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September 17
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Aileen
gave
 
to:
Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? (Paperback)
by Marion Meade
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in September, 2007
Aileen said:
"I dived into this book, but lingered for a bit towards the end. By use of the word "lingering", I am confessing that I found myself more inclined to set it aside for a quick foray into the new arrival at the local grocery store of month ol...more
I dived into this book, but lingered for a bit towards the end. By use of the word "lingering", I am confessing that I found myself more inclined to set it aside for a quick foray into the new arrival at the local grocery store of month old OK magazines. That's my caveat, folks. My caution too. I can put aside a good book to read stale smut.
But if you are still interested in my opinion on this particular book, I'll share it: it's good. Interesting. Cerebrally, I know that I am glad to know more about the Dorothy Parker that wrote all that sharp wit that lifted my perspective during my bout of Manhattan dating. But, realistically, I think it was....ummm, difficult I suppose is the best word, difficult read it, and difficult to give up the image of her as a spright, concise urban edge for the more practical image of her as a woman whose life was hard, and often disappointing, and regularly lonely, yet still sparkling with adventure and social wit. And I learned that Dorothy Parker cared deeply for truth and justice, which deepened my respect for her. All in all, though, I wonder if it isn't like reading the journal of a friend - a friend you know would be horrified to have her carefully crafted image breached. Just a bit of guilt....less
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Aileen
gave
to:
Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Eight (Paperback)
by Jules Feiffer
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: Tom J. and Steve A.
Aileen said:
"Oh, did I love this book!
I have much more to say about it, but am rushing (read: rushing!) to meet my college roommate who thinks she is going to persuade me to go into a boutique to try on wedding dresses. I have only a few minutes left to pa...more
Oh, did I love this book!
I have much more to say about it, but am rushing (read: rushing!) to meet my college roommate who thinks she is going to persuade me to go into a boutique to try on wedding dresses. I have only a few minutes left to pack up all my stuff (I'm in Anchorage, in a hotel with fast-speed internet!) and come up with a bounty of persuasive excuses. Please do anticipate more verbose gushings about Conspiracy in the Streets.
In the meantime, it was definitely worth a pause in the contemplations to recommend, oh so highly recommend, this book.
We bought it at Left Bank Books in Seattle.
I highly recommend the book store too....less
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September 15
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Aileen
gave
to:
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith (Paperback)
by Anne Lamott
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Aileen said:
"I bought this book the day before I had a late-night conversation with life-time friends about religion, and heritage, rational thought vs "faith," and personal responsibility. I learned a lot from that conversation. Indeed, I think I kee...more
I bought this book the day before I had a late-night conversation with life-time friends about religion, and heritage, rational thought vs "faith," and personal responsibility. I learned a lot from that conversation. Indeed, I think I keep learning from it. Perhaps reading this book prolonged those lessions. At the very least, it kept alive in my own mind the debate. Can a rational, free-thinking, independent person have religious faith? Is there any good in organized religion? Do we have an obligation to preserve a heritage that our ancestors suffered to retain? Does this obligation extend to a duty to be a member of a group with which you have many ideological and/or political differences? I still don't know any answers. But I do like that Anne Lamott shows that there is a benefit in this heritage. I like to think that she also shows that it is possible to believe in the underlying principles without conceding to the myopic politics of many contemporary institutions. But I shall save this conclusion for presentation at the next installment of our original discussion....less
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Aileen
gave
to:
Freakonomics Rev Ed: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Hardcover)
by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Aileen said:
"I am indebted to airport bookstores. And I am thus indebted to such an extent, that I can confess to arriving early for any flight departing from an airport with a bookstore for the sole purpose of securing a few additional minutes to browse books. ...more
I am indebted to airport bookstores. And I am thus indebted to such an extent, that I can confess to arriving early for any flight departing from an airport with a bookstore for the sole purpose of securing a few additional minutes to browse books. If it were not for the practicalities of travelling, I would probably have bought this book much sooner than I did for I had been securing extra minutes in airport bookstores just to read through another chapter long before I actually bought it.
You see, my travels are laden with a heavy debate: shall I pack my extra suitcase with books or groceries? I resolve this by alternating. For one trip to the Outside, a spare duffel bag will be dedicated to books and I will shun all opportunities to visit grocery stores just to preserve that determination. On the next visit, I will carry a spare cooler (rather than duffel bag) and splurge on leg of lamb and cheeses free of artificial coloring. The ultimate effect of this system, however, is a backlog in possessing the books I'd like to read.
Finally, however, the fates aligned. I was travelling to Iowa on what I expected to be a gloriously grocery-focused trip. But my cooler broke as I was carrying it to the truck that we would drive to our local airport. There wasn't time to fix it. I was sad, of course, as I had been anticipating all the pork I was going to return with from Iowa. But I consoled myself with all those Iowa cookbooks I could now carry, and resolved not to prolong any lamentations over the cooler. And, oh, did I find myself lugging around a heavy library - such hours did I spend in Powells (there was a 1 week layover in Oregon) and Iowa City's bookstores. The day before we left Iowa, Nate told me about how much he enjoyed this book. His description renewed my interest, and I committed myself to buying a copy before we left. But, alas, we ran out of time. We didn't make it to a bookstore. It was sadder than the last-minute loss of the cooler. So when we arrived in Chicago, and had a few minutes to wait for the connecting flight to Alaska, and our gate was right next to a book kiosk, and I was pretty sure there was just enough room in my carry-on to squeeze in one more book - it was this book that I grabbed.
I raced through it. Loving each chapter. I really can't recommend it enough. A fun read, for those who like to be entertained by books. Informative too, for those that like to read for knowledge, thought, and/or discourse. But what elevates it to favorite is that it alters perception and challenges assumptions. For what it's worth, I have no regrets that I carried this book rather than Iowa pork.....and I can think of no finer testament to a good book. Then again, most of my entertainment these days revolves around pickling turnips. So if turnips aren't your thing, feel free to take my recommendation with a grain of salt....but you should still read this book....less
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Aileen
is currently reading:
Attorney for the Damned (A Touchstone book)
by Arthur Weinberg
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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Aileen
is currently reading:
Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (Issues of Our Time)
by Amartya K. Sen
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Aileen
gave
to:
Fables and Distances: New and Selected Essays (Hardcover)
by John A. Haines
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Aileen said:
"I discovered John Haines, via Google. Before I moved to Alaska. Indeed, before I had any idea of what it would mean to live in Alaska. The effect of this timing, I might venture, is that my perspective on living here has been influenced and height...more
I discovered John Haines, via Google. Before I moved to Alaska. Indeed, before I had any idea of what it would mean to live in Alaska. The effect of this timing, I might venture, is that my perspective on living here has been influenced and heightened by his.
Almost a year after I had moved here, I had the chance to see John Haines reading his work. It was a small group. It was a thrilling reading. It would not surprise me if, when I am old and my entertainments are condensed down to a rocking chair on a log porch and a particularly vibrant rhubarb patch, I still say that meeting John Haines was one of the highlights and pinnacles in the search to build a good life. I consider treasure the books I bought that night - autographed by him and notationed by me during this short time that I've been living in his backyard.
He is best known as a poet. His poetry is hard - honest hard, but also hard to gain a familiarity with. I struggle with it. I struggle to understand it. I struggle to feel comfortable with it. And I love those struggles. I'm better for them. But it is, still, a struggle. His essays, however....oh, his essays are like.....that conversation into the late, late night that follow a genuine meal with real friends when the plates have been cleared, but the diners linger over dried fruit, nuts and another jam jar of wine, and the dogs are asleep under the table and the room glows with the red embers inside the wood stove. They provoke whilst simultaneously comforting. They challenge you to achieve your full capability. They ask you to look again at your every-day scenes, and really see them. Like a friend who has seen you through all your phases, his essays ask you to look again at what you come from, and where you are, and where you want to be, and what you want your world and influence to be. To look at critters, and skies, and what you eat, and what you read, and who you entrust with your honesty. Oh, this is all hyperbolistic. And I feel uncomfortable trying to describe such a great talent for writing and living with these gushing words. There is probably a faux pas in doing this, but I might venture that I see John Haines in much the same way that John Haines describes Robinson Jeffers:
He was rough-hewn in his way, homemade as so many Americans of genius are, putting together from odds and ends of the classics, from European culture and Eastern thought, combined with an indigenous American experience, some reasonably coherent attitutde with which to face a disintegrating world....less
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