Vernon's Reviews

For a certain kind of reader this collection of short stories by Brazil’s greatest author may be the book of the year…decade…or century. Every story in here is a kind of spell as she infuses comic and existential significance into the seemingly mundane lives, loves and dreams of her characters. It’s definitely one of my favorite books of the year.

Slow is Fast chronicles a unique 700-mile bicycle journey down the California coast by a group of surfers and filmmakers. Along the way they document their travels, repair flat tires, surf remote breaks, visit friends and fellow journeymen and pitch in to help out artisans and organic farmers—including some in Santa Cruz—all in an effort to tell a simple story of livelihoods crafted in tune with our oceans and fields.

Jeremy Scahill’s new book is a chilling, exhaustive record of how our country chooses to pursue and perpetuate the seemingly limitless and globe-encompassing “war on terror.” A milestone in real journalism and easily one of the most important books of the decade.

The burgeoning bike cultures of Portland, New York City, San Francisco, and other cities aren’t a wave of passing trends—they are the emerging reality of daily life and transport for urban citizens in the United States. This essential bicycling anthology features a critical mass of bike writers and bicycling advocates writing from all fronts of bike culture.

Ondaatje (The English Patient, In the Skin of a Lion) is both a writer’s writer and a reader’s writer—he rewards the discerning eye with his exquisite prose and satisfies the adventurous reader willing to follow his prismatic storylines. Set aboard an oceanliner journeying from Ceylon to England in the 1950s, The Cat’s Table follows the life of an 11-year-old boy discovering the world in microcosm on board the gigantic ship.

The Zombie Apocalypse storyline seems to have a seemingly indestructible appeal; an observer of pop culture has to wonder if the durability of zombie entertainment is a sign that we may be growing used to reflecting our own culture; that we eerily shuffle through life much like our brain-dead zombie enemies. At least this point may be what Colson Whitehead tries to unearth in his subtle take on the genre. He’s more concerned with his character’s emotional lives, with how they cope in the hordes of modern life and modern apocalypse, than with offering cheap zombie-movie thrills we’ve all grown accustomed to. Highly recommended.