April, 12, 2004 archives

wealth is a state of mind.

super flat times: stories by matthew derby is the book i read earlier this year, forgot to mention here, and then couldn’t remember the name of. it is a supremely strange set of short stories set in a bleak pseudo-future. i happened to run across it when stocking up on books for my upcoming travels. (in which i overloaded on science fiction, so be prepared to see short reviews of a half-dozen science fiction books in the not-so-distant future.)

the big con by david w. maurer was a book i picked up after a mention on mark frauenfelder’s mad professor. the book was the inspiration for the sting, but is itself a non-fiction book about big con operators. lots of fun language (not surprising, for a book written by a linguist) and a fascinating overview of one of the more dignified criminal industries.