Reviewing Craziness, Food, Newly Discovered Authors

Via Drawn!, this image from Penelope Dullaghan's site is part of a collaborative visual anthology of Best Advice. I use artist Mikela's project submission (5th over, 4th down) in honor of the frequent potty breaks taken by the heroes of Immune Response and recounted by the author for readers' edification.

1) I just posted a new book review at The Bookspot Family for Steve Perry's medical thriller Immune Response. You can search by reviewer (Henway), title, or author (pick the first listing).

This is my first review for them that falls under the mystery umbrella, and I'm sorry I didn't like the book better. The writing was smooth enough, but I thought the storyline didn't make much sense to the premise, and hinted, to me at least, the author might rather have tackled a Kerouac-style road trip book for today's boomers worried about impending mortality.

2) Christopher Hitchens sites absolutism where free speech is concerned, and I completely agree. We should be standing up for Denmark and loudly. The proper response to offensive speech is another competing form of speech, not destruction and murder. For others to imply that running the Danish cartoons was inciting such immoderate, extreme reponse' and not knowing that was unforgivable stupidity is like saying the girl shouldn't have gone outside in a dress if she didn't want to be gang-raped. "If I'd only gotten his dinner on the table on time, I know he would'nta knocked out my teeth." The defense of uncivil, immoderate, unreasonble, not in-kind, violent response by blaming the peaceable sharing of opinion (and gender and ankles and sexual identity) is the kind of Euroweenie, battered wife talk I've come to expect from those hypocritically claiming the mantle of Enlightenment. No discernment, just dissembling.

3) Via Althouse, what about this latest study discussed in the NYT? Certainly, the words "new research shows" have preceded many serious corruptions of fact and widespread misunderstandings, but if the way you feel about your food impacts the nutrition you receive from it, it will be a real gut-punch to the people who think health is better achieved through sorrow than joy.

4) Amazon has added this feature where authors can add profiles and even blogs, but I hadn't experienced much content until last night. However, reading a recommendation of The Man With the Iron-On Badge at I Love a Good Mystery led me to Lee Goldberg's profile and blog (scroll down for lots of posts).

Not only is Goldberg a funny guy who's written TV shows I've enjoyed like Monk, he's also produced them, seems to be an unrepentant hack who wants first to entertain, values a quality life above status as a Type A striver, and posts frequently from inside the belly of the Left Coast beast. Now, I'm going to read his book for sure. I'll even buy it...retail. Are you hearing me, Lee? It's worth the effort. In my mind, you've gone from another unknown quantity to a pleasantly anticipated discovery with only a little word squirtage, which is presumably your strong suit anyway.