Scott J. Pearson

Review: The Emperor of All Maladies

By Scott J. Pearson | July 7, 2019July 7, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

This highly acclaimed work (winning a Pulitzer Prize) deserves every one of its adulations. It is not only personal, erudite, and interesting; it is also inspiring and well-written. Mukherjee attempts to present “a biography of cancer,” starting from its first mention in the historical record (a Queen of Persia). A practicing oncologist, he also ties in patient stories to advance the narrative in appropriate places. Generally, he tells the tale of how humanity and science…

Software-Technology

Review: CSS Secrets

By Scott J. Pearson | July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

First, this work is intended for a very niche audience. It is for computer programmers who are web designers and who want to learn not just basic CSS (how webpages are currently styled) but advanced CSS. As becomes the O’Reilly book series, Verou is fortunately a master of CSS and of technical communication. Her wit makes learning how to make the most out of CSS entertaining, intriguing, and extensible to new situations. Verou, a member…

Fiction-Stories

Review: The Swords of Satsukawa

By Scott J. Pearson | July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

As one reads through history, it’s hard not to think that life in ancient Japan would be fairly mundane. Samurais ruled the country, and the social order, at first glance, seems fairly set into stone. Sam Browne’s first book of historical fiction calls this narrative into question. This coming-of-age tale follows the life of a samurai named Tanaka as he learns how to balance his lifestyle as a ronin (a traveling samurai without a set…

Writing-Communication

Review: Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion

By Scott J. Pearson | June 27, 2019April 1, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Thompson has an interesting professional biography. He earned a PhD in rhetoric, taught at a community college, decided he didn’t like academe, and went into police work. I have never met anyone who has combined police work with rhetoric, but Thompson seems to have been successful at this task. His main content consists of teaching about rhetoric – or less pretentiously, verbal communication. However, he entertains by filling in with stories about police work, family…

Writing-Communication

Review: The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing

By Scott J. Pearson | June 23, 2019June 23, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Those who follow me might notice a trend. I am reading a series of books on freelance writing and on writing and communication in general. This book, part of a series by Writer’s Digest, talks about how the author continues to pursue a career in freelance writing. Petit talks about the art of the query (i.e., pitching an idea), how to freelance both as a full-timer and as a part-timer, and what to expect from…

Writing-Communication

Review: 2019 Writer’s Market

By Scott J. Pearson | June 19, 2019June 19, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

How do writers put bread on the table and figure out places to publish their works? This reference resource, republished every year, is a big part of the how. Perusing its listings will put the writer in better shape for publishing her/his works. The first section of this work (about 900 pages long!) is about the business of writing – how to pitch pieces as a freelance writer and how to manage a business in…

Writing-Communication

Review: Writer’s Digest Guide to Magazine Article Writing

By Scott J. Pearson | June 17, 2019June 17, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Writing is as much of a tradition as it is an art form, and like most traditions, tricks of the trade are passed down from practitioner to apprentices. This book, informed by Flanagan’s 20 years of experience as a writer, introduces readers to the publishing industry. As the title implies, this work is specifically geared towards writing magazine articles. Flanagan describes how to organize one’s self towards the production of copy for magazines. This book…

History

Review: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

By Scott J. Pearson | June 14, 2019June 14, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

What was life like before Columbus ventured into the “New” World? Chances are you were taught in school that there was a lot of wilderness to tame and that American Indians sparsely filled the continents in a passive manner. Citing new research on many fronts, Mann contends that this picture is simply incorrect. The Americas have been filled with many civilizations that were more advanced, in some respects, than their European counterparts. They lived in…

Healthcare

Review: The Laws of Medicine

By Scott J. Pearson | June 14, 2019June 13, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Have you ever wondered what makes people orient to their worlds differently? Such is the realm of philosophy. This book attempts to turn medical thought – what makes doctors act the way they do – into a philosophy. Admittedly, it’s just a beginning, but this quick read explains a lot about how healthcare works today. In this short series of essays, Mukherjee defines three “laws.” (1) “A strong intuition is much more powerful than a…

Biography-Memoir History Religion-Philosophy

Review: Jesus: The Human Face of God

By Scott J. Pearson | June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Anyone who attempts to biography Jesus is bound to fail. An author is bound to project herself or himself onto the narrative. That’s why all theology eventually turns into autobiography. In Parini’s work, clearly, both the object (Jesus of Nazareth) and the subject (Parini the author) are worth learning from, and the reader can find much to aspire to. Much of late twentieth and early twenty-first century studies on the Jesus of history devolve into…