Feb. 2002
Paulo Coelho's tale of a Spanish boy's quest to fulfill his "Personal Legend" is a short and mildly inspiring read. The book only cursorily explores the challenges inherent in pursuing your dreams and occasionally it rests on cliche to explain aspects of the boy's quest. It has the feeling of a Reader's Digest story, but luckily it's not much longer than one either.

Jan. 2002
While the salaciousness of his travels back and forth across America have been dulled by the years, Jack Kerouac's incredible command of the English language as a paintbrush has not. I wouldn't normally read something with language quite so flowery and absorbed, but several times during this book I found myself marvelling at his ability to turn a phrase.

Jan. 2002
This is a book out of Perry's collection that I read just because it happened to be sitting in front of me one night. It contains short litte chapters that discuss why you shouldn't lunch with your co-workers, engage in office politics, work late, take work home with you, etc. Summary: If you wanna be CEO, just act like a badass.

Dec. 2001
Like the Bukowski book I read before this, George Orwell writes of a portion of his life (2 years) in the late 1920's when Orwell (Eric Blair's pen name taken for this, his first book) lived as a bum. The first few chapters of the book are entertaining, but Orwell's diary-like accounts of the minutae of a tramp's life grow tiring. Like any writer, Orwell selects his truths carefully, omitting the fact that he was merely a tourist to the tramp lifestyle and had well-off family members in both cities.

Dec. 2001
This is the first Bukowski book I've read and it came recommended to me by Bullett. As it turns out, Ham on Rye is an excellent place to start with Bukowski as it is essentially an autobiography of the first 21 years of his life, most of which was spent in Los Angeles. His writing is artfully simple, maturing along with him throughout the story. Henry Chinaski (Bukowski) is a bitter loner and for good reason - he's mercilessly picked on and grows up a penniless social outcast.