[stylist] Pick Your Poison

[Chris Kuell]

Bill,

For some unknown reason, your last few posts have been directed into my junk folder, so I haven't seen this post until now. Did you do something to piss the mighty Microsoft off?

Anyway, the last books I've read were 'Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth' by Reza Aslan. The author is a Muslim, and his thesis (not new) is that Jesus wasn't the Christ, but a rabble rousing rebel who wanted to overthrow the Romans who ruled--so they killed him. Paul, who always wanted to be Apostle number 1, sort of invented his Christness.

'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' by James joyce. I'd heard a lot about this book, so I finally read it. While there were parts I found very interesting, Joyce's stream-of-consciousness style doesn't work for me, and I was happy to finally finish it.

I also read 'The Gold Finch' by Donna Tart, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. It's long, but I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a boy/man who is traumatized, and clings to the memory of his mother through the world of art.

I'm currently reading 'The bBurning Room' by Michael Connely, the latest in the Harry Bosch crime/thriller series. Next on my list is 'David and Goliath: Misfits, Underdogs and the Art of Battling Giants' by Malcolm Gladwell, who is one of my favorite non-fiction writers.

Chris