Featured Reviews

Wisecracks: Humor and Morality in Everyday Life (2024) - David Shoemaker  (Grade:B+)

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A Political Philosophy of Conservatism: Prudence, Moderation and Tradition (Bloomsbury Studies in the Aristotelian Tradition) (2021) - Ferenc Horcher  (Grade:A-)

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The Gray Man (2009) - Mark Greaney  (Grade:B-)

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The Good Soldier Švejk, or The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War (1921-22) - Jaroslav Hašek  (Grade:A+)

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Machines of Loving Grace: How AI Could Transform the World for the Better (essay) (2024) - Dario Amodei  (Grade:B+)

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The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red (2017) - Martha Wells  (Grade:B+)

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MOVIE REVIEWS:

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The Wild Bunch (1969) - Sam Peckinpah  (Grade:B-)

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Life on Mars (2006) - S. J. Clarkson  (Grade:A+)

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The Passion () - Mel Gibson  (Grade:B)

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Brothers Judd Daily

Brothers Judd QuasiDaily Bookmarks:
08/13/25:

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) was born in London, ENG on August 13, 1899. By any measure, he is one of the great movie directors of all time, Brothers Judd especially recommends: Vertigo and The 39 Steps, both available at Amazon's Hitchcock Centennial site.

[William] Ben Hogan (1912-97) was born in Stephenville, TX on August 13, 1912. Read Orrin's review of Power Golf (1948)

William Goldman (1931-) was born in Highland Park, IL on August 12, 1931. Read Orrin's review of The Princess Bride : S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure: The 'Good Parts' Version, Abridged (1973)

Alex Haley (1921-92) was born in Ithaca, NY on August 11, 1921. In addition to the bestseller Roots (1976), he was the coauthor of The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)(see Orrin's review; Grade: A+)

Andre Dubus (1936-99) was born in Lake Charles, LA on August 11, 1936. Read Orrin's review of Selected Stories (1988) (Grade: A) & try his online story If They Knew Yvonne.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964), 31st President of the United States and the first born west of the Mississippi, was born in West Branch, IA on August 10, 1874.

Izaac Walton (1593-1683), was born in Stafford, ENG on August 9, 1593. He wrote the first great treatise on fishing, The Compleat Angler.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953), author of the Pulitzer Prize winning classic The Yearling (1938), was born in Washington, DC on August 8, 1896.

August 8 is Benny Carter's birthday. The remarkable multi-instrumentalist/composer/arranger/bandleader/quiet-but-effective civil rights leader was born in NYC in 1907 and died in 2003, so this would have been #98. Until my collection of his music is completed, the following CD's give a good overview of his music:
Further Definitions
Montreux Live - 1977
1929-1940
More about Carter can be found in the definitive biography Benny Carter - A Life in American Music, or in an essay contained in Gary Giddins' "Weather Bird" collection of essays

Ann Beattie (1947-) was born on August 7, 1947. Read Orrin's review of Love Always (1985)(Grade: A)

Unbreakable (2000) (directed by M. Night [Manoj Nelliyattu] Shyamalan 1970-) Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan was born in Pondicherry, India on August 6 1970.

Conrad Aiken (1899-1973) was born in Savannah, GA on August 5, 1899.

Guy de Maupassant (1850-93) was born near Dieppe, France on August 5, 1850.

John Huston (1906-1987) was born in Nevada, MO on August 5, 1906. The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Asphalt Jungle and The Man Who Would Be King are just a few of his classic movies.

Neil Armstrong (1930-) was born in Wapakoneta, OH on August 5, 1930. Read Orrin's review of The Right Stuff (1979)(Tom Wolfe 1931-) (Grade: A+)

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was born near Horsham, ENG on August 4, 1792. Brothers Judd particularly recommends Ozymandias.

Knut Hamsun (1859-1952) was born on Garmo, Norway on August 4, 1859. Read Orrin's review of Hunger (1890)

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (1900-1971) was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1900. The most influential figure in the history of Jazz and one of the most significant influences in 20th Century popular music, he was also a pivotal and controversial figure in the fight for Civil Rights. Brothers Judd jazz contributor Glenn Dryfoos recommends The Louis Armstrong Collection, Vol. 4: Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines

Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) was born on August 3, 1887. One of the celebrated group of WWI poets, check out his Collected poems. I can't find it off hand, but the poem with "dulce et decorum est pro patria morii" was on our SAT's.

P.D. [Phyllis Dorothy] James (1920-) was born in Oxford, ENG on August 3, 1920. Read Orrin's review of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1972) (Grade: B+)