Reviews and Comments

A very entertaining read. I expected more talk of revolution, but instead got vivid descriptions of the scenes and people Ernesto and his friend Alberto, as they made their way from Buenos Aires to Chile and up the west coast of South America and on to Caracas, encountered on their trek. Still, there were seeds planted on that trip and comments of the injustices he saw.

I don't know if the tenor of the text was due to the translation or from his original writing, but it was a great story told in a casual, almost modern day tone. Very contemporary. Highly recommended.

Quite the study of the psyche of the Outsider in our society. The author delves into some of the major characters of modern literature, as well as the temperaments of various artists. I confess that I didn't always grasp what he was trying to communicate (and I hadn't read all of the works he referenced), but I learned a lot nonetheless.

The author looks for traces of the young Ho Chi Minh in Paris, where he'd spent much of his twenties. But the past of the eventual leader of Vietnamese communism seemed largely invisible. Still, the author makes the search interesting. A short read.

This book is chock full of info about winemaking processes, regional laws and classifications, wine tasting and serving etiquette. It also contains a large section detailing the prominent grapes and types of wine grown in each winemaking country. Very recommended.

The only negative from my perspective is that editing could have improved the readability of the text somewhat.

An excellent book. Thought-provoking, and written in a style that's serious and direct and yet, accessible. While it was published forty years ago, I feel like all the issues she discusses are still with us. Hence it's continued pertinence.

Seems like a fascinating topic, and very relevant for our times.

Seems like an important read on my journey of self-discovery.

Heck yes. Right up my alley.

A 600+ page tour de force of historical fiction. A real education on the lives of immigrants from all over Asia and beyond during the tumultuous period of 1968-1977. Each year features a new cast, but they all revolve around the I Hotel in SF’s Chinatown. Wisened old timers mix with idealistic and determined twenty somethings, on a quest to protect what’s theirs in a land where the cards are stacked against them. Really engaging. An important read.

A quick, short read. Mostly transcripts of conversations, plus a few short essays. The conversation with Dan Ellsberg and Ed Snowdon was pretty riveting. Thumbs up.