Category: Biography

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Biography Book Reviews Prose Nonfiction Science / Technology

Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story

1 min read

Order this bookStory: Originally conceived as a major cornerstone of the more all-encompassing Apollo Applications Program that would have included a space station, a longer-term lunar presence, space science missions using existing Apollo hardware, and possibly even a crewed flight to Venus and back, Skylab ended up as a space station in which the space science missions would be carried out; the rest of AAP never happened due to government belt-tightening. The authors – most of whom were astronauts who stayed aboard Skylab in orbit – discuss the development twists and turns of the Skylab program, the three missions that were flown, and the station’s legacy to science and the American space program.

Review: It’s easy to find books on the history of the Apollo lunar missions, and fairly easy to find books covering the space shuttle program and even the international Apollo-Soyuz cooperative venture. But…Skylab? Does anyone remember Skylab for anything other than getting NASA a fine for littering when the station re-entered and scattered debris over the Australian outback in 1979? … Read more

Categories
Biography Book Reviews Computers / Video Games Prose Nonfiction

Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry

Book cover for "Once Upon Atari: How I Made History By Killing An Industry" by Howard Scott Warshaw
1 min read

Order this bookStory: Howard Scott Warshaw, designer and programmer of such classic Atari 2600 games as Yars’ Revenge, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, looks back on his career and digs down into the claims that he’s responsible for one of the system’s best games ever (Yars’) and one of its worst (E.T.), the latter of which is credited with killing the American video game industry. But did E.T., or Warshaw, really do that?

Review: Howard Scott Warshaw is a really interesting guy. I say this having met him on a couple of occasions, but I also say it because I found it fascinating that someone who had to put up with years of being (unjustly) blamed for a game he created somehow single-handedly causing the fall of the early video game industry…would change careers and become a therapist, who counts other creatives in that industry among his clients. What better career trajectory could anyone embark on, if not that one? I was hoping that his memoir would cover that transition, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. … Read more

Categories
Biography Book Reviews Computers / Video Games Prose Nonfiction

Creating Q*Bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games

1 min read

Order this bookStory: The designer/programmer behind the 1982 arcade hit Q*Bert discusses how he got into computer programming and then into game design after being hired at the very young video game division of legendary Chicago pinball manufacturer Gottlieb. A free-wheeling work environment give him the freedom and time to develop the graphics and game play concepts that led to the highly marketable hit game, but massive changes in the industry meant that he didn’t always have that kind of environment.

Review: When I was a ten-year-old kid more in love with “cute” games than with shoot-’em-up games, the summer of Q*Bert’s arrival in the local arcades was practically a flashpoint memory. Even when I wasn’t playing the game, the character stuck with me enough that drawings of him started to fill up the margins of my school notebooks that fall. As much fun as the game was, I’m not sure anyone gives Q*Bert enough credit for scoring an important first: the appearance of the character was unified in just about all of its marketing, something that couldn’t be said of Pac-Man or even Mario at that stage. That a ten-year-old could draw him was a bonus. … Read more

Categories
Biography Prose Nonfiction Science / Technology

Warnings: The True Story Of How Science Tamed The Weather

2 min read

Order this bookStory: Mike Smith, former TV meteorologist and founder of Weatherdata, Inc., recounts the formative events that inspired him to study weather – particularly severe weather – and take it up as a career. His involvement in forecasting such severe weather events as Hurricane Katrina and the devastating 2007 Greensburg, Kansas tornado (which destroyed that entire town), is covered in detail.

Review: A fascinating read for at least half of its page count, “Warnings” promises to be a history of forecasting severe weather in the United States. The first half of the book delivers on that admirably, taking us from the era when tornadoes just seemed to sneak up on (and kill) an unaware populace to modern times, when the debate usually isn’t “was there a warning?”, but rather “how much lead time did the warning give?”. From the fabled first (and quite unauthorized) tornado warning issued at, and for, Tinker Air Force Bace in Oklahoma City, the development of severe weather forecasting and warning is traced through the use of modified navigational radars from ships to the development of Doppler radar and computer modeling (and the very hands-on human data gathering that has to happen for the computer modeling to be even remotely useful or accurate). … Read more

Categories
Audiobook Only Biography Doctor Who Prose Nonfiction

The John Nathan-Turner Memoirs, Volume 2

2 min read

Order this bookStory: Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner (1980-1990) relates the story of his tenure as the longest-serving producer of the series, virtually guiding it through the entirety of the 1980s until the BBC quietly cancelled it. In this volumes, he takes listeners, episode-by-episode, through his work on the show, starting halfway through 1986’s Trial Of A Time Lord, and then covering the tumultous unseating of leading man Colin Baker, the casting of his successor Sylvester McCoy, and the making of McCoy’s three seasons as the Doctor. Nathan-Turner’s continuing association with Doctor Who, even after the show was no longer being made, is covered, as are his thoughts on the show’s future (a few years before Russell T. Davies’ new series was announced) and some of its more vocal fans.

Review: A bit closer to what I was hoping to hear from The John Nathan-Turner Memoirs, the second volume of the former Doctor Who producer’s audio memoirs still comes in for a landing wide of the mark. Like the first volume, this one concentrates too much on story-by-story anecdotes in a way that doesn’t pause for breath and doesn’t allow for a more elaborate exploration of JN-T’s opinions of any particular event. … Read more

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Audiobook Only Biography Doctor Who Prose Nonfiction

The John Nathan-Turner Memoirs, Volume 1

1 min read

Order this bookStory: Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner (1980-1990) relates the story of his tenure as the longest-serving producer of the series, virtually guiding it through the entirety of the 1980s until the BBC quietly cancelled it. In this volumes, he takes listeners,episode-by-episode, through his work on the show, starting as a studio floor assistant in the Patrick Troughton story The Space Pirates, through his work as production unit manager, through his rise to the position of producer at the end of Tom Baker’s reign. At the end of the second disc, “JN-T” discusses the 1985 cancellation/hiatus crisis and the beginning of production on The Trial Of A Time Lord.

Review: I’ve had both 2-CD volumes of the late John Nathan-Turner’s memoirs sitting on the shelf for some time, but they sat there until a recent listen to fellow Doctor Who producer Barry Letts’ memoirs spurred me to listen, contrast and compare. As with the two wildly different epochs of Doctor Who itself, trying to compare the two showrunners’ memoirs is an exercise involving apples and oranges. … Read more

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Audiobook Only Biography Doctor Who Prose Nonfiction

Who And Me

1 min read

Order this bookStory: Doctor Who producer Barry Letts (1923-2009) narrates the story of his own beginnings in TV and theater, from second-string actor to writer to producer of one of the BBC’s most popular series during its first seasons in color starring Jon Pertwee. This first volume, featuring Letts reading his own memoirs, covers his early career, his first Doctor Who directing gig (Enemy Of The World starring Patrick Troughton) and his eventual ascension to the chief creative mind behind the series. Jon Pertwee’s first two seasons are covered in depth, including many remembrances of Pertwee himself and his co-stars, the introduction of Roger Delgado as the Master, and more.

Review: I had Who And Me sitting on the shelf for a long time before former Doctor Who producer Barry Letts died in October 2009, but I just hadn’t listened to it; Letts has already been interviewed, and has written up anecdotes about his time working on Doctor Who, and has done enough DVD commentaries…I wasn’t sure there was anything new to tell. Who And Me proved otherwise. … Read more

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Behind The Scenes Biography Music Reviews Prose Nonfiction

I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol / 12 Days on the Road / Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

Book titleOrder this bookStory: Three books tell the story of legendary punk band the Sex Pistols.

Review: My fascination with the Sex Pistols began with my brother giving me the documentary The Filth and the Fury for either my birthday or Christmas one year with the cryptic words “You don’t know you want this.” He followed that up with John Lydon’s autobiography, “Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs”, but I just couldn’t get into it, not getting past the first few pages before I put it down. But about a year later, I acquired a different book on the Sex Pistols by their US tour manager, Noel Monk; “12 Days on the Road”, the story of the band’s raucous career-ending tour. With its much more visceral feel and crazy stories right off the bat, it was much easier to get into. So after finishing that, I went back to “Rotten” and then bought original bass player Glen Matlock’s autobiography “I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol”. Three very different perspectives on the story of the band lead to three very different books. Ultimately, they compliment each other, helping to give a more rounded view than any one book would have done alone. … Read more

Categories
Biography Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Prose Nonfiction

Hitchhiker: A Biography Of Douglas Adams

Hitchhiker: A Biography Of Douglas AdamsOrder this bookStory: Author (and SFX Magazine co-founder) M.J. Simpson references a wealth of interviews with “Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” author Douglas Adams – and his friends and associates – to paint a fairly complete picture of his life as a science fiction icon, creative thinker, advocate for the popularization of science and technology, and staunch avoider of deadlines.

Review: “Hitchhiker” is a book that Adams fans probably love or loathe…depending largely upon whether this is the first biography they’ve read of their hero. Years and years ago I was extolling the virtues of Neil Gaiman’s “Don’t Panic”, which, to be fair, is only partly a biography but is also a history of the Hitchhiker’s Guide franchise. However, considering that Adams was intimately involved with Hitchhiker’s Guide up to the time of his death, it seems unlikely that anyone could really tell one story without having to tell the other. … Read more

Categories
Behind The Scenes Biography Prose Nonfiction

Don’t Panic! – The Official Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Companion

Don't Panic! - The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy CompanionOrder this bookStory: Coming from a somewhat unexpected source, this book can’t seem to decide if it’s a biography of Douglas Adams, or the definitive history of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” story as told in multitudes of media. But in any case, it would be virtually impossible to write the former without at least temporarily lapsing into the latter, so it’s okay. Neil’s just zis guy, ya know?

Review: Though there are wonderfully large amounts of previously unknown information about the behind-the-scenes machinations of “Hitchhiker’s Guide” on TV, on radio, in print, and – gasp! – on stage, I really have to single out the section on Adams’ fan mail as the most hilarious portion of the book. The fan mail itself isn’t that funny; in fact, some of it comes across as positively disturbing. But Adams’ answers never fail to give me a good belly laugh – especially at the thought that the original letter writers probably turned around and tried to read something into them! … Read more