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KRESSEL'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2017
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22.
by
Susan Wittig AlbertFinish date: June 11, 2017
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: B+
Review: In the Team Laura vs. Team Rose debate, author Susan Wittig Albert is decidedly on Team Rose. Based on William Holtz’s biography as well as Rose’s journals, she has fictionalized the years in which Rose lived on Rocky Ridge Farm with her aging parents and worked on her mother’s novels. I’d read the Holtz biography, but not the journals, so while the novel seemed accurate based on what I know, much of it seemed like speculation that only the journals can corroborate. Laura is not a likable character in this book, so if you’re on Team Laura, beware. As for me, the book has only made me even more curious about Rose’s original writings.
After my last review, my Goodreads friend Sara asked if I’m sick of Little House already. The answer is no. I’ll never get sick of it. But after two Rose books back to back, I am ready for something different.
23.
by
Arlie Russell HochschildFinish date: June 17, 2017
Genre: Sociology
Rating: A-
Review: Since Trump’s election, there have been many analyses and attempts to cross the political divide amongst the voting populace, but the author of this book, a Berkeley sociologist, began her attempt to scale the “empathy wall” as far back as 2011. The Trump phenomenon was her surprise ending, though as she states, his path to the White House was paved by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh for years.
The “keyhole” issue for the book was the environment. Red states have more industrial pollution than blue states, and that’s deliberate. The companies choose to locate there because conservative, church-going folk are less likely to protest them. It's not that they like living with pollution, but they're willing to put up with it in the way that Democrats are more willing to accept higher taxes. Many Red Staters believe that if it’s a choice between the environment and jobs, they’ll take the jobs. But when the toxicity brings on gruesome results, and this book depicts a few, some formerly hardcore conservatives will flip on the issue.
The details of the environmental crisis in rural states were disturbing and mainly new information for me. That was much less true for the political analysis. It was people-centered, and therefore an absorbing read, but not terribly surprising. Still, I recommend the book to both my right- and left-wing friends. Isn’t it high time we started understanding one another?
I read this back in December after the election in some attempt to understand what had happened. I knew (still do) a lot of people like the ones that Ms. Hochschild describes, fundamentalist, religious people who yet were able to vote for a person who had expressed himself is such crude, sexual ways. The people I know are caring, tolerant and earth friendly yet follow a party that takes a more severe path. I found that very difficult to put together. As you pointed out, this book did a good job of pointing out why. I was also impressed by her evident friendship and empathy towards the people of Louisiana as she came to know them. Good review, Kressel. I hope it sparks a lot of folks to read the book.
I will put this one on my TBR list. Sounds interesting. Good review of this book.
24.
by
Margaret AtwoodFinish date: June 24, 2017
Genre: Dystopian fiction
Rating: A
Review: As a work of dystopian fiction, this book is a masterpiece that deserves all the accolades it’s gotten. Details of the strange new society are fed to the reader gradually, which really keeps up the suspense. Objectionable as much of it is, I cannot give it anything less than a 5.
For those who don’t know, the premise is that an environmental or nuclear disaster has rendered vast swaths of the population infertile, so child-rearing is a prized scarcity. Women who can still bear children are conscripted into a sort of national service in which they are given to high-status, childless couples. The arrangement is a perversion of the Biblical story of Jacob, his wives Rachel and Leah, and their handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah. As a religious person, I cannot stress this enough. THIS IS A PERVERSION. THIS IS NOT HOW OUR PATRIARCHS AND MATRIARCHS BEHAVED! In her new introduction to the book, author Margaret Atwood says as much, but because the anti-religious strain is strong in our post-modern world, the point needs to be emphasized. Religion can be uplifting; it’s not all oppression.
And yet, as a religious person, I see Ms. Atwood’s point. Religious authority and political power are a dangerous mix. Because of this book, I intend to move onto something on Roger Williams’ concept of separation of church and state. Mike Pence may be closer to the presidency than any of us know, so these issues are worth exploring, especially from Roger Williams, who was deeply religious himself.
I should add that Ms. Atwood makes her case more believable in her honest portrayal of “the time before,” i.e. secular society. She doesn’t idealize sex and relationships in the time before. The makers of the dystopian society attempted to fix real problems. They came up with something worse, but when the protagonists longs for her old life, it’s not with nostalgia.
If some of my co-religionists and Christian friends are turned off by the perversion of the Bible story at the center of this book, I understand them. But the author herself is not bashing all religion; she’s just pointing out some of its dangers, which is something we should all think about. Power may well contain more potential for sin than sex. So how do we distribute it so that nobody gets hurt?
Very good review. I'm reading this right now too and agree with your assessment and Margaret Atwoods.
25.
by
Timothy SnyderFinish date: June 24, 2017
Genre: Politics/history
Rating: A
Review: I think of this concise but powerful book as a pamphlet in the tradition of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. It’s both a warning and a call to action. Just as the subtitle says, the author pinpoints twenty lessons to be learned from the most colossal mistakes of the twentieth century; namely, the rise of Hitler and Stalin, but tailors them to our Internet age. One of them will come quite naturally to all of us on Goodreads: read more books. We may not be living through any book-burnings, but now that we have Smartphones making us stupid, we probably should treasure our freedom to read more. So keep it up and write those reviews. Thought makes democracy stronger.
I just put this one on my TBR list. Glad to hear you thought it was so good, Kressel.
JULY26.
by
Viet Thanh NguyenFinish date: July 2, 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
Review: In the very first sentence of this book, the protagonist tells you that he is a "spy, a sleeper, a man of two faces." The setting is Vietnam, so word "sympathizer" is meant to convey that he is a communist sympathizer, but it means much more than that. The protagonist is a Viet Cong spy living amongst Americans and South Vietnamese, but he was living a double life even before that. His father is white, but white people do not consider him one of theirs, and Vietnamese people look down on him, too, not so much because of his white father, but because he was born out of wedlock. These things have given him the ability to sympathize with both sides, Western and Eastern, communist and nationalist. Then we readers get to stretch our own sympathy muscles. The protagonist performs some despicable acts in the course of this book, but he has enough redeemable qualities that you get invested in his story.
In addition to the excellent characterization in this book, the author sprinkles in philosophical insights that are worth writing down and revisiting. But all of this is amidst some of the goriest, most brutal scenes I have ever read. The worst comes at the end, but the beginning is pretty shocking, too.
One bit of relief in the middle of the book is when the protagonist lands a job as a consultant on a Hollywood film. This gave the author a vehicle to wax philosophical about Asian representation in film and the American propaganda machine. But the most mind-blowing part of the book comes in the last sixty pages. As I said, this includes some horrific scenes, but this is an anti-war book. You don't read it for enjoyment.
And yet, for all of that, parts of it are enjoyable, and as a whole, it carries a powerful message. It's no wonder it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Everyone on the planet should read it.
"Everyone on the planet should read it. Now that it's Kessel-approved, let's ship a volume up to the ISS.
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Bentley wrote: "Dimitri - what are you talking about?""Now that it's Kessel-approved, let's ship a volume up to the ISS." = International Space Station. So astronauts outside the planet can read it.
Silly joke. Feel free to delete it.
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27.
by Nechamia Coopersmith and Shraga Simmons(no photo)Finish date: July 8, 2017
Genre: Religion
Rating: B+
Review: Most books that come from the Orthodox Jewish publishers don't interest me that much. Occasionally, I'll start one, but rarely do I finish. This book, however, was the exception. For one thing, it's a collection of anecdotes, so it was possible to read in short snippets. More importantly, though, the stories were good. As the title suggests, it's all about the challenges people face and triumph over. Some were extraordinary - like the quadriplegic with MS. He made me feel grateful for what I have. But some were ordinary - like Sara Yoheved Rigler's story about a rat in her apartment, which included the brilliant insight about why we complain: because we all want to feel we're triumphing over our challenges. So if you want to allow some gratitude and humility into your life, you can't go wrong with this book.
28.
by
Malachy McCourtFinish date: July 10, 2017
Genre: Humor/Memoir
Rating: A-
Review: Fans of the McCourt brothers will be sorry to hear that Malachy, though second oldest, is the last survivor among them. Now in his mid-eighties, he has applied his irreverent sense of humor to that most taboo of subjects: death. His first brush with death is one that McCourt readers will already be familiar with: the deaths of his baby sister and toddler twin brothers. The euphemisms and half-truths he was told about what happened to them left him in utter confusion. As he grew older, more of his schoolmates would die, and combined with other hypocrisies he encountered in the Church, he lost faith in the Heaven he was taught about. Throughout the book, he reflects on the afterlife, but along the way, he also pays tribute to the people he’s lost over the years. The chapter on Frank brought tears to my eyes.
Death is not an unpleasant subject in Malachy McCourt’s hands. Some parts of the book made me laugh out loud. But you need some familiarity with the McCourt family to appreciate the book. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this book a classic, but it’s a somewhat light-hearted look at a heavy subject, and with Malachy McCourt’s distinctive voice, it’s sometimes outrageously funny but mostly a gentle read.
Kressel I always enjoy your reviews. This one looks intriguing, I may add it to my TBR list. I did not love Angela's Ashes, but looks to be helpful background to this one. Thanks.
by
Frank McCourt
29.
by
Carrie FisherFinish date: July 15, 2017
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A-
Review: Now that Carrie Fisher is gone, and we know that her untimely death was drug-induced, we can see just how autobiographical this novel is. The main character is Suzanne Vale, an actress kicking her drug habit. Clearly, she based the character on herself, but I'd argue that she put herself into the male characters, too. This is especially true of Alex, an aspiring writer in rehab with Suzanne, who is too starstruck to talk to her. When the novel alternates into Alex's voice, we are taken first-hand on his manic cocaine binges, and it's the best portrayal of a person on drugs that I've ever come across. I've read Bret Easton Ellis, but Alex seems much more authentic.
The second half of the novel never leaves Suzanne's perspective. Through her, we get to discover Carrie Fisher's views on Hollywood, relationships, and life itself. In many ways, the book is designed to tell all us normal people stop feeling jealous of the stars and appreciate our ordinary lives. Some reviewers have pointed out that this plays right into our negative stereotypes of Hollywood, but since the author is Carrie Fisher, who lived it, I believe her just as much as I believe Alex's cocaine binges. So it's especially tragic that she couldn't have the happy ending she gave to Suzanne.
30.
by
Lynne TrussFinish date: July 21, 2017
Genre: Humor/Grammar Guide
Rating: A-
Review: Except for Strunk and White’s guide, this is probably the most famous modern grammar book ever written, and it’s funny to boot. The author knows how disliked grammar sticklers are, so she starts off making jokes at her own expense. From there, she gives amusing examples of how punctuation changes the meanings of sentences, which is where the title comes from. By then, you’ll be sold on her overall message: correct grammar is important. The concluding chapter reveals what probably prompted her to write the book: it’s a rant about the decline of grammar and especially punctuation in the Internet age. Mind you, the book was published in 2003, before texting was in vogue and before Twitter even existed.
And now that I’ve mentioned Twitter, I want to share a cautionary tale. This book makes such a compelling case for good grammar, it prompted me to correct someone on Twitter. Note that I said, “someone,” as in one person. I did not appoint myself Grammar Cop of the Internet, though I was accused of it. I just thought a particular mistake was marring an otherwise important message, so I suggested its author edit the post. As I should have predicted, I caught flak for it. Errors in print literature are one thing, I was told, but on Twitter, where messages are usually punched in on phones with autocorrect, errors should be overlooked. So the moral of the story is that if you read this book and want to improve your own grammar and usage, the book will have accomplished its goal, but don’t try and correct other people. You’ll just put them on the defensive. The best we sticklers can hope for is that our own hyper-edited posts will, without necessarily being noticed for it, keep our collective conversation from sinking further.
Good review, Kressel. I read this when it came out. I think I might want to re-read it now that we have Twitter and all.
31.
by Joshua Green (no photo)Finish date: July 22, 2017
Genre: Journalism
Rating: A
Review: The last time I read a book with the word "devils" in the title, it was about Wall Street and the crash of '08. This book is very similar; it shows how a bunch of disparate actors came together to create utter chaos, except this time it's political instead of financial. The main question I had going in was whether Bannon has ties to the Kremlin in the way the Trump family does, but it seems not. Either that or he's so politically savvy that he knows how to cover his tracks. But who knows what will be revealed in the future?
Believe it or not, the least interesting parts of this book were about Trump himself. I felt like I already knew that stuff, having just lived through the election. But the behind-the-scenes stuff, not just Bannon's biography but the story of the Mercers and David Bossie of Citizens United, were fascinating. I whipped through this book quicker than any of its size I read all year; that's how absorbing it was. It also did something to me that I didn't expect: it made me suspect that some of the charges about corrupting donations to the Clinton Foundation were true. But even so, I still fear for our future with Trump as president and Bannon whispering in his ear. The conclusion of the book is that Trump is likely to betray Bannon, or certainly the people he thinks he stands for, but now that I've learned so much about Bannon, I fear that he is the one more likely to survive.
May G-d protect us all.
It's an important book for everyone to read.
This year I spend an awful lot of time looking for books that explain how we got into this political mess. This sounds like a good one.
Pamela wrote: "This year I spend an awful lot of time looking for books that explain how we got into this political mess. This sounds like a good one."It really is. I've also been reading up on Putin.
It is an important book. I have it on the waiting list from my library. I'm looking to read how we got into this mess too. Thanks for this review.
Kressel wrote: "Pamela wrote: "This year I spend an awful lot of time looking for books that explain how we got into this political mess. This sounds like a good one."It really is. I've also been reading up on P..."
I've added one about him, too. The subjects to keep up with seem to keep expanding. :>)
32.
by
Thomas CahillFinish date: July 29, 2017
Genre: History
Rating: B
Review: The conclusion of this book is beautiful and inspiring, but my mind wandered on the journey there. The main point of the book is that at the start of the Dark Ages, when Europe was overrun by pagan warriors, Irish Catholic monks and nuns enclosed themselves in their monasteries on their naturally isolated island and copied out their own Celtic myths, along with the Greek and Roman classics, thereby preserving Western culture. Literacy and scholarship are as prized in Irish culture as they are amongst Jews, and while that is a point I can respect intellectually, the book didn't get me to feel it emotionally. It seems to me that it lacked the lyrical language it professed to celebrate.
Perhaps the problem is that it was over-hyped. I first heard of it on Elizabeth Gilbert's podcast when she recommended it to an Irish-American listener who was getting into oral storytelling. The idea behind the recommendation was that this book would help the woman get in touch with her roots. Then, when the History Book Club announced an Ireland challenge, I knew this book would be on my list. I've gotten into the McCourt brothers because of the same challenge, but they, who likewise express quite a bit of pride in the Irish literary sensibility, convey it much better, even to a Jew like me. I've given the book a 3 because I learned from it, but it didn't move me.
If the book lists enough works by example, you can immerse yourself into the Irish literary heritage that way ? Even the contemporary texts of the Early Middle Ages have their appeal: I remember some beautifully illuminated manuscripts from high school history class.
Dimitri wrote: "If the book lists enough works by example, you can immerse yourself into the Irish literary heritage that way ? Even the contemporary texts of the Early Middle Ages have their appeal: I remember so..."Not my cup of tea, I guess.
AUGUST33.
by Christine Woodside (no photo) Finish date: August 4, 2017
Genre: Literary History
Rating: A
Review: I’ve read so much on the tense collaboration between Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane in the production of the Little House series that most of the material in this book wasn’t new to me, but if you’re brand new to it, this might be a good starting point. It’s a clear, chronological account of their process throughout the whole series. But what I especially appreciated about the book was in the latter half, specifically, the chapter on Roger Lea MacBride.
Roger MacBride was Rose’s “adopted” grandson and he inherited her rights to the series (which contradicted Laura’s own will and sparked a whole lawsuit later). He began to monetize his rights almost immediately after Rose’s death, first with the publication of The First Four Years, which includes the birth of Rose and made fans aware of her existence, and then with the creation of the TV show. I don’t know the precise details of the financial arrangement, but MacBride was credited as “co-producer,” so presumably, he made quite a bit of money on it. The TV series first aired in 1974, and he ran as the Libertarian candidate for President in 1976. The author does not say so, but I have always assumed that the TV series funded his campaign. What she does say, however, is that Charles Koch of the Koch brothers, who was a young man then, worked on the MacBride campaign and is very much the transitional figure who brought Rose’s libertarianism into the political mainstream.
Rose’s libertarian philosophy is all over the series, too. It really does beg the question: were all of us Little House fans brainwashed? The author’s conclusion is no, and I have to agree. It’s no accident that my dream house is a cozy wood cabin with a fireplace and that I’ve always been attracted to farm life, but I am decidedly not a libertarian. Literature is a limited form of indoctrination when weighted against parental and environmental influences.
The book also tipped me off to a televised interview Roger MacBride did with William Buckley (available on YouTube). I didn’t think his arguments held water, but I was pleased to hear him mention the Little House series and the town of De Smet. His love and admiration for Rose came right through.
For me, one book on the Rose/Laura connection always seems to lead to another. I’m probably still not finished with this subject. But if you loved Little House, and you don’t know much about Rose yet, this might be the best one around.
Kressel, you're going to make me feel guilty for never watching little house on the prairie...,not counting the Big Bang Theory fanfiction about it....
Dimitri wrote: "Kressel, you're going to make me feel guilty for never watching little house on the prairie...,not counting the Big Bang Theory fanfiction about it...."The TV show was NOTHING like the books. It was such melodrama, but the real pioneers were total stoics. You've got nothing to feel guilty about.
34.
by
Aziz AnsariFinish date: August 12, 2017
Genre: Sociology/Humor
Rating: A-
Review: It's easy to see the through line between this book and Ansari's Netflix series, "Master of None." Both have light-hearted, comic tones, but are exploring much deeper sociological issues. The book is exclusively about finding romance in today's digital world, and the TV show explores more issues than that, but as I said, the through line is clear. More than that, it isn't redundant. It's fun to see how Ansari adapted his ideas from print to screen.
But like most books about dating, this book made me glad I've been out of the scene for so long. The hook-up culture is NOT for me. And I'm sure he portrayed it accurately because what he said about marriage rang so true. Passionate love lasts a year to eighteen months. After that, you've got to transition to companionate love. Some people find that boring, but part of growing up is realizing that life isn't all about passion. Since Ansari is now in a committed relationship himself, I guess he learned that also.
How I wish I would have had this book when I was younger! Who knows? Perhaps it might have saved me some heartache!
35.
by John PfordresherFinish date: August 19, 2017
Genre: Biography/Literary History
Rating: B+
Review: This book shows how the different scenes of Charlotte Bronte's most famous novel trace back to events in her own life. The author contends that as a young woman, Charlotte fell in love with her French teacher, an older, married man. Her love was unrequited, so she poured all that unfulfilled passion into the fantasy characters of Jane and Rochester. The Bronte siblings had been creating their own fantasy worlds since childhood, so it makes perfect sense that Charlotte would work out her feelings in this way.
If you love Jane Eyre, this book will interest you. Perhaps someone with greater knowledge of Charlotte Bronte’s biography might find it too cursory – you’ll have to keep an eye out for those reviews – but to me it was an enjoyable way to see the creative process behind a novel I cherish in under three hundred pages. It may not be an exhaustive biography, but it was a good balance between entertainment and information.
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36.
by
Brooke GladstoneFinish date: August 24, 2017
Genre: Philosophy
Rating: A-
Review: I'd give this book 5 stars for the quality of the ideas, but I was a bit spoiled for it because I heard two interviews with the author before reading it. It's a short book - you can read it in one sitting - so a thorough interview was enough not just to cover the main ideas but quite a few of the details. Also, I had to wait my turn for it at the library. It was written after Trump's election, and it analyzes the very nature of reality in this age of "alternative facts," but now that Heather Heyer has been murdered at a neo-Nazi rally, the issue of the president's lies seems almost secondary compared to his apologetics for white supremacy. Even still, everyone should read this book. Brooke Gladstone describes how we got here succinctly and brilliantly. In these tense times, we've got to get back to the fundamental ideas of our democracy.
SEPTEMBER37.
by
John M. BarryFinish date: September 8, 2017
Genre: History/Biography
Rating: A
Review: This book is probably the definitive work on Roger Williams, which means it was well-researched, detailed, and took me a few weeks to get through. It was so chock-full of information, the task of writing a review of it daunted me, but delaying it has only made things worse because now I've probably forgotten even more. But here are two telling reactions: 1) Roger Williams will be the subject of my next Toastmasters speech and 2) I want to visit Rhode Island on my next family vacation and see as many historical sites as I can, especially the Newport Synagogue. The synagogue was not established until after Williams' lifetime, but his policy of allowing people of all religions to settle in Rhode Island made it possible.
The book made me want to stand up and applaud Roger Williams, and certainly I learned many new details along the way, but the main thing the book did was to reinforce the impression I went in with. That came from Sarah Vowell's observation that Thomas Jefferson usually gets all the credit for the separation of church and state that we enjoy in this country, but he built his ideas on Roger Williams'. More than that, where as Jefferson opposed the mixing of religious and political power because he thought it was bad for democracy, Williams, who was a Puritan himself, considered political power corrupting to the church. As a religious person, I was fascinated by that, and that is what drew me to the book.
As I said, the book taught me more details of how Roger Williams translated this belief into his philosophy and into action. First, he befriended the Natives and learned their language because he did not want them converted without their understanding. Second, he opposed the requirement of the Massachusetts Bay Colony leadership that all colonists had to pledge loyalty to the Puritan church. There were British non-Puritans amongst the colonists, most notably Captain John Smith, and Williams considered it a pro forma oath to be a corruption. And everyone agreed they needed Captain Smith. He was the most experienced settler among them. Both the oath and his feelings about Native conversions are reflected in his quintessential statement, "False worship stinks in G-d's nostrils."
In getting to know the Natives, Williams also came to the conclusion that the colony's claim that the land was unused and therefore available for the taking land was wrong. He asserted that the colonists ought to pay for it, but he was forced to recant on that one. He didn't back away from his other views, though, and since he was gaining a following, he was considered a danger and therefore was exiled. . .in the middle of winter. The Narangasset tribe housed him until spring, and then he settled in what would become Providence. His wife and children followed, and soon other Puritans did, too, mostly those, who, like him, didn't exactly fit the mold. One of these was the famous Anne Hutchinson, who seemed perfectly reasonable according to this book, but is portrayed as an illogical mystic in others. In any case, Providence became a haven for religious misfits, and anyone who knows me will understand exactly why that appeals.
There's still plenty to say about Roger Williams, but I just want to reiterate with what I said about the book itself. I'm giving it a 5 because it's a thorough and informative history, but be warned: it's also a pretty slow read.
There's still plenty to say about Roger Williams... to people who need Wikipedia to know who he is[ ...] sounds like he's a name to know in American colonial history.
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Alan Taylor"Williams, Roger" better be on the index or I will petition for a revised edition! Smarter again Kessler, thx !
38.
by
Kurt AndersenFinish date: September 21, 2017
Genre: History
Rating: A
Review: I've been a fan of Kurt Andersen's radio show "Studio 360" for years, especially his "American Icons" series, so when I heard him promoting this book, I ordered it from my library immediately. What I did not realize, though, was that it was the perfect follow-up to the book I'd just finished because it picks up where that one was set: in the Puritan colonies. Roger Williams gets only two mentions in this book, but it's all about the down side of his legacy of "soul liberty." If everyone is allowed the freedom to pursue his or her own spiritual truth, that opens the door to all kinds of crackpot beliefs and eventually devolves into the world of "alternative facts" as we now know it.
Andersen covers every bout of irrationality in American history: the fanatic Puritans, the founding of Mormonism, the phenomenon of speaking in tongues, the Scopes monkey trial, the 60's and the New Age, the rise of the religious right, and climate change denial. Andersen claims to be an agnostic, not a crusading atheist, but religion in general and Protestantism in particular come out looking pretty bad in this book.
Another of its major themes is how much these movements gained momentum because of the entertainment industry. Show business was once made by vaudevillian hucksters like P.T. Barnum, but the lines between fantasy and reality really blurred with the advent of television. I was a kid in the 70's, pre-Internet when TV was still king, and my memoir contains quite a bit about play-acting TV shows and how much I lived in my fantasies. When I read Kurt Andersen's observations, I felt like I could never publish my own thoughts on the subject because they seem so unoriginal. On the other hand, I can stop thinking of myself as such a weirdo because I was just a product of my times. Childhood has been extended since the Baby Boom.
Since this book covers 500 years of American history in 450 pages, it's impossible for me to do it justice with a simple review, but I do want to highlight just one of Andersen's concepts. He divides people into three categories: the believers, the cynics, and the squishies. The believers actually buy into the "party line," and that goes for virtuous worldviews as well as false ones. The cynics talk the language of the believers, but they're manipulating them for their own ends. The squishies are moral relativists, often found in academic or liberal circles, who are inclined to say, "Everyone has his own truth." Andersen says the squishies have been silent too long. His book is a cry to call out the cynics, the hucksters, and the liars of the world and say, "Facts are facts; there are no alternatives" and/or "Climate change is real." The world is in a perilous position, and we've got to turn it around. And even a religious believer like me can be part of it.
39.
by
Viktor E. FranklFinish date: September 23, 2017
Genre: Memoir/Psychology
Rating: A
Review: Because this book seems to be the most oft-quoted secular book amongst rabbis, I’ve known about it for years. What prompted me to finally read it was that it seemed the perfect follow-up to the last two books I read. I went from the “soul liberty” of Roger Williams to the unintended consequences of that liberty back to a defense of letting everyone find his or her own meaning in life. The book is basically divided into three parts: Viktor Frankl’s memories of his imprisonment in a concentration camp, a summary of logotherapy, which he founded, and a post-script, which is basically the transcript of a speech he gave in the 1980’s.
Unlike Freud, Frankl did not believe that the driving force of humanity is physical desire, and unlike the existentialists, he certainly did not believe that life is meaningless. What he discovered as a result of being in a concentration camp is that when people are stripped of everything, what reminds is their mind and will, and even though the camps were designed to crush that, too, the people who successfully resisted were the ones who found meaning in their daily lives, usually in service to another. To some, it was keeping a family member alive. To others, it was fulfilling G-d’s commandments whenever possible. To Viktor Frankl himself, it was his position as doctor, able to tend to the needs of the sick and dying. I think it’s a very positive outlook, and I’m glad that at least one philosophy professor I know teaches it in his class. I learned about way too much existentialism when I was in college.
As Kurt Andersen made clear in his own book, if everyone can find his own meaning, we have to be on guard for charlatans offering meaning. But Roger Williams and Viktor Frankl are right, too. The liberty to find and live by what’s meaningful to us is the only way to achieve true faith and psychological health.
Great review and book. It left an impact when I read it.
40.
by
Christian PiccioliniFinish date: September 30, 2017
Genre: Psychology
Rating: A-
Review: After Charlottesville, this ex-neo-Nazi was making the rounds on the talk shows, promoting the support group he created to deprogram neo-Nazis. His mission and message clearly deserve 5 stars, but the book gets a little bogged down in personal details, so I’m giving it a 4. But it’s a thorough picture of a normal, if lonely, childhood, how the neo-Nazis gave him a social life at last, how he rose in its ranks, and how he became disillusioned with it. Everyone should read it.
Aside from coming away from this book with tremendous admiration for Chris, I’d say he gave me three new insights.
First, he often talks about fighting the “antis.” These, no doubt, are the antifa activists who gained such notoriety after Charlottesville, but this book only confirmed my impressions of them. If those are the people the neo-Nazis are fighting with, they sound pretty cool to me.
Second, infighting is inevitable, especially among people who already live by violence. Whenever Chris and his friends attended a gathering, if there were no antis or non-whites to fight with, they fought each other. That was Step One in Chris’ gradual disillusionment.
And third, I was impressed at his descriptions of public speaking and his recognition of his growth as a leader. I’m a member of Toastmasters, an international support group where people develop their public speaking skills, and at one of our leadership meetings, a more experienced speaker said that when you first start speaking, you think of yourself. After a while, you think about your message. Finally, you begin to think about your audience. I’ve been at the middle level for quite some time, but Chris tapped into audience reaction so quickly, he immediately made the transition from giving over a message to leading people with that message. It’s something to strive for. And to those of you who think I shouldn’t learn such a thing from an ex-Nazi, keep this in mind. Chris Picciolini claims to have built the neo-Nazi movement in America. He’s now using his leadership skills to dismantle it.
Kressel wrote: "39. by Viktor E. FranklFinish date: September 23, 2017
Genre: Memoir/Psychology
Rating: A
Review: Be..."
Another great review. Also on my TBR list.
OCTOBER41.
by
Sarah MillerFinish date: October 6, 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: A
Review: I thought I'd had my fill of Little House-related books for a while, but when I saw this brand new one at my local library, I just had to grab it. It's a retelling of Little House on the Prairie from Caroline's perspective. You'll want to look back at the original as you go through it; the overlap is pitch perfect! At the same time, it probably helps to get familiar with Laura's biography first because she did change details in her fiction, and this book follows the facts. For example, Laura was only about four when the Ingalls family went to Indian Territory, so she is this book, not seven, as she is portrayed in the original. Similarly, in the original, the family departed with Baby Carrie; in reality and in this book, Caroline was pregnant with Carrie when they left Wisconsin, so Carrie was born in Kansas. In that sense, this is an adult book. There's a childbirth scene and a few bedroom scenes. Caroline and Charles are married, after all.
If you loved Little House, you'll love this book. Mothers will especially relate to Caroline's insights and daily struggles in parenting. But as I said, familiarize yourself with Ingalls history before you start the book. It's the only way to really get the context.
Citation:
by
Laura Ingalls Wilder
42.
by Mary V. Dearborn (no photo)Finish date: October 13, 2017
Genre: Biography
Rating: B+
Review: I was a big fan of Anzia Yezierska in my twenties. She wrote about leaving Judaism, and I was gradually embracing it, but since she always felt incomplete after leaving, I related to her. Not only did I read a fair bit of her fiction, I read her biography and wrote a paper about her in college. So the story of how educational philosopher John Dewey made her career and had a flirtation/almost-affair with her was not new to me. In fact, this book was cited as the source for that information in the biography that was the main source of my college paper. So I figured that if I’d read one, I didn’t need the other. So what got me to finally read the book after all these decades was not Anzia Yezierska. It was John Dewey.
This summer, I was in Burlington, Vermont, and I met some lovely college professors in that university town. They happened to mention a colleague of theirs who is an expert on John Dewey. Unbeknownst to me, John Dewey is Burlington’s proudest native son. (Bernie is its proudest adopted son.) I told these professors about Dewey’s unconsummated love affair with Anzia Yezierska, and they were excited to know something to stump their colleague with. I recommended this book (who could forget its catchy title), and having done that, it felt like high time I read the book myself.
By turns, the book gives over the biographies of Dewey and Yezierska, brings the two of them together in the middle, and then records their separate paths into old age. Another reviewer said that she was disappointed that the “love” in the book amounted to about one chapter, but that was the nature of it. For Dewey, it was a mere “interlude” in his life, and we only know about it because Yezierska told the story repeatedly. Really, she milked that connection for all it was worth. Dewey was famous when they first met, but because he promoted her writing, she ended up more famous than he. . . at least for a little while. She might be more widely read than he, too. The book gives an example of his prose, and it’s vague, dull, and academic. But secretly, he wrote poetry, and his love poems are presumed to have been about his forbidden passion for Anzia. (Both were married.)
I’d imagine that if that expert on Dewey read this book, he’d find the biography rather cursory. The biographical sections on Anzia Yezierska didn’t teach me anything new. But because I knew so little about Dewey, I rather enjoyed the book. It’s a good thing I read about Jane Addams and her settlement movement earlier this year because she and Dewey were friends and colleagues. But oddly enough, knowing what I do about Yezierska, who would stretch the truth for the sake of the narrative, the book has made me wonder if the affair was as big a deal as she made it out to be. Did she really love him or was she just name-dropping? It’s hard to know, but it is an interesting literary and historical tidbit.
43.
by Jesse Eisinger (no photo)Finish date: October 28, 2017
Genre: History/Law
Rating: A-
Review: This book answers the question that many of us have had since the Crash of '08. With all the financial fraud that made it possible, why wasn’t anybody charged? The answer is right in the title. They were chicken.
The title comes from the now-famous James Comey, who used the phrase to describe prosecutors who’d sooner settle than lose a case. When he was the chief prosecutor at the Southern District of New York, the court with jurisdiction over Wall Street, he told his underlings that it is better to lose while fighting and publicizing injustice than to settle and let the perpetrator get off with a fine and a non-disclosure agreement. The author states that Comey didn’t always practice what he preached, but he’s pretty hard on quite a few highly prominent people in this book, namely President Obama, Eric Holder, and Preet Bharara.
So, how did prosecutors become so chicken? Unsurprisingly, it was a number of factors. For example, in what the author calls “the silver age” of prosecuting white collar crime (there was no golden one), prosecutors invented new ways of getting corporations to cooperate, but eventually, the corporations used those agreements to their own advantage. On top of that, the incentives for lawyers hoping to advance in their careers lead them toward settlements instead of losses. Related to this is the criticism leveled specifically against Preet Bharara. He took down hedge fund managers for insider trading, but he didn’t go after the biggest fish. Taking them down would take more time and effort, so he chose the safer bets. On top of that, there’s the underfunding of the courts as compared to the private firms, and the “too big to fail” problem. President Obama is often blamed for being too cautious, but if taking stronger action ran the risk of making the economic downturn worse, you can see why he and Eric Holder made the choices they did. The big banks are holding the rest of us hostage.
I must admit, my concentration was pretty poor through much of this book. It was definitely not easy. But at the end of it, when I understood just how much time it can take to build an iron-clad case against a white collar criminal, I was willing to be patient with Robert Mueller’s investigation. So what a surprise that on the very same day that I finished the book, I learned that the indictments were imminent. And now they’ve happened. So perhaps the days of chickensh—t prosecutions are over. Go to it, Robert Mueller!
The History Book Club
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