Review of "The New Yorker Book of Doctor Cartoons"

 Review of

The New Yorker Book of Doctor Cartoons, ISBN 0679430695

Five out of five stars

Great cartoons in the ‘New Yorker’ tradition

 The cartoons that appear in ‘New Yorker’ magazine are arguably the best there are. They are simultaneously funny, profound and contain biting social satire. This collection demonstrates all of that with the focus on the medical profession and the social structure that surrounds it.

 Like the best cartoons, you can read then a couple times a year, each time with equal enjoyment. This book should be in the waiting room of every medical facility.

Review of "Bleachers," by John Grisham

 Review of

Bleachers, by John Grisham ISBN 0385511612

Five out of five stars

An unusual look back at the glory days

 While a winning high school football team is the main plot premise of this book, it is much more about retrospective to the glory days of high school. Under the brilliant and at times sadistic control of Coach Eddie Rake, the Messina High School football team was nearly unbeatable. With a winning streak spread over several seasons, the Rake was a hero, and the team was the biggest thing in town.

 Neely Crenshaw was a high school all-American quarterback at Messina, and he seemed destined for the NFL until his knee was destroyed in college. It is fifteen years after Crenshaw starred at Messina and Coach Rake is on his deathbed. Many of his former players are coming back to town in order to pay their respects. Groups of them meet in the bleachers at the football stadium, hence the title of the book.

 As the former players reminisce about their glory days and reflect on their lives, what they have become is a cross section of what people do after high school. Their “professions” range from prison inmate to career criminal to various professions. It is a story of how they all both loved and hated Coach Rake and how each of them dealt with him as well as each other.

 In sports, the number of people that had glorious high school sports careers and then little after that far outnumbers the number that went on to additional glory in college and beyond. This book is about them, how they manage to come together and once again become a band of brothers when their former coach passes away.

Review of "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year: 1992 Edition," edited by Charles Brooks

 Review of

Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year: 1992 Edition, edited by Charles Brooks ISBN 0882899104

Five out of five stars

Dated, but still relevant

 The best editorial cartoons are lessons in history, political and social commentary/satire and humorous. The entries in this collection are the best of the group for 1992, a year of tremendous change in the world, but especially in the former Soviet Union. A small group of reactionaries attempted to re-create at least a portion of the Soviet Union, only to fail miserably. While the people rose up against the military vehicles, it was the actions of Boris Yeltsin that led to the collapse of the coup attempt.

 One of the most interesting group of cartoons deals with the prelude to the American presidential election of 1992. The Democrats are depicted as weak and rudderless, yet Bill Clinton emerged as a powerful political figure, winning the maximum of two terms in the office. Since he won in November of 1992, this demonstrates how rapidly political fortunes of parties and individuals can rise and fall.

 To truly appreciate most of these cartoons, it is necessary to have some understanding of the events being referenced. If you possess a minimum of such knowledge, you will greatly enjoy this book.

Review of "If… (Questions for the Game of Life)," by Evelyn & James Saywell

 Review of

If… (Questions for the Game of Life), by Evelyn & James Saywell ISBN 9780679445357

Five out of five stars

Hard questions to consider

 Most of the questions that humans deal with on a daily basis are quite routine and don’t have major consequences. Those questions are not the content of this book. These questions are extremely difficult, based on unusual and at times what some would consider offensive premises. For example, on page 58 there is the question, “If you had to have one family member (besides your spouse) witness your next sexual act, who would you pick?”

 Therefore, almost nothing is off limits in this collection of “If…” questions. Designed to be provocative in putting forward questions for discussion and comment, the authors have succeeded in achieving their goal.

Review of "DC Superhero Science," by Jennifer Hackett

 Review of

DC Superhero Science, by Jennifer Hackett ISBN 9781941367537

Five out of five stars

Physics explains the consequences, not the origins

 The members of the DC superhero group are capable of amazing things. While some like Batman, Robin and Green Arrow are simply highly skilled humans, others have superpowers. In this book, while the origins of those powers are not heavily discussed and explained, the physics behind those powers and the consequences are very well explained.

 For example, in order to understand Superman and Supergirl’s heat vision, it is necessary to understand how energy is transferred via electromagnetic waves. To see in the dark, it is necessary to be able to see differences in the thermal energy content of your surroundings. Super vision is explained by describing how the human eye accepts light and then transfers it to the brain for processing and interpretation.

 The most interesting segment is called “Can People Really Walk on Water?” It turns out that if a person were capable of running 67 miles per hour with normal sized feet, they could in fact walk on water. This is the speed necessary for the contact with the water to be so short that the water molecules could not move fast enough to allow the person to sink.

 This book is more a science book than it is a reference to DC superheroes. Those references help make the explanations more interesting.

Review of "Plague: Stories of Death in the Great Plague of the 14th Century," written by Kyle Garrett et. al.

 Review of

Plague: Stories of Death in the Great Plague of the 14^th Century, written by Kyle Garrett et. al.

Five out of five stars

“First person” accounts of the great death

 The most conservative estimates are that the so-called “Black Death” that invaded Europe in the 14^th century killed one-fourth of the population. Death was largely indiscriminate regarding socio-economic status, age and religious affiliation. The only exception to this was the large numbers of Jews that were murdered in the fever of belief that they were somehow the cause. The true cause were the yet unknown species of bacteria.

 This comic is composed of a set of short stories set in the first person of people experiencing the plague and it consuming those around them and in most cases them as well. The authors of the stories do a superb job in capturing the despair and hopelessness the people felt as people continued to die. Many of the dead were buried so hastily that their graves were shallow enough that dogs and other animals were able to dig the bodies up and consume them. For many, this was their greatest fear of what would happen when they died.

 The plague transformed Europe in that it was a great leveler of the social classes, quickly destroying feudalism and leaving those who survived largely in charge of their future. Since the clergy proved incapable of having any affect on the great dying, the power of the Catholic Church was also significantly weakened.

 This is an excellent account of a time when European society was subject to a great upheaval, changing it forever.

Review of "Muddled Meanderings in an Outhouse Number 2," by Bob Ross

 Review of

Muddled Meanderings in an Outhouse Number 2, by Bob Ross

Five out of five stars

Ode to a once ubiquitous necessity

 When I was growing up, both of my grandparents had outhouses, and since I spent significant time there, I have all-season experiences in making the round trip. Using it was just what we did when we had to. In both cases, they were simple shanties, roughly the size of a closet.

 While most of them were of this type, there were others that were more elaborate, the ones I find most amusing are those that were two stories high. Such an arrangement seemed to serve no purpose as the saving of space would be minimal.

 Each of the entries is a combination of a short segment of verse with an image of an outhouse. Most of the poems are quite good, they are truly odes to what was once everywhere and now is almost nonexistent. While they are humorous, in some cases the reader will likely not appreciate the joke if they have not used an outhouse as they were intended.

 The last generation that can appreciate the humor of outhouse references will soon be gone. This book is a legacy of what once was and hopefully will never be again.