Fierce Attachments: A Memoir by Vivian Gornick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Published more than 30 years ago, this memoir should still speak to anyone interested in the conflict between daughters and their mothers.

It's not a self-help book. It's the story of one daughter and her mother and the conflicts that result. Some mothers and daughters get along fine, but many spend their lives slamming their heads against one another.

Gornick is a fine writer and makes the story come alive. She also offers no easy answers nor points a blaming finger. The story is vivid, alive.



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Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael   Lewis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"Willful ignorance." Lewis's message is that the right hand hasn't a clue what the left hand is doing. High speed trading depends on tech that the traders in New Jersey (Wall Street is nothing but a façade). On the other hand, the tech boys don't have a clue about the markets, which are increasingly nothing more than a means for siphoning money out of the hands of investors (including American's retirement) into the hands of traders. Or more accurately, into the hands of robots. The computers are now making the financial decisions.

I've read several of Lewis's books, and they're always a fun gallop of a read. Unfortunately, he's more interested in outrage than in clear explanation. To be fair, it's difficult to explain the inexplicable.



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