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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
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I have absolutely no interest in the Azande people, but I do have an interest in the rest. Anyways, an early 20th century "study" by Anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard on the beliefs of the Azande of the South Sudan as pertains to the title. His explanations are excellent and somewhat illuminate the reasoning process behind it all. But - all in all - I preferred Levy-Bruhl's "Primitive Mentality" - which as opposed to focussing on one tribe describes an aggregate of how "all tribes" (worthy of an Anthropologist) arrange their thinking and 'supernatural' beliefs. So while I enjoyed it will be moving on to the bookstore, I can't keep them all...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 53
This was, given my newly acquired original Fisher Gold Bug, essential reading and I must find a place for it on my shelf. My shelf, already stuffed and overflowing...
First published in 1963 the author had a chance to interview a lot of the original inhabitants of the ghost towns, even then in their 90's, and the book is well furnished pictures, maps, descriptions, conversations, it's a reference book, a guide to gold creeks and treasures, photos taken back in the day of ruins long since vanished - some of the towns won back, like Ferguson, others vanished, lidar will be the tool to search for their remains.
There are the Coal mining towns, Lumber & Sawmill towns (ghost towns by the 20's as even then forestry was a little overly zealous), Rail towns, vanished Forts and Trading Posts, Silver and mining towns, all these of interest, but no one laid up a cache of lumber in a sawmill town that I can metal detect my way to fortune, same with the silver, coal (I found a tin full of coal! I’m rich! I’m rich!); no, it’s the gold mining encampments that stir the imagination, the hidden unrecovered pokes and caches of gold and coins and robberies with spoils buried under trees….
Anyways, it was - as I noted before, a lyrical and poetic waxing on places long disappeared, and between the conversations and descriptions of decaying ballrooms and threaded in the writings of long dead reporters there are abundant clues to lead me on to treasure...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 149
A regular customer, close to my age, he and his wife, they talk for hours. Still. I can't speak to the quality of the conversation, but clearly it suits them, nice to see familiarity hasn't bored them and they're still in love.
We chat, they're both bright, we know R*** from the liquor store, R*** who only took the job so he could read his books, a dozen on the go at a time. He has a shelf behind him for books customers bring him to read, his own mini-lending library...He's his own story, and when I have it I'll share.
Anyways, it turns out he's an artist/author, so I order a copy of his book and he brings it down to the restaurant to give to me. Thick-ish, self published through the Friesen Press, a better edition than the book Nanu sold me years ago, the photocopy- and stapled together 10 page opus about mushrooms and kayaking the island. So for $20 not too bad. He's written a damnable dedication in it to me, which means I can't pawn it off having read it to the bookstore, and I would feel guilty taking it in but god-damn he didn't write it for me and the dedication - well, it ruins the resale...
So, in keeping with my anonymity I can't name him, or the book, lest I be outed as a cynic or creative as well, but it's based on his years as an indie film director in So-Cal, illustrated with his computer clip art (He's an artist, the same few images recycled throughout the book) - weird characters, poems, the narration of events in the film. It's a peculiar thing. I am going to be hard pressed when I speak to him next to ask how this all came about...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 157
I saw this on Facebook and thought it was just AI generated slop. But, no, even AI couldn't make this shit up.
It turns out Kash Patel's promotion to head of the FBI might have been in part due to his literary interests, for example his children's book "The Plot Against the King"; which to share the summary:
"Kash Patel partners with Beacon of Freedom Publishing House, an imprint of BRAVE Books, to bring a fantastical retelling of Hillary's horrible plot against Trump to the whole family. Full of fake heralds and keeper Komey's spying slugs, this is a story of daring and danger. But never fear! ..."
We live in the worst of all possible timelines, where the most insane things are not only true and current but continually promise more inanity to come.
On that note, I haven't published a single kids book. So - while I'm calling him out who's the real asshole here?
Anyways, you can buy it here: https://www.amazon.ca/Plot-Against-King-Kash-Patel/dp/1955550123
Or just settle for a review here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/07/trump-fbi-pick-kash-patel-childrens-books
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 189
Standard "Beat" fare, published in 2006 following the deaths of the authors and all the surviving characters.
Alternate chapters, written by William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, dealing with a murder in their inner circle. While the names have been changed the events (or close enough) actually transpired, and it's an interesting read in that it was before either one of them was famous. William S. Burroughs was not yet a junkie, Jack Kerouac was not famous, and Burroughs' writing style was comparatively lucid.
Fine, but I'm not generally enamoured with the beat authors, I have an appreciation is all - so, a little depth on my understanding but really not a required read.