Tweaking The Cult of Craftsman Personally, I love Craftsman-style homes: they’re stylish, character-filled, and invariably built like forts. And lots of people agree with me, judging by how fast Craftsman (Craftsmen??) homes in good condition sell in older Twin Cities neighborhoods (think, Seward, Mac-Groveland, and Linden Hills). But can Craftsman fans be, well, a little...Read More
Crime and No Punishment “The Jungle,” by Upton Sinclair. “Silent Spring,” by Rachel Carson. “Unsafe at Any Speed,” by Ralph Nader. To this illustrious list of muckraking, epoch-changing books, add one more: Charles Ferguson’s “Predator Nation.” Pantheon of Greats Essentially the unabridged companion piece to his 2010 Oscar-winning documentary (“Inside Job“), the book is a sober if...Read More
Once you get past the odd, equal billing on the book jacket — I’m told the publisher rejected Isaacson’s first proposed title, “Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs” 🙂 — the book ranks, at least in my opinion, amongst the best half-dozen business books — make that non-fiction books, period — of the last decade. The ultimate praise...Read More
Reviewing the Reviewers You can hardly fancy yourself a “serious social commentator” — and what self-respecting blogger doesn’t? — unless you take a crack at reviewing Jonathan Franzen’s epic new novel, “Freedom.” Which, of course, first requires that you actually read the almost-600 page thing — no small undertaking. Before getting to my review, though,...Read More
