Epinions Recent Reviews for cking

Left Behind: probably not the worst book in English

Tue, 28 Nov 2000 14:35:08 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author cking - Some years back, I started seeing a bumper sticker that mysteriously stated that “In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned.” Since this sticker was often accompanied by one of the Jesus fishes that started appearing in the late seventies, or even...

Sedaris Hits His Mark Again

Tue, 17 Oct 2000 18:28:26 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I was first introduced to David Sedaris five or so years ago when his hilarious “SantaLand Diaries” were broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition. In them, Sedaris tells of his depressing job as one of Santa’s elves at Macy’s one poverty-stricken Christmas. In...

The Coming Anarchy: It's No Balkan Ghosts

Fri, 18 Aug 2000 19:53:58 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author cking - Robert Kaplan is the author of Balkan Ghosts, which is an excellent and highly recommended (by me, anyway) travel book/history/journalistic treatment of the former Yugoslavia. It was published just as that nation began its bloody implosion...

Badly done book on an interesting topic

Wed, 2 Aug 2000 19:05:55 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author cking - The idea for this book is a good one: the race in Central Asia between Russia and Britain for influence and control over the region. "The Great Game," as it was called, came about when Russians and Britons vied for control over Central Asia...

Cryptonomicon: Generally well done, though rather long

Tue, 1 Aug 2000 18:03:41 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author cking - When I first read a few reviews of Cryptonomicon in places like the LA Times, I figured that I'd never read it myself. That's because the reviews began with an in-depth description of the first few pages of the book and a progressively sketchier outline...

Miller: Outstanding Slug Bait

Tue, 1 Aug 2000 16:14:55 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author cking - We live in the Pacific Northwest, which is cool and wet, and every year hoards of slimy slugs descend on our garden and make quick work of the tender and vulnerable plants we have grown from seed and entrusted to the well-prepared soil in our garden...

1939 Classic on Con Men Has Been Reprinted

Thu, 13 Apr 2000 18:54:24 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - The Big Con is an interesting look at the doings of confidence men written by David W. Maurer in the 1930's. Maurer was a linguist who became interested in the specialized patois of the con man and became close enough to some of the...

Heroin from A to ZZZZZZZ

Tue, 4 Apr 2000 19:06:13 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author cking - How to Stop Time: Heroin from A to Z is Ann Marlowe's enervated (and enervating) account of her life as a heroin user. Though a user for years, she never comes out and admits that she was actually addicted to the stuff. She tries to give us the...

Black Notice: It's getting embarrassing

Wed, 23 Feb 2000 17:41:30 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I like a good mystery novel now and then. I like the slow unfolding, the building of tension and the ever-accelerating plot. In the last two decades, the main character have changed for the better. Instead of only being white guy cops or private...

Czech Catch-22 from 1923

Tue, 25 Jan 2000 21:18:44 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - When World War I broke our, what would some day become the Czech Republic was part of the Austrian Empire. The Czechs, like any colonized people, had no taste for the imperial ambitions of the colonizing power. As Slavs, most did not wish to go to war...

PointClick: B.F. Skinner Would Be Proud of Me

Tue, 25 Jan 2000 18:54:06 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author cking - Eons ago, I took Psychology 101 as a college Freshman. This was way back when Behaviorists held sway in Psychology departments across the land. Apparently, thankfully, they have been driven off. Behaviorists believed that one did absolutely nothing in...

They take your money and then you leave

Mon, 24 Jan 2000 19:27:43 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - In 1994, Frederick and Steven Barthelme (younger brothers of the celebrated novelist Donald Barthelme, and distinguished authors in their own rights) discovered riverboat gambling casinos on the Mississippi River. They live 70 miles from the river and...

This is Ken Burns' Fault

Wed, 19 Jan 2000 21:07:00 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author cking - Though I liked the elder Shaara's novel The Killer Angels as a well-told story though not a great novel, I agree with M. Shaw Pile's assessment of the Shaara fils' Gods and Generals. Truth be told, I've seen better character development at puppet...

You are what you drink

Fri, 14 Jan 2000 22:10:25 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I really like bitter beer. Bitter everything, really. I don't go in for lattes or other foofy coffee drinks; I want straight espresso. Black coffee. Dark Chocolate. No mixed drinks, please, just a Jameson's straight up.

Red Hook used to make a...

Pie and Pastry Bible: As Authoritative as the Other Bible

Thu, 13 Jan 2000 20:18:45 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - Rose Levy Beranbaum is a treasure. She has an artist's passion for desserts, a scientist's mind for the physics and chemistry of them and a wonderful ability to relate both the recipe AND the reason why you should follow her steps. This book is perfect...

What were they thinking?

Wed, 12 Jan 2000 15:45:31 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I bought a six pack of this beer about 6 months ago. I still have 2 left. This is unheard of. Whenever someone new is over, I try to fob off one of these ill-starred beers on them. Very little luck. They are probably destined for the sink. This is a...

Thehungersite.com: Screenslaves Save the World

Tue, 11 Jan 2000 15:58:22 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I must admit that I was initially a bit ambivalent about The Hunger Site. Are we going to get the insane idea that all we have to do is click a button occasionally and everything will come out right in the world? Doesn't it seem a little bizarre to...

Portland's Oldest Microbrewery

Mon, 10 Jan 2000 16:29:30 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - Portland's oldest microbrewery has a fairly cozy pub, considering it's has a cement floor and a fairly low ceiling for a large room. Still it's comfy. They serve "west coast" style pizza (you know: artichoke hearts, Feta, walnuts and other...

Help for the Mac User Who Needs to Learn Windows

Thu, 16 Dec 1999 15:25:57 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I admit it. I hadn't used a Microsoft-driven computer since the ancient history DOS days. Working in the graphic design field kept me on a Mac. As my knowledge of that platform grew and I became Mr. Expert on the Mac, my incentive to even try a Windows...

America's Finest News Source

Tue, 14 Dec 1999 18:45:43 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - www.theonion.com

The Onion bills itself as "America's Finest News Source," and who are we to disagree? Just because the stories are made up shouldn't stop us from enjoying and learning from them. The Onion's writers excel at finding...

Dumber by the Minute

Tue, 7 Dec 1999 19:17:36 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I liked this movie in spite of myself, in spite of the fact that it's actually pretty bad. But truly, there is only so much disbelief I can suspend. This venture into the Star Trek franchise really stretch my very elastic abilities.

But this...

Airborne Express? I Call It Airborne Distress

Tue, 7 Dec 1999 17:54:17 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author cking - So here's my Airborne Distress sob story:

I do freelance graphic production. I was working on a calendar two years ago about this time here in Oregon for a client in California. We HAD to get a set of matchprint proofs to a client the next day...

Sturdy Road Warriors

Thu, 2 Dec 1999 21:00:42 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - Every few months my sloth disgusts me so much that I pull out the Asics and hit the road. Then I get the running religion for a month or so. (And then slip back into sloth for a month or so, of course...)

When I am in running mode, I run...

uReach: Get uReach. Now.

Wed, 1 Dec 1999 15:16:03 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author cking - The Internet gift culture marches on. Ureach gives you the following for free:

Toll-free voice mail

Yet another free email account (of course you need one more!)

Web-based scheduling

When you sign up for uReach, you are...

Great Collection of New Short Stories by a Great Writer

Tue, 23 Nov 1999 21:41:50 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author cking - I read Ken Kalfus’ first collection of stories, "Thirst," earlier this year and was quite impressed. He is a writer of vast and subtle talent with a powerful intellect.

It was with pleasure that I heard about his latest collection...