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Monday, August 02, 2004Book talkHeed my warning: never order anything from BN.com. In fact, never step foot in a Barnes & Noble unless your life absolutely depends on it. Perhaps a wild bear is devouring mall patrons, and Barnes & Noble is nearest shop in which you may take cover. Even then I would suggest you find one of those stores that sells meat and cheese baskets, because you never know how long that bear might be on the loose. I ordered the 9/11 Commission Report from BN.com over a week and a half ago, and it just arrived today. By this time I've already read most of the report online, for free. I suggest you stick with Amazon for your reading material. As for the Barnes & Noble storefronts, I'll say this: I worked in the school library for two years in high school. I know the Dewey Decimal system like I know my own name. I can find the anthropology shelf of any library/bookstore with my eyes closed. I had no fucking clue what was going on in this place. Apparently Barnes & Noble is too cool for the Dewey Decimal system, and have replaced it with their own brand of renegade organization. And good luck getting any kind of help from the staff. You would think one would have to be literate to work in a bookstore...  I did manage to find one book which I had been looking for, Hugh Hewitt's new one, If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It. Besides having the best title ever, this one really makes a sharp contrast between Bush and Kerry's positions on national defense. If you are genuinely concerned about protecting America, I suggest you pick it up. As you can clearly divine from the title, Hewitt pulls no punches on what he sees as gross deficiencies in the Democratic Party's approach to national defense. If you are a Democratic partisan, stay away. However, that does not necessarily mean this one is only for Republicans- the book is aimed at independent thinkers who realize that war on terrorism is the greatest challenge our generation will ever face, that it is a war unlike any other we have fought, and that it is a war we cannot afford to lose. If you have an open mind, this book will speak to you- Republican or Democrat. UPDATE (7/3): Once again validating the theory that "if you say someone's name enough, they eventually turn around", Hugh Hewitt has taken notice of my little blog. Very cool! I've been discussing Mr. Hewitt's book with everyone I know (well, "discussing" implies that the second party is interested- I've been talking about Mr. Hewitt's book) for a week now, and I've become a big fan of his show. If you arrived here via HughHewitt.com, you're probably a little disappointed that Pearly Gates is a baseball blog and not a religious/right-wing news blog. While the Anaheim Angels are the main topic of discussion around here, I do often touch on the worlds of politics and pop culture, much to the chagrin of much of my (small) regular readership. It's my blog, so I can do whatever I want, right? Oh, and sorry about the salty language. I usually try to keep it clean, but I just really like the Dewey Decimal System. |
