LarryS

What book is currently on your nightstand?

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Who is the author?

Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

What genre?
Biography

How do you like it?

Excellent Book! It’s long, and it’s somewhat heavy reading, in light of it’s rather serious subject matter - building a weapon of mass destruction, dealing with McCarthyism. I’ve been at it over a month, but I appreciate that I can look at the cast list for the movie (which is based on this book), and recognize all of the character names! The authors definitely turned over every stone on studying the man - the book was about 25 years in the making - and the meticulousness shows.

Would you recommend it to others?

If you’re a history buff, definitely. For a more casual reader, it may be a bit much, though if you stick with it, you get a lot of fascinating stories.

I know the feeling. I just started watching Stranger Things at the start of the year. I paused after the first two seasons, because I didn’t want to just tear through the everything., and because Yellowjackets S2 was about to start. Now that YJ is done, I find myself a bit hesitant to start S3 of ST.

I certainly hope the excellent writing of the show, will allow it to have a timeless element to it (which is kinda the theme of the show, if you think about it). As a Gen X’er, I imagine some things will go over younger heads (the “Odd Couple” references in “I Robot” may not be truly appreciated, for example). Also, some eps were creatures of their time - “Three Hundred Big Boys” was inspired by the GW Bush tax rebate, for example. I doubt that little tidbit will be remembered.

One thing I wonder, will the history of the show itself - the expected cancellations, multiple “series finale” eps, FOX’s juggling of the broadcast order - be remembered?