Books

“There are no secrets about the world of nature. There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men.” Most people in this day and age, myself included, didn't necessarily know the name of J. Robert Oppenheimer until Christopher Nolan's brilliant film came out and swept the 2024 Oscars. However, back in the early 1950s he was probably the most famous person on planet earth. Described as the father of the nuclear bomb, his face was plastered the covers on publications

Al Pacino. You know him. You love him. You've attempted to impersonate Tony Montana's famous line "Say hello to my little friend!" in Pacino's utterly absurd Cuban lilt. You've gone wide-eyed and yelled "She's got a...GREAT ASS!" when you've had too many drinks and the term "Just when I thought I was out....they pull me back in" has become almost ubiquitous at this point. To put it in simple terms, Al Pacino is a Hollywood legend and not only is he responsible for some of the

“As with everything else in my life, I decided that if we were all going to get through this in one piece, I’d better have a sense of humor.” If you're like me, you may have been made aware of this book because of David Fincher's macabre 2017 TV Series of the same name, which is a faithful adaptation of the account of John E. Douglas - creator of the FBI's Criminal Profiling Program and allegedly the first person to coin the term "serial killer". 

“Contrary to what we may have been taught to think, unnecessary and unchosen suffering wounds us but need not scar us for life. It does mark us. What we allow the mark of our suffering to become is in our own hands.” This book came to my attention recently when hearing, of all people, Joe Talbot (lead singer of vicious post-modern punk band IDLES) saying how much of an influence it had been on their work. Considering their music, this was an intriguing concept. Based on the

"I wondered if sometimes the difference between a psychopath in Broadmoor and a psychopath on Wall Street was the luck of being born into a stable, rich family.” Jon Ronson is an investigative journalist who shot to fame when his first book 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' became not only a best-seller, but also a major Hollywood film starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey. Quite the cast. Here he turns his microscope to what it means to be conside

If you're anything like me, you probably haven't given much thought to how the food actually gets to your plate when ordering in a restaurant. You sit down, you eat, you drink, you soak in the atmosphere, you pay and you leave - either satisfied or not. What doesn't occur is the absolute miracle that has taken place behind those swinging doors for this experience to even take place at all.  Anthony Bourdain's 'Kitchen Confidential' came out in the year 2000 to widespread acc

"As long as American life was something to be escaped from, the cartel would always be assured a bottomless pool of new customers."  My introduction to this book was back in 2014, when director Paul Thomas Anderson released the film version. Billed as one of the great modern auteurs adapting one of the most lauded writers in America, the film proved to be pretty loathesome, in my humble and unsolicited opinion. The plot seemed convoluted to the point of being complete nonsen

"Life's too short to waste time on second-class ambitions. Go for the big ones."  Few people in life have gotten anywhere near the achievements of Sir Ranulph Fiennes. He is one of the most famous explorers in the world and holds multiple endurance records, including being the oldest Brit to climb Everest and accomplishing the ridiculous feat of running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents just four months after having a massive heart attack. So I would approach this book k