Naked Ambition

Bret Easton Ellis, the author of the controversial novel American Psycho, has written a screenplay called The Canyons. It's described as a movie about "youth, glamor and sex in Los Angeles in the year 2012." It is currently in production. Apparently, in a desperate attempt to act in another movie, Lindsay Lohan will be starring in it with a porn star named James Deen.

I had never heard of Deen so I looked him up on my iPad's IMDb movie app. It listed all the movies he's starred. I couldn't stop laughing when I scanned the list. Most actors will star in about 2 or 3 movies per year. In 2011, James Deen starred in 50 with such Oscar-worthy titles as Gangbanged 3, Big Wet Asses 20, and that Mary Shelley classic Fuckenstein.

BOOK REVIEW: Can't Cajole, Can't Frighten, Can't Buy

(Originally published 1979, Paperback edition 741 pages)

Arguably, Theodore Roosevelt was our nation's most dynamic President. Mark Twain thought the guy was insane. Rudyard Kipling, the author of "The Jungle Book," said after spending some time with Teddy, "Must be President some day. A man you can't cajole, can't frighten, can't buy." One thing is certain, there weren't many who could be indifferent about the bull moose of a guy. Even before he became our 26th President, the brilliant, pugnacious, quirky, priggish and the Alpha of type-A personalities had an extremely colorful life. The following description I copied from Wikipedia: "The theory describes a Type A individual as ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status conscious, can be sensitive, care for other people, are truthful, impatient, always try to help others, take on more than they can handle, want other people to get to the point, proactive, and obsessed with time management. People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics" who multi-task, push themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence." That's Theodore Roosevelt to a tee.

The first book of this three-volume biography covers from Mr. Roosevelt's birth (1858) until he becomes President due to the assassination of William McKinley (1901). No matter your political persuasion, you'll find plenty of stuff in these pages to admire and hate about the man. You'll also be exposed to major powerbrokers at a time when politics was overrun by graft, the "spoils system", and the merging of corporations with politics that makes our present-day shenanigans look like a Teletubbies' episode.

Mr. Morris does an outstanding job describing the events that shaped Mr. Roosevelt into the outsized character he was. I fell in love with this book in my early twenties back in the early 1980s and knew I would read it again at some future date once Mr. Morris completed the other two volumes. I didn't, however, realize I was going to have to wait for three more decades before he completed them. It was well worth the wait. Mr. Morris is one of those rare talents who is able to make history come alive as if you are there. This first volume is truly a work of art and deserves all its awards and praise. "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is one of my favorite biographies.

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #313)

Eyes On The Prize

Guess who has a slice of pizza?

Weighty Matters

I asked, "Nick, while you're right there, would you turn on the air conditioner?"
Monique leaned over, turned it on and started adjusting the temperature upward.
I said, "No! Don't do that! I want it that cool."
"Wow... really? Are you in menopause?"
"No. I'm in fatsopause."

Thinking Inside The (Litter) Box

I had a salad for lunch and then another for supper. To paraphrase Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises,

"There's a storm coming, Mr. Meyers."

BOOK REVIEW: The Anti-Don Juan

(Originally published 2012, hardcover edition 178 pages)

While Mr. Halpern's dad plays a sizable role in the author's second book, he is not the primary focus like in his wonderfully entertaining "Sh*t My Dad Says." The stories in this memoir center on Mr. Halpern's less-than-stellar relationship with the opposite sex. He takes you through from his childhood up until the point in which he proposes to a woman. The book has plenty of gut-busting passages. As usual, his profanity-addicted dad is entertaining as hell and the author has a great knack for writing every day events in a very funny manner. Surprisingly, despite the book being sprinkled with a fair amount of swearing, at its core it is a sweet memoir. "I Suck at Girls" was a perfect bromide for me after having read a large book about genocide. I believe I may have laughed while reading almost every one of the 178-pages in the book. If you're looking for a quick, entertaining read, Mr. Halpern's memoir is a wonderful choice.

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #312)



BOOK REVIEW: Tiptoeing Around The G-Word

(Originally published 2002, paperback edition 527 pages)

After loony Hitler and his acolytes killed 6 million Jews and millions of "undesirables" who didn't live up to Aryan standards, the Western World said, "never again." Ms. Power clearly shows how empty this promise was during the 20th Century. Her primary focus is on the United States due to us being the major superpower as well as a beacon to the rest of the world when it comes to human rights. The problem is we fall very short in the "never again" category. Heck, not only did U.S. Presidents consistently tiptoe around using the word 'genocide,' we directly or indirectly aided those who went on their killing sprees.

Ms. Power walks the reader through the invention of the word 'genocide' by Raphael Lemkin, a Holocaust survivor, and his lifelong effort to have the word become the standard for addressing the systemic effort to eliminate a specific group of people. The author highlights the 1915 massacre of Christian Armenians by the Turks; the Holocaust; the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia; Saddam Hussein's attack on the Kurds; the Bosnian Serbs genocide against Croats and Muslims; and, lastly, the Hutus butchery of Tutsis in Rwanda. U.S. Presidents, politicians and the military knew full well that genocide was taking place but failed to act for numerous reason sighted in the book. Yes, even the hallowed Ronald Reagan is taken to the woodshed by the author. Ms. Power does especially harsh and correct assessments of Presidents George H.W. Bush's and Clinton's actions. Under President Clinton's watch, three acts of genocide occurred with him only finally acting after he viewed it as a political liability to his Presidency. Basically, Bubba and Bush-41 had no backbone and focused primarily on themselves above all others.

What I found most infuriating about the world's and U.S. actions is their fear of using the word 'genocide' when it is clearly what was occurring. There are numerous examples in the book of politicians being vague or blantantly lying to save face. Ms. Powers does, however, highlight some heroes who challenged the lying piles of manure known as our elected officials. When the book was published in 2002, the author rightly received oodles of awards and recognition. This is great history, wonderful analysis and challenges the reader be better critical thinkers when it comes to acts of atrocity. As 9/11 clearly showed, the United States doesn't live in a bubble. Ignoring acts of genocide not only takes away from our sense of humanity, but encourages other nutcases to even greater lengths of barbarity. The book is well worth your time if you give a damn about other people.

(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #311)