Tony Daniel says Chuck Palahiuk’s latest therapy-culture driven novel is a macabre, but interesting, tale.
Read the review here.
book review
At the ‘Federalist,’ Tony Daniel Calls Byron York’s Book ‘Obsession’ a Workman-like Account of the Democratic Party’s Attempt to Remove the President During Trump’s First Term
Tony Daniel says Byron York’s account of the hysteria of the Democratic Party to remove Donald Trump from the presidency by any means seemingly fair or foul works even better because York does not go in for polemics, but lets the facts speak for themselves.
“With a steady drumbeat of factual, piece-by-piece storytelling, York captures the Chautauqua of sleaze and venality that has overtaken official Washington for the past four years in this, the greatest ongoing emanation of meaningless sound and fury in U.S. political history,” Tony Daniel says. “It was a plot hatched by a comprehensive assortment of all the monstrous personalities in which the capital specializes: schemers, narcissists, and zealots, sure, but also the monomaniacally insane, the gutlessly obsequious, and, most of all, the overblown and hyperextended of ego.”
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Reviews Greg Gutfeld’s “The Plus” at the Federalist with a Tale of Punk Days of Yore
Greg Gutfeld’s new book “The Plus” advises readers to be positive and unconventional–to always look for the “plus” in each moment. Tony Daniel remembers a writer he knew who did just that.
“Behold the Punk,” Tony Daniel writes. “In some ways, he’s like the Dude from “The Big Lebowski.” I’ve never met anybody quite like him. He’s sui generis. At the same time, he is representative. Iconic. He’s got a flashlight. I have a crowbar in my hand. We are breaking into an apartment building somewhere in Georgetown. It’s a Sunday morning in the summer of 1988.”
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Writing at the “Federalist” Says “The Summer House” by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois May Portend the Future of Publishing
“The survival and rebirth of the American novel does not, I am bold to say, depend upon the annual disgorgement of navel-gazers, LARPing revolutionaries, and mediocrities from the nation’s writing MFA programs, most destined for readerships in the low thousands,” Tony Daniel writers. “It may, however, depend on authors like Brendan DuBois and craft-guild systems like James Patterson’s, which have together developed a large and discerning readership.”
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Reviews ‘Revolver: Sam Colt and the Six-Shooter That Changed America’ at the ‘Federalist’
Jim Rasenberger’s biography of Samuel Colt, ‘Revolver,’ has lots of interesting details about the colorful inventor of the six-shooter, says Tony Daniel, but unfairly faults Colt for sins against present-day leftist orthodoxy.
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Reviews ‘The 21 Biggest Lies About Donald Trump (and You!),’ by Kurt Schlichter at the ‘Federalist’
Tony Daniel says the Townhall columnist’s latest book, ‘The 21 Biggest Lies About Donald Trump (and You!),’ is funny, completely over-the-top, and a more appropriate response to the calumny directed at conservatives than allegedly decorous political observers want to admit.
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Reviews ‘The Splendid and the Vile’ by Erik Larson in the ‘Federalist’
“I like to think there is a little Churchill bust within the Oval Office of every thoughtful person’s soul—a bust that needs the occasional tending-to and buffing up,” Tony Daniel writes.
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Reviews ‘American Dirt’ by Jeanine Cummins for the ‘Federalist’
Jeanine Cummins’s bestselling novel ‘American Dirt’ has elicited protests over the author’s belonging to the wrong group to be allowed to write Mexican characters, writes Tony Daniel. He finds this ridiculous, and thinks the real problem is that the book is plodding moralistic melodrama—and thus perfectly suited to be an Oprah’s Book Club selection.
Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Reviews ‘The Mirror and the Light,’ by Hilary Mantel, at the ‘Federalist’
Tony Daniel argues that the Wolf Hall series is a landmark of historical fiction. He says that if you spend a while in the head of the Thomas Cromwell of Hilary Mantel, you may even find yourself questioning whether you might have done the same things yourself. Read the review here.
Tony Daniel Reviews Mike Rowe’s Book, ‘The Way I Heard It,’ at the ‘Federalist’
Tony Daniel says Mike Rowe’s new book, which arises from Rowe’s popular podcast, reminds him of the great Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” broadcasts from his youth. Rowe also divides the biographical sketches in the book with tales of his own coming of age and professional ups and downs, which are amusing and at times touching. Tony calls the book a pitch for a certain amused, easy way of looking at life, and a tale told by a smart, polished communicator who has figured out how to tug at your heartstrings and whack your funny bone without trying to stick a knife in your back in the process. Read the review here.
Tony Daniel 