Author Lee Brooks is an actor who appeared in several television shows and the movie “Sideways.” His book Stealing Castro’s Daughter: a memoir, depicts Cuba accurately and in a heartfelt way depicts the failure of the Communist government on the island. It is a love story whose antagonist is Fidel Castro’s oppressive regime and its failed political machine. The book introduces us to characters from Castro’s secret police, human smugglers, corrupt politicians and officials in various surrounding islands and good people who just want to see love triumph over every obstacle. I think this book could make a great movie. (I’m sure Lee Brooks knows this already.)

The problem that I have with the book is that it is poorly written and horrendously edited. There are numerous grammatical mistakes in the book and at least two repeated words in a sentence. I felt it was so amateurish that I looked up the publisher’s web site. It turns out that the “publisher” is a self-service publisher that charges to print anyone’s book and distribute it. That explains the lack of professionalism in the book. I think Lee Brooks should have hired a professional to write the book or at least edit it.

My reading of the book makes me feel that it is historically accurate. My only reservation is that the authors may have a liberal bias. I do not know enough about their backgrounds to make a definitive statement. What I do know is from the inside flap of the book which says that John Heilemann is the national political correspondent and columnist for "New York" magazine and that he has written for "The New Yorker," "Wired" and "The Economist." Mark Halperin is editor-at-large and senior political analyst for "Time" magazine and also worked for ten years as the political director for ABC News. Their resumes do not exactly provide any reassurance of lack of bias.

The book is well written and is extremely interesting. I had to force myself to put it down and do other things. Because of this, I would recommend the book. My favorite quote from the book is from then Senator Hillary Clinton on March 3, 2008: “I have a lifetime of experience I will bring to the White House. Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he made in 2002.”

I was impressed with the quality of the prose and was particularly impressed by the fact that it was a translation from Spanish, and still worked masterfully in English.

“The Isle Of Passion” is the story of the people who wasted their lives on a tiny and insignificant island, also known as Clipperton, for the sake of maintaining Mexican sovereignty over it. Mexico and the poor souls who moved to, and lived and died on the tiny island, would have been better off ignoring it and yielding control of it to anyone else. The story is replete with ironies of political and military command. Everything in the story makes you feel that there are many foolish decisions made in the political and military sphere that affect people’s lives, and are largely uncontested and followed blindly.

The only resource of value on the island is bird guano. As you might imagine, even the company that has been faithfully returning to the island to take the guano away eventually decides that a little bird shit is just not worth the effort and closes its business there. That leaves the island with no value or purpose. It is difficult to describe much more without destroying the plot and making the book less interesting, but suffice it to say that once the guano is not needed, the island becomes even more isolated and its inhabitants more desperate.

The following quote should give you a taste of the prose that is contained within this wonderful book: “The small, faded universe in front of her eyes reverberated and consumed itself in a slow combustion. Alicia saw how much the ocean seemed to explode over the reefs, pounding the rocks, the few sickly coconut palms, and the human beings, then coming to rest on every crevice, hollow and cranny. The sun lost no time in evaporating the water, and everything was soon covered with a mirrorlike layer of salt, refulgent, blinding. The ocean spray would fall slowly on the people, transforming them into salt statues. It was only in their eyes, in the feverish eagerness in their gaze, that Alicia discovered the great expectations, repressed but fierce, for the boat’s arrival.”

I think the quote is probably enough to convince you that this is an excellently written book that is worth buying. Enjoy!

What made “Under the Influence” more interesting to me was its scientific analysis of how alcohol is manufactured, and how it is digested and used by the consumer afterwards. For example, prior to reading this book, I had no idea that natural fermentation can only create alcoholic beverages that are 13 to 14 percent alcohol. At this percentage, the yeast dies and the process of fermentation ends. Beer is stopped between 3 to 6 percent. I also learned from the book that distillation is a man made process that can create hard liquors with 40 to 75 percent alcohol content. The book also goes into detail about the origins of designating alcohol by “proof” ratings.

Other important facts covered are that the average person can eliminate about one half ounce of 100 proof whiskey per hour, or three ounces of wine. The book also states that females will have higher blood alcohol content readings because they have more adipose (fat) tissue which is not penetrated by alcohol. Premenstrual hormones also have an adverse effect. By reading the book you will learn that blood alcohol content rises faster on an empty stomach. High protein foods like meat, cheese and eggs slow down absorption. Water and fruit juices, mixed with your drink of choice, slow down absorption, while carbonation speeds it up. Without giving you all the valuable facts in this book, you should also know that strong alcohol is absorbed faster as is warm alcohol.

“Under the Influence” is replete with facts. It is a comprehensive book at the science surrounding alcohol abuse. The metabolism of alcohol in the human body is discussed at length, as are its effects on nutrition, the brain and the liver.

The book also covers predisposing factors that create alcoholics. These are both psychological and social. “Under the Influence,” however, points out that physiology, not psychology, determines whether one drinker will become addicted to alcohol and another will not. Interestingly enough, the book also contends that national origin has something to do with alcoholism as well. The book claims that Jews and Italians have less than one percent alcoholism rates, while Native Americans have 80 to 90 percent. The reason for this may have something to do with the length of time a group has been exposed to alcohol consumption. Jews and Italians have had alcohol available for 7,000 years, while Native Americans only for 300 years.

The stages of alcoholism and associated denial are covered in a chapter, as are the build up of tolerance and cellular changes that make the body crave and need alcohol. Other chapters cover the ideal treatment regimen which includes medically supervised detox, treatment with goal of zero subsequent usage (sobriety) and follow up with Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12 step program. The dangers of drug interactions with alcohol have their own chapter, as well as the common prejudices and misconceptions about alcohol abuse.

I recommend this book to anyone who thinks they may have a problem or who knows someone that they believe is an alcoholic. I also recommend it to anyone who wants to be educated on how alcohol interacts with the human body.

One story describes the multiple times he has received oral sex from Catholic priests and another one how he masturbated a man with a “micro-penis” who believed that he was well endowed. I must admit that I found the latter of these two stories funny (but still shocking). However, the book is not one I’d recommend. In fact, I wish I had not purchased it or read it. The author was recommended to me because of another book he wrote called, “Dry – A Memoir.” I am in the process of reading “Dry” (they were purchased together) and will review it here shortly.

Hooking Upis no different in terms of quality or immersion. It is different, however, in that it is a collection of essays and stories and not a novel. Before you allow the title to mislead you, the book has almost nothing to do with the current slang definition for “Hooking Up.”

If you are looking for an erotic thriller, you better look elsewhere. The first essay in the book describes America at the turn of the second millennium. It is this essay that has some relevance to the title of the book itself. It describes the changing sexual mores and the barrage of sexual suggestiveness that children and society have to endure in the year 2000. Although somewhat interesting, the essays that I most enjoyed are the ones called, “Two Young Men Who Went West” and “In the Land of Rococo Marxists.” The first of these is about the founding of Silicon Valley by Bob Noyce and William Shockley and the second one is about the indoctrination that takes place in universities by young teachers who feel it is their duty to enforce a new law of political correctness. I consider the research and writing style of these two pieces to be worthy of some prize. They are exceptional.

Although I enjoyed most of the essays in the book, I must say that I was particularly amused by the way Wolfe captures the motivations and dialogue of three gay bashing soldiers, a news anchor woman and her producer in the fictional story, “Ambush at Fort Bragg.” This story makes you realize how much is wrong in society today and in particular, how much is wrong with television “ambush” programs.

Another gem is “My Three Stooges.” In this essay, Wolfe takes on John Updike, Norman Mailer and John Irving for attacking his book A Man in Full. I have to say that Wolfe succeeds in tactfully getting “even.” While he is defending the success of his book, he also attacks the type of fiction that has no descriptions of real locations or events. He claims that these three well known writers have succumbed to writing novels that are difficult to relate to and that are completely works of fiction with no research. I tend to agree. I have not liked a John Irving book since The World According to Garp. I think that was his only great work and that he is highly overrated as a writer.

I recommend this collection of essays from Tom Wolfe. I think anyone can find at least three essays in the book that are worth reading. Enjoy.

This book discusses in great detail the criminal genius behind Meyer Lansky and how he led the rest of the American criminal underworld to riches and power in the Cuban market. Cuba was the Las Vegas of the Caribbean before Vegas was a success in the United States. Unfortunately, the tourism, gambling and sex trade that the mob brought to Cuba also brought great political corruption. It made a few people phenomenally wealthy and left the rest to deal with an oppressive government that ruled with a secret police composed of thugs.

The book exposes little known historical facts about entertainers and politicians that many believe are perfect. One example, is John F. Kennedy. According to the book, he was treated by the mob to an orgy in a huge hotel casino suite in Cuba. This proves that some things never change with time. We still have politicians, celebrities and wealthy individuals with huge appetites and shadowy characters who are willing to satisfy those appetites.

The book is superbly researched and the bibliography is comprehensive. This is not a fluff tell-all book, but instead a serious attempt at exposing a corrupt moment in time in Cuban and American history. If you have any curiosity about the United States mob, the government of dictator Fulgencio Batista or the events that led to a communist state 90 miles away from us, then this is the book for you.

The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy
T.R. Reid
$25.95 (USD)
Buy it for less at Amazon.com

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On The Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore
Brian Bagnall
$29.95 (USD) Buy it for less at Amazon.com

Commodore became a billion dollar multinational and then vanished within three years of hitting that mark because of dysfunctional management and tunnel vision at the very top of the company. This is all described in vivid detail by the people who lived through the chaos. The book reads like a thriller because you almost feel like you are there as the events unfold.

This book should be read by anyone who was there for those early years and did some programming on a PET, VIC-20 or C64. It should also be read by all business majors and especially by entrepreneurs. It shows you how you can build a great enterprise and just as easily destroy it.

I recommend this book highly.

]]> http://www.robertalonso.net/2008/10/08/on-the-edge-the-spectacular-rise-and-fall-of-commodore/feed/ 0 http://www.robertalonso.net/2008/10/08/the-google-story/ http://www.robertalonso.net/2008/10/08/the-google-story/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:16:22 +0000 Robert Alonso http://www.robertalonso.net/?p=17

The Google Story
David A. Vise and Mark Malseed
$26 (USD) Buy it for less at Amazon.com

The book can also give you insight on why your web page is ranked at the top of a Google search and conversely why it may not be.

There are also hints about where the search giant is heading. One example is working to makes genes search able and another is to make books search able on-line.

This is a must read for anyone interested in technology, search or what the future holds for us.

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