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[Originally published at the now defunct group blog explananda.com]


Posted on June 28, 2008
Tags: book_reviews

Joel Spolsky. Joel on Software And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters that Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity

Another good book by Spolsky. I found it especially interesting because it’s now a bit out of date - it was published in 2004 - so the reader occasionally gets to see someone really smart use good arguments to defend predictions that didn’t really turn out to be true.

Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis I and Persepolis II

The first graphic novels I’ve ever read. The first is a memoir of the author’s childhood in Iran, which is divided by the revolution. The second takes her into young adulthood. I enjoyed them.

Truman Capote. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and three other stories

I liked Breakfast at Tiffany’s better than the other three stories. But still, wow. My first Capote book, but probably not my last.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone

A scathing indictment of the occupation of Iraq by the former Washington Post Baghdad bureau chief. The outlines of this story are well known, of course. But the details are often lost in the big picture. Chandrasekaran’s book is very helpful in this respect. I’ve seen it frequently claimed, for example, that the CPA often passed over highly qualified people in favour of young Republicans with no experience. But up this point I hadn’t seen these allegations carefully unpacked over several hundred pages.

Comments


Author: upyernoz
Date: 2008-06-29

i thought persepolis 1 was better than persepolis 2. somehow, early childhood during the revolution was more captivating and original than a teenager trying to find herself in austria. have you seen the film? it follows the graphic novel very closely and i thought did a real good job at preserving the spirit of the original.

if you want to read another graphic novel, i would recommend alison bechtel’s “fun home”



Author: Chris
Date: 2008-06-29

Thanks for the recommendation.

Actually, I liked 2 as well. She wasn’t just trying to find herself in Austria - she was also dealing with the shock of returning home afterwards. I found that very interesting.

Haven’t seen the movie yet.