The Gunseller

By Hugh Laurie

I know Hugh Laurie from the television show House, where he plays a Sherlock Holmes inspired doctor who is driven to solve the case by any means necessary.  I acquired this book and thought it would be worth the read.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m glad I started reading it without any preconceived ideas.

The book’s main character is Thomas Lang, a retired army officer living in London.  He makes a living picking up odd jobs here and there, mostly involving security/bodyguard work.  Thomas is approached to perform a service as a hitman against a particular businessman, Alexander Woolf.  Refusing the job, he decides to track down the man who offered him the job, only to discover that it was Alexander Woolf himself.  This sets that stage for the unrolling of plot, told in the unconventional Laurie-style.  Woolf explains that he approached Thomas to find out if he was a good man, and that his interests lie in conspiracy to use a newly developed light helicopter to defuse an artificially created terrorist attack.  Soon Thomas finds himself being pursued, beaten, shot at, and involved with numerous unsavory characters.  Undercover, it’s up to him to help stop the terrorist attack.

I’m afraid it’s somewhat difficult to give this book the review it deserves.  I wasn’t blown away by the plot, characters, or the story itself.  I did, however, appreciate the writing style.  I think trying to write about an author’s style is difficult to do without giving particular examples.  The narrative was free flowing, and the descriptions were typically unusual.  This was a fairly enjoyable read, and I could definitely sense the Hugh Laurie influence behind it all.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: (too many to count)

Dr. Sleep

By Stephen King

            Recently I decided to read The Shining by Stephen King, exclusively for this reason.  Dr. Sleep is King’s follow up novel detailing what happened to Danny Torrance after the incidents at the Overlook hotel. 

            The novel begins with our reintroduction to young Danny Torrance.  After the disaster at the Overlook Hotel, Danny has remained friends with Dick Halloran who served as a counselor for using his shining ability.  We jump forward 20 years to a Dan Torrance who is battling his father’s demons.  Dan is living his life from bender to bender, all over the country.  He hits his bottom after a one night stand with a woman named Deenie in Wilmington, North Carolina (This part is too powerful and haunting to spoil).  Stealing her cash and hitting the road, Dan soon ends up in New Hampshire.  With the help of his new boss, he joins AA to deal with his demons.  While this is going on, we are introduced to a group of “vampires” which feed on people who have the “shine” like Dan.  The True Knot is lead by Rose the Hat.  The True Knot travel the country in RV’s, feeding off “steam” that they capture by torturing children with "the shine."  Each member of the True Knot has their own unique talent, which they exploit to capture their victims.  We are then introduced to Abra Stone, a girl with a powerful "shine".  In Abra’s childhood, she begins showing unique psychokinetic powers and supernatural abilities.  The family is unnerved by her abilities, and as Abra grows older she realizes she needs to keep a lid on these abilities.  At this point, Dan Torrance is working nearby in hospice care at the Helen Rivington house in New Hampshire.  At the Rivington house he uses the shining, now unhampered by alcohol, to ease patients into the hereafter.  One night, he is contacted by young Abra who has felt the dangerous presence of the True Knot.  As Abra gets older, she keeps occasional contact with Dan.  Years later, Abra contacts Dan for help in finding the “baseball boy,” a boy who had been kidnapped by the “True Knot.”  Abra’s investigation into “the baseball boy” exposes her to Rose the Hat.  Running short of steam, the “True Knot” is beginning to suffer various diseases, which makes Rose the Hat desperate to capture Abra. Soon, Abra is in serious danger when a group of the True Knot travels to New Hampshire.  It’s up to Dan and his friends to save Abra, and he’s going to need his “shine” to do it.  The climax ultimately leads Dan to a familiar, and terrifying location from his past.  Is his “shine” powerful enough to save Abra from the evil “True Knot?”

When I heard that Stephen King was writing a sequel to The Shining, I had mixed feelings.  Either Mr. King had some unfinished business with one of his characters, or he had run out of ideas.  Fortunately for fans of his work, the reason was the former.  I really should not have been surprised, since I believe that one of the greatest strengths of King’s work is his character development.  There was obviously a lot of gas left in the tank with Danny Torrance, and Mr. King has produced another phenomenal story with well-developed and interesting characters.  Even if you have not read “The Shining,” this book stands well on its own.  I would highly recommend it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Haunted or Damned by Chuck Palahniuk, Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett, The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie, Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, or Patriot Games by Tom Clancy.  I apologize to you, and myself for the severe backlog.

The Wolf Gift

by Anne Rice

I've heard good things about Anne Rice.  Her "Interview with a Vampire" is almost always held in high esteem.  Being a sucker for the fantasy genre and being especially enthralled with werewolf stories, I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to read this book.

Rice's writing style is best-described as very flowery.  It was easy to picture the settings and characters she described; she has amazing attention to detail and builds a strong setting with her prose.  Yet at no point did her descriptive details feel like overkill nor did they detract from the story.  I was immediately drawn into the world and the characters who were well-thought-out and believable.

The main action started off rather quickly and was, not surprisingly, a bit predictable.  Young Reuben is the protagonist of the story and the unwitting recipient of a bite from a werewolf.  The first few chapters after the bite proceed as one would expect in a story like this.  He discovers his new form.  Unlike many werewolf stories where the change is painful and the resulting form a curse, Reuben is completely at ease with his wolf side and sees his alternate form as a gift.  He maintains his sense of self but gains heightened abilities: like his ability sense evil and eliminate it.  Reuben's "Man Wolf" side almost becomes a superhero as he dispatches criminals.

I found this book to be an interesting take on the werewolf legend.  While some aspects of it were predictable, there was so much of the story that wasn't.  It was difficult to put down and I found myself up past my bedtime a few nights after saying to myself "just one more chapter. . ."  The characters were well-rounded and very easy to relate to which kept me reading on even when the plot unfolded into predictable points.

There were aspects of the story that seemed a bit tacked on.  Near the ending, especially, when the author slows down the pace to enlighten Reuben (and the readers) as to how this group of werewolves came to be.  While I found it interesting, it almost seemed unnecessary for the advancement of the story.  Perhaps it would have been better left to the second book in the series.  I am not sure.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next book in the series when it comes out in the fall.

I give it 4 out of 5.

On the Road

By Jack Kerouac

I can’t really pinpoint what possessed me to read this book, other than knowing the title from an Our Lady Peace song and having a vague understanding that it is a (classic?) book which exemplifies the “beat” culture.  Regardless, I happened to have an electronic copy and I set out to read it on my Kindle.

The main character is Sal Paradise, and the time period is the late 40’s to early 50’s.  I think the best way to summarize this book is not to divulge the major plot points and discuss what happened first and second and so on.  Rather, this book is written in such a way as you might hear a friend tell you a story of their travels.  Its merit is in the free flowing dialogue extracting a multitude of detail from every scene, and giving you a lens to observe the culture and habits of an adolescent “beat” in the late 40’s.  Sal describes hitchhiking back and forth across the country to spend time with his friends.  At first glance it is easy to say that this is a simpler time, but the story notes many of the same things we struggle with today.  Some of these key ideas include race, sexuality, drugs/alcohol, money, and responsibility.  Race is addressed frequently, and despite being before the civil rights movement I would gather that many “beats” got along with African Americans.  (This is exemplified in the Jazz bars and various interactions with black characters in the book).  Homosexuality is mentioned in the book, identifying characters as “fags.”  Out of context, this might seem overly cruel, but further dissection shows that the characters had little malice towards sexual orientation.  The label intended as much hatred as the designation “colored” did in the 60’s and 70’s.  Sal and his friends spend much of the novel getting drunk or trying to acquire “tea.”  I must admit I didn’t get the tea-marijuana connection until late in the book.  We often think of the late 60’s as the drug explosion, and typically view the 40’s and 50’s as a very innocent time.  I think this is typical that every generation thinks that they are so much worse than the previous, but many times the same activities are taking place and just not mentioned for fear of judgment.  It was somewhat eye opening to think of a group of 20 year olds getting high and drunk frequently in the 40’s.  One of Sal’s good friends, Dean Moriarty, is also quite a lecherous individual.  The boys are frequently trying to “make” girls, but Dean takes it a step further when he ultimately ends up married three times and divorced twice, a deed which had to be done in Mexico.

This book was quite different from what I usually read, and I am definitely glad that I made the effort to finish it.  I say “made the effort to finish it” because it didn’t grab me enough to make me long for extensive reading sessions.  I was able to appreciate this book for what it is, but overall I felt it was a somewhat directionless rambling of a story.  I think this was kind of the point of the story, but I found it hard to really devote myself to the non-cohesive narrative.  I’m torn on whether to recommend reading this book or not.  I’d never tell anyone that they absolutely must read it and would never over-state its entertainment value.  But taking it at face value, it was worth the read for the insight it provided.  Check out Wikipedia, or maybe a review better than mine and make your own decision.  It really is all about what you are looking for.

Rating: Undecided

Up Next:  Damned or Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, Dr. Sleep by Stephen King, or Xenocide by Orson Scott Card

Mystic River

By Dennis Lehane

            As I continue to read more and more, I’m trying to break some of the silly rules I have made for myself.  Some of these rules involve reading all the books in a series straight through, always read the book before watching the movie, only read one book at a time, etc.  Having already seen the movie Mystic River starring Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, and Sean Penn, this was my opportunity to read the book after the movie.

            The novel begins in Boston with three young friends: Jimmy, Sean, and Dave.  The boys are typical rambunctious youths, betting against their own mortality and freewheeling.  One day, Dave is abducted by child molesters and goes missing for several days.  Upon his return, his parents throw him a party and everyone seems to gloss over what he’s been through.  Fast forward to the future, all three boys are grown and still living in Boston.  Jimmy has done time in prison, has a teenage daughter (Katie) and is a widower.  He seems to have gotten his life back on track.  Soon, his daughter’s body is discovered in the park, the victim of a brutal murder.  His former friend Sean is one of the lead detectives on the case, and Dave becomes the primary suspect.  The night of the murder, Dave was involved in an altercation, and his wife has helped him dispose of his bloody clothes.  Despite their mutual trust, Dave’s wife begins to suspect that he may have been involved in Katie’s murder.  In a thrilling story, we dive into Sean’s past, and spend some time inside Dave’s head examining the lasting scars from his abduction.  This novel is intense, and you’ll be left wondering who did it until the end.

I must say that seeing the movie first definitely altered my perception of this book.  Knowing the outcome of the case, I didn’t fully appreciate some of the twists and turns.  However, the book was also able to get into Dave’s head to make you better understand him as a victim.  The dialogue was also brilliant, and I laughed a number of times at how intelligent Dave was when he was interrogated about the murder.  I love Dennis Lehane’s work, and I would strongly suggest you check this book out.  It won’t be spoiled even if you have seen the movie already.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next:  Damned or Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk, Dr. Sleep by Stephen King, Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, or On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

            

Heart-Shaped Box

By Joe Hill

            For my second book written by Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, I decided on Heart-Shaped Box.  Like his father, it is clear that Joe Hill appreciates music, and there is an obvious connection to music throughout the book.  One obvious connection is the fact that the main character is fictional rocker Judas Coyne.

            Judas Coyne is a hardcore rock star like Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper or Rob Zombie.  Six feet tall, large and with a bushy black beard; Jude lives with his girlfriend “Georgia” and his two dogs: Bon and Angus.  Jude discovers an online auction where a woman is selling her stepfather’s suit, and his soul.  He decides this would be perfect for his collection of macabre tokens, and he immediately buys the suit.  When the suit arrives, however, he realizes that he has purchased more than he has bargained for.  Georgia pricks herself on a pin in the suit, and Jude soon begins seeing the ghost of the former owner inside his home.  His worries about seeing the ghost of Craddock (the old man), persuades Jude to call the seller.  Jude discovers that Craddock was the stepfather of his former girlfriend, Florida.  Her sister, the seller of the suit, laughs at his misfortune.  While Georgia’s hand becomes more infected, and Jude sees Craddock more and more often, the two also start behaving strangely.  After several malicious attacks on himself and Georgia, Jude realizes how much control Craddock has over him.  Georgia and Jude hit the road with their animal protectors, Bon and Angus, and try to escape the danger presented by Craddock.  Jude is forced to deal with his past, and discovers that Craddock’s motivation is based on revenge for his dead stepdaughter.  The story unfolds to detail Jude’s relationship with “Florida” and their relationship which ended in her suicide.  Jude is also forced to reconcile with details from his childhood, including the relationship with his father.  Craddock pursues them relentlessly and the reader is held at the edge of their seat wondering who is going to make it out alive.  The tension is profound, as we wonder if Craddock is right.  Will the “dead bring down the dead?”

            It’s hard not to compare Joe Hill to his father.  Being a huge fan, I think this is a good thing.  Hill’s suspenseful writing, and his descriptions of pain and or violence are palpable.  He pulls you into the story with relatable characters, and creates terrifying scenarios that makes you wonder how they are going to get out of it.  Aside from the supernatural elements, Hill also creates a compelling and believable story for the motivation of all characters involved.  The story progresses to reveal important details about Jude’s childhood and delves further into Florida’s psyche, which only strengthens the narrative.  I look forward to the opportunity to continue to read more by Joe Hill, and would recommend you do the same.  As a side note:  Joe Hill’s writing obviously continues to improve, as I enjoyed NOS4A2 much more than this book.  I am eager to see what he will write in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Haunted or Damned by Chuck Palahniuk, Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, or Dr. Sleep by Stephen King.

Survivor

By Chuck Palahniuk

I heard an interview with Chuck Palahniuk and decided that he sounded like an author I’d like to try out.  Mostly because of the way he discussed his writing and motivation, as well as his openness and his unique past.  Having not read Fight Club (but did see the movie) I decided to take a gamble on three books that I found at a used book store.  These include Survivor, Haunted, and Damned.

The book begins with Tender Branson on a plane destined to crash while he dictates his story to the flight recorder.  As the fuel gauge counts down towards the end of the story, Tender wants to tell all.  Tender is a survivor of the Creedish Death Cult, a cult based in Nebraska.  The church focuses on training followers in etiquette, and manual labor.  Being the second born of a Creedish family, Tender is sent away from the (“homeland”) to serve the church in the outside world.  Creedish Cult members were trained to work unskilled jobs as a means to provide money to the church and their families.  Tender works as a housekeeper for a rather odd and demanding couple.  His job primarily consists of answering phone calls in regards to etiquette, and sporadic inquiries about what work he is doing around the house.  Due to a newspaper misprint, he also begins receiving phone calls from people contemplating suicide.  He advises callers to go through with it, even offering advice.  “try barbiturates and alcohol with your head inside a dry cleaning bag.”  This is how he meets Fertility, the sister of one of his suicide hotline callers.  He meets Fertility while visiting Trevor’s (her brother) tomb, and the two soon begin a friendship.

Typical to most cults, they ultimately commit mass suicide, partially induced by an FBI raid of their farm.  Continuing to obey church doctrine, the remaining outside members seem to be killing themselves.  Tender discovers that these are actually murders perpetrated by his twin brother Adam.  Tender is soon believed to be the lone survivor, and is thrust into the spotlight.  He becomes a popular religious figurehead, a process which requires both a physical and historical makeover.  He begins working out, using steroids and other pharmaceuticals (such as thyroid medication to stay thin), having various aesthetic surgeries, and his entire backstory is rewritten.  He becomes very commercialized and famous, but like most celebrities his fame begins to wane.  The public demands more and more from him, requesting a number of miracles.  Along the way Tender can feel his brother breathing down his neck.  Following a chaotic event at the Superbowl; Tender, Adam and Fertility are on the run.  This family reunion forces Tender to confront some of the horrific events that occurred on the Creedish farm.  As the plane slowly runs out of gas, Tender delves further and further into details about the cult.  The engines are flaming out, and we wonder if Tender will be able to get out alive like Fertility predicted.

            The most interesting thing about this book would have to be the style of the writing.  All dialogue from the main character is inferred, and he often trails off about how to clean, remove stains, or fix things in extensive detail.  The narrative is punctuated with details of how to clean particular areas and remove troublesome stains.  This creates a very unique kind of dialogue with the reader, as he diverts from the storyline into random asides.  Such as: “Just ask me how to get bloodstains out of a fur coat…The secret is cornmeal and brushing the fur the wrong way.  The tricky part is keeping your mouth shut.”  And “Ask me how to repair stab holes in nightgowns, tuxedos, and hats.  My secret is a little clear nail polish on the inside of the puncture.”  The author’s detail about cleaning techniques, pharmaceuticals/steroids shows that he has extensively researched these details to add to the story.  I respect this attention to detail, and felt it added to the story.  This novel was really interesting, and very different from the style of book I usually read.  I would definitely recommend it, as it was a quick read and a good change of pace from what I was reading at the time.  I look forward to reading more by Chuck Palahniuk.  If you decide to read this book, make sure you check out the author’s website for his own interpretation of the semi open-ended ending.  It wasn’t what I thought while reading the book, and I felt that it was a great explanation.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

Al Capone Does My Shirts

by Gennifer Choldenko

        As a teacher, I am constantly looking for respectable, engaging, and educational books to recommend to my students. I try to set an example for them by reading constantly, I do this not just for myself, but also so I can become more knowledgeable about the books that are currently on the shelves within their reading levels. When it came time to plan a novel study, I had to quickly choose a reputable book to read with my class and I chose this Newbery Honor book. I was thrilled with my decision.
      This young adult book is a historical fiction that takes place on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, California in the year 1935. The main character, Matthew Flanagan (Moose), is a 12 year old boy whose father works as an electrician and guard on the island. His family recently moved there for his father's position and for a chance to get Moose's sister Natalie, into a prestigious school for children with disabilities.  Moose has a hard time adjusting to the island and misses his friends back in Santa Monica. He quickly begins to meet other children that live on the island, including the warden's daughter, Piper. Moose soon learns that Piper is always scheming to try and make money or try to meet the infamous Al Capone. Moose not only has to try to stay away from Piper's plots, but try to make friends, and constantly be caretaker for Natalie when his parents are working. This would be hard for any child, but living on Alcatraz has its own set of issues. When Piper comes up with a plan to get kids at school to give her their dirty laundry "to be washed by notorious gangsters Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly", Piper tries desperately to get Moose to help her.  
     This book was a fast and entertaining read from the beginning. The wealth of history and knowledge that the author has included about Alcatraz is amazing. She stays true to the time period throughout the book and includes details from her research of actually being on the island herself. She explains the layout of the island, famous convicts that would be prisoners at the time, and inside knowledge about what the guards families saw day in and day out. It was very impressive to read such an in-depth history of Alcatraz, in a very articulate manner. I also loved the easy way my students could make connections with the characters. Despite the time period, my students could easily connect with Moose's dilemmas, emotions, and conversations with peers. One of Moose's biggest relationships is the one with his sister Natalie. In modern day, Natalie would have most likely been diagnosed with autism, given her behaviors and lack of communication. Staying true to the time period, the author never called it autism in the book since it was not diagnosed until 1943. Learning that the author had a sister with autism, this made me understand why the author was so adept at describing the difficulties that the family had dealing with his sister's disorder. Their emotions can easily be felt by the reader. The only critique I would give this book is that some of the content is uncomfortable to explain as it comes from the eyes of a 12 year old boy. Many of these descriptions elicited a quiet giggle from a few students. Otherwise, it was not a big issue at all. Despite this critique I would not hesitate to read this book again to students.
      All of my students are able to comprehend the book and it leads to wonderful discussions as we read. I took two days to teach my students about Alcatraz Island, Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, the prison, the Great Depression, and autism before we read the book. This was beneficial and I would teach it the exact same way again. I will continue to recommend this book to my future students and teachers. Even if you are an adult you will easily enjoy this book.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Up Next: Devil in the White City by Erik Larson  

Speaker for the Dead

By Orson Scott Card

            In the second book of the Ender series, Ender has been traveling for ~20 years and Ender has journeyed far into the depths of space.  Due to his near light speed travel (time is slower when you move faster – see Einstein), 3000 years have passed on Earth since he wiped out the buggers.  Ender’s sister Valentine is traveling with him, and Ender is trying to absolve himself of his wrongdoings by searching for a home for the Hive Queen, the last of the Buggers from the first book.  Ender’s writing has also spawned a religion of sorts, and Ender is the equivalent of their priest: A speaker for the dead.  Soon, Ender is called to speak at a funeral on the planet Lusitania. 

            The colony of Lusitania is very unique to other colonized planets.  Most notably are the pequeninos (piggies), a native species which are being extensively studied by the humans that have colonized the planet.  The xenologers (those who study aliens) follow a code to not interfere with the piggies, not transfer knowledge, and basically just observe with minimal interference.  Upon initial colonization of Lusitania, it was discovered that the planet harbored a devastating virus.  Novinha’s parents (Gusta and Cida) ultimately discovered a treatment for the descoldada virus, and have become saints to the people of Lusitania.  Unfortunately this cure did not come soon enough to save themselves.  Novinha, now an orphan, follows in her parents footsteps and begins her studies at a young age with father and son xenologers, Pipo and Libo.  Pipo is eventually murdered by the piggies, and Novinha decides to hide the bulk of her research because she is afraid that her discoveries could lead to the death of others that she cares about.  She marries a monster named Marcão and has a number of children.  Years later Marcão dies, and this is the man Ender is called to “speak” for the dead.  This is a continuation from the end of Ender’s game where he has essentially established a new religion. By “speaking for the dead” he is able to convey why people lived the way they did.  It is a form of atonement for the dead, and allows the family to come to terms with the death of their loved one.  Ender bonds with the family and begins preparing to speak on Marcão’s death.  Ender discovers many secrets Novinha has hidden, and shakes the foundation of Novinha’s family.  While on Lusitania, Ender is also trying to learn about the piggies.  With Ender’s help, the people of Lusitania face a number of ethical questions about their behavior with the piggies.  Ultimately, they must make a difficult decision about living with the piggies, or face the judgement of the Starways Congress.

            From what I have read about the Ender’s Game series, Ender’s Game was written to establish a character for the subsequent books.  I must say that aside from the connections overtly established in the book, I felt that Ender could have been any character.  I noticed and felt little connection to the character which I had become so familiar with in both Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow.  While this would not be an issue in most cases, because the previous books were written to give a backstory to the main character, the connection between the characters should be well established.  (Note: after reading Xenocide, Ender’s background is much more important for the plotline.  The books begin to deal with the relationships between species, and the ethical considerations.  I’ll speak on this later in my review of Xenocide).  While this book was enjoyable, I felt that it was somewhat unfortunate that it could have been a brand new character instead of our familiar Ender.  Overall, I felt this was a significant drop off in quality from Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow.  This wasn’t a terrible read, but I’m starting to think that you can just read Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow and be fulfilled.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine.

By Paul A. Offit

            Dr. Offit has received a great deal of attention for his books, especially those concerned with vaccines and their potential link to autism.  He certainly has an excellent pedigree (Professor of Vaccinology, Pediatrics, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Director of the Vaccine Education Center, member of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to name a few) and has shared his vast knowledge in this book.  This book examines all forms of alternative medicine from chiropractic care, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, to homeopathic treatment. 

One of the first points that Offit makes is that there really is no such thing as alternative medicine.  Webster’s dictionary defines “medicine” as a substance that is used in treating disease or relieving pain.  Simply put, a substance either does or does not achieve this goal.  Offit shares several stories of people who opted for alternative treatments, when traditional medicine would have offered a greater chance of survival.  At seven years of age, Joey Hofbauer was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, a cancer of the lymph glands.  Instead of opting for traditional treatment involving chemotherapy, Joey’s parents opted to treat his cancer with Laetrile, and a specialized diet consisting of raw milk, coffee enemas, an “autogenous vaccine” (made from bacteria in his own urine), and massive doses of vitamins.  This controversial treatment almost immediately cast Joey’s family into the spotlight scrutinizing how Joey should be treated.  Initially, Joey had one swollen lymph gland.  After 6 months of unconventional treatment, he had 17 and liver damage from overdosing on vitamin A.  In July of 1980, with lungs riddled with tumors, Joey succumbed to the cancer.  During this three year legal battle, these controversial treatments were studied for efficacy, not a one proved to be an effective treatment for cancer.

Question:  Are vitamins good for you?  What about antioxidants?  Unfortunately the answer might not be as simple as we’d like it to be.  The “antioxidant paradox” is a term coined by researchers who have theorized that massive doses of antioxidants can shift the balance between free radical production and destruction, resulting in an unnatural state which causes the immune system to be deficient in killing harmful invaders.  He also cites several studies which have examined the effect of vitamins on health.  A study of 29,000 long-term smoking Finnish men who took vitamin E, and/or beta-carotene (or the control group with no supplementation) indicated that those taking the supplements were MORE likely to die from lung cancer or heart disease than those who did not.  Men who take a multivitamin were twice as likely to die from advanced prostate cancer, according to a study of 11,000 men by the National Cancer Institute.  More examples are cited, but I think the point is clear.

           

            Overall, this book identifies some crucial questions that must be examined as we think about how we treat diseases, and more importantly how we treat the people.  The placebo effect works, as indicated by numerous studies, but when is it appropriate?  Endorphins released due to acupuncture can help with pain, but acupuncture will do nothing for cancer.  In fact, Chinese medicine was developed by “physicians” who were not allowed to dissect the human body.  Their foundation for healing is based on an application of observable outside events to the human body.  The twelve meridians of the body were chosen for the 12 great rivers in China, and the number of acupuncture points (~360) was determined by the number of days in the year.  The key really is that we need to test “alternative medicine” in the same way that we test traditional medicine.  “There is no such thing as alternative medicine, but rather medicine that works and medicine that doesn’t.”  Alternative medicine has dodged testing thus far by painting the FDA and pharmaceutical companies as the bad guy.  This has nothing to do with cutting into a pharmaceutical company’s profits, and more to do with the safety of product.  Drugs require rigorous testing to assure there are no potentially dangerous degradation products, solvents, or dangerous metals and adulterants present.  These natural treatments should not only require testing to prove efficacy, but also to assure they meet the rigorous standards that are required in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Beware of the celebrity endorsements, just because they have the spotlight doesn’t mean that they know what’s best for us.  Jenny McCarthy doesn’t know shit about vaccines, Steve Jobs might still be alive if he treated his cancer with surgery instead of acupuncture and herbal remedies, Suzanne Somers was a ditzy television star – not a medical doctor.  She understands little about medicine, encouraging growth hormone and estrogen therapy for her followers.  Apparently because she is supplementing with “natural bioidentical hormones” from plants, we don’t need to be concerned about the numerous studies the NIH has conducted linking estrogen therapy with an increase in breast cancer.  Certainly plants (often used in herbal/holistic remedies) contain chemicals which can be used to treat diseases.  There is a whole branch of chemistry based on the synthesis of compounds found in plants (I used to be involved in natural product synthesis).  Yet, after synthesizing, these compounds require years of testing by the FDA, which can cost millions of dollars.  So why should we assume that plants containing chemicals in holistic treatments should be excluded from testing?  There’s a reason we test therapies like we do, to assure that they work. 

We can’t deny the comfort that many find in the world of alternative medicine.  Modern medicine is in a state of flux because of increased information, which can be unnerving.  Nobody wants to hear that their disease is so new, that we have no sure way of treating it and must make our best guess.  Alternative medicine offers a degree of comfort that modern medicine cannot; this therapy has been the same for 5,000 years.  The placebo effect can be powerful in cases where treatment is not crucial.  I can’t offer a better summary than the author did, so I will include it here:

The problem comes when mainstream healers dismiss the placebo response as trivial or when alternative healers offer placebos instead of lifesaving medicines or charge an exorbitant price for their remedies or promote therapies as harmless when they’re not or encourage magical thinking and scientific denialism at a time when we can least afford it.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: any of 3 Chuck Palahniuk books, 2 Orson Scott Card books (speaker for the dead and Xenocide), or Mystic River.  Also, I got a Kindle for Christmas and have a ton of books on it to read.  I have a feeling my life will never be the same.

Ender's Shadow

By Orson Scott Card

            Ender’s Shadow is a companion novel to Ender’s Game which is told from the perspective of one of the other students in Battle school.  I had a tough time deciding which book I wanted to read after Ender’s Game, and after some contemplation I went with Ender’s Shadow.  (There are over 7 books in the series, covering the period of time before the bugger war, during ender’s time as a launchie, and many books in the aftermath). 

            The main character is Bean, a tough little orphan from the streets of Rotterdam.  Among the orphans living on the street, some of the bullies are forming “families” to curry favor at the soup kitchens.  This idea was thought up by Bean, and his family is being run by Achilles.  Achilles is a tough cripple with a big chip on his shoulder.  He is wary of Bean, and makes it obvious that he will do whatever it takes to be in charge.  Bean plays dumb to avoid the eye of Achilles, but ends up being noticed by Sister Carlotta.  Sister Carlotta is working for the IF, and she has been testing orphans for years to see if they have what it takes to be placed in battle school.  Bean’s talents are noticed immediately, despite his best efforts to hide his intellect, and he soon finds himself in battle school.  Bean’s aptitude puts him in contention with Ender for Commander.  Similar to Ender, he is rigorously challenged and also excels in his studies.  Bean also pushes back against the IF, and does a lot more spying to discover the inner workings of battle school.  Bean finds himself in Ender’s army and becomes a very reliable teammate, in and outside of battles.  In addition to Enders storyline, Bean and Sister Carlotta are actively searching for where Bean came from and the mystery of his intelligence.

            I’m very glad that I decided to read this book in the order that I did.  Since all the activities of Ender’s Game were fresh in my mind, it was great to read the same story from a different perspective.  The reader gets a behind the scenes view of the competition between Bean and Ender, and how the Commander’s in battle school struggled with the decision of who is the best.  Some of the events from Ender’s Game are also reexamined, which gives us a more in depth view of what was going on.  By the end of the book, Bean was definitely a memorable and well developed character.  I would definitely check this book out if you enjoyed Ender’s Game.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game

By Orson Scott Card

            Ender’s Game is a sci-fi story that takes place in the future, 70 years after an alien invasion nearly wiped out all of civilization.  Things are rather bleak in the world, and another invasion by the “buggers” is imminent.  The IF, or International Fleet, is monitoring and searching for children who will make the perfect leader for the next bugger attack.  Ender Wiggin might just be that person, but the road to success will not be easy.

            Ender is a “third,” or the third child born to his parents.  The government has instituted a policy that restricts the number of children a family can have.  Ender’s siblings, Peter and Valentine, showed great promise in the IF initial testing, but were not accepted into command school for being too aggressive or passive, respectively.  The IF encouraged Ender’s parents to have Ender in hopes that he would be the ideal combination of attributes that they were looking for.  After they have finished their preliminary testing, Ender is admitted into the program and they immediately have high expectations for him.  Ender’s abilities, as well as overt favoritism (exhibited through promotion and academic success) paint a bullseye on him for all the other students.  He is continually tested, both mentally and for his capability as a leader for battle.  He is constantly being pushed, and given challenges of increasing difficulty.  Ender’s drive to overcome all odds, no matter what the cost, make him the ideal leader and take a heavy toll on his psyche.  Each chapter leaves the reader wanting more, as we gain momentum through this novel; will Ender be the leader that Earth is looking for, and can he do what is deemed necessary to defeat the buggers?  And most importantly, will Ender survive both his classmates and the mental strain?

On Earth, Ender’s siblings are also making waves in the political arena.  Intelligent, but rejected from battle school, Valentine and Peter have invented personalities with which they are writing essays designed to stir the pot.  With opposing viewpoints and maintaining anonymity, Demosthenes and Locke (Valentine and Peter), are slowly creating a following.   The whole world is in turmoil, and the Bugger War might be the catalyst which induces worldwide revolution.  If Peter has his way, he will be at the center of it.

            I really enjoyed this book and thought that the author did a good job developing Ender’s character and creating an interesting and relatable story.  The pressure he is put under is palpable and unrelenting.  As a reader, you can’t help but sympathize with Ender who is being placed under a ton of pressure for a young child.  I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in Science Fiction/space themed books.  Despite what I have read previously with Card, and omitting recent media attention to Card, I am impressed.  Check it out. 

            A brief note about the movie:  I really enjoyed the movie, but like most book people I thought that the book was much better.  The movie omitted much of the importance of Ender’s brother and sister, as well as downplaying the pressure Ender was under.  My prediction is that this movie will not continue into the series that Lionsgate wanted, but it could make for an interesting television series following the movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Coma

By Robin Cook

            I picked this up at a book sale a while ago and hadn’t had a chance to read it until now.  This book piqued my interest at the sale because it is written by a doctor.  I often have a tough time with authors who overextend themselves in their writing.  Who better to write a book about medical procedures than a doctor? 

The story is centered around third year medical student Susan Wheeler.  She has just finished up with the formal learning, and today is her first day at Boston Memorial Hospital.  Her pretty face makes her a fast favorite with her assigned mentor, Mark Bellows, and she is quickly given additional responsibilities.  She is assigned to start an IV on a patient, who later lapses into a coma as an unfortunate result of this routine procedure.  Susan begins to notice a pattern of high incidence of comas affecting patients of the hospital.  She dives straight into this perceived problem, much to the chagrin of Dr. Bellows, which makes many waves with the faculty.  Susan is convinced of an underlying conspiracy, or a new medical condition.  She pursues this idea with reckless abandon, and steps on the toes of the faculty by blaming them for the coma epidemic .  She is surprisingly rebellious, missing lectures and throwing herself head first into the potential new discovery.  Susan begins to get push back from the faculty, and it seems like there is definitely something going on at Boston Memorial.  Soon she begins to be paranoid that she is being followed, and that there is a large conspiracy at work at the hospital.  Susan relentlessly pursues the truth, as she finds that this may be more than she bargained for.

The suspense of the novel was tangible, and I thought the pacing was appropriate.  However, I found it very hard to swallow how insubordinate Susan was in her pursuit of “the truth” in regards to these mysterious comas.  The book starts on Susan’s first day, not long after she gets her first hands on experience, she is bailing on lectures and rounds.  For some reason she thinks this behavior is admirable, and rebuffs anyone who tries to get her back on track.  She lies, and obtains information on patients under false pretenses.  For someone who badly wants to be a doctor, it’s hard to believe that anyone would see this as anything less than inappropriate behavior.  This book was enjoyable, and I appreciated the sound medical content (as far as I can tell).  The ideas were scientifically feasible, if not unlikely.  Overall it made for an entertaining and smart read.  I would recommend this book, but stay away from the TV series/movie they made last year.  I watched the first half of it on Netflix and it’s pretty terrible.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

NOS4A2

By Joe Hill

Taking the pseudonym Joe Hill was no doubt a two pronged strategy: Establish your own reputation and don’t get pigeonholed into a particular genre.  If there ever was a secret, the reader need only to look at the picture gracing the back cover of the book to know the truth.  Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son.  Joe Hill has actually been writing for a bit longer than I thought, and he has been responsible for several graphic novels.  Joe delivers here what he has referred to as his "senior PhD thesis on horror.”  I must say that his background in graphic novels was palpable when reading this book.  I was very impressed that he was able to convey such intense visualizations to the reader, through the use of words rather than graphical representation.  Combining this talent with a writing style that is impossible not to compare to his father’s, this book was an enjoyable read.  In King-like fashion, he even makes several nods to characters/locations in novels by his father.

            This story centers on Victoria McQueen, or to her father, “the Brat.”  Vic has the ability to traverse space via her Raleigh Tuff Burner Bike and the “shorterway bridge.”  This travel is accomplished by what is known as “the inscape.”  When Vic is young, she uses this talent without thinking to find her mom’s jewelry or a neighbor’s cat.  As she grows older, she doubts the ability of the shorterway bridge and starts to believe the stories she told herself to rationalize her travels.  The antagonist of the novel is Charlie Manx, an evil man who also has the ability to traverse the inscape by means of his own vehicle.  Manx kidnaps children and takes them for a ride in his 1938 Rolls Royce wraith.  The children are lead to believe that they are being taken to Christmasland, a wonderful place where everything is as joyful as Christmas morning.  However, traveling with Manx comes with a heavy price, and Christmasland is not at all what it seems. 

            Charlie Manx exploits simple-minded chemical plant worker, Bing, to help him anaesthetize the children that he kidnaps with gingerbread scented Sevoflurane gas.  Eventually Vic crosses paths with Charlie Manx and narrowly escapes being kidnapped.  Her hero, Lou Carmody, picks up Vic as she flees from Manx.  Manx is captured, and we jump several years ahead to learn that Vic and Lou now have a son, Wayne.  Manx manages to escape from custody and goes after Wayne.  Vic must remember how to navigate her inscape, and accept help from old friends if she is going to defeat Manx and his minion, Bing.

            This was a very enjoyable story that was a “pedal to the metal” type of tale.  The pace quickens as the book progresses, and the author’s talents help to drive the story to a tense and satisfying conclusion.  The author certainly has a real talent for description and character development, much like his father.  What I found to be most impressive was his ability to describe scenes and violence in a way that was very easy to visualize.  I would attribute this to his prior experience in the realm of graphic novels.  It is very hard not to compare Hill’s writing to that of his father, but fortunately for Hill this book can hold a candle to the best of his father’s work.  It seems to some extent talent is genetic, and I personally will not be so worried when my wife reminds me that, “Stephen King isn’t going to write forever.”  Check out this book, as well as his future work.  I know I will.

Rating 4.25 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Coma by Robin Cook

The Lost Symbol

by Dan Brown

          In this third book we again follow protagonist Robert Langdon on another academic adventure, this time in Washington D.C.  The book begins with readers looking into an ancient ritual as a man becomes a part of the brotherhood of the Masons.  As this chapter unfolds it becomes clear that this man is lying in order to go through this ritual and his intentions are misleading.  This chapter serves as the reader's first introduction to the subject of the Order of the Masons and it continues to be an instrumental subject as the book continues.
         When readers meet up with Langdon, he has been called by his longtime friend and mentor Peter Soloman to fill in as a keynote speaker at a gala in Washington D.C.  When Langdon arrives, he is confused to find that there is no gala.  When he calls Peter's office to inquire about the mix-up, he finds out that he has been lured to Washington on false pretenses.  The man on the phone pretended to be Peter before and also explains that Langdon is here is because he orchestrated him to be.  He also says that he has kidnapped Peter, and will release him after Langdon has solved a series of puzzles having to do with the Freemasons.  Right after Langdon hangs up with this mysterious man, the screams of a young boy have him running into the rotunda.  In the middle of the floor he discovers a severed hand.  Recognizing the Masons ring on the hand reveals that it is the severed hand of his old friend Peter.  This is all the proof that Robert needs to understand that the voice on the phone has truly kidnapped Peter and that he needs to solve the puzzles of The Masonic Pyramid in order to save him.
         Meanwhile across the city, Peter's sister Katherine is waiting for her brother at the laboratory in one of the Smithsonian buildings.  Katherine is a Noetic Scientist and her research of the mind and intellect has recently had a breakthrough that could change the world and world's view of everything including the afterlife.  Katherine doesn't realize that her brother is in danger, and his kidnapper is soon coming to destroy her and her research.
        As I continue to read Dan Brown's books one of the things I appreciate the most about him is his ability to create such a cruel and hated villain.  The way he develops these evil characters makes the book even more thrilling and interesting.  They always have such a great back story and are so vastly different.  While Dan Brown's books have an obvious commonality, (i.e. Professor Langdon helping solve academic and historical mysteries), you can count on his antagonists being completely different in each of these books.  I also love how these fictional books are created around factual places, buildings, and events.  Readers are given an adventurous tour of whatever city the setting is, and given a history lesson as well around the symbols and rituals of the a historical group, such as the Masons.
       This particular book was probably my least favorite of his books so far due to some information and some really unlikely parts to it, although I found it worth reading all the same.  It kept my interest and I still enjoyed reading it for the educational facts and intriguing fictional events.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Up Next: Al Capone Does My Shirts (Young Adult) by Gennifer Choldenko

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Angels and Demons

by Dan Brown

        After reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code I was thrilled to learn that he had turned it into a series featuring the main character Robert Langdon in each of them. I am always skeptical about sequels - I have been let down by them many times before. However, Angels and Demons, in my opinion, surpassed The Da Vinci Code in thrills, puzzles, adventures, and character development.
        In the middle of the night, Robert Langdon is summoned to Swiss research facility (CERN) where a murder has just taken place.  The body of the murdered physicist, Leonardo Vetra, has been branded in his chest with a cryptic symbol.  He and his daughter Victoria Vetra had been working on a scientific breakthrough.  Not only has this prominent physicist been murdered, but his protected laboratory has been broken into and an essential piece of his research is missing.  This piece of their research is called "antimatter" and can hold wonderful new insights into scientific research.  Or it could be used as a weapon of mass destruction, since it acts like a bomb when it is not in a stable environment.  Given some evidence at the crime scene, it is thought that the ancient underground brotherhood, the Illuminati, are behind the murder and the stolen antimatter.  Throughout history the Illuminati were known to be enemies of the Catholic Church.  While the evidence leans towards the Illuminati as the perpetrator, Langdon is not convinced as there has been no attack against the church.  However, on the eve of holy conclave a representative of the Illuminati says the antimatter is hidden somewhere in the Vatican and will explode once its battery source runs out.  Langdon immediately fears for the lives of the cardinals that are involved in holy conclave.  Langdon flies to Rome in order to join Victoria Vetra in the search for the father's killer and to help save the Vatican. This amazing chase for the truth unearths many facts about history, dozens of puzzles, and pages of fast paced adventure.
        This book was a fantastic sequel to the Da Vinci Code - in fact I liked it even better.  The thrills in this book never stopped and the way it intertwined with history was fascinating.  Dan Brown again makes the landscape in Rome so real that I felt I was back there traveling.  I was lucky enough to read the Special Collectors Edition that shows the buildings, art, and objects of history he is describing in the book.  If you can, I would recommend this version as it was truly a great way to immerse yourself in this book.  My only criticism of this book involved the overly drawn out ending.  I would have been satisfied had it ended 50 pages earlier, but it did not severely alter my opinion of this book.  I could not put this book down!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Up Next: The Lost Symbol
   

Micro

By Michael Crichton and Richard Preston

            Micro is Michael Crichton’s final novel, due to his unfortunate death from throat cancer in 2008.  This is the second posthumous novel released, and was actually only about 1/3 completed at the time of his death.  Richard Preston was selected to complete the novel based on Crichton’s extensive notes and research.

             The novel begins by introducing us to a group of graduate students in various areas of study.  Their studies include venomology, toxicology, and arachnology. Nanigen industries visits the group while they toil in obscurity in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  One of the Nanigen recruiters also happens to be the brother of Peter, one of the graduate students.  The lure of industry is too much for the lowly graduate students, and they decide to go check out the Nanigen facility.  The day before the students are set to travel to interview at Nanigen, Peter gets a phone call that his brother has been killed in a boating accident. 

            The cadre of grad students head to Hawaii to visit the Nanigen labs.  They learn that Nanigen is using unique and innovative technology to mine the environment in search of novel compounds for medicinal use.  Their trip soon takes a turn for the worse as they realize what a narcissistic maniac the President, Vin Drake, is.  Peter believes that Vin is responsible for his brother’s death, and soon all the graduate students have a much bigger (pun intended) problem to deal with.  Subjected to the company’s technology, the students must use their particular area of expertise to survive the wilderness in a way that they never thought they would have to experience. 

            Like many times when an artist dies, their fans are left wanting more.  When musicians die, we are treated to previously unreleased tracks or live recordings.  Typically these works of art require some touching up or interpretation, but in order to be released they need to be mostly completed.  I would equate this book to not just remastering some rough tracks to complete a song, but rather redubbing guitar solos, rerecording imperfect vocals with an impersonator, and even rewriting the chorus.  It’s as if your favorite artist wrote three to five lines of a song and the rest was completed by someone else.  This is not a knock on Richard Preston, but I couldn’t help but think of Crichton like Terry Kiser in Weekend at Bernie’s.  The change in authorship was palpable, and it just didn’t really seem like a typical Crichton novel. All the familiar Crichton themes (opposition of morality and science, fear about progressing technology etc) were present, but the remainder of the book lacked the significant and sound scientific thought that Crichton’s books typically present.  Unfortunately, Preston can’t hold a candle to the intellect of Crichton.  Unless you can separate the two authors, I would avoid this book if you wish to not tarnish the reputation of the late Michael Crichton.  The book wasn’t terrible overall; it just really should not be published with Crichton’s name.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Coma by Robin Cook

Something Wicked This Way Comes

By Ray Bradbury  

              I had never really heard of or read anything by Ray Bradbury.  However, a quick internet search will often tie Ray Bradbury to authors I enjoy.  My lovely wife bought me this book for Christmas, so I decided that now was the time to dive in.  I must say that this book was vastly different from other books I have read in this genre.  One way that this book was so different from my other reads was the way the setting was described.  I often had to reread paragraphs in the beginning of the novel because of all the words spent describing settings, characters, and aspects of the books.  After I adjusted to Bradbury’s writing style, it became less of a distraction and was ultimately appreciated. 

            The book begins detailing the life and friendship of Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade.  The boys are fresh into adolescence and experiencing the multitude of growing pains we all know so well.  Silly games of childhood are left behind and more mature adventures take place.  They are on the cusp of growing up and it’s hard.  A carnival comes to town, and the boys are curious about the many characters employed by the circus.  The boys sneak into the carnival and witness some magic that occurs on the carousel.  After witnessing this secret, the carnival workers begin to hunt down both boys.  Their curiosity puts both them and their families in danger.  The many creepy sideshow characters, who are wonderfully described and presented, add to the drama and peril of the boys’ situation.

            At the beginning of the book, I assumed that this story was all about Will and Jim.  As I progressed, I began to realize how important Charles Halloway’s character, Will’s father, was to the story.  This was most important for the subplot of growing up.  The dynamic that was created involving an older father (50’s with teenage son) interacting with his young son was an important part of the story and was very well done.  The contrast between experience brought by age, and the carefree nature of youth was an important motif in the story.  Bradbury did a wonderful job capturing both of these aspects of their personalities and really made Charles Halloway relatable.  I think that what you get from this novel may be highly influenced by what stage of your life you are in when you read it.  Young adults will likely relate more strongly with the kids, while adults will read the first chapters with a feeling of nostalgia and some sadness as the book progresses.  As one of the better known Bradbury books, I would definitely recommend this book.  This recommendation is more closely tied to the pedigree of the author, and the wonderful job the author did conveying the emotions of the characters.  On the contrary, while I enjoyed the book, I was never on the edge of my seat nor did I race home from work to sit down and read it. 

Rating 3.25 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next: Coma by Robin Cook, or Micro by Michael Crichton

The War on Football: Saving America's Game

By Daniel J. Flynn

            If you base your opinion of football on only what you hear in the media, your opinion will likely be as follows.  Football is a violent, barbaric game which is inherently dangerous to all participants with potential for immediate and long lasting bodily harm.  The War on Football further examines the media’s claims and encourages further discussion of America’s sport.

            In his speech to Ivy League students, Malcolm Gladwell suggested “When people die of a dumb and violent nineteenth-century game that serves no educational function, I think the obvious thing to do is to stop playing the dumb and violent nineteenth-century game.”  Even recently President Obama suggested that if he had a son, he would think very hard about letting him play football.  But in a time where more and more children are being classified as obese, where do we place our priorities?  Is it worth the risk to let our kids play a sport that the media has so vilified?  Surely the skills they learn on the field cannot outweigh the damage it does to their bodies, and the risk they face each time they put on their helmet and shoulder pads.  This is likely the thought of most parents and, as this book points out, the fallacy.

            This years’ Winter X games killed more athletes than the NFL has in 93 seasons.  Bicycling kills about 700 Americans every year, but there’s no media attention suggesting parents ban bicycles.  In 1970, 23 highschoolers died from hits in football.  Last year, only 2 highschoolers lost their lives.  If anything, football is becoming a safer sport than ever before.  Now that we know that football players aren’t dropping dead all over the country, what about lifelong impacts of playing the game? 

            The author investigated further by looking into concussions, CTE (Chronic Traumatic encephalopathy, which is associated with repetitive head trauma) and other diseases.  Former football players show an increased risk of Alzheimers, ALS and Parkinson’s.   We’ve all heard the media say that the average life expectancy of football players is significantly shorter than average Americans.  Fortunately, this is an outright lie with no scientific basis.  At some point, a nonexistent statistic was quoted and has continued to pop up erroneously in the media.  Logically, football players are chosen and rewarded for being at the peak of fitness.  In most cases, this extends to later life as players maintain a certain level of fitness.  In both 1994 and 2012, the NIOSH found that NFL players live longer than American males outside of football.

            What about the concussions, and the lawsuit against the NFL by former players?  Well I won’t even go into detail about how Riddell is the primary helmet manufacturer being sued and how many players did not actually even wear Riddell helmets.  Or the fact that 10% of the litigants never saw action in a single NFL game.  Or I could mention how the concussion studies by Mark Lovell are more about profit than science.  Read the book, you will be enlightened.

            It’s around this point where you can’t help but cry out “What about all the people the media has highlighted who have gone crazy or killed themselves because of lingering effects of football and concussions?!”  Autopsies have shown tau protein in the brains of people who have sustained repetitive head trauma, and tau is associated with mental problems such as dementia, poor decision making and depression.  But CTE can only be diagnosed in the dead, and brains are often donated under suspicion of CTE, which results in selection bias in the studies.  What about the athletes who have killed themselves “as a result of CTE?”  Unfortunately, cases like the happy go lucky Junior Seau have been misrepresented by the media.  What you won’t hear is that Seau reportedly drank heavily 5 to 6 nights a week, gambled excessively, had an insatiable appetite for women, and was experiencing financial difficulties after several investments went belly-up.  Several more examples include: Dave Duerson – shot himself in the chest and asked that his brain be studied.  His business was also held in receivership, his home foreclosed, and he filed for bankruptcy listing liabilities of ~$15 million.  Mike Current – his suicide was followed with the subheadline “due to the inability to deal with the traumatic brain injury caused by concussions.”  What was pushed aside was how he was facing a possible 30+ year sentence for allegedly molesting three children.

Daniel Flynn weaves history, quotes, and research into a coherent story about football.  We learn that football is a sport that has evolved over the years into the game it is today.  Flynn also points out how important it is to read between the lines of media reports, and to do your own research before you believe anything.  While we do not know for sure what causes CTE, as football fans we must accept the ever changing rules of our game.  I really enjoyed this book, as it provided a thorough dissection of many of the current issues surrounding the game as well as a history of the game itself.  I hope that parents who are worried about their children’s minds being made soft by football will read this book and learn that maybe a soft body is worse than a hard hit in the long run.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Bunsen Burners

Up Next:  I’ve got a huge list of books that need reviewing, too many to list.  Stay tuned.