tropic of cancer

so, in an effort to add some of the books on those pesky century's best lists, I checked out Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller from the library. This book is very much in the stream of consciousness style, which is never my favorite. I like that style for movies, but have not really cared for it in the written word. Anyways, I don't think this one will be finished this year, so I'm not sure how this one should count on the yearly totals.

ruling?

also, just a word to the wise, Joe is cheap, so don't believe he'll ever actually buy lunch for anyone.

This is going to be fun!

I am so very excited to be in the group, looking forward to seeing what everyone is reading and hearing your thoughts. Yesterday Joe suggested that the person who reads the fewest books buy lunch and then appended it to say that the person who reads the most books should also buy lunch. This creates my goal for the year of being solidly average.

Alan

Joe's Bowl Schedule

Seriously, if you're going to rank your books according to the college football bowl system, shouldn't you put them in bowls? I guess I got to do everything.  Here we go.  First the "BCS bowls", involving all "eligible" conference champions.

Pre-Bowl rankings

It's time for my yearly top-5 designation for the year. And, just like college football's idiotic BCS system, I have no problem jumping to conclusions and ranking my books early. Unlike the BCS, I reserve the right to update the list. That, and my number 1 book for the year WILL be a conference champion.

The breakdown of divisions ($ denotes a division eligible for the title, # denotes a conference winner, WTF? denotes the worst book of the year, and * denotes a top-5 preliminary finisher).

BEHAVIOR SCIENCE CONFERENCE $
- Moonwalking with Einstein, by Josh Foer (Kindle) #*
- Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney (Kindle).
- The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain, by Tali Sharot (Kindle)
- Out of Character by David DeSteno and Piercarlo Valdesolo (Kindle)

Season wrap: Usually a bigger group, but the quality is always there (unlike the Big East). Never ceases to provide some of the best reads of any year for me. Moonwalking is the clear winner (and it WORKS!!!), but Willpower made a late push. I should have read more of these this year. Next year, Daniel Kahneman will likely rule this one.

SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY CONFERENCE
- The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Kindle) #
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling (out loud to Jacob)
- The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling (out loud to Jacob)
- Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone, by J.K. Rowling (out loud to Jacob)

Season Wrap: I read more science fiction / fantasy this year than usual. Too bad the winner of this division will probably never be eligible for any championship I may award. Although, Stranger in a Strange Land looms before the end of the year... we'll see. Like Boise State and Utah (pre-Pac 12 Utah), there may be some sort of lawsuit to be treated equally with the other divisions (just not eligible, sorry). I almost included Klosterman's book as a sci-fi, but it was just too "possible." I liked the Hobbit, and I look forward to reading it to Jacob out loud, but The Visible Man is more up my alley.

QUIRKY CONTEMPORARY SNARK CONFERENCE $
- Them, by Jon Ronson (Kindle) #
- The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson (Kindle)
- Men Who Stare at Goats, by Jon Ronson (Kindle)
- The Advance Genius Theory, by Jason Hartley (Kindle)
- The Unlikely Disciple, by Kevin Roose (Kindle)

Season Wrap: I like snarky contemporary essayists/satirists/witty writers. Klosterman is usually in this conference, but he went all sci-fi on me. Still, Jon Ronson is quickly making this his own Conference. Ronson is great at letting people talk. He has a way of making conspiracy nut-jobs feel at ease and "among friends." Then, he asks logical questions and you literally watch through the book as the subjects hang themselves with all the rope. Throw his very British wit in with Deep-South crazy and you have a brilliant dish that keeps on giving. Advance Genius Theory was applicable and Disciple was good, too, but Ronson wins.

EPICS CONFERENCE $$
- War & Peace, by Leo Tolstoy (Kindle) #*
- Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky *

Season Wrap: No more needs to be said about W&P. Suite Francaise, however, requires more. That book was awesome. I really, really liked it. Had it been finished, I am sure it would have become an all-time epic. As it stands, it is the start of an epic never finished and still a great book as it stands. Nemirovsky's story is a tragedy, but this book was amazing.

NOVELS CONFERENCE $
- Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole (Kindle) #*
- Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman (Kindle) *
- The Visible Man, by Chuck Klosterman (Kindle)
- A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (Kindle)
- Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem
- Tinkers, by Paul Harding
- I Served the King of England, by Bohumil Hrabel

Season Wrap: A virtual tie for the Conference title, but Ignatius J. Reilly's fake injury down the stretch (followed by his on-field threat of a lawsuit) stopped Klosterman enough that the FG was just barely too long and fell short. If only team Owl could have hit its earlier FGs... Wait, maybe they can still play for the national title! One-plus-one anyone? (No one is beating Tolstoy this year, though). I enjoyed all of these books, but the top three were clear.

The Visible Man was based on a character with a suit that rendered him transparent (do NOT call it invisibility). As usual, Klosterman's book focused more on human nature. This one was like Arkansas - third in the Conference, but top notch overall.

COMEDY CONFERENCE
- In Fifty Years We'll All be Chicks, by Adam Carrolla (Kindle) #
- Bossypants, by Tina Fey (Kindle)
- When you are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris

Season Wrap: All fun, but Carrolla made me laugh to tears with his Village People take while I was on an airplane. You just can't explain to someone why you are laughing so hard when the joke was this: "And even though they all had bushy mustaches and were singing about cruising YMCAs and shipping out with the navy, none of us had a clue they were gay. One of the guys was just dressed as a leather homo. He didn't even have an occupation other than (censored)... and we were still like, 'Those guys must pull down a ton of chicks.'"

Seriously, you had to be there. Time and place. I am NOT a pig! How dare you?!

GOSSIP CONFERENCE
- Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall, by Frank Brady (Kindle) #
- The War for Late Night, by Bill Carter (Kindle)
- ESPN: These guys have all the fun, by Tom Shales and James Miller (Kindle)

Season Wrap: Endgame wins in a walk. The others were fun, but nothing beats the epic nuttiness of Bobby Fischer. Much like the MAC or Conf-USA, no one cares.

SAY WHAT? CONFERENCE
- A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again, by David Foster Wallace (Kindle) #
- Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, by David Foster Wallace (Kindle)
- Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, by Bobby Fischer
- Scorecasting, by L. Jon Wertheim and Tobias Moskowitz (Kindle)
- The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elizabeth Tova Bailey (Kindle)
- The Age of American Unreason, by Susan Jacoby (Kindle) WTF? SERIOUSLY, WTF?

Season Wrap: Go away Susan Jacoby. Just go away. I hated that book with a passion. Susan, you are making my team (political team) look bad! You are the stereotype that other team uses to make fun of us. You suck and your book was terrible. I agree with her and she pissed me off. How is that possible? I'll tell you. Pretension. Lots of it. David Foster Wallace is great but depressing. It's probably best to just move on.

NONFICTION CONFERENCE $
- Homicide, a Year on the Killing Streets, David Simon (Kindle) #
- The Corner, by David Simon
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (Kindle)
- In the Garden of the Beasts, by Erik Larson (Kindle)
- Love is a Mix Tape, by Rob Sheffield (Kindle)

Season Wrap: Loved Homicide. Love The Wire. The Corner was equally as good, so this was a hard call. Ultimately, The Corner was more slightly more meaningful, but Homicide was a lot more enjoyable. It's a virtual coin toss.

TOP FIVE (pending bowl season)
5. Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky %
4. Moonwalking with Einstein, by Josh Foer (Kindle)
3. Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman (Kindle) %
2. Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole (Kindle)
1. War & Peace, by Leo Tolstoy (Kindle)

% That's right, two books that did not win a conference were in the mix.

Honorable mention: The Visible Man, by Chuck Klosterman; Them, by Jon Ronson; Homicide, by David Simon. These books were really, really hard to leave out.

TOLSTOY ON FILM

And Tolstoy Makes His Move!

... up to number 2.

Now that I have finished War & Peace, by Leo Tolstoy, I can now give this great book a more solid ranking. I knew with certainty that it would be a top 10, so I put it at number 8 to insure it would have a spot reserved.

A great, great book. I couldn't unseat Ben, but I gave this some thought. As I revisited my list one last time, number 2 just felt right. Tolstoy nails human nature so perfectly that it rings as true today as when it was written in the 1800s.

So, the final list now looks like this:

20. Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell and Moonwalking with Einstein, by Josh Foer.

19. Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman.

18. The Book of Basketball, by Bill Simmons.

17. Profiles in Courage, by John F. Kennedy.

16. Guns Germs & Steele, by J. Diamond.

15. Bearing the Cross, by David Garrow.

14. Brothers Karamozov, by Fyodore Dostoyevsky.

13. Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole.

12. 1984, by George Orwell.

11. Memoirs of the Second World War, by Winston Churchill.

10. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodore Dostoevsky.

9. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger.

8. Old Man and the Sea, by Earnest Hemmingway.

7. A World Apart, by Gustaw Herling

6. The First American, by H.W. Brands.

5. A Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.

4. Simple Justice, by Richard Kluger.

3. Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns-Goodwin.

2. War & Peace, by Leo Tolstoy.

1. Autobiography, by Benjamin Franklin.

A book list

So in response to a request, here's a list of books that I consider to be about the best I've read.

The order here is not exact, as some of them could be reordered based on the various criteria, but it's a good start. This is not intended to be a high brow list of things I've finished, but works that I found to be most important to me.

1) Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
"And so, to sum it all up, I perceive everything I say as absolutely true, and deficient in nothing whatever, and paint it all in my mind exactly as I want it to be." Volume 1, Chapter 25 ahem, fox news?

"'No one's gotten me pregnant'...'and I'm not the kind of man who lets himself get pregnant, not even by the king, and though I may be poor, I'm an Old Christian...'" Volume 1, Chapter 47

"I tell you, when it comes to asking stupid questions and giving crazy answers, I don't need to go looking for help from my neighbors." Volume 2, Chapter 22

"...that what applies here is the old saying about the pot calling the kettle black." Volume 2, Chapter 67 (for the record, yes that's a very old saying)

This book runs the gamut of range. It features an old man, half insane, and his adventures, sometimes in true hilarity, with an astounding wit. But there is also a grace, and a sense of fighting the insanity of the times, and to think, this was written around 1605.

I've read this both in English, and in the original Spanish (ah, college) and I recommend either to anyone.

2) To Kill a Mockingbird
What can I say, Atticus Finch rocks.

3) The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
This book, as many will know, effectively introduced the world of Fantasy literature to the general public. The depth of the universe he created has set the standard for serious fiction writers. Creating a universe with a history that explains and guides the characters is virtually a requirement at this point.

Tolkien went so far as to create entire languages for the universe (he was a professor of linguistics) and uses the foundations of so many mythological and other tales and borrows a bit here and there, plus if you get into it, using a certain amount of Bible themes, especially how Morgoth and the Valar came to Middle Earth and the theme of Salvation.

4) Competing for the Future, by C.K. Prahalad & Gary Hamel
I had to read this book for my MBA course work, and I'm so glad I did. As someone in the business world, this book is really a classic. I'm not really one to be satisfied just doing the same thing over & over. This book does so much to help lay foundations for progress, and strategic thinking and planning, I recommend this to anyone who has any connection to business, either by owning one, or by planning on doing something besides say shoveling snow for the rest of one's life.

5) The Art of Warfare, by Sun Tzu
This book is hard. Some of the principles are completely counter-intuitive, and some are very situational, so being aware of which ones fit at which time can be difficult. But that being said, it's so interesting to see someone write this all up, and lay out the scenarios. I probably need to re-read it and try to apply it to chess.

6) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
I love this book, and it needs to be read (without the whole word replacement business) by every kid, and probably again by nearly every adult. Censoring this book is ridiculous in all its forms.

7) The Great Gatsby
I read this in high school, as part of one of the AP classes, and I found it interesting, and more than a bit self indulgent. But that's what you get when you have a damaged rich guy as the named protagonist. Nothing like fucked up love story in the middle of the roaring 20's! and with scandal & murder!

8) The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
Ah, the Okies. I guess California's Prop 187 wasn't the first time that California was a bit anti-immigrant (too soon?). Steinbeck helps to set the stage so thoroughly, and really brings the struggles of the Great Depression to life. Its nearly impossible to imagine the 30's without this novel.

9) The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
Perhaps the greatest adventure book around. London creates unforgettable characters, and paints such a great picture of the Yukon and Alaska. This book really helped stoke my interest in Western fiction, and love of that genre in film as well. Besides, what's better than a story of a boy and his dog?

10) The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Damnit, I have the conch. It's my turn. Nope, nothing like an object lesson in the fragile line between chaos and civilization. For my part, I think that our friend Tom would fit right in.

11) Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Dafoe
Nothing like being shipwrecked on an island with some cannibals to make a good story.

12) The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Ambrose
This book does such a good job of explaining why War is hell, and what so many people need to do to overcome their fears and do what they need to do.

13) American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
Dave assigned this to me, and his account of the story line is pretty good. I just think this was such a creative idea, that the Old World gods came to North America, to basically unfertile soil, and the things they have to go thru to ensure their survival. Very good story, and obviously HBO agrees since they're working on a series now.

14) The Walking Drum, by Louis L'Amour
One of Louis better works, and not in his strength of the westerns. Rather, this is an adventure book set in Europe, Turkey, and down into basically Iraq/Iran. It's an adventure tale set when the Moors had invaded Spain, and brought their culture into Europe, so we're looking around 1100 AD. It's an epic tale, and one that was not finished. By many accounts, Louis was intending a 2nd book to complete the tale, but didn't get to it before he passed away.

15) The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
I literally laugh myself to tears in several places in this book. Anyone who needs to learn to understand British humor should start with this book. The way they describe the matter of fact destruction of earth just like the way that poor Arthur has to deal with the town's decision to remove his house as part of the freeway off ramp. Classic. and remember, Don't Panic!


16) The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
Been a long time since I read this one, but the struggle is everything we have sometimes. So dig in your heels and get stubborn baby!

17) The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli
The manual for how to win a kingdom, keep it, and how to handle all the various things that come up. Rife with examples specific to Machiavelli's life and the region at the time. Lots of fun commentary on the actions of various Popes, the Venetians, the French, and others. Good times. I just finished this book, and I can already see the flaws in how numerous governments and other leadership positions come about, and other ways to adjust them. There are lots of lessons to be learned in this book about leadership and recognizing wisdom, and setting up the things around you. I will be reading this again, cause I'll need another pass or six to get this all nailed down.

18) A Song of Fire & Ice Series, by George R. R. Martin
Ok, so this might be cheating, but this whole series (currently 5 books with nearly 5000 pages in total) is just astounding, but its not just one book. I've written about it before, and will be again. I don't want to give away too much, as I expect to be lobbying for and/or assigning this to my compatriots in the near future. I figure they ought to finish war & peace first, as it's a lot of work by all accounts.

Catch Up

So in light of a ruling by Joe, I have added some books that I read to Gracie as this year has gone along. Ian was there some of the time, he wasn't always willing to sit through entire chapters. I can't remember where they fit in the specific order, so I just popped them all here at once.

Gracie enjoys big chapter books. In fact, we started reading the Harry Potter series as well, but she took the initiative and started reading ahead of me and was able to finish several of the books by herself. She has also immensely enjoyed the use of audio books this year, disappearing into her room for hours (and sometimes seemingly days at a time) while she devours some books on tape. In combination with actually reading the chapters herself (btw, she's in 2nd grade for those outside readers). However, since I didn't even finish one of the Potter books with her I'm not going to count those here.

Now, I only just saw the top 20 list, so I'll put some thought into that and pop up a post in the next few days.

Happy Reading.

Ranked

There's something about ranking things, no matter what they are, that is a lot of fun.  For me, anyway.  This tends to manifest itself into sports:  Anytime the Friends and I get together or chat, inevitably, we start talking about who's the best QB ever (John Elway), or the worst collapse (2004 Yankees in the ALCS), or even best sports movie (Hoosiers!).  James's wife loves it when we get together specifically so she can laugh as we go overboard on arguments about nothing.

So, as Joe mentioned, last weekend was the talk about Confederacy of Dunces (great book, by the way), and Aaron mentioned it was one of his top 5 (number 2, I believe), and Joe and I, being the dorks that we are, went home and started making our own lists independent of each other.  Then called each other on Sunday to recite our lists. Joe's list is up, now I guess it's my turn.  A couple of things, before I start:

Joe's Top 20 Books of All-Time

After reading Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, book club we all compile our Top-10 book lists so we can discover such hidden gems again. It's weird to call Dunces a hidden gem considering it won a Pulitzer Prize, but it seems to be a cult classic.

So, I started compiling my top 10. I was surprised how quickly it came together, but it didn't take long to start feeling bad about leaving out certain titles and authors. For example, I'm ashamed to say that my initial top 10 did not include anything by Dostoevsky. I am staying true to that initial list for the most part because I am currently reading a book that suggests over-thought decisions often lead to disappointment. But, Dostoevsky had to be in there and now he is.

Books carry certain emotional responses that guide any rating. My list is no different. In fact, I am not sure I would have some of these books listed had I read them at any other time in my life than the time I read them. Revisiting the feelings inspired by these books has been a real joy.

I decided to compile my top 20 to accommodate those great books and because I feel like it.

So, without further ado, my top 20 books of all time.

20. (tie) Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell and Moonwalking with Einstein, by Josh Foer. So sue me, I'm adding a book. I couldn't leave either off, so they can both carry the "behavior science" flag that would be wildly missed among any list of my favorite books. Outliers changed how I look at and handle people and Einstein showed me how to use memory palaces.

19. Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman. I read this book after I had finished a draft of my short story and decided this was the kind of book I wanted to write. This book is awesome. It's very "slice-of-life." It has some great phrasing... such as: "He told Cindy Brewer that her voice reminded him of 'a cuntier version of Joan Rivers;' or "He probably enjoyed remembering their conversations more than he ever enjoyed having them;" or "He once punched an alter boy in the chest for ringing a bell incorrectly (which, to be fair, did improve the overall quality of pre-Mass bell ringing by an unbelievable degree."

This book is about a small town and the basic "goings-on" about town. The writing is witty and fun. It is enjoyable and intelligent. I enjoyed it very much.

18. The Book of Basketball, by Bill Simmons. That's right, a basketball book. I laughed so hard reading this book. I love the NBA and basketball. I also love comedy and this book is one of the funniest I've ever read. I stayed up late waiting for the kindle release with my kindle logged on so I could start reading as soon as possible. I've read it twice in a year's time and may read the paperback yet this year. Dave included a book by a wrestler, and I'll include Simmons.

17. Profiles in Courage, by John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I took this book with me to New York when I had a summer internship at Time, Inc. Instead of going out in Manhattan, I read this book and was inspired to aim a little higher. A very inspiring book with great examples of political courage.

16. Guns, Germs & Steele, by J. Diamond. Diamond asks one of the boldest and most uncomfortable questions about human history: Why did certain societies and people progress faster than others? He answers that question definitively. Although his book was very, very detailed and thick with information, I think his conclusion is simple. The mass of information proves his simple conclusion conclusively in my mind. The difference? Chance. Geography. I am convinced that any group of people, if they began civilization at the Fertile Crescent, would have been the ones to thrive rather than suffer. This book was not always easy to read (and sometimes downright difficult), but it earned the Pulitzer it won.

15. Bearing the Cross, by David Garrow. The definitive history of the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. (one of my heroes). A view inside the dirty work of moving a people past prejudice (at least in the legal sense). The burdens of being the face of the civil rights movement were beyond comprehension. King is shown with all his brilliance and his flaws equally. An inside look at the cross he carried will leave you breathless.

14. Brothers Karamozov, by Fyodore Dostoevky. The greatest diversity of deeply plumbed characters I am aware of in literature. The characters serve purposely diverse and yet interdependent personalities and paradigms. The concepts tackled in this book are deep and thorough. The Grand Inquisitor is a masterpiece of its own and it is just a part of one chapter. This book is listed as the greatest novel ever written by more than a few sources.

13. Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole. Ignatius J. Reilly is one of my favorite characters ever created in literature. This book is funny and a complete joy to read. I just finished it and it made a very strong initial impression that carried through the duration of the book.

12. 1984, by George Orwell. I did not read this book in high school like so many others. I read it many years later, but I enjoyed it deeply. This book introduced words and concepts to our culture and our dictionary (groupthink... Big Brother... etc.). This book impacted our culture and it will make you think long and hard.

11. Memoirs of the Second World War, by Winston Churchill. A first-hand account of WWII by one of its heroes. You will hear Churchill's voice on every page. I love that he makes no bones about this being his attempt to win the narrative of the war. I also love the amazing information and his unique and brilliant (although un-apologetically self-serving) commentary.

10. Crime and Punishment, by Fyodore Dostoevsky. The only author who can stand in the same zip code with Dostoevsky on character depth is Leo Tolstoy. It's those two alone and then everyone else looking up at them. Raskolnikov is an all-time great character and Dostoevsky's creation of his inner dialogue is brilliant. The reader is inserted into Raskolnikov's mind and witnesses his guilt, survival instincts and torment. It is a book about the mind of a man trying to cover up his crime. This is Dostoevsky at his best (and I say this even though Brothers Karamozov is widely considered his masterpiece).

9. A Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. I do not remember much of the plot. I remember Holden Caulfield and that I related to this book because I had moved during my 10th grade year. The famous quote from this book spoke to me at that time: "Don't ever tell anyone anything. If you do, you start missing everyone." That quote fit for me when I read it.

8. War & Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. I am almost done with this one, but I need to put it here with flexibility to move (but not too much) either direction. Already, this book has proven to be profound in a way I can appreciate only as an adult. This book is the wisest novel I have ever read about people. To paraphrase one of our "gifted and talented" book club members, "if you can't relate to a character in a deep way, you aren't paying attention." It is true, as shown by the many posts made on this blog about this amazing tome.

7. The Old Man and the Sea, by Earnest Hemingway. I have read this book probably 4 or 5 times. It is brilliantly written, and the story is so wonderful and pure. This book was one of the first I was able to appreciate on a deep level. I read it in 8th grade. The story is so simple, and the fisherman in this book is a monumental character in literature. I read this book in German (Der Alte Mann und Das Meer) and somehow felt like I was reading it anew. And yet, nothing was different.

6. A World Apart, by Gustaw Herling. Among all the sadness and horror of this book, the part that I will never forget involves the most painful and yet joyous defecation ever described. He describes the joy of freedom from a Gulag while emptying his body of a turd that had been so thoroughly mined for nutrients by his starving body that it was essentially a rock. I have at times read just that chapter because of the amazing power of that scene. The tears of pain and joy are powerfully described.

5. The First American, the Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, by H.W. Brands. I love Benjamin Franklin. The amount of information in this book was amazing and it was a page-turner even though it is very long.

The introduction will pull you in for good. From the Prologue, I can still see the image placed in my brain by the author of Franklin walking into Parliament as a loyal British citizen, suffering a humiliation that clarified the true divide in his mind between Britain and the Colonies, and then leave as the first American citizen. The writing was gripping. a few tastes...

Revolutions are not made in a morning, nor enemies lost in a day. But Britain did itself more damage in those two hours than anyone present imagined. By alienating Franklin, the British government showed itself doubly inept: for making an enemy of a friend, and for doing so of the ablest and most respected American alive. At a moment when independence was hardly dreamed of in America, Franklin understood that to independence America must come.

He sailed for home - his real home- still burning with anger and disgust, and immediately took a place at the head of the opposition to British rule. Once the most loyal of Britons, now he became the most radical of Americans, demanding independence and driving the rebellion to a genuine revolution.

The lesson? DO NOT MESS WITH BENJAMIN FRANKLIN! This small passage does not do justice to the prologue. The reader feels as if he or she is standing in public humiliation contemplating the truth of a revolution begun and plotting a path to shove that revolution down the throats of Parliamentarians attempting to humiliate the smartest person on the planet at that time. If you ask me, a more brilliant person has never walked this earth than Benjamin Franklin. This book will at least make you consider him for the title.

Brands makes his bold assertion in the prologue: "Of those patriots who made independence possible, none mattered more than Franklin, and only Washington mattered as much."

Brands makes that case brilliantly.

4. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. This book inspired me to a different life outlook. This book is 1984 applied to the social rather than political realm. The idea of "Soma" made me cancel cable television. This book inspired me to use the time saved to read more books and learn a language. Although I found the end of the book much less satisfying than the beginning, it will always be a favorite for the paradigm shifts it inspired. This book also made me thankful I grew up in a society where a late-bloomer could still succeed. I am grateful never to have been identified early as an "epsilon" only to have so many doors closed so soon. On pure impact in my life, this book is nearly unmatched.

3. Simple Justice, by Richard Kluger. The complete history of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas desegregation case. Segregation is an issue that seems so clear to us today. But it was anything but easy to overturn. This book will take you to the front lines of social change and progress. You will never read the names Charles Houston and Thurgood Marshall again without wanting to stand and applaud.

The legal strategy was anything but simple and involved years of small wins to build their own precedent. Those cases were then brought to bear upon the next small victory until all those little victories (allow interracial marriage before school integration, for example) were finally hurled together at the United States Supreme Court. Even then, the outcome was not certain until the chief judge (not sympathetic to the cause) actually died before a decision could be rendered. The re-hearing involved newly-minted Chief Justice Earl Warren, who then navigated a volatile issue and produced a 9-0 decision.

Meanwhile, the Civil Rights movement was fractured on how best to proceed and the different organizations fought over how to proceed and whether the other interfered with progress being made. I read this book while in school and could not put it down. This book will show you how hard progress can be even on such seemingly-clear issues, but it also shows that progress remains possible for those willing to take heroic action!

2. Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This book also instilled life lessons. If you want to know how Abraham Lincoln held this country together, read this book. I have never been more impressed with how a person handled crisis. Although the book focuses on the team Lincoln put together, it best illustrates Lincoln's brilliance, patience, and almost perfect demeanor for any task.

After reading this book, I imagine Lincoln on a different plane. His mix of compassion, toughness, political savvy and unimpeachable judgment was unique in history and perfect for the crisis he solved. Dave told me I would mourn Lincoln's death when that part came in the book and he was right. After following him through our most perilous time, his death will hit you like a freight train.

Although his burden's weighed heavily on him, Lincoln never wavered. This book made him human. Kearns-Goodwin makes his personal sadness and his difficult family life very clear. She paints a complete picture and his humanity make him so much more impressive.

Every political science class I ever took spoke of Lincoln's place as our nation's greatest president as if debate were long over. I took an American Presidency class and a ranking of presidents was only controversial if Lincoln were dropped to 2 or 3. He is listed as No. 1 on a vast majority of rankings (many of the lists have political leanings, but Lincoln remains at the top). I had studied the reasons given before, but, although the reasons were strong, it usually involved "well, he saved the Union, so what can you say?" Seemed overly simple an answer and it does not prove that was all his doing.

Team of Rivals ends that debate for me. This nation will never have another president as great as Abraham Lincoln and I am now dead certain of that.

1. Autobiography, by Benjamin Franklin. I have always been very skeptical of self-help books. I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey on the recommendation of a friend. Covey openly admitted that Benjamin Franklin's autobiography guided his ideas. So, I decided to go right to the source.

There is no better self-help book, and it is so effective because it does not seek to be a self-help book. This autobiography is really just a look into the life of a person who sought only improvement in his own person and engaged in continuous self-reflection to achieve that end. He advocates pillars of morality that should not bend and even explains his efforts to be perfect, ultimately to determine we can't be perfect, but the effort remains worthy.

Most illuminating is Franklin's attempts to become better at discussion. He studies himself as if he were his own lab rat and chronicle's his results like the scientist he was. He reminds himself to use phrases like "that is a good point, but have you considered... ?" for the purpose earning his adversaries fair consideration of a point.

Unlike many scientific minded among us, Franklin was equally brilliant in the social, political and scientific worlds. And you will see that he takes as much pleasure in the opening of the first library in Pennsylvania as any other accomplishment. It is a great slice of a unique life at a unique time in history.

And it is the best book I have ever read.

Impromptu Conversation

(Joe)- The following is a transcript of our chat last week. Comments are added to make this bearable and I have edited it so that you can follow. If not edited, you would see how rude we are by interrupting each other constantly. I somehow managed to do that even in the edited version, which is both shameful and impressive (probably just one of those).
(Dave)- I've thrown in some comments too.  I'll point out that comments in blue are Joe's, comments in red are mine.
It's fun to look back and see how that worked. If you can't tell already, Dave relates to Pierre and I relate to Andrew. War & Peace is an awesome work and this is the kind of discussion it can inspire.

Sep 28 8:06 PM

Dave: yo

Joe: yo

Dave: so, Lots of War in this section of War and Peace that we're reading.

Joe: Lots... I made good time.

Dave: good. I'm alittle bored.*

* I will just point out now, that if, at any time in this chat, I seem a little surly, some of that is related this chat taking place in the middle of a rough week for me, and some of that is my "natural charm"

Joe: where are you in it?

Dave: chapter 36 of book 10. I haven't read it since Monday.

Joe: Pierre at war?

Dave: a little past that... how far are you?

Joe: He's in the way at that redoubt.

Dave: that's probably the best part so far.

Dave: no, Prince Andrew's speech was the best part so far.

Joe: Why are you bored if you are at the best part?

Dave: His talk with Pierre on the battlefield the night before the battle was the best part of this section that we are now currently reading and I'm bored because the part I'm in sucks. It's after the Pierre-in-battle moment. It's all Napoleon and Kutuzov and screw those two guys.* (spoiler, sorry)

*Amen

Joe: Andrew's speech was great.

Dave: It was. I read that and Pierre's part Monday night. It was awesome. It's just hit a lull… for me anyway.

Joe: I love the undercurrent of "look, s--- just happens.... we like to think we control s---, but we don't" I love Tolstoy. Andrew's take about the fire in the soldiers was consistent with that.

Dave: True. I think this is just how I am with Dead Russian Authors. I bitch about how half the book drove me nuts and then I think back and decide that the book kicked ass.

Dave: Andrew is on the ball… A bit of a douchebag, but he's on point.*

*Dave just called me a douchebag!

Joe: Well, he's beaten down by his perspective. He "knows too much" as he states. Too much knowledge will sap your outlook

Dave: Ignorance is bliss. That's why southern people are so damn friendly.

Joe: Maybe I should move to Alabama.*

*This is a total inside joke because I will never live in Alabama. EVER.

Joe: I'm liking Andrew all the more. He's aspired to knowledge and found that too much of it just makes the world look f---ing* stupid, which is its own burden and he shows that it's a burden

*I really need to watch my mouth more.

Dave: Another reason you like him: He is an emotionless robot.

Joe: Well...* it's something I've been really fighting... the wrong kind of perspective over-represented will erode empathy. Balance is a struggle and Andrew personifies that. I deal with death all the time at work. It strips away at a person. Balance can be a struggle. It's not a great idea to turn death as a concept into nothing and routine. His "why take prisoners if you are serious" take was indicative of that.

*I didn’t know it at the time, but I think I was baiting for just this topic. It’s amazing to read back and see how conversations look in hindsight. I know this much… I really wanted to discuss this section.

Dave: This is true, but let's not get carried away with Andrew's perspective...He had a hard, stone-like personality from the beginning of the book. Andrew is not someone who has had his emotions stripped away by war and misery, in all likelihood he never had those emotions. I'd venture to guess that nowadays, if Andrew were around, he's be classified as slightly autistic*. Not sure if that's actually the case, but he's a lot like his father...unable to deal with real emotions, and lashing out at whoever makes him face those feelings.

*I don't think he's autistic in any way, that's more a commentary of our society's psychosis on labeling everybody's personality with some disorder.

Sep 28 8:36 PM (TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF TIME)

Joe: We never saw Andrew as a young man... hard to tell. If he came about the outlook because he figured people out, that's one thing... if he was always like that... that's another thing.*

*I think we defend characters we relate to even if we don’t realize it at the time.

Dave: He's great at analytically looking at a situation, but when it comes to really dealing with people, like, say, a 17 year old girl, he has no sense.*

*Who does, really?

Joe: To be fair... people who will ultimately go about trying to figure people out probably grew up fairly serious of demeanor. A deeply-analytical type won't mesh with emotions anyway... one could also say he has low tolerance for bulls---.*

*As someone who grew up with a serious demeanor with a low tolerance for BS… yeah, this is weird to read again. I’m really not defending Andrew as much as myself. Freaking self-reflection! It will mess with you! (Also, I need to swear less).

Dave: sometimes. And I'm acknowledging that he's great at figuring people out....but that doesn't mean he's any good at dealing with them personally. Half of human interaction is bulls---. That's just the case *

*A true statement.

Joe: Yeah... I can't disagree with that... but I think if you consider the emotional response to be bulls--- (something he clearly thinks), it will almost guarantee you won't deal well with it and won't be able to hide true thoughts on it.

Dave: True. I'm not saying Andrew is a bad person,** or even an overly-faulty one. Pierre, as much as I love him, is a f---ing idiot 90% of the time, which may be why I love him.

*Yes, he is. *No, I'm not

Joe: If he thinks its bulls--- or worse, weak, then he won't want to empathize... and THAT is the snowball in need of balance.

Dave: Well, that's when we get into an argument about what "weak" is.

Joe: You ever seen Seinfeld's bit on aliens and dogs?

Dave: Nope.

THIS STARTS JOE’S RANT 8:45PM

Joe: He basically said that for all our thoughts of self import and our arrogance for being self-aware, an alien watching from above would note that we're the one following on a leash and we're the ones picking up the s---. They (aliens) wouldn't guess we run the show. It's the old, “wouldn't you rather be the dog?” argument. Responsibility can be as much slavery as greater good. Whether a person agrees or not... the decision to be "responsible" or to seek understanding can lead to some heavy weight. I think Andrew portrays that side of humanity brilliantly.

That distance or lack of empathy can help when making cold calculating decisions (like saving lives by dropping an atom bomb), so it has its place... but Andrew shows the conflict. Pierre shows the view of how cool stuff looks BEFORE you understand it. But, Pierre understands a lot, so he more shows how interesting NEW things are… Him smiling and watching the gunners... brilliant... and awesome.

Dave: But it's also about faith, and belief, and lack of it.

Joe: faith in what? People? If people, then that's fragile as all get out.

Dave: give me a f---ing second.

Joe: sorry. *

*Not actually sorry.

Dave: It's not necessarily about faith in god, or people, but that's part of it. It's more the ability to have the faith. It’s the ability to believe in something, and to not try to figure everything out, just to take some things on credit. Andrew's faith in humanity is basically gone, whether it's eroded away or was never there isn't the point … the point is that he believes in himself, and that's it.

Joe: And that's why he's scary. He's what happens without balance. Once again, you said it in like 2 sentences. I envy your brevity.*

*This marks the first time in my life that I've been complemented for not being wordy.  Mark it down!

Dave: Pierre, the reason he sees new things, is because he believes in new things. He's not over analyzing anything, He's just living life, and what happens, happens. Andrew's "we can't control anything" attitude is largely a front, because throughout the book Andrew is trying to control everything. Pierre is the one who's floating through life, come what may, and trying to be a better person, but he doesn't feel the need to analyze every person or situation that comes along.

Dave: (not done yet)*

*What!? How dare you!

Dave: The reason Pierre is able to float through life is that he has faith. Again, not necessarily talking about religion, although that's probably part of it. (Russia was pretty orthodox back then). It's the belief that you don't need to know or control everything. It's the faith that you don't have to have a hand on the steering wheel at all times. An argument could be made that this is the more dangerous mindset, and I don't know that I could disagree, but there it is. Andrew is ultimately scared to let anything in life pass his notice. Pierre believes that if it's important enough, he'll see it.

Dave: okay, I'm done. *

*About time, too.

Joe: I can't disagree in general other than that I don’t think Pierre's outlook is dangerous. Pierre floats for sure. Hell, he floated right into the heart of the battle... again that was awesome… a large, awkward fly on the wall... funny visual to me… large, awkward SMILING fly on the wall, even.*

*Note to self: halloween costume? Hmmmm......

Dave: Pierre's outlook is dangerous, for the simple fact that even if you are paying attention to everything, you will miss something....It's how Pierre goes through a couple of years before realizing he loves Natasha. He’s dangerous in the sense of living life, not actual dangerous.*

*Which can be actually dangerous, of course, if you make decisions like "Hey, those guys are firing cannons at each other.  Think I'll have myself a closer look!"

Joe: Self inflicting... I guess I could see self-inflicted danger there... and since they both have their danger spots, that makes this a description of just how people are... which is why TOLSTOY IS BRILLIANT.

Dave: No argument here. His brilliance shines through.

Joe :If I could summarize Tolstoy... it would be this: He describes how people are… To such an amazing degree that you will totally get it and struggle to explain it. I may not like Natasha... but she's how some people are... Every character of importance is that way.

Dave: Except Mademoislle Bourianne, who's obviously the T and A of the story. *

*Mademoiselle Bourianne wears little French maid outfits everyday with thigh-high stockings and high heels and you can’t convince us she doesn’t. She also wears the early version of the Wonderbra and arbitrarily climbs ladders to dust while oblivious to anyone in the room. Don’t look at us like that… You know it’s true.

Joe: Yeah, but even then it's like, “That's totally how hot women are.”... and he never even said she was hot... yet it's so clear it doesn't need to be said. I am not going to handle claims of boredom from book club well on this one.*

*You have been warned.

Sep 28 9:07 PM (we are long winded)

Dave: Oh, this is not going to be a popular section of the book.*

*Judging by last night's potluck, I was wrong on that.  Which is awesome.

Where's Kit?

In my previous post, I had mentioned that the old Kit Carson book I had downloaded, Kit Carson, the prince of the Gold Hunters, was badly written.  I have gotten in further, and it has not gotten any better.  Also, for a book involving Kit Carson, we are starting to hit a Jason In Manhattan* moment, as I'm halfway through, and no Kit.

Anyways, I figured I'd give a taste of what reading the book is like.  Here is an early moment where one of the main characters has an epiphany of what to do with his life:

There was silence, perfect silence, for a few moments.  The noble-minded fellow seemed busied in deepest thought; a sudden and bright light came into his thoughtful eye- a warm flush reddened his pale cheek- his whole countenance became, all at once, strict with life; and from his eager, parted lips, came, breathlessly, a single word- one single word that, within the space of three brief months, has gained a power to sway, alike the soul of Ambition and Avarice-to summon it votaries from home and loved ones, near and far, across the untrodden main thousands and thousands of miles away; to re-arouse the drooping hope, and afresh inspire the dying energy; to bewilder even the constitutionally cool and staid with it magic sound, while exciting almost to madness, the less calm and calculation enthusiast.  That one word, reader, you have heard it before; it was- for who is he has heard it not?---- California!!!!!!!!!!

Here's another paragraph, and, man, this guy, this writer, he loves, truly, to use commas.

 Like a marble statue, petrified with horror, utterly motionless, his eyes closed to shut out the ghastly spectacle, his arm, with its firmly-clutched weapon, stiffened by the same feeling, in its outstretched attitude, sat the student on his horse! And while such was the frightful scene, a strange and thrilling circumstance, deepened the dark tableau.

 Why didn't he write another book?!?!?!!  I don't get it.

*= My friend Tom, who LOVES shitty slasher movies, made me watch Friday the 13th 8: Jason takes Manhattan.  Not only was the movie fucking terrible, 90% of the movie takes place in a boat, on a river, going to New York.  So I spent 75 minutes of a 90 minute movie continually asking "When is he going to get to New York?  THE TITLE OF THE FUCKING MOVIE IS JASON TAKES MANHATTAN AND HOW IS HE GOING TO TAKE MANHATTAN IF HE'S NEVER IN MANHATTAN WHY DO YOU FORCE ME TO SIT THROUGH THESE FUCKING TERRIBLE MOVIES????"

BTW, when he got to New York?  not worth it.

The World Made Whole

I get enamored with eras too easily.  I imagine this happens with anybody who reads a lot of historical books, once you dip your toe into a certain area of the pool, the temptation to plunge in headfirst comes fast.  My fascinations include delusions of belonging to that era, throwing myself in the narrative, so to speak.  I love reading about the first 30 year period of the last century; have read more books about Theodore Roosevelt than any other American historical figure, count F. Scott Fitzgerald as one of my favorite authors, enjoy watching early cinema from that era, including some silent movies.  If I was actually able to stomach music made before 1990, I would have probably become a fan of Jazz and big band music by now.  We all need something to be parochial about, I guess.  The funny part about this, is that I am a terrible fit for that time.  My bouts of anti-socialness would not go over well with the Flapper-age, and I'm pretty sure that if I had met Fitzgerald, I would have hated him for being the pompous dandy he so eloquently writes about.  But, I don't think about that too much, just going where my internal compass points.

DFW Rocks... (and makes me sick)

I just finished Brief Interviews with Hideous Men: Stories, by David Foster Wallace.

Wallace killed himself at a fairly young age, and the amount of writing he produced is amazing. The quality is staggering. But, if you read too much of his writing, you will begin to see his suicide as something completely predictable.

I have never read a more talented writer. His pure ability is unmatched by even the masters (provided you can stomach his style). He seems intent on mastering every possible writing stunt and he finds ways to make use of every possible writing tool.

As much as I love his writing, his content will mess with your head. And, this particular book has been really messing with me. Consider the Lobster, also a compilation of stories, articles and such, was so much lighter and more enjoyable (provided you can tolerate the most in-depth and artistically-written analysis of grammar and Dostoevsky ever produced by man kind).

I think this book should have been titled This is Some Dark Shit, by David Foster Wallace. It should say something that I went back to War & Peace for a break. And Tolstoy was absolutely a breath of fresh air. Tolstoy is never easier to read than following David Foster Wallace.

Every book of his fatigues me. I love his books, but by the end of any of them, I'm just worn out. This one utterly exhausted me because of the topics.

So, what did he write about? In no particular order (and not all-inclusive):

-- A father who secretly loathes his son for intruding on his life, manipulating his wife and basically severing his relationship with her;

-- a sexual predator;

-- a story called "the Depressed Person" which literally follows a borderline personality over the edge to such an amazing degree that you won't know to even close your mouth while reading it and won't acknowledge the world for a solid hour after you finish it. Seriously, this story is riveting and ruinous. His writing mirrors the descent and by the end his sentences go for pages as he illustrates the logical clutter of a panic-stricken mind. Let's just say the illustration is so vivid, and its effects so strong, that you will feel as though his suicide (with such a personal insight into such mental workings) makes complete sense and was really a mercy-killing. It may be a work of fiction, but no mentally-stable person could ever pull this from imagination.

-- a "pop quiz" which morphs from pop quiz into an essay about the manipulation of readers through the use of a pop quiz (designed to make you give a particular type of attention); followed by his admitted and complete manipulation of you the reader; followed by a moral discussion of the propriety of that trick; and you finish it feeling completely used as a reader and yet apologized to and ... just... weird. It's like he's screwing with you from the grave. Eerie as all hell.

-- a story titled "Suicide as a sort of present." I'll just say it's another gut punch.

I've left out much, but I think you get the idea.

So, why would you read David Foster Wallace? Good question, because this doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement.

Well, because he was completely and totally brilliant. Just don't read this book. Read Consider the Lobster or A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, but not Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.

I'm supposed to read Infinite Jest, which is considered his masterpiece, but I need a break. I'll get to that one later. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to get stuck in his mind for 800+ pages. We'll see.

As for this book, ruinous as it was to my psyche, there were still brilliant lines and concepts. So, I'll give a little taste.

Some favorite lines...

"...sad near-pink color of bad candy."
-- Just a small example of his unique descriptions.

"People's psychological dynamics are fascinating - that a subject's first, unconscious concern is what it might be about her that might prompt such a proposal, might lead a man to think such a thing might be possible."
-- Analysis of a man who asks after every third date if she wants to be tied up.

"eyes resemble two enormous raw cigar-burns in an acrylic blanket..."
-- Again, just a neat description.

"For one it's perilously close to 'Do you like me? Please like me,' which you know quite well that 99% of all the interhuman manipulation and bullshit gamesmanship that goes on goes on precisely because the idea of saying this sort of thing straight out is regarded as somehow obscene. In fact one of the very last few interpersonal taboos we have is this kind of obscenely naked direct interrogation of somebody else. It looks pathetic and desperate. That's how it'll look to the reader. And it will have to. There's no way around it."
-- This is from the story where he literally screws around with you, the reader.

"(The memory of this paralyzed feeling would astound her later in life, when she was a very different person.)"
-- Seriously, his insight into people is amazing.

"That one's own wife might judge you deficient simply for remaining the man she married. Was I the only one not told?"
-- The father's deathbed confession of hating his son for being born.

"Who could - where was it determined that this sort of thing is acceptable, that such a creature must be not only tolerated no but soothed, actually placated as she was on her knees doing, tenderly, in gross contradiction to the unacceptability of what was going on. What sort of madness is this?"
-- That father's description of the coddling his wife did for their son. He was not given a voice in rearing the child without such coddling and his pent-up rage over this led to hatred for his son.

Finally, DFW will outsmart your dictionary. Many of the words he uses are not even in there. Not just a few, either. Here are a few of the kinds of words he uses casually. Most are in the dictionary, but I've had to really dig for some definitions. Either read his stuff on an e-reader or with a dictionary not two feet away. Do not try otherwise. You've been warned. Examples:

otiose; coprophagous; antediluvian; sedulously; insouciantly; solipsistic (he uses this word like 4 times a book and why not? It's a great word); Onanistic; lugubrious; nomological; katexic; lapidary; sybaritic; "piacular recompense"; Nehruesque; sapropel; thanatotic; atavistic; "eccrine tang"; and Shibboleth (to name but some).

Nine of those words are not found by this blog's spellchecker. I'm just saying...

Like I said... you WILL need a dictionary. You might also want to rid yourself of sharp objects... you know, just in case.

Throwing to myself

I came home tuesday evening to find the newest version of the Madden video game sitting on the tv stand, which can only mean that Allen stayed up for the midnight release.  This works out well for him because, A. he works to 11:30pm anyway, and B. While I do not handle the type of sketchy, pimpled youngsters who are tripping on a delirious cocktail of Mountain Dew, weed, and hormones, those people are Allen's people.  As much as they could be anybody's people.  The release of Madden is another signal in the buzz that is, if only in my head, screaming about the return of football. Soon, the weekends will be dominated by who's playing, what time, and where are we going to watch it?

It started with the football magazines.  When I started reading, much earlier than anyone expected, I was spoonfed with my Mother's collection of children's books.  She was a schoolteacher, and so acquired the habit of picking up any brightly-covered cutsy story she found interesting, a habit that continues to this day years after retiring from education.  Dad wanted to leave his mark, but I was never interested in his automobile rags, even after his tales of race-car driving at East Tampa Bay speedway.  But every sunday, after church and the extended family meal, there would be a gathering around the TV for the games, a few male adults, and one very small guest, in rapt attention, continually taking census of who was on the screen.  "Who dat?" "That's Ricky Bell"  "Who dat?" "That's Doug Williams.  He's our quarterback" "and dat?" "That's Lee Roy Selmon.  He's our best player" "I like im daddy"  And that why he came home one day, with a glossy magazine, full of pictures of violent collisions and frozen mid-celebrations.  I scoured every inch, but my favorite was the back cover, which showed all the helmets from every team, in all colors, like a candy display.  Dad pointed towards the first few, sounding out the names, then backed away in mock exasperation when I waved at him, assuring that I could read it myself.

By the time I was 10, I was in Colorado, and taking weekly trips to the library.  While I picked up books like "The Phantom Tollbooth", there was always the sports books in the youth section.  There was a section, not exceptionally large or easy to find, but I found it.  About a couple dozen books, maybe 25 pages each, every book focused on one football team's history, packed with black and white pics, which is where I learned about old-time players like Dick Butkus, Johnny Unitas, and Jim Brown.  It was where I learned that you're supposed to hate the Raiders, because everybody hates the Raiders.  I learned that apparently I was the only one who liked Tampa Bay's old Orange Uniforms, and no matter how many times people told me those were hideous, I argued, because those were my first love, so how could they be ugly?  And I learned that, except for one magical year, the Broncos were largely terrible in their existence.  Which was interesting to me, watching a young quarterback who seemed destined to change that history, even if by himself.

But the real find was at the annual Scholastic Book Sale at Monroe Elementary that year.  My mother, piles of books weighing down her arms, was at the counter, asking if I had found a book for myself.  I sheepishly held up a book that I can remember now with clarity.  Small, but thick, pale blue cover with Joe Montana tossing a football over the heads of two Miami Dolphins.  The title, in bubbled white letters, said "Super Bowls I-20: A Complete History."  The book went over every game in detail, complete with full box score, and I must have read it 30 times.  I memorized every game, every detail I could, to the point where I could watch the Super Bowl Highlight shows, and I knew that this was where Max McGee blew the game open with a big td reception, or how Jackie Smith dropped the easy touchdown catch that doomed the Cowboys against the Steelers, or when Jake Scott was MVP for the Dolphins in their SB VII win that clinched the perfect season.  And then, with all these moments in my head, I would take the book outside, later to be reinforced with duct tape, and in our backyard, reply the whole games by myself.  Throwing the ball up and running underneath it, making my own commentary as I dove for the ball.

"AND WHAT A CATCH FOR LYNN SWANN!!!!!!!!"

 
I like to read a couple of gridiron books before the season starts every year, and this year I chose David Maraniss's great biography of Vince Lombardi, "When Pride Mattered".  Lombardi, one of the great coaches, and the namesake of the Super Bowl trophy, made for a great story, and a sad one, as football swallowed his life and his family, throwing his wife in depressions and taking precedent over his children.  The other book, which I almost done with, is  the excellent "It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium", by John Ed Bradley.  Bradley does not talk about his career as an all-conference center for the 1979 LSU Tigers, but the aftermath, when he decides to forget about football and focus on his writing career (Bradley has written several novels; his most famous is Tupelo Nights). But he finds it difficult to break into writing, and even more challenging to let go of the sport that has been his life and family for a decade.  He's desperate to not be the old man who won't shut up about his "playing days", but begins to realize that no matter how much you try, you never forget your first love.

August Recap

I've done a frightening amount of reading this month. For my birthday I received a nice little gift card to BN, which I promptly spent. So in the last 3 weeks I've read 1700 pages of George R. R. Martin's series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Specifically books 3 and 4, which are A Clash of Kings and A Feast for Crows. I started this series the week of Christmas last year, finished the first one just before the new year, and immediately bought and powered thru number two.

This being said, I will admit to being addicted.

I love this series, this universe.

I'm also a very big fan of Tolkien's works, including some of the more esoteric works. And this series has so much in common with it.

I have to say, you can't underscore how much Martin refuses to play favorites, as virtually nobody has things go their way for very long. And he loves to flat out jerk the rug out from beneath the readers in every book. Just when you finally get to know a character, or really start rooting a certain story line, it all comes to a crashing halt. And even now, with the first four of this series behind me in the last 9 months, i still fall for it.

what can i say, i'm addicted.

(and there's more books to come!)

I Survived the Clattering Hordes

I Served the King of England, by Bohumil Hrabal is a book about a waiter who finished life by telling his story. It's an out-of-body type of narrative and takes a stream-of-consciousness style.

I had a similar out-of-body experience as I floated through a seminar/conference in Vail these last few days. My thoughts, like those in this book, were ever-shifting and jumbled, and the experience has felt very "out-of-body."

I type this in a lobby at nearly midnight and the clatter from the bar goes on. There are occasional shrieks of laughter, clinking of glasses and tones of immense solipsism.

I am out of my element.

"Ditie" spent every phase of his life out of his element in one way or another. Whether as the newbie waiter, German-sympathizing Czech or the approved-for-Aryan-marriage semi-human. Somehow, against all odds, when the chips were down, Ditie served the Emperor of Ethiopia -- a feat of such heroic proportions in the eyes of other waiters that you almost forget he "accomplished" the avoidance of the whining of an ueber-rich person who ALMOST had to wait another handful of seconds for his food and was in serious danger of receiving that food without a bow.

Ditie does the best he can. But the pomp and protocol escape him. It sort of seems familiar... (my feeble attempt at Hrabel style)

On Thursday shoulders rubbed. Drinks flowed. Networks were built. Names Drop. Clatter happened. A dinner was arranged for six... then 11... but 9 more showed up. I hovered above the table and watched myself squirm outside my element. How do they stomach a bill that will include so many $10 glasses of wine. Must everyone be "the greatest?" Why can't I play this game? It is fun, but not comfortable.

Then the chef suggested a "Dive" famous for its weekend chef. The "Dive" required $34 for a meal. It was also fantastic and the waiters were clearly trained by a person who had once served some sort of county commissioner.

Eyes roll at substance, signaling a preference for more shop-talk. Stories make their charges to be "king of the hill" and one-upsmanship abounds. I was thinking this not out of any meanness but from confusion and even participation. I think my topical preferences actually confuse.

Friday was solitary. I wandered with my book through the "village" and read sections at park benches. I heard only the sound of shoes on cobblestone. I sat by the pool. I sat in the lobby. I finished my book as the clatter continued and the latest arrivals enter the automatic revolving door. Must each one give me that look?

And now the clatter fades, or rather shifts to the lobby. Now I type. And it is all quiet. The last elevator closes and the lobby is quiet. My promise to deliver thoughts before the meeting has been narrowly accomplished.

At this very moment... the lobby is quiet.

This conference has been fascinating in its curriculum. I have enjoyed the company of good people and I even accomplished the amount of networking necessary for my niche profession. It is helpful and I have learned many things from many people. But, even if it is fun, it is not my element. And it will never be comfortable.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The parts I did not try to copy in the above post were the more graphic portions. I even resisted the obvious Clerks reference. I was taken aback by the very graphic nature of the sex scenes. I'm not used to that and it, much like this conference, was uncomfortable at times.

I'm still amazed at how this place went dead so quickly.

I liked the book. It was definitely a new experience. I'm still digesting it. It was thoughtful and well-conceived in a macro sense. It was both slice-of-life and contemplative.

I am in a fancy hotel, but I want to go home.

More midterm

Instead of giving a ranking for the "midterm", I'm going to talk about some books that I haven't had a chance to before, in certain categories.

Book I never thought I'd like but ended up loving:  The Virgin Suicides 

Never judge a book by it's trailer.  Or what you remember about a trailer.  Or just what you might mistakenly think the movie, or book, is about....you know, someone aught to come up with a catchy way to say this.

Anyways, this was not a novel that I thought would stick with me, figuring that the "teenage girls finding their way through life" would pass over my head. ( I didn't take the title seriously.  That might have been a mistake). "Suicides", though, is not a typical coming-of-age story. Well, it sort of is, albeit through a dark, melancholic symphony.  It's also, for all it's focus on the shut-in Lisbon sisters, really about the boys gathering across the street,  who watch, worship, and mourn.  Those boys grow up with no other desire than to set the record straight on what happened to their true first loves. The story is written as if the boys are making a case on the girls, less in a legal matter and more a mythical testimonial.  The dream-state that pervades the book testifies on how I remember my high school years now: flowing from moment to moment, some memories with perfect clarity while others are like looking out a frosted window in January.

Book I was excited for that disappointed horribly: Scorecasting

This was supposed to be the sports version of Freakonomics,  a great book that took a different look at certain phenomena. Which, for all I realize, maybe it was.  I confess to know nothing about the intricacies of standard educational testing or the long term social effects of Abortion, so ideas like proving how teachers cheat standard testing or numbers that suggest legalized abortion reduces crime are interesting. (NOTE: interesting does not mean right or wrong. No political flame wars please.) But, I do watch a LOT of sports, and things like "Referees tend to favor the home team"  and "just because a player hits 5 shots in a row does not mean he will be anymore likely to hit the 6th" do not exactly leave me mind-blown.  Maybe it's how I came into the book:  Maybe there's an educational administrator who read Freakonomics and said "psst, of course teachers are cheating. Duh." Not saying I was too smart for Scorecasting, but maybe too sports-savvy.  Although I'm really freaking smart, so let's not toss that overboard hastily.

Shameless plug for somebody I've worked with: Doorknob Five Two

I met Frederic Arnold through work, as he's put through a handful of sculpture in our foundry.  He is one of those older men, pleasant-in-demeanour and sharp-in-mind, that people tend to enjoy being around.  I heard a couple of his stories about flying a P-38 at the foundry, but didn't know he had written a book about his experience in WWII until a co-worker handed me his book.  It is a terrific story, written with a sad sense of emotion.  A great look at how one man made it through war, with his family dealing with illness at home and with the inevitable rivalries (Mr Arnold is jewish) that pop up in the front.  I recommend it for anybody who wants a good non-fiction war story without having to worry about the specific particulars of war.

Books that would have been great if they could have cut about 100 pages :

1.  Dracula
2. Those Guys Have All The Fun
3. The Girl Who Played With Fire

Books made me wish I was reading the romance novels again:

1. Water For Elephants (sorry book club)
2. The Black Hole War (sorry physicists)
3. Metamorphosis and other short stories (sorry germans)

3 authors I want to read more of

1. Jeffery Eugenides
2. Charles Yu
3. Robert Heinlein

A friendly reminder about Michael Chabon

1. He's really, really awesome

Midterm Report

I always like to set down my thoughts at about the midway point, and I always get around to doing it late. So, here it is... my late mid-point progress report. Overall, I think I'm having another solid year of good books. My screening process seems to be effective because I've enjoyed just about everything I've read this year.


Top Tier candidates

Moonwalking with Einstein, by Joshua Foer - I cannot forget the order of the presidents if I try and I'm 1/3 of the way through memorizing the probate code. Utility, this book provided it. Also a good read and I learned a lot about brain function.

Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman - I loved this book. I actually enjoyed it more than his essay books. I like books that don't necessarily tie the ending with a bow and I loved how he turned ordinary people and events into a compelling story. Very slice-of-life.

Homicide, a year on the killing streets, by David Simon - The Wire in book form. A great book. It'll mess with your paradigm.

The Corner, by David Simon - The Wire in book form, from a different angle. Very illuminating. Also will mess with your paradigm and make you feel blessed to not sleep in a crack house. In my worst day on this earth I haven't slept in a crack house and that's where D'Andre McCullough hung his NFL posters. So, yeah, there's that.

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien - It's a classic. It was a fun read. Nice to finally start the series.

A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan - I love perspective books and this one included first-person narratives from all over the place. It was unique, unpredictable and very creatively done. One chapter was a power-point presentation. This book gave me permission to do something I was toying with for my story.

War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy - I'm half-way through it, but it seems logical to reserve a spot right here.

The worst book of the bunch (and this is not a close call)

The Age of American Unreason, by Susan Jacoby - Have you ever had a friend who agrees with you politically and philosophically, but you can't bear to let that friend argue your side because he/she exudes every negative stereotype or expectation of "your team?" Well, Susan Jacoby is that for me. You can argue the liberal side without ACTUALLY drinking an arugula latte behind the wheel of a Prius. So, it's not enough to bag on TV, but you have to humblebrag about your love of Russian poetry? Really Susan Jacoby? REALLY?!?!?! I hated this book. HATED this book. That's MY team she had me rooting against. I'm angry... moving on.

Fun Reads

Bossypants, by Tina Fey - Funny, but more of a biography than I expected from a comedian. Her entire last chapter about whether she should have a second child became moot when she recently got pregnant. It just kinda made that chapter seem dated and useless, but maybe that's just me.

Them, by Jon Ronson - Did I mention I like to read about conspiracy theorists? They're a fun bunch, let me tell you. Ronson manages to get these folks to open up and he lets them do all the work in the mocking department. His wry British wit tends to throw off nut jobs and the results are laugh-out-loud funny. In a related note, people believe all kinds of crazy stuff. I mean, even more than I previously thought (yes, they actually believe in Lizard people in human form... and you thought 9/11 Truthers were wacko). Many people are nuts.

Out of Character, by David DeSteno - An interesting look at how character is not rock solid, but rather malleable. Honestly, the point was made in the first chapter and then driven home over and over, but an interesting read. Here's a hint: When in a tough situation, "good character" folks will do whatever.

Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson - Ronson again uses his wry British wit to tackle an interesting issue. In this case, mental health. He does a great job of telling entertaining stories and he illustrates how out of control our diagnoses are and how "disorders" are being defined ever closer to "normal" behavior. This stroked my bias against over-diagnosing of people and how folks lean on them to justify behavior. I should stop writing on this topic now.

In 50 Years We'll All Be Chicks, by Adam Corolla - Look, he's a pig and he's funny as hell. What can I say? Sometimes you just need to laugh.

These Guys Have All The Fun, by Tom Shales - I learned a lot about ESPN, which was interesting. I also got to know how subscribers of US Weekly feel when they finish reading their magazine: the combination of enjoyment and complete and utter shame for having enjoyed it. Very gossipy, but also good. Probably 150-200 pages too long.

When You Are Engulfed In Flames, by David Sedaris - I liked it. I like all his books, but each one ends with me tired of it. I can't explain that. Sedaris is great, but I think his voice wears me out by the end of a book.


Surprisingly deep

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, by Elizabeth Tova Bailey - An interesting book written by someone with a disorder that forced her to notice the most mundane of sounds and sights, and an illustration for smelling the flowers you can reach.

Tinkers, by Paul Harding - Very poetic. Very well written. Very dark at times. Makes you think. Also very short.

The Advance Genius Theory, by Jason Hartley - Why is this book in this category? Because I can't stop applying the theory whenever I assess anything. Is it overt to want to read War & Peace (aka snobbish) or is it advanced (genuinely indicative of a higher intellectual plane)? Hartley would probably say we're doing it in a group and talking about it, so therefore snobs. This guy must be a real joy at dinner parties.

The Unlikely Disciple, by Kevin Roose - I've blogged on it. I still find fault in the overly-pushy religious types. My thoughts on this book were posted.


Love is a Mix Tape, by Rob Sheffield - I thought it was another hipster 80's child memoir of nostalgia, but it was a story about his young wife who died suddenly told through the mix-tapes they had made for each other. I was expecting Sex, Drugs and Coco Puffs, but got a heart-wrenching tale instead.

Misc.

Scorecasting, by L. Jon Wortheim - Mostly stuff I already knew... more because I understand basic math and not because I'm all that smart. But it empirically proved what I already knew in such a way that it made me smile... (that the Cubs suck bad, always have, and will continue to because they care more about beer than wins... feels good to even summarize).

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace - No writer impresses me more with talent than Mr. Wallace. At times it's like he's showing off. This collection of essays was phenomenal. My only complaint is that it is often topic-driven (I don't like or understand David Lynch and was therefore lost for a large portion of the longest essay) and even virtuosic writing gets old when its used to discuss a cruise ship. Still, I am in awe of his writing.


Endgame, by Frank Brady - Covered below. Did I mention Bobby Fisher was nuts and brilliant? Both true.


The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot - Covered in a post. Very good book.


Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess, by Bobby Fisher - I improved my endgame by working through all of Mr. Fisher's puzzles. Very good tutorial. Endgame noted it was a good tutorial, so I tried it.