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Audiobook.  Joseph Ellis drew heavily on the letters between John and Abigail to write about these two, so we know less about their views during the times they were together as no record exists.  Happily for us, they were separated for years as John was off becoming or being a statesman.  And when they were together, their letters to others do provide insights. It was delightful...

Audiobook.  The subtitle of this dense and delightful book is How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Dark Ages.  The author came across the story of the Aristotelian Revolution while researching causes of religious conflict.  The revolution began as the Christian scholastics rediscovered the bulk of Aristotle's writings in what was...

Audiobook.  As with his book Absurdistan (see review), Gary Shteyngart is over the top much of the time.  Set in the near-term future, Super Sad True Love Story is told through the diaries of Lenny Abramov and the online exchanges between Eunice Park (his beloved) and her friends and family.  It is the depiction of the brave new world that is the point; the love story is an effort to mitigate the...

Audiobook. An engaging history of the beginnings of Impressionism with a good bit of the Second Empire thrown in. The richest, best known artist of the time, Ernest Meissonier, now almost forgotten, is a contrast to Edouard Manet, skoffed at and reviled during his time. The title of the book, besides referring to the contrasting judgments of the two artists, is the title of a design by Raphael...

Audiobook. The central date in this book, May 7, 1824, is the premier of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.  Harvey Sachs sets the stage for that performance, one that apparently was not very well done. The musicians' instruments were likely inadequate to the task and the musicians themselves had little practice for the performance. And so it was years before the brilliance of the music...