kinda interesting but not well written
598392
This book follows the journey of a pleasant nut-case, Shane Brennan, who for a reason I could not ascertain, decided to walk across vast stretches of desert to follow the army of Greeks going to attack Persia thousands of years ago. The history is fairly interesting. Also it's fairly interesting to find out how the different groups of people he encounters react to this European walking thru their desert. Mostly they're incredibly nice and friendly which is most heartening to hear. They drag him inside their houses for food and tea and to give him a place to sleep. Things fall seriously apart when he gets to Iraq. All of which sounds interesting except the author's writing skills leave much to be desired. For instance when he gets to Iraq he meets a man named Abdullah from Somalia. The author says it was worth the whole journey just to get to know Abdullah. Terrific! I'm waiting expectantly to find out what's so good about Abdullah. Is he smart, funny, wise, eloquent, anything at all? Unfortunately we don't find out a thing about Abdullah. The author even returns to Iraq at great personal risk after the war starts in 2003 just to see how Abdullah and his friends are doing. Why? we don't find out.
  I like to learn about history and I like to learn about nut-cases and I like to hear about societies of which I know little (the desert dwellers of Turkey, Syria and Iraq). But this one wasn't really worth the trouble.
3655894
I felt that the topic of the book was going to be very interesting. However even though I think that is true, I found myself stuggling to plow through it.  The author's writing style just does not appeal to me, and I found my self dozing off.  Now having said that, there is some nice info in the book.  What I especially found interesting was the 1st section that described the development of the universities in the United states.  Also if interest was the toward the end of the book, where we see people of taking advantage of all the free education out there, to become self taught.  I think the book, is ok, however it could do more to keep the readers attention.
3083373
I am really interested in this period as it relates to the current gilded age of sorts we are in.
However, I am finding the writing to be inaccessible.  Almost like an essay and not sufficiently specific history. A little disorganized and overly florid.  Seems like the history is presented on ad hoc basis to support an overarching theory.  Makes for difficult reading.
2126458
Very interesting.... writer didn't write it in a good story format.... somewhat disjointed in writing style.
664701
It's not a badly written book, and it has some interesting insight, but it falls kind of dry and I never went back to finish it.
2895999
This book isn't very well written and I would only recommend for a breif summary of the people in it.  I wasn't familiar with a lot of them so I still enjoyed it.
893725
Started out pretty good but as it went on the writing got disjointed and hard to follow, tiresome to try to stick to and finish.  Not sure I would pursue reading more of this author's work.
4526282
The book was okay, not terribly intriguing or well written. The way it just dropped off in what seemed like the middle of a chapter was odd. I am curious enough to read the sequel if I see it, but I wouldn't recommend the book to a friend.
3223105
It's an interesting story, but isn't written in a way that held my attention for long. As such, I didn't finish the book.
924746
Interesting read but poorly written. I don't consider myself an awesome write but I felt like the book had too much of a casual feel to it.  Perhaps I was looking for something that was more factual and less opinion based?
4683646
somehow this read like a book for young adults. Perhaps it was the writing style or vocabulary level. Story was interesting but not as compelling as it could have been due to the writing.
1938072
OK for an airplane trip, but parts of it seem to have been written mechanically. Interesting similes and metaphors, but some seem too contrived and characters are unbelievable and not well developed.
4391698
The story line is interesting, but the writing style was mediocre.  And I thought the author took a long time to say the things she wanted to say.
3873534
This author does have some writing abilities, but those abilities really need to be fine tuned. I didn't finish the book, so perhaps it got better. What I read was not very good--poor character development, large portions that were uninteresting, simple dialogue, and just generally amateurish.
2457776
It was an interesting read but not a great one.  While the author is a decent writer, there were parts that could have used a LOT of judicious editing.  This is book I'm glad I read but not one I would ever read a second time.
3121078
While the story is interesting and the world invented quite "inventive", the writing is not that good.  Sometimes it seems to be written just to get somewhere else in the story and is not that plausible.
305999
The story I guess is nice, but the way is written is just too cheesy and he book got a little bit boring, I almost don't finish it.