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Category Archives: Books

Books with ideas

March 14, 2010 – 5:27 pm

Books with a heavy philosophical component don’t usually sell well, and publishers tend to avoid them for that reason, but when they do, they can sell very well indeed, and it can be very difficult to explain why. Over at Catallaxy, Sinclair has a thoughtful piece on Ayn Rand, whose books sell by the pallet load, [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Art, Literature, Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | Comments (28)

Pin Striped Prison

December 21, 2009 – 6:11 am

I’ve just read The Pin Striped Prison by Lisa Pryor (2008, Picador, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney). Pryor was a law student who now works as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Pryor is exploring a number of questions: what drives young people to want to become lawyers? Why do many lawyers decide it is not [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Academia, Education, Law | Tagged , , , | Comments (23)

TV Tropes: or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the WikiWalk

December 10, 2009 – 7:45 am

If this headline means nothing to you, it’s because you haven’t yet discovered this site, which is a thing of beauty, wonder and sunk costs. Yes, you read that right. It’s so amazing it represents sunk costs in advance, which is supposed to be impossible, but I know exactly what will happen to those of [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Fark!, Literature, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , | Comments (14)

Steampunk = cool

October 9, 2009 – 6:59 am

Now this is seriously cool, friends and neighbours.
I tracked down this YouTube advertisement for Scott Westerfield’s forthcoming novel Leviathan via Perry Middlemiss’ literature blog Matilda. As friends of mine know, I’m a fan of steampunk — in part because I like its visual aesthetic — so it’s interesting to see someone marry steampunk with the biomechanoids of [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Literature, Popular culture, Science | Tagged , , , | Comments (9)

There are only 7 plots…

June 9, 2009 – 4:51 am

… And all of ‘em are in Homer.
Well, that’s the story, anyway. Sometimes the magic number is eleven. Sometimes the magic number is three. Sometimes it’s something else. Sometimes Virgil gets a look-in, but usually Homer gets the blame for the sum total of basic plotlines in Western Literature. I used to think this assertion [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Fark!, Literature, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (50)

What crime? They were just breaking the Ramadan fast with a BBQ! (or Things to do in Ramadan when you’re dense…)

May 16, 2009 – 5:58 am

A radical Muslim who dressed his baby daughter in a hat with “I love al-Qaeda” on it tried to firebomb the home of the publisher of a controversial novel about the Prophet Mohammed.
Ali Beheshti, 40, along with Abrar Mirza, 22, have admitted conspiracy to recklessly damage property and endanger life after they poured diesel through [...]

By DeusExMacintosh | Also posted in England, Free Speech, Funnies, Law, Literature, Personal liberty, Politics, Religion, Terrorism | Tagged , , | Comments (49)

Need to know about cheese?

March 28, 2009 – 8:27 am

Every year, British magazine The Bookseller runs a competition for the oddest book title. The winner for 2008 is “The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais”. It costs $795 on Amazon.
I was wondering how there could possibly be a market for a book like this, or why anyone would write it?  The [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Fark!, Literature | Tagged | Comments (16)

R.I.P Kilmeny Niland

March 1, 2009 – 6:17 am

Those of you with any interest in Australian children’s literature would be aware of illustrator Kilmeny Niland. Like her mother Ruth Park, she played a significant and ongoing role in Australian literature, and in my appreciation of the various books she illustrated. I’ve long thought her beautiful artwork ensured that some books meant more to [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Art, Blogging, Literature, Skeptics | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

On the top shelf with all the other porn…

February 18, 2009 – 10:25 pm

Muslims have complained that the Koran is often displayed on the lower shelves, which is deemed offensive as many believe the holy book should be placed above “commonplace things”.
Now officials at one library have recommended keeping all holy books, including the Bible, on the top shelves.
The move has come despite concern from Christian charities that [...]

By DeusExMacintosh | Also posted in England, Funnies, Religion | Tagged | Comments (20)

How to spot bad sci-fi/fantasy writing

February 10, 2009 – 7:39 am

Kim at LP links to a post at Feminist SF – The Blog! which gives tips on how to spot if you’re reading bad sci-fi/fantasy:

Are the characters’ names impossible to pronounce? Alternatively, when you pronounce them, do you realize that they are actually homonyms for scary-sounding English words? If the book is not written by [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Feminism, Literature, Science | Comments (12)