Author Archive for Justin Moyer

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. A Route 66 Companion, edited by David King Dunaway.
I imagine this book will generate more cash for the University of Texas Press than its usual offerings about French lit crit and gendering postmodern cinema, even if it is just a jumble of writing [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired—and Secretive—Company Really Works, by Adam Lashinsky.
A confidante of mine won a 32 GB iPad 1 at work last year. We kept it around the house for a few weeks, not sure what to do with it. Then, [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. The Electric Information Age Book: McLuhan/Agel/Fiore and the Experimental Paperback, by Jeffrey Schnapp and Adam Michaels
Though its cover is hard to look at, this apparently otherwise well-designed title comes from your friends at the always surprising Princeton Architectural Press, where books are lovingly [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. Screw Business As Usual, by Richard Branson.
At first, I thought this book by Virgin chairman Richard Branson was called "Screw: Business As Usual," and was about either his cutthroat entrepreneurial instincts, or sexual proclivities, or both. Then, I thought it was called "Screw [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. Squier Electrics: 30 Years of Fenders Budget Guitar Brand, by Tony Bacon
"Dude, wanna come over my house after school and play guitar?" "I don't know. We have a calculus midterm tomorrow." "Come on, dude, don't be a p*ssy." "I don't know man, I [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. Distrust That Particular Flavor, by William Gibson.
I'm not sure who William Gibson is, but he seems to write syfy-ish novels that appeal to the Philip K. Dick, Boing Boing set. He's written this book of essays—his first, I think—that imagine a cyber-friendly future, [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James.
This isn't a Jane Austen novel, or a Jane Austen-plus-zombies novel, but a murder-mystery sequel to a Jane Austen novel. In other words, it's fan fiction. When is "Stone Cold" Steve Austen gonna write a WWF-meets-Pride and [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. Draw a Straight Line and Follow It: The Music and Mysticism of La Monte Young, by Jeremy Grimshaw.
Genius minimalist composer La Monte Young spoke at my college in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, I don't remember what he said because he was wearing a [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.

1. Parallel Stories, by Péter Nádas, translated by Imre Goldstein.
This book is really long and by an intense Hungarian dude. It's probably about the entire history of the 20th century or something. Certainly, you will feel like a bad-ass even if you only read [...]

Five Books I’d Read

in which the author discusses five books he'd read, if time permitted.
1. Howard Cosell: The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports, by Mark Ribowsky.
Ever since I saw Jon Voight play Howard Cosell in Ali, I can't picture the actual Howard Cosell when I think about Howard Cosell. When I think about Howard [...]