Biography

I went and pulled the plug over 30 years ago, as an experiment in essential living.
Since 1992 I have been studying American heritage while living a pop culture hermitage.
That means: no TV; no Facebook; no Twitter; no Instagram; no TikTok; no texting; no followers; no likes; no subscribers; no subscriptions; no comments; no reviews; no shares; no NetFlix; no movies; no celebrities; no modern sports; no modern “music”; no video games; no credit cards; no debt; no logos; no trends...
Did you know? Aptitude tests in high school reported I was best suited to be a farmer.
Expelled my senior year from Gonzaga College High School in the District of Columbia, I was a high school drop-out for awhile and began living the life of a musician, playing shows and trying to get signed to a record contract.
I was accepted by the Catholic University of America despite having neither a high school diploma nor a GED or SAT scores.
While in college I was an intern in the United States House of Representatives and a waiter at numerous dive bars.
I made Dean's List and graduated with a BA in American History and a minor in Philosophy.
My career afterwards has taken me from managing a software store to database systems management to network administration to network emergency tech to web master to web developer to web designer to university professor.
What’s common to all these aptitudes and roles? Data management and design – the constant in all the information revolutions since Gutenberg.
This website demonstrates the value of studying the Humanities: I taught myself how to do absolutely everything you see, read, hear and otherwise consume on these pages.
ONCE IN COLLEGE
Did I mention that I graduated from Gonzaga High School during my junior year at Catholic University?
After college I became a musician & songwriter, which I pursued for a long time.
BACK IN COLLEGE
Currently I am a member of the faculty at Montgomery College, teaching such courses as Advanced Website Development; Fundamentals of Graphic Design; JavaScript, and other courses.
I've been a member of the faculty at George Washington University, teaching graduate, undergraduate and CE students in such courses as Professional Website Development; Interactive Web Design; Layout and Design of the Book, and Frame-By-Frame Animation.
Before that I taught courses in diverse departments & academic disciplines at the (original) Corcoran College of Art + Design. I was full-time Visiting Assistant Professor of Digital Media by the time I left the Corcoran, where I spent 7 years teaching in the BFA Design Department, the New Media Photojournalism graduate program, and the Art History program.
Before that I was a member of the faculty at the Catholic University of America in the Department of Art and the Department of Media Studies.
THESE DAYS
I own a web development / design business - now in its 3rd decade - and work with clients of all types and sizes.
For years I was on the board of the Gonzaga Carmody Open, a 501(c)3 organization designed to raise scholarship funds for fatherless boys to attend Gonzaga College High School in the District. Nearing its 5th decade, the annual Carmody Open Golf Tournament has raised millions of dollars in scholarship funds.
For years I was a board member of Choices, Inc. Choices, Inc., a non-profit organization for the development of resources for the sexuality education of persons with cognitive challenges and disabilities, as well as their parents, caregivers and staff.
39 Books Read, 2023
The Choice
1996 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Myth & Meaning
1978 - Anthropology
Wildlife
1990 - Literature
Angela’s Ashes
1996 - Biography & Memoir
Fail-Safe
1962 - Fiction
Reporting
Writings from the New Yorker
2006 - Essays
The Groucho Phile
The One, The Only - Groucho - Speaks for Himself
1976 - Biography & Memoir
An Affair of State
1948 - Fiction
The Trials of Harry S. Truman
The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945 - 1953
2022 - History
Junky
1953 - Fiction
The Octopus
A Story of California
1901 - Literature
I Am Brian Wilson
2016 - Biography & Memoir
In the Beauty of the Lilies
1996 - Fiction
The Book of Daniel
1971 - Fiction
The Corrections
2001 - Literature
Winston Churchill
2002 - Biography & Memoir
The Mysterious Stranger & Other Stories
1865 - 1910
1916 - Literature
Fortune Smiles
2015 - Fiction
The Monroe Doctrine
Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America
2011 - History
The Black Death
1347 - 1351
1969 - History
All Politics Is Local
and Other Rules of the Game
1994 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Medium Is The Massage
An Inventory of Effects
1967 - Communication Theory
Weaver On Strategy
The Art of Managing a Baseball Team
1984 - Sports
Stella Maris
2022 - Fiction
The Last Laugh
1981 - Fiction
The Investigator
Fifty Years of Uncovering the Truth
2013 - Law
The Orphan Master’s Son
2012 - Fiction
Logavina Street
Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood
1996 - History
This Ain’t Brain Surgery
How to Win the Pennant Without Losing Your Mind
2003 - Sports
Andersonville
1955 - Fiction
Crisis
The Last Year of the Carter Presidency
1982 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Lady Parts
2014 - Biography & Memoir
The Digger’s Game
1973 - Fiction
Better Than Sex
Gonzo Papers Vol. 4: Confessions of a Political Junkie
1994 - Journalism
Roscoe
2002 - Fiction
Mao II
1991 - Fiction
The Counterlife
1986 - Fiction
Women
1978 - Fiction
Lionel Asbo
State of England
2012 - Fiction
47 Books Read, 2022
Relativity
The Special and General Theory
1920 - Physics
A Distant Mirror
The Calamitous 14th Century
1978 - History
The Struggle for a Free Europe
1969 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Passenger
2022 - Fiction
Oil
1926 - Literature
All The Little Live Things
1967 - Fiction
Wired
1984 - Non-Fiction
The Flaming Corsage
1996 - Fiction
The Devil’s Stocking
1983 - Non-Fiction
A Visit From The Goon Squad
2010 - Fiction
Herblock At Large
1987 - Journalism
Born Standing Up
A Comic's Life
2007 - Biography & Memoir
The Pioneers
Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna
1823 - Literature
So Long, See You Tomorrow
1980 - Literature
The Demon
1976 - Fiction
The New Improved Bob & Ray Book
1986 - Comedy & Humor
Slouching Towards Bethlehem
1968 - Literature
The Pregnant Widow
2010 - Fiction
One Writer’s Beginnings
1983 - Biography & Memoir
The Great Shark Hunt
Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
1979 - Journalism
Washington Journal
Watergate: The Events of 1973-1974
1974 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Canada
2012 - Fiction
American Dreams
Lost & Found
1980 - Non-Fiction
Machiavelli
Philosopher of Power
2007 - Biography & Memoir
The Bias of Communication
1951 - Communication Theory
Redskin Country
From Baugh to the Super Bowl
1983 - Sports
Wise Guy
Life In A Mafia Family
1985 - Non-Fiction
Roughing It
1872 - Travel
The Roosevelt I Knew
1946 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
I Married A Communist
1998 - Literature
The Voyeur’s Motel
2016 - Non-Fiction
This Way to the Universe
A Theoretical Physicist's Journey to the Edge of Reality
2022 - Physics
His Excellency George Washington
2004 - History
Arrowsmith
1924 - Literature
Everything That Moves
A Documentary Novel
1980 - Fiction
Glitz
1985 - Fiction
America Goes To War
The Civil War and Its Meaning to Americans Today
1958 - History
Hillbilly Elegy
A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
2016 - Biography & Memoir
The Roberts Court
The Struggle For The Constitution
2013 - Law
Post Office
1971 - Fiction
Guys and Dolls
Stories, 1930 - 1944
1992 - Fiction
The Great Santini
1976 - Fiction
The Loser
The Confessions of a Compulsive Gambler
1968 - Non-Fiction
Licks of Love
Short Stories
2001 - Fiction
The Secret Man
The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat
2006 - Journalism
Masters of Deceit
How The Communists Plan To Take Over America
1958 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Accidental President
Harry S Truman And The Four Months That Changed The World
2017 - History
52 Books Read, 2021
Marshall McLuhan: Pro & Con
1968 - Communication Theory
The Klan Unmasked
1954 - Non-Fiction
The Art of Cross-Examination
1903 - Law
Coming Of Age
The Story of Our Century by Those Who've Lived It
1995 - Non-Fiction
The Pythons
2003 - Biography & Memoir
In The Clap Shack
1973 - Scripts & Screenplays
Focus
1945 - Fiction
Science Fiction Showcase
1948-1958
1959 - Fiction
Counter-Clock World
1967 - Fiction
Spying On The South
An Odyssey Across The American Divide
2019 - Non-Fiction
The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
1969 - Fiction
I Must Say
My Life As A Humble Comedy Legend
2014 - Biography & Memoir
Watergate
The Fall of Richard M. Nixon
1996 - Law
Very Old Bones
1992 - Fiction
Hail To The Redskins
The Glory Days of D.C.'s Football Dynasty
2015 - Sports
The Naked Ape
A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal
1967 - Science
The Lost Weekend
1944 - Fiction
Brief Answers To The Big Questions
2018 - Physics
The Disenchanted
1950 - Fiction
Inside Story
How To Write
2020 - Biography & Memoir
The Shadow-Line
A Confession
1917 - Literature
A World Lit Only By Fire
The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age
1992 - History
Candy
1958 - Fiction
Landfall
2019 - Fiction
Shadow Box
An Amateur in the Ring
1977 - Sports
Reckless
My Life As A Pretender
2015 - Biography & Memoir
The Long Valley
1938 - Fiction
Exit Ghost
2007 - Fiction
Gone With The Wind
1936 - Literature
SCTV
Behind The Scenes At Second City Television
1996 - Comedy & Humor
The Korean War
1969 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
1968 - Non-Fiction
Factotum
1975 - Fiction
Life Of Franklin Pierce
1852 - Biography & Memoir
The Silence
2020 - Fiction
Sorry For Your Trouble
Stories
2020 - Fiction
Poor White
1920 - Fiction
Recapitulation
1979 - Fiction
Fanny Hill
or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
1749 - Literature
Giants
What I Learned About Life From Vince Lombardi And Tom Landry
2010 - Sports
Rum Punch
1992 - Fiction
The Road
1907 - Biography & Memoir
Accessory To War
The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military
2018 - Physics
Cogan’s Trade
1974 - Fiction
A Good Man Is Hard To Find
& Other Stories
1955 - Fiction
The Long March
1952 - Fiction
The Optimist’s Daughter
1972 - Literature
Lolita
1955 - Literature
Around The World In Eighty Days
1873 - Fiction
Citizen Tom Paine
1943 - History
Something Deeply Hidden
Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime
2019 - Physics
A Confederacy Of Dunces
1980 - Literature
48 Books Read, 2020
The Landscape Of History
How Historians Map The Past
2002 - History
Second Chance
Three Presidents and the Crisis of American Superpower
2007 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Culture of Time and Space
1880–1918
1983 - Technology & Social Science
Movies For The Millions
An Account of Motion Pictures, Principally in America
1937 - Cinema Studies & Television
Portnoy’s Complaint
1969 - Literature
Walden Two
1948 - Fiction
The Final Days
1976 - Journalism
Sister Carrie
1900 - Fiction
War And Peace In The Global Village
1968 - Technology & Social Science
Rabbit At Rest
1990 - Fiction
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs
The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe
2015 - Physics
Chicago: City On The Make
1951 - Literature
Picasso
1938 - Art & Design
Ironweed
1983 - Fiction
Some Faces In The Crowd
Short Stories, 1938-1953
1953 - Fiction
John Brown
The Making of a Martyr
1928 - Biography & Memoir
Let Me Be Frank With You
2014 - Fiction
The Mind Of God
The Scientific Basis For A Rational World
1992 - Philosophy & Religion
The Man Who Knew Coolidge
Being the Soul of Lowell Schmaltz, Constructive and Nordic Citizen
1928 - Literature
The Conquerors
Roosevelt, Truman & the Destruction of Hitler's Germany
2002 - History
Strategies For Winning
A Top Football Coach's Game Plan for Victory
1990 - Sports
Notes From Underground
1864 - Literature
Jack Benny
An Intimate Biography
1976 - Biography & Memoir
The Names
1982 - Fiction
World’s Fair
1985 - Fiction
A Michener Miscellany
1950-1970
1973 - Non-Fiction
Street Without Joy
The French Debacle In Indochina
1964 - History
Judgment Day
1935 - Literature
The Good War
An Oral History Of World War II
1984 - History
Angle of Repose
1971 - Literature
Until The End Of Time
Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe
2020 - Physics
Rabbit Is Rich
1981 - Fiction
Goodbye, Columbus
And Five Short Stories
1959 - Literature
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
An Inquiry Into Values
1974 - Non-Fiction
For Our Beloved Country
American War Diaries from the Revolution to the Persian Gulf
1994 - Journals & Letters
Titus Andronicus
1588 - Scripts & Screenplays
Civil Disobedience
1849 - Literature
The Pit
A Story of Chicago
1903 - Literature
A Reporter’s Life
1996 - Biography & Memoir
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
And Selected Stories
1893 - Literature
The Irish Way
Becoming American In The Multiethnic City
2012 - History
The Fifth Column
Stories of the Spanish Civil War
1938 - Scripts & Screenplays
Rabbit Redux
1971 - Literature
Women With Men
1997 - Literature
The Supreme Court
1987 - Law
An American Dream
1964 - Fiction
The Saddest Summer of Samuel S
1966 - Fiction
House Of Meetings
2006 - Fiction
41 Books Read, 2019
Neuroplasticity
How Our Brains Change In Response To Our Actions
2016 - Science
The Wars of Watergate
The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon
1990 - History
Counterblast
1969 - Communication Theory
Rome At War
AD 293 - 696
2002 - History
Tortilla Flat
1935 - Fiction
Blood Meridian
Or the Evening Redness in the West
1985 - Literature
Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game
1978 - Fiction
All Those Mornings At The Post
The 20th Century In Sports
2005 - Journalism
White Trash
2001 - Fiction
Daddy’s Boy
A Son's Shocking Account of Life with a Famous Father
1989 - Comedy & Humor
Plan of Attack
The Definitive Account of the Decision to Invade Iraq
2004 - Journalism
Tried By War
Abraham Lincoln As Commander In Chief
2008 - History
Cruising Paradise
Tales, 1989-1995
1996 - Literature
Elmer Gantry
1927 - Literature
A Lost Lady
1923 - Fiction
Six Crises
1962 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan
1934 - Literature
The Python Years
Diaries, 1969-1979
2006 - Journals & Letters
Call If You Need Me
Uncollected Fiction & Other Prose
2001 - Literature
Flight of the Eagle
The Grand Strategies that Brought America from Colonial Dependence to World Leadership
2013 - History
Who I Am
2012 - Biography & Memoir
No Country For Old Men
2005 - Fiction
The Essential Groucho
Writings By, For, and About Groucho Marx
2000 - Comedy & Humor
Rabbit, Run
1960 - Literature
Our Gang
1971 - Literature
O Albany!
1983 - History
Of Mice And Men
1937 - Literature
The 42nd Parallel
1930 - Literature
Sex, Time and Power
How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution
2003 - Physics
Billy Bathgate
1989 - Fiction
In Review
Pictures I've Kept
1969 - History
The Red Badge of Courage
And Other Stories
1895 - Literature
Deliverance
1970 - Fiction
Main Street
1920 - Literature
Thirteen Days
A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis
1967 - History
To Chain The Dog Of War
The War Power of Congress in History and Law
1986 - Law
The Killer Angels
1974 - Fiction
Haircut & Other Stories
1922 - Fiction
Babe: The Life of Oliver Hardy
1989 - Biography & Memoir
The Lay of the Land
2006 - Literature
The Journals of Lewis & Clark
1807 - Journals & Letters
41 Books Read, 2018
Narcissus and Goldmund
1930 - Literature
The Gospel In Brief
1893 - Philosophy & Religion
A Journal of the Plague Year
1722 - Non-Fiction
The Enemy Had It Too
A Play In Three Acts
1950 - Scripts & Screenplays
Fahrenheit 451
1953 - Fiction
Amerika
1927 - Fiction
On The Road
1957 - Fiction
The Gangs of New York
An Informal History of the Underworld
1928 - Non-Fiction
Once There Was A War
Dispatches from Europe & Africa, 1943
1958 - Journalism
Lie Down In Darkness
1951 - Literature
Dean Acheson
The Cold War Years, 1953-1971
1992 - History
The Ginger Man
1955 - Literature
The Great Gatsby
1925 - Fiction
The Man With The Golden Arm
1949 - Literature
Looking Forward
1933 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Proud Highway
Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman 1955-1967
1997 - Journals & Letters
The Naked City
1948 - Scripts & Screenplays
Mad As Hell
The Making of "Network" and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies
2014 - Technology & Social Science
In Cold Blood
A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences
1965 - Non-Fiction
The Information
1995 - Literature
A History of Knowledge
The Pivotal Events, People and Achievements of World History
1991 - History
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin
1887 - Biography & Memoir
Beyond Category
The Life & Genius of Duke Ellington
1993 - Biography & Memoir
Walden
Or, Life in the Woods
1854 - Literature
Touching and Imagining – An Introduction to Tactile Art
Poems & Essays, 1973-1984
2014 - Art & Design
Washington Goes To War
1988 - History
Legs
1975 - Fiction
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1884 - Literature
President Nixon
Alone In The White House
2001 - History
The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit
1955 - Fiction
Remembering Laughter
1937 - Fiction
Hammer of the Gods
The Led Zeppelin Saga
1985 - Biography & Memoir
In Retrospect
The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam
1995 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Catch-22
1961 - Literature
The Ugly American
1958 - Fiction
What Makes Sammy Run?
1941 - Literature
The Letters of the Rožmberk Sisters, 1449-1482
Noblewomen in Fifteenth-Century Bohemia
2001 - Journals & Letters
Young Lonigan
1932 - Literature
Red Rat Race
1953 - Journalism
Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew
The World's Most-Recorded Musician
1990 - Biography & Memoir
A Swell-Looking Girl
Stories, 1929-1931
1959 - Fiction
39 Books Read, 2017
Man of the People
A Life of Harry S. Truman
1995 - Biography & Memoir
The Commanders
1991 - Journalism
Three Films
Battleship Potempkin | October | Alexander Nevsky
1974 - Scripts & Screenplays
Band Of Angels
1955 - Literature
Gilliamesque
A Pre-Posthumous Memoir
2015 - Biography & Memoir
Neutrino Hunters
The Chase to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe
2013 - Physics
The Tumult and the Shouting
My Life In Sport
1954 - Journalism
What Hath God Wrought
The Transformation of America, 1815 - 1848
2007 - History
The Bad Seed
1954 - Fiction
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
1940 - Fiction
Short Cuts
1993 - Scripts & Screenplays
A Tour On The Prairies
An Account of Thirty Days in Deep Indian Country
1833 - Biography & Memoir
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
2017 - Physics
The Public Arts
1956 - Communication Theory
The Jack Benny Show
The Life & Times of America's Best-Loved Entertainer
1977 - Biography & Memoir
The Fables of Ivan Krylov
1769-1844
2017 - Poetry
The Scarlet Letter
1850 - Literature
Ragged Dick
Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks
1868 - Fiction
Hard Times
An Oral History of the Great Depression
1970 - History
The Day of the Locust
1939 - Fiction
Life on the Mississippi
1883 - Literature
I Married A Communist
Or, The Woman On Pier 13
1949 - Scripts & Screenplays
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
1971 - Journalism
In Confidence
Moscow's Ambassador to America's Six Cold War Presidents (1962-1986)
1995 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Being There
1970 - Fiction
Lincoln’s Constitution
2003 - Law
Manhattan Transfer
1925 - Fiction
The Prince
1513 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Leonardo’s Brain
Understanding Da Vinci's Creative Genius
2015 - Art & Design
No More Vietnams
1985 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
1066
The Year of the Conquest
1977 - History
Ragtime
1974 - Fiction
Herblock: A Cartoonist’s Life
Self-portrait and Views of Washington from Roosevelt to Clinton
1993 - Biography & Memoir
Tobacco Road
1932 - Fiction
How The Other Half Lives
Studies Among The Tenements Of New York
1890 - Journalism
All The Pretty Horses
1992 - Literature
Darkness At Noon
1941 - Literature
Keith Moon
The Life & Death of a Rock Legend
1998 - Biography & Memoir
Animal Farm
1945 - Literature
37 Books Read, 2016
The Gutenberg Galaxy
The Making of Typographic Man
1962 - Communication Theory
Longitude
1995 - History
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
1968 - Fiction
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
1943 - History
On The Beach
1957 - Fiction
Thinking With Type
A Critical Guide
2004 - Art & Design
The Wayward Bus
1947 - Literature
Crossing To Safety
1987 - Literature
Off The Record With FDR
The War Years 1942-1945
1958 - History
Specifications Grading
Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students & Saving Faculty Time
2015 - Education
Finale
The Reagan Years
2015 - Fiction
The Bell Jar
1963 - Fiction
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
1793 - Biography & Memoir
The Big Picture
On the Origins of Life, Meaning & the Universe Itself
2016 - Physics
Six Amendments
How and Why We Should Change the Constitution
2014 - Law
Death of a Salesman
1949 - Scripts & Screenplays
Notes From A Dead House
1862 - Literature
Real Peace
1984 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Stars In Their Courses
The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863
1963 - History
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72
1973 - Journalism
Zero K
2016 - Fiction
The Johnstown Flood
The Story Behind The 1889 Disaster
1968 - History
A Walk on the Wild Side
1956 - Fiction
The Jungle
1906 - Literature
Working
People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
1974 - History
Hells Angels
The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
1966 - Journalism
Babbit
1922 - Fiction
Don’t Wait for the Next War
A Strategy for American Growth and Global Leadership
2014 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Here, There and Everywhere
My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles
2006 - Biography & Memoir
Sound Man
A Life Recording Hits with The Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin
2014 - Biography & Memoir
Waiting For Lefty
And Other Plays
1937 - Scripts & Screenplays
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
1943 - Literature
Voices From Chernobyl
The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster
1997 - Literature
The Executioner’s Song
1979 - Fiction
Claudius The God
And His Wife Messalina
1935 - Literature
The Imperial Presidency
1973 - History
Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey
1840-1870
1992 - History
34 Books Read, 2015
Harpo Speaks…About New York
1961 - Biography & Memoir
Not Too Old To Cut The Mustard
Jumping Bill Carlisle & Friends Talk About His Life & the Country Music Business
2000 - Biography & Memoir
The Prank
The Best of Young Chekhov (1880-1882)
2015 - Literature
Polk
The Man who Transformed the Presidency and America
2008 - History
A Study In Scarlet
1878 - Fiction
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1928 - Literature
In The Wake of the Plague
The Black Death & the World it Made
2001 - History
All Quiet on the Western Front
1928 - Literature
Libra
1988 - Fiction
Requiem For A Dream
1978 - Fiction
Notes on the Death of Culture
Essays on Spectacle and Society
2012 - Technology & Social Science
A Detailed Analysis of the Constitution
1958 - Law
Paterson
Volumes I - V
1946 - Poetry
Art & Physics
Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light
1991 - Physics
The Story of a Bad Boy
1870 - Biography & Memoir
Independence Day
1995 - Literature
The Spectator Bird
1976 - Literature
O Pioneers!
1913 - Literature
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
1861 - Biography & Memoir
White Mule
1937 - Fiction
The Time Machine
1895 - Fiction
The Haldeman Diaries
Inside The Nixon White House
1993 - History
Travels With Charley
1962 - Literature
John Barleycorn
Or, Alcoholic Memoirs
1913 - Literature
Law and the Nation
1865 - 1912
1983 - Law
Days of Wine and Roses
1962 - Fiction
One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich
1963 - Literature
That Man
An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt
1954 - Biography & Memoir
Harlot’s Ghost
1991 - Fiction
Looking Backward
1888 - Literature
Equus
1973 - Scripts & Screenplays
Seven Plays
1981 - Scripts & Screenplays
A People’s History of the United States
1992 - History
The Autobiography of Joseph Stalin
1999 - Fiction
34 Books Read, 2014
The Unvanquished
1938 - Literature
Blockade Diary
Under Siege In Leningrad, 1941-1942
1990 - Literature
The Luck of Roaring Camp
And Other Stories
1869 - Fiction
Groucho And Me
The Autobiography
1959 - Biography & Memoir
The Glass Cage
Automation and Us
2014 - Technology & Social Science
From Here To Eternity
1951 - Fiction
The Zone of Interest
2014 - Fiction
The Autobiography of Mark Twain
1877-1910
1959 - Biography & Memoir
The Communist Manifesto
1848 - Philosophy & Religion
The Iron Heel
1908 - Fiction
Slaughterhouse-Five
Or, The Children's Crusade
1966 - Fiction
It Can’t Happen Here
1935 - Literature
Homer & Langley
2009 - Fiction
Plain Speaking
An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman
1974 - Biography & Memoir
From Eternity to Here
The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time
2010 - Physics
The Plot Against America
2004 - Fiction
Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven
2013 - Fiction
Good Hunting
An American Spymaster's Story
2014 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Bad Monkey
2013 - Fiction
All The King’s Men
1946 - Literature
Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940
How Americans Lived Through the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression
2002 - History
Morning And Noon
A Memoir
1965 - Biography & Memoir
Killer Of Crying Deer
2010 - Fiction
Barabbas
1950 - Literature
The 480
1964 - Fiction
Big Bets & Black Swans
Policy Recommendations for President Obama in 2014
2014 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
1974 - Fiction
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1970 - Fiction
Nixonland
The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
2008 - History
The Human Comedy
1943 - Literature
The Sportswriter
1986 - Literature
My Silent War
The Autobiography of a Spy
1968 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Winesburg, Ohio
A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life
1919 - Literature
Frankenstein
Or, The Modern Prometheus
1831 - Literature
36 Books Read, 2013
The Crucible
1952 - Scripts & Screenplays
Last Exit To Brooklyn
1957 - Literature
Six Months In 1945
FDR, Stalin, Churchill & Truman - from World War to Cold War
2012 - History
The Circle
2013 - Fiction
The Millennium
A Comedy of the Year 2000
1907 - Literature
God’s Little Acre
1933 - Literature
Return of the Thin Man
1935 - Scripts & Screenplays
NW
2012 - Fiction
Confederates in the Attic
Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War
1998 - History
I, Claudius
From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius
1934 - Literature
Go East Young Man
Short Stories on Class in America 1917-1931
2005 - Literature
Dewey Defeats Truman
1997 - Fiction
The Art of Intelligence
Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service
2012 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Or, Life Among The Lowly
1852 - Literature
Visual Explanations
Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative
1997 - Art & Design
A Democrat Looks At His Party
1955 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Wanting Seed
1962 - Fiction
Flatland
1884 - Physics
Cosmopolis
2003 - Fiction
Sabbath’s Theater
1995 - Literature
London Fields
1989 - Literature
The Hunt For KSM
Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind
2012 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Luck of Barry Lyndon
1844 - Literature
Amity & Sorrow
2013 - Fiction
Affection and Trust
Personal Correspondence, 1953-1971
2010 - Journals & Letters
Fellow Travelers
2006 - Fiction
Pakistan On The Brink
The Future of America, Pakistan & Afghanistan
2012 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Good House
2013 - Fiction
Freedom
2010 - Literature
The Thin Red Line
1962 - Literature
Give Me Everything You Have
On Being Stalked
2013 - Biography & Memoir
Marjorie Morningstar
1955 - Literature
Time’s Arrow
1991 - Literature
Junky
1953 - Literature
Hedy’s Folly
The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr
2011 - Biography & Memoir
Sunday Nights at Seven
The Jack Benny Story
1990 - Biography & Memoir
38 Books Read, 2012
American Nations
A History of the 11 Rival Regional Cultures of North America
2011 - History
Narcopolis
2012 - Fiction
Escape From Camp 14
One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
2012 - Non-Fiction
Citizen Soldier
A LIfe of Harry S Truman
2012 - Biography & Memoir
Visual Strategies
For Scientists & Engineers
2012 - Art & Design
A Farewell To Arms
1929 - Literature
Cities of the Plain
1998 - Literature
Swamplandia
2011 - Fiction
Midnight Rising
John Brown & the Raid that Sparked the Civil War
2011 - History
Envisioning Information
1990 - Art & Design
Washington, D.C.
A Novel
1967 - Fiction
Lionel Asbo
State of England
2012 - Fiction
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
2012 - Fiction
The Counterlife
1986 - Fiction
Complete Stories
1943 - 1982
2004 - Literature
American Diplomacy
1952 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Logavina Street
Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood
1996 - Non-Fiction
The Dictator’s Learning Curve
Inside the Global Battle for Democracy
2012 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Canada
2012 - Fiction
The Education of a Typographer
2004 - Art & Design
The Corrections
2001 - Fiction
Page One
Inside the New York Times & the Future of Journalism
2011 - Journalism
Mao II
1991 - Literature
A Visit from the Goon Squad
2010 - Fiction
The Years of Lyndon Johnson
The Passage of Power
2012 - History
Grouped
How Groups of Friends Influence the Social Web
2012 - Technology & Social Science
The Angel Esmeralda
Nine Stories
2011 - Fiction
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
1962 - Literature
The Best American Science Writing
2010 - Physics
Watergate
A Novel
2011 - Fiction
The Design of Everyday Things
1988 - Art & Design
Satan Is Real
The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers
2011 - Biography & Memoir
The Cleanest Race
How North Koreans See Themselves
2011 - Non-Fiction
The Long Goodbye
1953 - Fiction
The Orphan Master’s Son
A Novel
2012 - Fiction
Sound Reporting
The NPR Guide to Audio Journalism and Production
2008 - Journalism
The Hidden Reality
Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
2011 - Physics
Reclaiming Fair Use
How To Put Balance Back In Copyright
2011 - Law
38 Books Read, 2011
Night of Camp David
1966 - Fiction
Collected Works, The Screenplays Vol 2
1971-1978
1995 - Scripts & Screenplays
The Visual Miscellaneum
2009 - Art & Design
Eisenhower
The White House Years
2011 - History
I Married A Communist
1998 - Literature
Stasiland
Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
2002 - Non-Fiction
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
1981 - Art & Design
The Art Of Creative Advertising
1968 - Art & Design
Life In Year One
What The World Was Like In First-Century Palestine
2010 - History
The Great American Novel
1973 - Literature
The Song of the Lark
1915 - Literature
You Are Not A Gadget
A Manifesto
2010 - Technology & Social Science
The Stranger
1946 - Literature
Famine Ship Diary
The Journey of an Irish Coffin Ship
1847 - Biography & Memoir
White Noise
1985 - Fiction
Nothing To Envy
Ordinary Lives In North Korea
2010 - Non-Fiction
Mr. Citizen
1960 - History
The American Civil War
A Military History
2009 - History
The Boys of Summer
Growing Up Within Shouting Distance of Ebbets Field
1971 - Biography & Memoir
The Big Sleep
1939 - Literature
Augustus
A Novel
1972 - Literature
Making Movies
1995 - Biography & Memoir
The PEN/O Henry Prize Stories: 2011
The Best Stories of the Year
2011 - Fiction
Harry Truman’s Excellent Adventure
2009 - Biography & Memoir
My Antonia
1918 - Literature
Bomb Power
The Modern Presidency and the National Security State
2010 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Underworld
1997 - Literature
The Moviegoer
1960 - Fiction
Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back
1980 - Fiction
The Next Decade
Where We've Been..and Where We're Going
2011 - Non-Fiction
Cognitive Surplus
Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age
2010 - Technology & Social Science
Change By Design
How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations & Inspires Innovation
2009 - Art & Design
The Humbling
2010 - Fiction
The Art of Immersion
How the digital generation is remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the way we tell stories.
2011 - Technology & Social Science
Chuck Amuck
The Autobiography of Chuck Jones
1992 - Biography & Memoir
The Lost Peace
Leadership in a Time of Horror and Hope, 1945-1953
2010 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Cyber War
The Next Threat to National Security
2010 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Marshall McLuhan:
You Know Nothing of My Work
2010 - Biography & Memoir
36 Books Read, 2010
The Big Idea
2008 - Art & Design
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet
2009 - Fiction
How To Read Literature
2007 - Fiction
Indignation
2008 - Fiction
American Pastoral
1997 - Literature
Lolita
1957 - Literature
Rock Springs
1987 - Fiction
Lord of the Flies
1954 - Literature
A Confederacy of Dunces
1980 - Literature
The Satanic Verses
1988 - Literature
The Plague
1948 - Literature
The Next 100 Years
A Forecast for the 21st Century
2009 - Non-Fiction
The Big Switch
Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google
2008 - Technology & Social Science
How Wars End
A History of American Intervention
2010 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Real War
1980 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Presidential Command
Presidential Leadership and the Making of Foreign Policy
2009 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
The Great Gamble
The Soviet War in Afghanistan
2009 - Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs
Kissinger 1973
The Crucial Year
2009 - History
Goodbye Columbus
1959 - Literature
The Trial
1925 - Literature
Portnoy’s Complaint
1967 - Literature
Methland
The Death & Life of an American Small Town
2009 - Non-Fiction
The Great Depression
A Diary
2009 - Biography & Memoir
Stop Stealing Sheep
And Find Out How Type Works
2003 - Art & Design
Thinking With Type
A Critical Guide
2004 - Art & Design
Truth In Comedy
The Manual of Improvisation
1984 - Technology & Social Science
Hail, Hail, Euphoria
The Marx Brothers in Duck Soup
2010 - History
Zero History
2010 - Fiction
Inbound Marketing
The New Rules of Social Media
2010 - Technology & Social Science
The Grand Design
2010 - Physics
A Brief History of Time
1988 - Physics
The Little Book of String Theory
2010 - Physics
Physics of the Impossible
A Scientific Exploration
2008 - Physics
Number
The Language of Science
1930 - Math
The Shallows
What the Internet is Doing to our Brains
2010 - Technology & Social Science
Understanding Media
The Extensions of Man
1964 - Communication Theory
Books Read:
January 2010 — September 2023.
That's 1 book every 8.96 days or 3.39 books a month for 13.75 years.
Every title on this list is a 100% genuine book, of course.
That is to say, not one was consumed on a device.
Average year of publication? 1971.
- Anthropology [1]
- Art & Design [16]
- Biography & Memoir [54]
- Cinema Studies & Television [1]
- Comedy & Humor [4]
- Communication Theory [7]
- Education [1]
- Essays [1]
- Fiction [149]
- History [54]
- Journalism [17]
- Journals & Letters [6]
- Law [11]
- Literature [118]
- Math [1]
- Non-Fiction [23]
- Philosophy & Religion [3]
- Physics [20]
- Poetry [2]
- Poli Sci & Foreign Affairs [33]
- Science [2]
- Scripts & Screenplays [15]
- Sports [7]
- Technology & Social Science [13]
- Travel [1]
What Do I Read?
Click Here for the big list of books.
NEW! Interactive Gallery: The Books I Read
Currently I read on average more than 40 books a year. I like to argue/debate, perform family tree research & code whatever I can come up with, and play chess.
- Late 18th- to Mid 20th-Century American Literature
- American History
- Cold War Foreign Policy
- Genealogy
- Physics
- Chess
- Philosophy
- Debate
- Photography
- Graphic design & typography
- Popular music from the 1920s to the 1970s
- 40+ years in musical composition & performance

Photos of My Studio
Click here to see more photos from the Washington Post Magazine shoot, as well as other photos taken over the last 18 years as this space has evolved.