Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Book report: The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde was so clever and witty that knowing him in person must have been quite tedious. That's an example of an epigram: a pithy quotable phrase, often paradoxical or satirical. I couldn't write one to save my life, but Oscar Wilde was famous for them ("I can resist everything except temptation.") and most of his characters talk just like him. You probably already know the story of this book. Dorian Gray is an extraordinarily handsome young man. An artist friend, Basil (Why, yes! This *is* a British novel.), paints a portrait of Dorian that captures not only his beauty but also his still-innocent soul. Another friend, Lord Henry, lets Dorian in on the news that youth and beauty are fleeting, so Dorian makes a wish that his own appearance should never change, but the ravages of life and aging should only appear on the portrait. He gets his wish. He never ages or shows any signs of the harrowing life he l

Book Report: Becoming Batman: The Possibility of a Superhero by E. Paul Zehr How could I *not* read a book called "Becoming Batman"? If I were a little taller, a little stronger, and a little more talented with a batarang, "becoming Batman" might have been a viable career choice for me. I started reading this book full of hope. The idea here is that Batman is an extraordinary physical specimen. Perfectly human, with no super powers at all, he's still able to fight and defeat criminals, perform amazing acrobatic feats, and survive extreme danger of all kinds. Unlike a character with inhuman super powers, we can imagine someone actually being Batman. What kind of person could do this? How would they need to train to achieve this level of performance? What kind of diet and exercise would they require? And, for how long could they keep it up? Zehr is a neuroscientist and a black belt in martial arts, so he's in a good position to present this kind of mate