William I. Lengeman III - Freelance Writer & Blogger

Book Review - Driving Mr. Albert

Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain
by Michael Paterniti
The Dial Press, 2000
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III

It could be the ultimate road trip/buddy movie - a man and the aging and slightly dotty pathologist who removed Albert Einstein's brain take it (floating in formaldehyde in a Tupperware container) on a cross-country jaunt. In reality, it's hard to know what's more unbelievable, that it really happened or that Hollywood hasn't latched onto the story yet.

Book Review - The Air Conditioned Nightmare

The Air Conditioned Nightmare
by Henry Miller
New Directions, 1970
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III

One almost has to admire the sheer vitriol with which reviewer Orville Prescott savaged Henry Miller in the New York Times, in late 1945. Though he admitted that his subject was "not without talent," Prescott ultimately concluded that The Air-Conditioned Nightmare was "as shallow, snobbish, uninformed, pretentious and monstrously egocentric a book as ever I read in my life."

Book Review - American Odyssey

American Odyssey: A Book Selling Travelogue
by Len Fulton, with Ellen Ferber
Dustbooks, 1975
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III

Most road trip books have at their heart some type of quest, though many of these can be rather nebulous. For Len Fulton and Ellen Ferber, the goal of the road trip that spawned American Odyssey was very straightforward - to sell Fulton's novel, The Grassman, and to raise awareness of small press publishing, in general.

Book Review - The Genesis Race

The Genesis Race: Our Extraterrestrial DNA and the True Origins of the Species
by Will Hart
Inner Traditions International, 2004
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III
(First published in Fortean Times)

One of the most telling statements Will Hart makes in The Genesis Race is that “it is possible to make a case for almost anything and evidence can be found to support what we wish to prove.” This stands as one of the most well-reasoned arguments in a book filled with mostly well-reasoned arguments and an admission that ultimately, unless some staggering bit of “proof” is uncovered to support Hart’s theory of intelligent extraterrestrial intervention, or any other theory of evolution of humankind, we will each have to pick and choose among the theories that seem most viable and more or less take the rest on faith.

Book Review - Hitchcock On Hitchcock

Hitchcock On Hitchcock: Selected Writings And Interviews
Edited by Sidney Gottlieb
University of California Press, 1997
Reviewed by William I. Lengeman III
(First published at Creature Corner)

The late Alfred Hitchcock may be one of the world’s best-known movie directors. The only other director who really comes close is Woody Allen. Among the contributing factors that made “Hitch” a household name were his prodigious output as a director – more than fifty feature films in roughly as many years – his trademark cameo appearances in each film, a television series that ran for ten years and to which he lent not only his name, but his hosting talents, and a keen awareness of the value of public relations.