Rated of 5
by Susan Tereza Remarkable, beautiful, disturbing
Like the author, I am fascinated by the beings we share this planet with, and despairing at how we are destroying those beings and this planet. When reading the beautifully-written bits that resonate with me, I feel myself ringing like a swiftly-struck gong.
But he also writes about women/drugs/murder/destruction in ways I do not relate to, and those bits I find myself skipping over, or reading as quickly as possible just to be done with them.
Overall I find it a breathtaking, non-linear, not always enjoyable and yet truly remarkable read.
Rated of 5
by Julie Gonzo Hemingway + Audubon: A portrayal of the deserts inside and outside
Bowden writes in a spare style, perhaps reflecting the time he spent as a newspaper reporter for the Tucson Citizen. In several pieces he skips place or personal names altogether--in a life as painful as the one he describes, with nary a dysfunction left out of his childhood and later life, this might be essential to survival. Abandonment, alcoholism, drug abuse, gun play, whoring...this isn't a book to recommend to just anyone.
Yet, it's not despairing--he cares greatly for the natural world around him, and his awe-filled observations of animal behavior and biology are fascinating. It's a little too much William S. Burroughs, and not enough Bruce Chatwin for my taste, but the writing is vivid and compelling.
Rated of 5
by Phoenix - Eclectic, AL Some of the Dead are Still Breathing
Bowden invites the reader to view his personal nightmares. As he guides us though these moments in time, we choose between reality or illusion brought on by his drug du'jour.
To Quote Bowden: " I am convinced all of my moments of risk were self-created in order to escape the deathly feeling everyday life gives me."
He is still searching for a future without so many obstacles. This book does make you think. It is an unusual read.
Rated of 5
by Gwendolyn An ecologically sensitive Hunter S. Thompson
This is a collection of journalistic musings about the troubled state of the world and humanity's (mainly negative) impact on it. Bowden is a study in contraries. He lives in the world of drugs, whores, crime, and seedy motel rooms, but at the same time, he carefully observes the habits of a pair of cardinals living in his yard and worries about elephants in captivity. Bowden is an ecologically sensitive Hunter S. Thompson.
Readers who like structured essays or stories with direction will be frustrated by Bowden's free-flowing, seemingly random style. Those who embrace free association and haphazard thought experiments are likely to find Bowden to be a charming, if eclectic, tour guide to today's complex world.
Rated of 5
by Katherine Looking for a New Type of Reading Experience?
You have to be ready for the non-linear structure of this book. I enjoyed some parts of this book very much and found myself reading them aloud to my family while other parts I just wanted to skip over. This book is like being inside the author's head and hearing his entire thought process - some fascinating, some weird, and some disturbing. If you're ready to try something different give this a try. Recommended for people who enjoy Haruki Murakami and Edward Abbey.
Rated of 5
by Mary Some of The Dead Are Still Breathing
The back cover of this work says that it is a "seminal book". The word pictures were beautiful and the author had a talent for writing. What he could not do is help the reader to understand what he was writing about! At first, I thought it was apocalyptic, then random essays. At last I concluded the book was a series of random jottings captured during a drug induced high. Not worth the small amount of time spent trying to determine what was "seminal".
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
The best book I've read in a very long time and the first ever Bo Caldwell novel for me. I'd never before read anything about missionaries to China,...
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With a poetic voice, Ratner plunges us into this personal trial of a royal family wrenched from their home in Phnon Penh, Cambodia, during the late...
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First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
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Amazon cuts off 5200 affiliates in Minnesota(Jun 19 2013) With Minnesota's online sales tax law due to take effect July 1, Amazon has played a familiar card by cutting ties with 5,200 members of its Associates...
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of 5
by Susan Tereza 
of 5
by Phoenix - Eclectic, AL 
of 5
by Mary 
