Chet reviews: The CEO of the Sofa, and The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt’s Great Monuments.
The CEO of the SofaFor his latest book, P.J. O’Rourke has drawn on a technique pioneered by Oliver Wendell Holmes of taking previously published articles and refactoring them into a series of conversations by adding an external protagonist. O’Rourke covers a lot of ground, hitting topics as diverse as travel in India to a wonderful rundown of current celebrities. And, while these essays are fun, they are still just a collection of disjointed pieces. The trick of casting them as conversations does not turn them into a smooth flowing book. If you are a big fan of O’Rourke, and you don’t subscribe to the numerous periodicals to which he contributes, you will want to pick this one up. If you have read a little of his work and would like to see more, you should try one of his real books, such as Eat The Rich or Give War a Chance. |
The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt’s Great Monuments
The Pyramids is an encyclopedic work, covering every known ancient Egyptian monument. This is not a casual read, it is a outstanding piece of scholarship and is perfect for those of us with a facination with ancient Egypt. Miroslav Verner is a professor at Charles University in Prague and was director of the Czech Institute of Egyptology. He has collected the most current knowledge about every archalogical site in Egypt, where leading scholar differ, he presents the differing theories.
This may not be a book you will pick up and read through, but it is a wonderful reference.