Title: Hood

Author: Stephen R. Lawhead

Rating: Four Balls

When my buddy first handed me this book and told me it was a revision of the Robin Hood story I was very skeptical.  How many times can they redo this story. 

I read it begrudgingly; expecting it to suck, but I was surprised.  Lawhead is a pretty good story teller and changes some key points.  It is moved from the English country side to Wales and he actually makes it all more believable. 

All in all it is a good read that gave me a break from my normal, pretentious literary choices. 

It is the first in a trilogy, so I will check out the rest.

Title: Ironweed

Author: William J. Kennedy

Rating: Four Balls

Okay, I think I have been living in a box or something.  I had never heard of this book until about a week ago when a guy at work gave it to me.  The gift was two fold: first, I am finally working with people who read good books and not just People magazine.  Second, this book was really good.

It is set in the late 1930’s about a man who ran away from the law and leaving his family after killing a man during a strike.  It is about his coming back to his hometown some twenty years later amid a strange schizophrenic back drop of him seeing past people he adversely affected (mostly by killing) along the way. 

It paints a bleak picture of those times and the things a man had to do to survive. 

And to boot, I just found out, through a google search, that it was made into a movie in 1987, staring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.  It even had a small part played by Tom Waits. 

So now I read a good book, and I have a movie to look for.…

Title: Gloriously debaucherous

Author: Charles Bukowski

Rating: Four Balls

A lot of people have heard of Bukowski, but may not realize his style.  Sex, Drinking and the difficulties of a lazy, ugly guy to accomplish those two things and find steady work.  His books are always entertaining and an easy read. 

Title: What is the What

Author: Dave Eggers

Rating: 4 balls

The latest in Dave Eggers fiction (the first was And You Shall Know Our Velocity).

An incredible book that he eludes to in the beginning being based on a true story related to him by an African refuge. 

The story weaves a tale of a young boy who narrowly escapes death in his village, first by a guerrilla group and then the government counter attack.  He is alone and attempting to make it to a refuge camp while trying to avoid being killed or made to join a child army. 
It jumps back forth to his adventures on the run, his time in the camp, and also his life in America after gaining the opportunity to start anew here.

I can not recommend Dave Eggers enough.  He is one of the few writers that if he shit on a piece of paper and called it a novel, I would go out and buy it.

Title: A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius

Author: Dave Eggers

Rating: Five Balls

Chad handed me this book out of the blue in 2001.  I read it and instantly loved it.  It is a true-esque version of Eggers after both of his parents died of cancer and he took on the task of raising his 13 year old brother while trying to start a magazine in San Francisco. 

It is hilarious and Eggers has a unique writing style. 

A must read for everyone.