Rated of 5
by Deborah N. Layers and layers
"Angelmaker" is, as protagonist Joshua Joseph Spork scoffs, an exaggeratedly corny name for a doomsday machine powered by clockwork bees. But as we discover, everything about this story has a double meaning at least, and no one--not even the hapless Spork, despite what he thinks--is quite who he or she seems. Part steampunk, part wry London contemporary, it's "Auntie Mame" meets "A Prairie Home Companion" meets (incongruously) "Clockwork Orange" meets "The Mouse that Roared". Harkaway integrates elements from the news in his depiction of government paranoia, from the comically annoying (Antisocial Behavior Orders) to the truly grisly (clandestine prisons and waterboarding). But he manages to balance the graphic grimness of his villains with whimsical and talented opposition, and the laughs, which start out subtle and ironic, pick up steam in a most unexpected way. "Angelmaker" combines too many different ideas and motifs for an easy beach read. It's one of the most entertaining novels I could have imagined about the consequences of seeking perfection through mechanical complexity.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
read more
British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
Full Story
of 5
by Deborah N. 
