Lost Worlds: What Have We Lost & Where Did it Go? by Michael BywaterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had a real love/hate relationship with this book, which is why it took me a year and a half to finish it. There are times when the author seems so completely self-involved and enamored of his own intellect that he forgets there is a reader at the other end. There are more instances, however, of sardonic humor and moments that remind us that nostalgia is indeed the rust of memory, not its steel. This isn't a book to read cover-to-cover in one sitting, but instead to be taken in small doses. The cross-referenced "entries" are a plus, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the idea that this would ever really be a reference book.
In some ways, it is true--we are defined by what we have lost. And lest you think this a frivolous book, the last three entries solidify its street cred as a philosophical examination of our existence.
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