Featured Reviews

The Turn (essay) (1993) - William Langewiesche  (Grade:A)

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Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better (essay) (2024) - Dario Amodei  (Grade:B+)

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Reading the Rocks (essay) (2024) - Jenny Odell  (Grade:B+)

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Pure Heart: The thrilling life and emotional death of Secretariat (essay) (1990) - William Nack  (Grade:A+)

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Dover One (1964) - Joyce Porter  (Grade:A)

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Patsy & the Princes (1935) - Archibald Rutledge  (Grade:B+)

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Reservoir 13 (2017) - Jon McGregor  (Grade:A-)

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Dash Akol (story) (1932) - Sadegh Hedayat  (Grade:A+)

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Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year (1963) - Jimmy Breslin  (Grade:A-)

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The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red (2017) - Martha Wells  (Grade:B+)

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The Killer Angels (1974) - Michael Shaara  (Grade:A+)

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MOVIE REVIEWS:

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The Wild Bunch (1969) - Sam Peckinpah  (Grade:B-)

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Life on Mars (2006) - S. J. Clarkson  (Grade:A+)

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The Passion () - Mel Gibson  (Grade:B)

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Brothers Judd Daily

Brothers Judd QuasiDaily Bookmarks:
07/14/25:

The Virginian : A Horseman Of The Plains (1902)(Owen Wister 1860-1938) Owen Wister (1860-1938) was born in Philadelphia, PA on July 14, 1860

Christopher McKenzie Priest (1943-) was born in Cheshire, ENG on July 14, 1943. Read Orrin's review of The Prestige (1995) (Grade: A)

July 14 is Bastille Day, comemorating the 1789 storming of the hated French prison wherein seven feeble maniacs were set free. Read Orrin's review of The Old Regime and the French Revolution (1856)(Alexis De Tocqueville 1805-59)(Grade: B+)

The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness (1999)(Wole Soyinka 1934-) Mr. Soyinka, who was born on July 13, 1934, at Abeokuta near Ibadan in the British colony of Nigeria.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) was born in Concord, MA on July 12, 1817. One of the leaders of the American Transcendentalists movement, his two greatest works are Waldenand Civil Disobedience. He once actually said: Simplify, simplify.

R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was born in Milton, MA on July 12, 1895. His most memorable creation was the geodesic dome "a system of interlocking triangles that enclosed the maximum volume of space with the minimum of materials."

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was born in Auteuil, FR on July 10, 1871.

John Calvin (1509-64) was born in Noyon, France, on July 10, 1509. His religious views are presented in The Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536)

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was born in Lowell, MA on July 10, 1834. There's a nce selection of his work online at Art Masterpieces

Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (1943-93) was born in Richmond, VA on July 10, 1943. Read Orrin's reviews of Days of Grace: A Memoir (1993)(Arthur Ashe 1943-1993 and Arnold Rampersad) (Grade: B) and Levels of the Game (1969)(John McPhee 1931-) (Grade: A)

Finley Peter Dunne (1867-1936) was born in Chicago, IL on July 10, 1867. Read our review of Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War (1898).

Alec Waugh (1898-1981) was born in Hampstead, ENG on July 8, 1898.

Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (1906?-1982) was theoretically born in Mobile, AL on July 7, 1906. A Negro League legend, he pitched effectively in the Major Leagues in his late 40's & even in his 50's.

John Paul Jones (1747-92) was born in Arbigland, Kirkbean, Kirkcudbright, Scotland on July 6, 1747. He is best remembered for the immortal line: I have not yet begun to fight!

Nancy Davis Reagan (1923-) was born in New York, NY on July 6, 1923. Our prayers are with her as she nurses the great man down the home stretch.

David Farragut (1801-70) was born near Knoxville, TN on July 5, 1801. He is best remembered for the cry: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902) was born on July 5, 1853. Not everyone gets a country named after them.

Phineas T. Barnum (1810-91), the world's greatest showman, was born in Bethel, CT on July 5, 1810.

In a divine irony, both John Adams (1735-1826) and Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. Read Orrin's reviews of American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1997)(Pauline Maier) (Grade: B-) and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (1996)(Joseph J. Ellis) (Grade: A-)

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought over several days, including July 4th, 1863. Read Orrin's review ofThe Killer Angels (1974)(Michael Shaara 1929-1988) (Grade: A+)

Lionel Trilling (1905-75) was born in New York, NY on July 4, 1905.