Last Words by George Carlin

Towards the end of his life, George Carlin worked with Tony Hendra to write his autobiography.  He died before the book was finished, and this leaves it feeling incomplete; a fitting metaphor for his life.

Although he was born in the 30's, Carlin became a voice of the Baby Boomers, and a cultural icon known and admired for his humanistic viewpoint.  He provided a rare voice of reason in a world of reactionary bleating, and his views remained consistent even as so many boomers aged into conservativism.

I guess you could say George was one of my personal heroes, although I'm not given to hero worship.  I looked up to him as a man who wasn't afraid to speak truth to power no matter the personal risk.  This book showed me the man behind the icon.  George was deeply flawed, and he sometimes hurt people and lacked moral fiber.  Even so, he lays out his life openly, without holding anything back no matter how unflattering.  You've got to admire that.

Goodbye George, you'll be missed.

Recommendation: Borrow it.

Johannes Cabal The Detective by Jonathan L. Howard

This book had a lot of curb appeal for me because it features a big zeppelin on the cover, which is reminiscient of 19th-century poster art.  It immediately appealed to my love of how older cultures imagined the future.  Howard, who apparently started out writing for the gaming industry, probably has a lot of similarly exciting concepts.

Unfortunately, concepts alone aren't enough to keep my interest.  A great book has to have great characters, and this book lacks any empathetic or interesting characters.  Even the title character, who has some interesting hobbies and a sadistic sense of humor, is too emotionally vacant to keep my attention for long.

I gave up on this book a little into the 2nd act.

Recommendation: Skip it.