Thursday, December 07, 2006

Wrapping things up.

Tonight, I make my final exams for my literature class. Should be fun . . . for me, anyway.

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I've got the last batch of poems from my intro class. Pretty soon I'll be collecting portfolios. The quarter seemed to go by so slowly. The winter quarter will be fast, but the spring quarter, I remember, seemed to crawl. That's probably because all the schools in the semestral format are finished a month before us. That's okay, I guess. The trade-off is that we start at the end of September.

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Speaking of weird calendars, I had to turn down an offer to teach for a low-res. Alas, my full-time teaching doesn't synch-up with what would've been a great part-time gig. Maybe in the future.

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My parents don't read my blog, so I can ask you . . . I need good recommendations for non-fiction. My mother LOVED The Knife Man. She also enjoyed The Professor and the Madman. I need a recommendation that's similar. I don't think she'd be interested in political history, or anything of that nature. Suggestions, please.

4 comments:

Suzanne said...

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson.

Oliver de la Paz said...

Ohhh. Sounds interesting. What's it about, Suzanne?

Suzanne said...

It's fascinating, engrossing, one of my favorite recent reads--the full title is: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. It's about the making of the 1893 Chicago World's fair and the serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims.

From Amazon--

'...Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality ...'

Oliver de la Paz said...

Thanks for the tip, Suzanne. I went ahead and purchased the book. I'm sure both my parents will love it.