the place), which is a bit of a shame as there's a moment or two where I think he does have the capability to be funny. I actually largely enjoyed the parts of the book that focused on his upbringing or antics he got into in previous jobs (he was an editor at various mens/lad mags, such as Stuff & Maxim UK, before joining Fox in the mid-late 00's). That fun just largely goes away when he gets political.

If I'm being a bit honest I don't think either story was written all that engagingly (maybe a combination of Translation hangups and/or older writing conventions?). For example, a few times the author forgoes painting a picture with his words and breaks the fourth wall to get his point across ("I'm sure some of you readers remember the panic that ensued when the evacuation sirens went off during the war, it was like that.". Not an exact quote, but it was something like that). That said they also had their moments and if nothing else were interesting reads for curiosity's sake.

That, and the last 30 pages or so was an Afterward written by the translator that kind of gave a brief history of the Author, the films' creation, and the experiences the Japanese people were going through at the time that made the films resonate, which was really interesting.

A personal account of the author reflecting back on (roughly) the time between autumn 2014 - to autumn 2015 as he tried balancing his then duties as Vice President with his family's struggle with his son Beau's struggle with cancer.

As somewhat of a decision maker in US foreign policy in the Obama administration, his insights into topics such as the rise of ISIL/S & the fallout surrounding Russia's annexation of Crimea are often engaging, sometimes very much so (especially since the latter is still relevant background info in the current Russia/Ukraine war), but at heart it's a story of family, and that's where the book was at it's most gripping. No matter whether I agree with the man or not on this or that issue notwithstanding, it's abundantly clear he's a man who absolutely loves his family, adores his children, and the book often brought me to tears as he brought us into the most intimate moments as they were struggling with his son's cancer battle.

Absolutely fantastic read.

I really liked the first several chapters detailing the history & work of the (Supreme) Court, which were filled with little anecdotes about the author's own experience working there. The chapters on the Constitution felt little more than a recap of what we learned in High School Civics class (just a necessity to get to explain the last section of the book), with the last set of chapters explaining the different schools of thought when it comes to how courts interpret laws & the Constitution (the Author's biases were, admittedly, more prevalent in these chapters).

Overall it could be a bit dry considering the topics at hand, but it had it's fair share of interesting tid bits and anecdotes, and since it focuses (mostly) on why the court does this or that as a matter of fact rather than focusing the author's own opinions/biases, I would say it's a worthwhile read even if you don't sit on the same political affiliation you'd assume the author herself does.

darrenhupke wrote:

I recently got From Ants to Zombies, a retro gaming book about the history of horror video games.

I've been interested in getting into those Bitmap Books releases. I'm a bit worried they are too heavy on the "visual" picture aspect and too light on the information? What do you think?

Hip Hop Family Tree Onmibus

Love that collection! What a tragic end for the author though.

Just finished 'In the Heart of Kunoichi Hibiki'. Anti-climatic ending...

Ijiwanaide, Nagatoro-San - started off great but since the main character finished high school, it has dropoed in quality, IMO.

I also am burning through Fist of the North Star. I just finished Vol 7. I’ve got 8-10 staring at me along with a mountain of other comics.

Monica
Hip Hop Family Tree Onmibus
The Scumbag
The Complete Irredeemable, Incorruptible and Insufferable

…and way too much more to list.