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Deception by Rand Paul
 
Boy, can Hitch write. I agree with him about 50% of the time but he’s always engaging.
Yeah, I really like Hitch and I do not always agree with him either. I do not think it bothered him that folks wouldn't always agree with him. He was the kind of public intellectual we need more of. I would say he is the kind of pubic intellectual Jordan Peterson should aspire to me. I used to really like JP and I still like some of what he does, but he seems to have become a tad brittle.
 
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All the clever satire of Philomena Cunk without the cringe of her interviews. It's the only book that's made me spit-take.
 
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Now, I'm waiting on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 75th Anniversary edition of "The Little Prince". :thumbsup:

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"Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as "The Little Prince".

This special edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's world-famous classic marks its seventy-fifth anniversary in print.

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Featuring a beautiful new cover and a special look at its history and making—including a biography of Saint-Exupéry, sketches, photos, and reviews from the first edition—this new anniversary edition of "The Little Prince" will capture the hearts of both devoted and new readers alike".

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"Some books leave us free and some makes us free". Ralph Waldo Emerson

I also really enjoyed Wind, Sand and Stars. It's one of my favorite memoirs.
 
Lord Byron's "Don Juan."

Yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of Byron's death in Greece. I pulled down my ignored Penguin edition of "Don Juan" promising myself to finally read it all straight through.

I did the usual British Romantics course in college, mumble-mumble years ago, and I loved Byron's work. But I left it there. I've lugged "Don Juan" from house to house, never even cracking it open.

I became addicted a few years ago to the wonderful books of Iris Origo, namely her two masterpieces, "The Merchant of Prato" and "War in Val d'Orcia." I wondered what else she had written, so I bought her "The Last Attachment," all about Byron's last great love, Countess Teresa Guiccioli.

That's where the fun began. Hello, BookFinder! I started with Leslie Marchand's three-volume biography, then his 13-volume edition of Byron's letters. Then a book on Byron's convoluted finances, then a newer biography by Fiona McCarthy, lots of other secondary sources. I became thoroughly addicted to the man, and yesterday's sad anniversary seemed the perfect time to finally start reading what I had long circled around, "Don Juan."

In my edition, it's a 500 page epic poem, divided into cantos and stanzas, all in ottava rima. Plus 250 pages of notes. I figure if I manage to read 10 pages a week of the poem, a not unreasonable goal, I should finish it in about a year.

So I am set. I started reading last night, introductions, etc., and finally the poem itself: "I want a hero," it begins. I've found mine.

Any other Byron fans out there? Anyone want to join in my year-long reading project?

--Robert (Vespasian)
 
I did the usual British Romantics course in college, mumble-mumble years ago, and I loved Byron's work. But I left it there. I've lugged "Don Juan" from house to house, never even cracking it open.
Exactly. In college, I was only concerned with getting through. Now, that I have leisure, I find myself rediscovering and delving into the literature we covered then. I minored in philosophy, but mostly bluffed my way through. I recently won a prize in a radio quiz because I could name Blaise Pascal. I promptly read a very sophisticated biography of him, and have been working on his Pensées, which I won in the contest. The same goes for Hermann Hesse.

Cheers,

Gauthier
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Exactly. In college, I was only concerned with getting through. Now, that I have leisure, I find myself rediscovering and delving into the literature we covered then. I minored in philosophy, but mostly bluffed my way through. I recently won a prize in a radio quiz because I could name Blaise Pascal. I promptly read a very sophisticated biography of him, and have been working on his Pensées, which I won in the contest. The same goes for Hermann Hesse.

Cheers,

Gauthier
Hesse was a favorite of mine
 
Killing Kennedy by Jack Roth, given to me by a daughter at Christmas. I was a senior in high school when Kennedy was assassinated. In 1962, I got into Ian Fleming/James Bond books and films because of JFK. I even had the First Family Comedy LP, which my parents hated almost as much as my Bob Dylan and Joan Baez LPs. I can still hear my stepdad yelling to my mom, that I had that g-d communist music on again. I always suspected that JFK's death was a gov't conspiracy by his own party, but never dwelt on it. I also never realized the number of books and theories surrounding the assassination, cancer-causing polio vaccines, etc, that followed.
 
Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up
By Rand Paul

 
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