The Little Room

The Book Pile: Spook Country

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:56:54 -0400

I never read William Gibson until his previous book, Pattern Recognition. That book was Gibson's first foray into writing about modern times. I became a fan instantly. It was a brilliantly written book, and Spook Country is no different. The two...

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The Book Pile: 1 Dead In Attic

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:11:00 -0400

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? Chris Rose is a columnist for the Times-Picayune. His book 1 Dead in Attic is a collection of his post-Katrina columns. The city he describes in this book is a battered, broken city, but we all kne...

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10 in 6: The Best Music of 2008(So Far)

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:39:20 -0400

Brighter Than Creation's Dark -- Drive-By Truckers The Midnight Organ Fight -- Frightened Rabbit The Odd Couple -- Gnarls Barkley For Emma, Forever Ago -- Bon Iver Parc Avenue -- Plants and Animals Real Emotional Trash -- Stephen Malkmus and Th...

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Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:27:21 -0400

The idea of a grass-based farm has intrigued me ever since reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. A large portion of the book covers Pollan's experience at Joe Salatin's Polyface Farm in Virginia. I knew moving to Minnesota would place m...

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A Book Pile Two-Fer: The Omnivore's Dilemma and Run

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:00:06 -0400

I've finished two books since my last update. Ann Patchett's Run and The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The premise of Run is simple. One evening the former white mayor of Boston is leaving a political rally with hs two adopted black son...

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Clipped: Bill Gross

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Sat, 24 May 2008 09:44:31 -0400

Jon Taplin pointed his readers to Bill Gross's June 2008 Investment Outlook. This quote calls out the American people and our presidential contenders for fooling ourselves. What this country needs is either a good 5¢ cigar or the reincarnation of...

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Song of the Moment

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:08:31 -0400

This song has been putting a smile on my face with every listen. Sure, Frightened Rabbit aren't the first band to explore loneliness, horniness, or emptiness in song, just like they aren't the first set of siblings to decide to jam together, but...

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The Book Pile: City of Saints and Madmen

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:05:38 -0400

A blurb of on the back cover of City of Saints and Madmen describes the work as a tapestry. There is no word more fitting for this book. The city referred to in the title is Ambergris, and rather than tell the story of Ambergris in a traditional...

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So The Mix Might Glow

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:10:01 -0400

Perhaps you've heard of Muxtape, the latest darling of the musically inclined web crowd. It's a neat interface for sharing your music, mixtape style. The last mixtape I made was for a girl in a Mississippi city three hours away from my home in B...

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Song of the Moment

nobody@vox.com(Kyle) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:12:21 -0400

Like a distant Canadian cousin of Blitzen Trapper, this three-piece spins shaggy songs into expansive, genre-bending symphonies. And though last year's too-brief With/Avec EP hinted at Plants and Animals' expansiveness, it didn't fully prepare ...

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