She’s nobody from nowhere. You’ve got to listen to this podcast “The Big Steal” It’s all about Putin’s kleptocracy. A reader recommended it. It’s about the transition in Russia from communism to autocracy, with a bit of supposed democracy in between. We keep reading about Putin’s crimes, but they never get any traction. I remember […]

Broken This is Don Winslow’s best book. Winslow is most famous for his drug cartel trilogy. You should check it out. “The Power of the Dog” is excellent, “The Cartel” is even better, however last year’s finale, “The Border,” is a disappointment. You see Winslow has a couple of writing styles. One dense, another minimalist. […]

All I Ever Wanted: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Memoir She got pregnant at twelve. Do all artists come from a fucked-up background? After all, if you’re loved and complete, what do you have to bitch about? Plenty, but not as much as the broken people. Kathy Valentine drank and drugged with her single mother, who […]

“The Dutch House” Ann Patchett This is a huge bestseller, and deservedly so. Most of the big sellers today are genre books, mysteries, thrillers and lowbrow stuff that cannot be recommended. But “The Dutch House” is a good old-fashioned story, about people and their lives. And just like real life, everything doesn’t always work out. […]