Scott J. Pearson

Review: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis

By Scott J. Pearson | June 3, 2019June 1, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

I’m often concerned that American culture is increasingly splitting into two groups that don’t interact much. Our politics and our regionalism tends to reinforce that. There are a few voices which seem to traverse the divide, and Vance’s is one of them. Specifically, he traverses the Appalachia/Rust-Belt divide with Northeastern elites. As such, he can speak to both audiences at the same time while enlightening us all about his experiences. Vance’s family life was incredibly…

Software-Technology

Review: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains

By Scott J. Pearson | May 30, 2019May 30, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Do you ever wonder whether our computer technology and the Internet are making us better as people? Or do they make us worse off? Are we becoming smarter or more dumb? What happens to our brains when we use the Internet? Carr explores these questions and more in this Pulitzer-Prize-finalist book. Carr borrows heavily from Marshall McLuhan, the scholar whose foresight in the 1960s defined the philosophy of electronic media. He also borrows from modern…

Science

Review: Silent Spring

By Scott J. Pearson | May 30, 2019May 29, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

In today’s world, environmentalism is still controversial, although it’s becoming more popular (witness the growth of the Green Party in Europe’s recent elections). Environmentalism and economics are often counterposed against each other as if one loses when the other wins. In 1962, Rachel Carson wrote this book that brought environmental concerns to the fore. She contended that taking care of the plants and animals around us is a worthwhile project. For the most part, smart…

Fiction-Stories

Review: Song of Solomon

By Scott J. Pearson | May 28, 2019May 28, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Have you ever felt like your life is an unsolved mystery, full of dispersed, broken parts that need reassembling? Have you ever felt like a sense of truth and order – indeed a sense of God – was far away and like chaos was all too near? That’s the situation that faces the main character in Morrison’s masterpiece. Milkman Dead – yes, that’s his real name – is confronted by a world in which everything…

Writing-Communication

Review: Arts Reviews: And How to Write Them

By Scott J. Pearson | May 22, 2019May 28, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Is it fair to write a review about a book on writing reviews? Perhaps not, but I will attempt the feat nonetheless. In this work, British author Celia Brayfield offers her readers wisdom and experiences from her career of writing arts reviews for periodicals. (She has since moved on to writing full books.) She spends first eight of the ten chapters sharing the rules of the road for writing arts reviews. She fills in these…

Biography-Memoir Religion-Philosophy

Review: The Damascus Road

By Scott J. Pearson | May 19, 2019May 27, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

A Novel of Saint Paulby Jay PariniCopyright (c) 2019.ISBN13: 9780385522786Page count: 349Genre: Historical Fiction, Religious Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to hear an honest account of Saint Paul’s life? I mean, one can only glean so much from the theology of the New Testament; I’m left wondering: What would Paul say if I had a beer with him? Jay Parini, a Guggenheim Fellow, pursues creative writing in the form of poetry, biography,…

Fiction-Stories

Review: Go Set a Watchman

By Scott J. Pearson | May 17, 2019May 28, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

by Harper LeeHarperCollinsCopyright (c) 2015ISBN13: 9780062409850Page count: 278Genre: Fiction, Sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee is famous for writing only one novel – the blazingly successful To Kill a Mockingbird. This work, published decades after TKAM, is a sequel that was written before. On its own, it is not a strong literary work and was rejected by publishers. Fortunately for us, the publisher suggested that she explore the circumstances that would make this…

Cooking

Recipe: Golden Chicken Nuggets

By Scott J. Pearson | May 16, 2019May 28, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Cooking

Recipe: Low-Calorie Strawberry Lemonade

By Scott J. Pearson | May 13, 2019May 28, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

Healthcare History

Review: Pox: An American History

By Scott J. Pearson | May 12, 2019May 28, 2019 by Scott J. Pearson

by Michael WillrichPenguin BooksCopyright (c) 2011ISBN13: 9781594202865Page Count: 422 pagesGenre: Non-fiction, history of health When did the current controversy about vaccines really start? According to Willrich’s history, the controversy about vaccines started all the way back with Jenner’s discovery of vaccination. Although smallpox once killed thousands of people each year in America, vaccination against smallpox was still controversial. A small fraction of people had adverse reactions, including death. Obviously, this scared people. It especially scared…