The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham My rating: 1 of 5 stars Described on the back cover as “Maugham’s greatest and most enduringly popular novel,” that makes the author a feeble writer and the reading public lacking in discernment. I recently reviewed his A Writer’s Notebook, calling is a […]
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy My rating: 5 of 5 stars This may be the best novella period. It is shockingly modern, and appropriate to our times, as if written yesterday instead of 140+ years ago. We just left – if you believe media reports – one […]
A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind The Rise And Fall Of Murder Inc. by Michael Cannell My rating: 4 of 5 stars New York may never represent the best in America, but it has long been the most colorful. Michael Cannell, a former editor at the New York Times, has […]
America is torn. I recently drove the East Coast to get a pulse of the nation recently ravaged by governmental diktats, media distortions, and rioters coddled by a major party. The further north I drove, the darker the journey became, into a northeast traumatized by the virus and disastrous state […]
The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich A. Hayek My rating: 5 of 5 stars This 1944 classic was the post-war clarion call against collectivism and its glide path to totalitarianism. Controversially for the time, it declared that socialism, communism, and fascism all float in the same collectivist (or Leftist) swamp, […]
Indie publisher Sophie Publishing House recently picked up My World Book 1 and started airing a TV commercial featuring the book in Metro Miami, to run through 2020. You can view the commercial below: To support indie publishing, please click through to Sophie House here […]
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki My rating: 5 of 5 stars Bill Buckley famously quipped that he would rather be lead by “the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than the faculty of Harvard,” a populist observation which still brings a smile to our faces. […]
Deep South: Memory and Observation by Erskine Caldwell My rating: 2 of 5 stars Caldwell (1903-1987) was a reasonably well known novelist in mid-century America, whose name has slipped into the fog of history. I had never read any of his works – those that might ring a bell include […]
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman My rating: 1 of 5 stars Last May, for the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s birth, saw a plethora of tributes to – some say – America’s greatest poet. I had an old edition of Leaves of Grass kicking around for ages, most recently […]
Haunting Paris by Mamta Chaudhry My rating: 4 of 5 stars The book is a beautiful and compelling mystery/ghost story/historic account about Paris and her many ghosts. At a recent book club meeting, we hosted the first time novelist and long-time writer, Mamta Chaudhry, who shared some of her and […]
The national launch of My World Book 2 at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL on Nov. 8th was a rollicking success. Nearly 25 enthusiastic people attended, with Q&A extending well beyond the presentation’s duration. Local journalist and long-time friend, Doreen Hemlock, kindly introduced Ben. ♥ The event was […]
You are cordially invited to the national launch of My World Book 2: Tramping the Globe on $10 a Day, Ben’s fourth and most personal work, which completes the My World Book series. The launch will take place at southern Florida’s premier independent bookseller, Books & Books, in Coral Gables, […]
Come join me at this Saturday afternoon’s Author Fair in Miami, where I’ll have a table, along with other local authors. If you haven’t been to the Main Library in a while, it is worth the visit, along with the compelling History Miami Museum next door, where I’ve learned much […]
The São Paulo launch of My World Book 1 was a warm, intimate event in Butantã. While lightly attended in comparison with January’s reading (with a book of Brazilian travel adventure), the intimacy allowed for prolonged conversation both before and after. As one attendee shared afterwards with the author: “I […]
You are cordially invited to the Brazilian launch of My World Book 1, in São Paulo, SP, on Sunday, August 25th. The book is about the author’s inexpensive trip around the world. As a lost American, fresh out of college and despairing of career, life, and family, he looks […]
My recent book tour in Miami – dubbed “the attack of the ben clones” – was a hoot. There were four events over five days, as part of the Author Series hosted by the Miami Dade Public Library System and Earthdog Press. While we got rained out at Coconut Grove, […]
If you missed last December’s event at the Miami Beach Regional Library, come join (one of) me the first week of June in Cutler Bay, California Club (near Hallandale Beach), Pinecrest, or Coconut Grove. For a continuing Author Series, the Miami Dade Public Library System has kindly invited me […]
I recently returned from a mission trip with my Miami Beach church to Peru, my second to the country. Thanks to so many for your prayers and generous support! We flew into Lima and then took a 4 hour bus south to Ica, along the Pacific coast. What a beautiful, […]
You’re cordially invited to a reading/signing of the recently launched My World Book 1: Hitching the Globe on $10 a Day in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, April 24th, 7:30pm. The book’s launch video will be shown, followed by the book reading and a short Q & A. Paperback copies […]
The author’s first book reading in a foreign country was a success in São Paulo, Brazil. The book, To Belém & Back, about a long trip into Brazil’s backlands, was launched in São Paulo in 2015. As a book reading necessitates using much English, the event was generously attended, with […]
