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March 18
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Dave
is currently reading:
No Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through The Odyssey (Hardcover)
by Scott Huler
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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read in March, 2008
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February 28
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Dave
is currently reading:
Eliot Ness: The Real Story (Paperback)
by Paul W. Heimel
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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read in February, 2008
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Dave
gave
to:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey (Paperback)
by Candice Millard
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my rating:
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recommended for: History buffs
read in December, 2007
Dave said:
"This was a facet of Roosevelt's history of which I had never heard. I have to say that while I enjoyed it overall, it was a pretty slow read. The details on the plant life, sea life and natives of the Amazon were often mind-numbing. Getting 10 pages ...more
This was a facet of Roosevelt's history of which I had never heard. I have to say that while I enjoyed it overall, it was a pretty slow read. The details on the plant life, sea life and natives of the Amazon were often mind-numbing. Getting 10 pages out a day was an accomplishment sometimes. But overall, I enjoyed this book....less
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December 19
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Dave
gave
to:
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's (Hardcover)
by John Elder Robison (Goodreads author!)
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my rating:
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read in December, 2007
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December 10
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Dave
gave
to:
Man Made: A Memoir (Hardcover)
by Ken Baker
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my rating:
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read in December, 2007
Dave said:
"Intially decided to read this book because the author is from my home city and was briefly an intern at the company where I work. It turned out to be a fascinating memoir about how an unknown tumor on his pituitary gland robbed him of his masculinity...more
Intially decided to read this book because the author is from my home city and was briefly an intern at the company where I work. It turned out to be a fascinating memoir about how an unknown tumor on his pituitary gland robbed him of his masculinity and manhood as it grew over time, and took away -- unbeknownst to him -- many of the things that make men, men....less
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November 29
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Dave
gave
to:
(Not That You Asked): Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions
by Steve Almond
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my rating:
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recommended for: pop culture fans
read in September, 2007
Dave said:
"The opening salvo of Steve Almond's collection of essays, "(Not that You Asked)" was a shocker. It's title: "Dear Oprah."
Almond opens with a "pre-emptive" letter to Winfrey, rejecting her "offer" to make th...more
The opening salvo of Steve Almond's collection of essays, "(Not that You Asked)" was a shocker. It's title: "Dear Oprah."
Almond opens with a "pre-emptive" letter to Winfrey, rejecting her "offer" to make this volume one of her book club selections. It's laced with profanity, insult and the accusation that her commercializing of literature doesn't inspire new readers, it actually cheapens the work, and damages the integrity of the medium. A series of humorous "apology" letters follow, attempting to "undo" the damage of the first, but the sentiment behind the words ring true as a theme that Almond hammers home repeatedly through his essays.
His collective works read, in parts, like a self-congratulatory man's man stream of consciousness. They're chock full of profanity and sex, locker room or poker game conversation.
But it is also full of iron and unapologetic opinion about those things which Almond feels strongly about: the integrity of literature; the emptiness of popular media; the responsibility of mankind.
While it wasn't clear to me at the time, the second essay about Kurt Vonnegut continued to lay Almond's sense of responsibility as a writer.
Vonnegut "had spent his entire life writing stories and essays and novels in the naked hope that he might redeem his readers," Almond writes.
"As grim and dystopic as some of those books were, every one was written under the assumption that human beings are capable of a greater decency. And not because of God's will. . . but because of their simple duty to others of their kind."
So when Almond is taking his pokes at Oprah, Reality TV, Red Sox Nation, Weblogs and the popular media, he isn't just giving us a rant for rant's sake. He is trying to wake his readers up, and show them that the consumption of these slices of popular culture are weakening our ability to be thinking beings, that we're capable of greater things than what we have allowed our lives to lazily settle into, and on which we have placed far too much value.
I can forgive the essay where he writes about his first sexual experience at camp, where he starts the telling of the anecdote as a 14-year-old, but ends the same narrative as a 13-year-old. A simple over-sight, I suppose.
And I can forgive the shock value and edginess in parts of the essays, as Almond bombards us with profanity and sexuality, particularly his essay on how to write sex scenes through a 12-step approach.
I forgive all of it because the underlying message is woven so craftily through the volume.
Almond writes of an encounter with a young student who came to see him at an appearance, after the media blitz ended.
"After the reading, a young man named Tyler came to get his book signed. He told me he thought maybe he wanted to be a writer. He didn't know exactly. But he felt certain things when he read books and he wanted that, to be able to feel those things, and maybe to make other people feel them, too."
And there it is.
That simple statement summarizes the underlying Almond philosophy: that books should make people feel things deep in their core, and that a writer's responsibility is to elicit those feelings, and inspire.
And Almond's book of "Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions" does just that....less
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Dave
gave
to:
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (Hardcover)
by A.J. Jacobs
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my rating:
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read in October, 2007
Dave said:
"The concept of "The Year of Living Biblically" is this: the author would forgo his secular lifestyle for a year and embrace the Bible and its teachings as literally as possible.
"The Year of Living Biblically" didn't have th...more
The concept of "The Year of Living Biblically" is this: the author would forgo his secular lifestyle for a year and embrace the Bible and its teachings as literally as possible.
"The Year of Living Biblically" didn't have the same success as his other works. Jacobs, who is known for immersing himself in a project for a year and then writing about it, was warned by family that maybe this wasn't the best concept for a follow-up to his popular "Know-It-All" book, and they may have been right.
Jacobs writes in his introduction that one of the reasons he chose this particular project is because he is an agnostic and wanted to be more spiritual. This is where I believe this book suffers its biggest failure. While Jacobs writes in several places about the contradictions in the Bible, its his own contradictions in spirituality and approach to this project where I think it goes astray.
I can accept it when he identifies himself as agnostic. Quite a few people in this country are, and even more practice what Jacobs calls "cafeteria religion". But Jacobs also makes a point of telling us that he is also technically a member of the Jewish faith, even tho he "attended no Hebrew school, ate no matzoh," and later tells us that he was never bar mitzvahed.
So while he's never truly embraced his Jewish faith, he does identify himself enough with Judaism that it starts to get in the way.
For example, Jacobs struggles with following rules set forth in the New Testament because Judaism does not accept Jesus as the savior as Christianity does, or even accept him being one with God in the Trinity, and acknowledging Jesus' teachings is incompatible with his Jewish faith. Later he struggles with the idea of circumcising his twin sons. While he knows from medical literature that routine infant circumcision is no longer recommended, he opts to do it because he is, after all, Jewish.
I am glad that deep down inside he is admitting he has some faith, but it is also a de facto admission that the concept of this book doesn't work. For he cannot let himself, or his biblical alter ego "Jacob," fully embrace the whole enchilada.
Instead, he wimps out on the New Testament by reconciling in his mind that while it wouldn't be acceptable to follow Jesus' lessons literally, it would be acceptable to observe and interview specific members of the Christian faith for their take.
But the observations he makes are a cop-out.
I'm certainly not rooting for him to be "saved" in an Ann Coulter "Christians are perfected Jews" kind of way. But as a reader, especially one that knows that there is religious conversion happening daily in this land from one religion to another, it seemed a half-hearted effort.
Even his own "ex-uncle Gil" went through phases of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and back to Judaism. So we know that a spiritual journey is possible.
Therefore, it is this underlying contradiction that takes away from the parts of the book that truly are entertaining.
The "perplexing" laws Jacobs writes about, the tassels, the beard, the juxtaposition of literal interpretation of biblical laws in the 21st century, they are all amusing. Jacobs has an adept way of taking a "you had to be there" moment or sight gag, and turning them into wry smiles for the reader.
But the fact that he starts this book as an agnostic, and finishes this book as a "reverent agnostic," with nothing but contradiction in between, makes me feel somewhat cheated.
It's admirable that a cynical New Yorker has a new-found belief in sacredness, but it seemed like the project was ill-conceived and half-heartedly executed, for there was really no payoff.
It by no means shakes my belief that Jacobs is a talented writer, with a flair for comedic observation and writing. But this is one case where maybe he should have honored his mother and father and taken their advice about not attempting this project....less
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Dave
gave
to:
In the Land of White Death (Paperback)
by Valerian Albanov
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my rating:
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read in July, 2007
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Dave
gave
to:
The Tender Bar: A Memoir (Paperback)
by J.R. Moehringer
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my rating:
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read in November, 2007
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Dave
gave
to:
Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (P.S.)
by James L. Swanson
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my rating:
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