Category Archives Good Reads

Matt Green 0 Comments

Good Reads: A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr

I just wrapped up reading A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr, and let me tell you, it was a good one. Originally released in 1996, and later made into a movie starring John Travolta (which I have not yet seen, but will), the novel details the ground water contamination case of Woburn Massachusetts. It became a best seller and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction.

If you’re into legal thrillers (John Grisham, Scott Turow, etc) give this one a shot. I found it particularly interesting because it gives a ton of information about personal injury law, both procedural specifics and ideology, and since my company does work with several personal injury lawyers, I found that it gave me a new appreciation for the profession (although, I do realize that there is still a certain level of “ambulance chasing” that exists). Below  are some reviews of the novel. Just let me know if you want to borrow it.

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Matt Green 0 Comments

Read The Monkey Wrench Gang

I just finished reading one of the most exciting and satisfying books I’ve ever read: The Monkey Wrench Gang. It’s tale about a group of eco-saboteurs who roam the American southwest (the best part of the country) vandalizing, ravaging, and otherwise f**king-up the monstrous corporate mechanic beasts in-charge of re-constructing the desert in the name of State and corporate profiteering. Now, I’m no environmentalist, or conspiracy theorist, or even someone who is at all interested in judging how anyone else provides for himself or his family; but I love a good “f*ck the man” tale as much as the next red blooded American. Of that type of literate, there are few better than The Monkey Wrench Gang.

Written by the late, amazingly talented and relentlessly unforgiving American author, essayist, and unyielding critic of American public land policy, Edward Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989), the novel is so jam packed with explosions and chase scenes that it may as well have been written and directed by Michael Bay. The four protagonists are all as easy to relate to as the person who stares back at you in the mirror. The primary hero of the story, George Heyduke, spends the entirety of the novel pounding Schlitz, as he scours “his” land looking for the next dozer to drive off a cliff. Heyduke reminds me of a combination of Hank Mooney and John McClane.

 

With that, go read The Money Wrench Gang, now!