2023 in Books

My thoughts on all the books I read in 2023 in the order I read them

This post is 7 months late, but that's actually not bad. The time-lapse has allowed me to reflect on what I read. I can now clearly see what books have left a lasting impact on me. I read 31 books in 2023. Here are my thoughts on each.

Permutation City by Greg Egan

What am I? The data? The process that generates it? The relationships between the numbers?

This was the first book I've read by the anonymous Australian genius, Greg Egan (check out dude's website - it's a treasure trove of math and physics). I was looking for some hard sci-fi, and I got it.

A bit of a personal tangent… I'm an atheist. I do not believe in the Christian afterlife. I do however believe in the possibility of an afterlife strictly in terms of information. When you die, your brain is in a certain state. This state is represented by the various positions and (sub)states of electrons, protons, atoms, molecules, etc. ¹ I believe this state could just as well be represented by other means (possibly in another universe). That is, the state of your consciousness at death could theoretically be mapped to another living entity and continued.

In Permutation City, Egan seems to share this view that a state is fundamentally just data. And data can be copied, deleted, manipulated…

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway

You are all a lost generation.

Hemingway wrote TSAR after a trip he took to Pamplona with a group of friends. It was heavily inspired by events on that trip, a roman à clef.

TSAR is one of the first modernist novels. It uses simple, short sentences with few adjectives and fewer adverbs. There is a paucity of descriptions in TSAR. This goes in line with Hemingway's Iceberg Theory, that a writer's ideas should shine through without the need for explicit descriptions. In fact, when Hemingway first sent it to the publisher, they told him it was bit too long. Hemingway blindly instructed them to just cut out the entire first chapter, so there is no "introduction". The novel just jumps right in to describing Robert Cohn's time at Princeton.

TSAR is notable for lacking a hero. Jake is supposedly the "hero by elimination". But there is no happy ending. He loves Brett, but that love can never be consummated.

Standard Ebooks describes it thus:

These complex characters are now mere spectators for the bullfight, a microcosm of war and death whose masters, the matadors, are the powerful and elegant emblems of masculinity that the Lost Generation finds it impossible to compete against.

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

I picked this up randomly to distract myself, because I wanted to read something. I was just expecting to read it for a half an hour or so to help me fall asleep. But it turned out that it was really good. I ended up finishing the whole thing a couple of days later.

Heir to the Empire was the first novel in the extended universe. The stories of Luke, Leia, Han Solo, et al. are continued. Five years after the events of The Return of the Jedi, the New Republic is trying to establish themselves as leaders of the galaxy and keep what remains of the Empire at bay.

Zahn creates a compelling new nemesis with Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn is nothing like his predecessor, Darth Vader. Thrawn is cunning, learned, observant, and always looking towards the future. Unlike Darth Vader, Thrawn is able to control his greed and not let it get in the way. Numerous times, Thrawn is willing to surrender a battle in hopes of winning the war.

Thrawn is just as formidable as Darth Vader, but for entirely different reasons. He's a completely different individual with completely different qualities. In creating such a compelling new character, Zahn breathes new life into the Star Wars saga. There's a reason that when Disney invalidated the EU, Thrawn was the only character they kept.

Star Wars: Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn

After reading Heir, I had to continue the trilogy.

The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll

Along with Born to Run, this was one of the most memorable books I read in 2023. A young astronomer notices a slight accounting discrepancy while working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and starts a year-and-a-half long quest to find the culprit. The Cuckoo's Egg is the true and riveting story of one of the first Internet hackers. I really had trouble putting this book down.

As a techie, it was interesting to learn about the world of tech in the 80s. I got a real kick out of the fact that apparently Cobol was considered ancient in the 80s, too, "Cobol, the most ancient of computer languages." Programmers had different constraints to worry about (e.g., baud rate).

One thing I found very interesting was that, back then, techies could talk to normies about computer problems. Cliff consistently goes to his girlfriend Martha or her friends for help in solving a problem. She obliges him every time. That would never happen in today's world. Non-tech people completely shut down when you confront them with a tech-related problem, usually saying something along the lines of, "I don't know anything about computers."

Some notable quotes:

Good programs aren't written or built. They're grown

The book contains a recipe I use for chocolate chip cookies almost to the T!

Two eggs, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup regular sugar, 2 sticks softened butter. Fold in 2 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and a couple tablespoons of vanilla. For an extra chocolate jag, mix in 3 tablespoons of cocoa. Oh, don't forget 2 cups of chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

The people I knew who called themselves hackers were software wizards who managed to creatively program their way out of tight corners

Star Wars: The Last Command by Timothy Zahn

The Last Command is the final book in the "Thrawn Trilogy". Spoiler alert: I was actually a bit sad to see Thrawn go. If I have the time, I might check out the new Thrawn books Zahn has written lately.

The Brain Fog Fix

This was an audiobook I listened to at 3x speed while riding my recumbent bike. I didn't have high expectations, so I wasn't disappointed. Lots of books like these are littered with studies blown out of proportion, cherry-picking certain studies to make a case, or outright pseudoscience.

I was listening for facts that I could verify later. In that regard, the book was worthwhile. Here are some things that I learned (and verified):

• Cortisol lowers dopamine effectiveness over the long term
• Cortisol prohibits serotonin binding
• Caffeine inhibits melatonin
• DHA needed for melatonin prod
• SSRIs inhibit falling in love
• When falling in love dopamine increases and serotonin plummets
• Being married increases happiness by decreasing loneliness and also due to sex and expression of love
• Oxytocin is released upon physical contact, even with animals
• Close friends is much more important than many
• Keeping a close friend circle keeps mind sharp
• Suppression of parietal lobe increases feeling of oneness
• Belly fat can increase dementia risk between 80 and 300 percent
• Turmeric can increase BDNF
• Personalization is blaming yourself for problem in your life (anti-GM)
• Having a growth mindset about problems in your life increases confidence because you are no longer blaming yourself
• The best time to do something healthy is usually when you least feel like it (hard to prove, but makes sense)

Actually, come to think of it, if that's all I got out of a ~250-page book, that's pretty light. Thank God for 3x audio.

Moonwalking With Einstein by Joushua Foer

Another one of my favorites from 2023. This book details the lives of memory champions and how Mr. Foer, himself, became one.

He does delve into the techniques, but the book is much more narrative than exposition. That being said, I did learn a lot of practical information about memory. Moreover, I can confidently say that using these techniques I can remember nearly any semantic information you give me. Except for cards and binary digits. I see no utility in being able to remember a deck of cards or a string of binary digits, though it is certainly possible.

I focused more on the memory palace technique (the method of loci) and developing imagery. According to the Romans places (loci) and images were the two components of what they called "artificial memory", or memory of things using mnemonic devices as opposed to "natural memory" (unaided memory). During the Roman Empire, paper was not easy to come by, yet rhetoric was a highly praised skill. How do you go about delivering a speech if you can't take notes, let alone have a script? You memorize it! Thus, developing a sound memory was a key part of Roman curriculum.

Moonwalking With Einstein was a fantastic work of journalism that details not just the lives of memory champions, the techniques they used, but also delves into history - the history of writing, paper, books, and, most importantly, the history of mnemonics.

Born To Run by Christopher McDougall

Probably my favorite book that I read in 2023. It combines so many of my interests - running, barefoot running, Mexico, physiology, and anthropology. This book has had a real impact on my life. I now exclusively run in my barefoot huaraches (sandals) (I use Luna Sandals FWIW). I run more than ever and have had zero injuries this year!

Phaedrus by Plato

I read this because it was mentioned in Moonwalking With Einstein. Socrates talks about writing and mnemonics, though it was mostly about love. I'm an ardent practitioner of the Socratic Method, so it was cool to see its origens.

And do you think that you can know the nature of the soul intelligently without knowing the nature of the whole?

Is not rhetoric, taken generally, a universal art of enchanting the mind by arguments?

The divine madness was subdivided into four kinds, prophetic, initiatory, poetic, erotic, having four gods presiding over them; the first was the inspiration of Apollo, the second that of Dionysus, the third that of the Muses, the fourth that of Aphrodite and Eros.

The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

I don't remember a lot about this one, either, though I remember it being quite sad.

The Log from the Sea of Cortez by Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck

This book was written mostly by Ed Ricketts, though it is now attributed solely to Steinbeck. Don't get me wrong, I love Steinbeck's writing, but it's unfortunate that the world is so ignorant of such a charismatic and interesting personality as Ed Ricketts.

The Sea of Cortez recounts Steinbeck's voyage from California to the lower Califonia (Mexico) with Ed Ricketts et al. Ed Ricketts was a marine biologist by trade, and they were going to fetch samples. The book is mostly a commentary on these samples with a smattering of a few cultural observations and details of various hardships they faced. It was not an exciting book by any means, but given the right interests, it could be worth your while.

Algorithms To Live By

I learned a lot reading this book, but be warned, if you're already familiar with algorithms basics, the facts are quite sparse. There's a trend in non-fiction books these days that a lot of writers start every single chapter with a story. This is actually a good technique for remembering things, but it gets really old really fast and waters down the book in my humble opinion. I'm not sure if it's the publishers pushing for this or if it's just a trend among writers, but please stop. </rant>

I've always found it fascinating when I find a theory, or math or an algorithm that I learned in one context in another context, say nature. So the theme of this book resonated really with me. The authors bring up a number of cases of algorithms in the real world. Not only that, but also useful cases (for example, buying a house or getting married). The problem is that the real world is usually too messy for one specific algorithm to be applicable. Rather, they might be used as guidelines.

The biggest things I learned from this book were the tradeoff of exploration vs exploitation, optimal stopping, and the Copernican Principle. Notably, these aren't algorithms, but concepts. Concepts are more general than specific algorithms. That makes them more applicable in the real world.

The authors missed a great opportunity to talk about how adenosine flucuates in the brain. Adenosine (along with melatonin) is one of the two hormones that control your sleep-wake cycle. Often referred to as "sleep pressure" in this context, it accumulates throughout the day and rapidly decreases when we go to sleep. Thus, adenosine levels form a saw-tooth type graph over time. This is precisely the "additive increase, multiplicative decrease" (AIMD) algorithm they discuss in the section on TCP/IP. The authors did bring up a one connection in nature - foraging ants.

Another algorithm the authors missed was gradient descent. The path that a water droplet takes as it runs down the side of a surface (say, an igloo) is basically a mirror of gradient descent. That is, the water droplet always follows the path with the greatest derivative until it finds either the global minimum or a local minimum (steepest descent). You want your igloo to be as smooth as possible to avoid water dropping on you in the night (i.e., you want to remove all local minima). Anyone can visualize how water runs down the side of a surface. It's only a small modification to visualize how gradient descent works.

The conclusion of this book was awful. They titled it "Computational Kindness", which they describe as being conscious of the steps someone needs to take when you deal with them. For example, when asking someone if they want to meet, propose a time (or list of times). If you don't, they'll say yes and ask when is a good time. This results in a lot more back-and-forth and wasted time. The authors gave other examples that now escape my memory. Don't get me wrong - I think this is a good idea, but it in no way fits with the rest of the book. Nothing the authors said in the entire book built up to this conclusion. It seemed as though they wrote the book, needed a conclusion to wrap it up, and threw this in at last minute just to finish it. Vomit.

Algorithms are abstractions. They are patterns. They are patterns that we have discovered for their utility, and it's remarkable when nature, when evolution has discovered the utility of the very same patterns. It reminds us of the interconnectedness of the universe and the power of abstraction. It's beautiful. I believe that elaborating this line of thought would have made both a more fitting and interesting conclusion than the one provided.

1984 by George Orwell

I read this book in high school. I didn't remember a lot of it, but I did remember the dreary and depressing setting that in which it takes place. I found that a lot of the same imagery from my high school reading popped into my head this time as well.

It's interesting to note that, though 1984 was written to caution against censorship and surveillance common in Communism, many of the concepts (like mass surveillance and brainwashing via propaganda) in the book have come true in democratic societies (though to a less extreme degree).

This book is the only book that ever really scared me. A lot of what takes place in it could foreseeably happen in the real world (a lot of it is happening). The sober yet comic ending left me with filled with an intense emotion. I guess it was dread/fear? Either way, upon this second reading, I will remember 1984.

King Henry V by William Shakespeare

I had never read Henry V, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Being one of Shakespeare's "histories", it dramatically recounts the Battle of Agincourt and Saint Crispin's Day Speech where Henry V rallied his troops against the much greater French army. The French believed there was no way they would be defeated due to their superior numbers, but their complacency got the better of them. The English won resulting in the Treaty of Trois where Henry V was to be wed to Catherine de Valois.

The Road by Cormack McCarthy

McCarthy is a master of prose. His writing is simple yet evocative. The scenes in this book elicited some of the most vivid mental imagery I have ever encountered in a book. You get used to the lack of punctuation pretty quick and probably even come to like it.

The Road reminded me a lot of The Last of Us - a man taking care of a child in a post-apocalyptic world.

I'll never forget the part of the story where they enter a house and the dad goes down into the locked basement. In the darkness through the flame of his lighter, he sees corpses. But they start moving. They're alive. There's a man on a sordid mattress with his leg cut off and cauterized. The people in the basement (who can) run to him and reach out to him like zombies, pleading for help. The man escapes and slams the door shut just as the owners of the house arrive home. They humans in the basement were being kept alive as cattle for food for the people living in the house.

The land was gullied and eroded and barren. The bones of dead creatures sprawled in the washes. Middens of anonymous trash.

The Quiet American by Graham Greene

TQA revolves around 3 characters - Pyle (the American), Fowler (the Brit), and Phương (the Viet). The symbolism is obvious. Phương lacks any personality. She does whatever Pyle, Fowler, or sometimes her big sister tell her to do.

Pyle is portrayed as a socially awkward, stubborn idealist convinced that America needs to provide a "Third Force" to Vietnam so named because it existed outside of Communism and colonialism. Pyle is younger and stronger than Fowler, and he blatantly tells Fowler that he has fallen in love with Phuong (Fowler's then girlfriend). Pyle got his idea of a "Third Force" from his extensive readings of a single, obscure author ironically named York.

The ensuing love triangle is a metaphor of US/French Indo-China relations.

Pyle dies, and Phuong returns to Fowler. After Pyle's death, Fowler asks Phuong, "Do you miss him much?'" To which she replies, "Who?", before jumping out of bed to tell her sister that she's going to marry Fowler.

Classics: A Very Short Introduction by Mary Beard

Dr. Beard wrote a very good, concise history of the Roman Empire appropriately title, S.P.Q.R. I picked up this book, because I loved S.P.Q.R. and because I've been pleased with other books in the Very Short Introduction series (Cosmology by Peter Coles and Particle Physics by Frank Close). If you're looking for catalogue of Greek and Roman facts, Classics will certainly disappoint. Dr. Beard discusses the methods of analyzing classics, what defines them, and how they've changed over time (e.g., from an attitude of acquisition to an attitude of preservation). She discusses how they impact our thoughts and beliefs and how even those have and are continuously changing. For me, the main point of Classics is that "Classics" does not statically refer to the period of ancient Greek and Roman, but rather Classics is a live and changing field.

The Maya: A Very Short Introduction by Matthew Restall and Amara Solari

I read this in preparation for a trip to the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

Beowulf Translated by Seamus Heaney

I listened to the audio book narrated by Heaney, himself.

Sandworm by Andy Greenburg

Andy Greenburg is my favorite tech journalist. He somehow manages to weave technical details into a gripping narrative, something like a real life cyberpunk novel.

The topics in Sandworm are scary. The United States, in creating Stuxnet, created the first (known) computer virus that physical manifestations. Since then, Russia has repeatedly used computer viruses to knock out power grids in Georgia and Ukraine. The books also details experiments done against the US power grid, demonstrating that it is not immune to such attacks. In fact, the US power grid is more advanced (i.e., has more computers) than those in Ukraine and Georgia, making it even more of a target for hacking.

Greenburg goes into all of this and more as he tracks down the culprits who created a notorious virus called Sandworm. Kremlinology plays a large part in the story. Since the Cold War, the Russians have employed various tactics and strategies in order to cover their tracks. Interestingly, many of these same tactics have analogues in the modern world, and the Russians, prolific hackers that they are, readily employ modern analogues of these in their viruses. For example, they hacked into the Winter Olympics in Seoul. Upon analysis, everyone immediately suspected the North Korea (for obvious reasons). However, the authors of the worm increased suspicions even further by including particular exploits that the North Koreans were known to be fond of using. For whatever reason, they also included Chinese signatures. This confused analysts, but also placed suspicion on China. It was only months later that diligent analyst discovered the unmistakable signs of Russia. Ironically enough, this security analyst was, himself, Russian.

Security is only going to become an ever more relevant field as time goes on, as computers proliferate, and technology grows. Sandworm gives the non-expert a glimpse into the scary developments taking place in the field of computer security.

Gray Day by Eric O'Neil

Eric O'Neil is a former FBI agent who, as a new, junior spy, was tasked with taking down a mole that had been in operation with Russians for decades. The FBI had a good idea who it was and put O'Neil under his command. Was a really fun read!

Outlive by Peter Attia

I listen to Peter Attia's podcast, The Drive, regularly. I enjoy the depth that he goes into on various medical topics. The last episode I listened to was an episode where he interviews a podiatrist, basically a 3-hour lecture on foot health. He also has episodes on eye health, dental health, mitochondria and zone 2 training, etc.

The overall theme of his show is longevity and healthspan, and how these can be maintained starting no matter how old you are. Moreover, that they should be maintained no matter how old you are.

That was the topic of Outlive, namely investigating what contributes most to lifespan and, more importantly, healthspan and how those things can be maintained throughout your life, or, how you can prepare for old age starting now. Dr. Attia makes the point that modern medicine isn't really equipped to help with healthspan, only lifespan (i.e., treating symptoms and keeping you alive).

Attia talks about the "Four Horseman of Death" - heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and obesity. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of how cardiovascular disease works, how plaques build up over time. He talks about the benefits of aerobic (particularly zone 2 training) and anaerobic exercise and how they relate to healthspan.

Like a lot of other popular science books these days, Outlive is filled with stories meant to draw the reader in, but I already griped about these above. Overall, this health book was better than most, and the overall thesis is important - if you wanna be healthy when you're 80, you gotta start ASAP.

Donnie Brasco by Joe Pistone

I listened to this 3 hour audiobook (narrated by Joe Pistone, himself) while cracking pecans. He goes into more detail than is portrayed in the movie, but as far as I could tell, the movie was pretty accurate.

A memorable scene (regrettably not included in the movie) was when Mr. Pistone recounts when he and other mafiosos went to a theme park. He tells how they locked arms while sliding down a giant water slide. How could you pass up a scene of dangerous mafiosos sliding down a water slide, giggling like school girls?

Joe Pistone spent 5 years undercover, infiltrating the mafia, almost getting killed numerous times, almost getting found out numerous times, almost loosing his family, and finally, almost becoming a made man. At the end of the day, the FBI gave Mr. Pistone a $500 bonus for his 5 years of effort. It's great listen. Especially at 3 hours long and narrated by the man, himself.

4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman

You're never gonna finish your to-do list. Just accept that fact. On average, you have about 4000 weeks to live. This was actually a really, really good book. I hate to call it "self-help" because that term is normally met with derision that 4000 Weeks is not deserving of. 4000 Weeks is really a long analysis of opportunity cost and the mindset one should take in dealing with unfinished tasks and unmet goals.

Why do we set goals? Goals are something to be achieved in the future. They rely on expectations and assumptions. But what if those expectations fall flat or our assumptions are wrong? We can't control the future; therefore, we can't really control our goals. I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals. You should definitely have goals. You just shouldn't get caught up in trying to fulfill them. Instead, focus more on what you can control, the present, your habits, your attention, what you do with your time. That's the gist of what I got out of 4000 Weeks.

My pithy description can't do it justice, but I do highly recommend this book, so here are some quotes:

The more you focus on using time well, the more each day begins to feel like something you have to get through.

To use time, by definition, is to treat it instrumentally, as a means to an end.

Why should we have to justify life in terms of the economy?

The Latin word for business, negotium, translates literally as "not-leisure," reflecting the view that work was a deviation from the highest human calling.

You surrender to the reality that things just take the time they take, and that you can't quiet your anxieties by working faster

God Is not Great by Christopher Hitchens

I'm already an atheist. But I don't really know anything about Atheism, rather it's the default option when you reject religion, especially when you reject religion because you see it as actively harmful towards human progress and human intelligence (as opposed to Agnostics). I reject religion because I see the wars it starts, I see the ignorance it breeds, and I see the hate it incites. I was once very religious, so I've been on both sides.

If I already reject religion and have my reasons for rejecting religion, why should I read a book on Atheism? What would I get out of it? That's exactly why I read this book.

God is not Great is mostly what I thought it would be - a long treatise on how religion harms the world and warps minds. What did surprise me was the level of detail, Mr. Hitchens' sarcastic and unmistakably British humour, and the lucid, logical, penetrating prose. Even if you already consider yourself Atheist, God is not Great can help you to see things much more clearly. All of this is even more remarkable given Hitchens infamous penchant for the bottle. Other writers mentioned they couldn't keep up with him on a night out. Yet despite binge-drinking and chain-smoking into his sixties, his writing never diminished in either quantity or quality.

I found Hitchens to be endlessly quotable, so I'll limit myself to 5 quotes:

There still remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum of servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking.

We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason.

We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of ideas for their own sake.

God did not create man in his own image. Evidently, it was the other way about

Sectarianism is conveniently self-generating and can always be counted upon to evoke a reciprocal sectarianism.

Personal tangent:

I do believe that faith in a god can help you in certain circumstances (but in no way do I believe this help for the individual outweighs the damage it does overall). It gives you hope, for example, when you're severely depressed. You can pray and through the placebo affect or otherwise, it might help you a bit.

In college, I found Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism. Zen offers a more effective way for dealing with unfortunate circumstances than say, Christianity. Zen trains you to focus your mind. When you can focus your mind, you can learn to quiet the thoughts that give you pain. That is, Zen is productive. It provides you with a measurable (measurable, in fact, at the neurological level) way to improve yourself to overcome hardships. This is far better than what Christianity provides (prayer and hope/faith). The Christian method of prayer might temporarily alleviate the symptoms, but Zen attacks the cause.

What Uncle Sam Really Wants by Noam Chomsky

I first read Chomsky in 2016. I didn't realize how brainwashed I was. It's devastating to think how terribly my own country has treated less powerful nations (and people). Most people nowadays know about Henry Kissenger, his bombing of Laos, Cambodia, his role in the incitement of the overthrow of the Chilean government in the 1970s.

What Uncle Sam Really Wants examines those incidents and many more that have occurred mostly post-WWII, because that was when the US became a superpower. In fact, Chomsky shows that the US was explicitly planning as early as the mid to late 40s how to maintain control post-WWII (see National Security Council Report 68 (NSC-68)).

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Whenever I read The Lord of the Rings, I get this feeling kinda like some mix of nostalgia and awe. In the LOTR, everything has a history, a depth. Often, these histories are thousands of years old. It gives the world a literary vibrancy².

Foundation by Isaac Asimov is not nearly the masterpiece that the LOTR is; however, interestingly, I get some of the same feelings reading Foundation that I do reading LOTR. But where the literary depth of the LOTR is in the past, the literary depth in Foundation is in the future, or, rather, we see it being built as the novel takes place over 1000 some odd years. We first encounter Hari Seldon as a living mortal. Through the ages, we watch him become a legend throughout the galaxy.

A Captain's Duty by Richard Phillips and Stephan Tally

I watched the movie, so I listened to the book on a long drive. I've since learned that Captain Phillips may have altered the details of the events to make himself out in a more favorable light (for example, he supposedly brought the ship closer to Somalia than he was supposed to, exposing her to pirate attacks).

In any case, the movie (starring Tom Hanks) is great, but the book might be a bit long in the tooth.

Footnotes