So it goes

I’m in a first class coach hurtling toward Edinburgh at the end of a brief trip down south. There are big yellow fields on either side, and every now and again the coach shakes as another train rattles past.

I rarely take the chance to read whole books. On this five-day foray to England, I read two: The Portrait of Dorian Gray, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. They were both immensely gratifying. continue reading »

I had several reasons for not rushing out to read Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

1. The book was immensely popular. Occasionally, this is indicative of quality, as in the case of Freakonomics. More frequently, widespread popularity is indicative of terrible writing. Case in point: The Da Vinci Code; Harry Potter. continue reading »

I received Victoria Moore’s book “How to Drink” for my birthday (thanks Ann and Brian!). I thought it was intended to help me become better acclimated to Scottish beverage culture (i.e. binge drinking). If that’s the goal, however, the book approaches it much more subtly than I anticipated.

“How to Drink” is a collection of mini-rants, recipes, tips and anecdotes about all things drink-worthy. Moore makes the very reasonable point that while many of us have an understanding of gourmet food, we have little appreciation of what makes a good drink good. continue reading »