DJWriter

The Coolest Biking Illinois Photo?

2009-07-02T12:39:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was thinking that since I'm not working much these days, I should be adding to the Biking Illinois Web site that I intended to finish years ago. I had forgotten about this photo of the Bald Knob Cross of Peace from Ride 55 "Climb to the Cross":

This was actually a mistake. My camera lens fogged up when I pulled it out of the air-conditioned car on this hot, humid morning nearly four years ago (I scouted the route by car before I pedaled it). The fogged lens gave the cross a freaky, mysterious, sort of Biblical look. I wouldn't say it's the best photo from Biking Illinois, but I think it's the coolest.

Finishing June with a Bang

2009-06-30T19:22:00.004-05:00

Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal by David Konow - With the exception of Guns N' Roses, I was never a big fan of 1980s heavy metal. I loved AC/DC in the fifth grade when Back In Black came out, and Blue Oyster Cult (B.O.C.) is still one of my favorite bands, but I didn't listen to contemporary metal in high school despite (or maybe because of) its immense popularity. Nevertheless, when Ratt's "Round and Round" comes on the radio, I know every damn word thanks to MTV.

Especially in the "rise" part of the book, Konow makes questionable decisions about what is or isn't metal. Why include several pages about Boston and Queen? I don't know anyone who considers them heavy metal (at least there's some argument about Rush, though the author ignores that band). B.O.C. gets only a few brief mentions. I was particularly annoyed when Konow said Rob Halford had to shop in gay stores for his leather wardrobe in 1978 like it was a big deal. B.O.C.'s Eric Bloom was doing that at least five years earlier, and he wasn't even gay (which I think makes Bloom even more dedicated to his onstage look).

For the most part, Konow's idea of heavy metal is American, guitar-dominated, popular hard-rock music from the 1980s (a.k.a. "hair bands"). He writes a lot about Los Angeles bands from Van Halen to Motley Crue to Warrant. Metallica has a major presence. Slayer is the only speed/thrash metal band to get much coverage, and death metal is ignored. Konow also includes some East Coast bands like Bon Jovi, Skid Row, and Twisted Sister. Def Leppard is just about the only non-American band post-1980 that's covered thoroughly.

Although I wasn't a fan of most of the aforementioned bands, I knew enough about them from living through the 1980s to be interested in reading about them. Once one gets over his or her favorite band getting short-changed, this book is very entertaining. It is full of interesting nuggets about the signing, recording, touring, and lifestyles of metal bands, although some readers may be disappointed that little is written about the music itself. Some parts are hilarious, like how so many bands hated being parodied in This Is Spinal Tap and how Kip Winger blames Beavis and Butt-head for his band's decline. I wish Konow had adhered more closely to chronological order; sometimes it gets confusing. For fans of the bands covered in detail, this may be a five-star book, but I'd give it three for all the bands that are missing.

The Rock Bible: Unholy Scripture for Fans & Bands by Henry Owings - I bought this immediately after finishing Bang Your Head and read it in only a few hours (could have been faster, but I read it aloud to my wife). I could not have picked a better companion piece for Bang Your Head! The Rock Bible mocks all the narcisistic excesses of rock music, and almost every entry brought to mind a band from the 1980s L.A. metal scene. My only problem with this book is the list price. Sixteen bucks is a lot to ask for such a slim volume (I got it on sale for less, of course). Any fan of rock music will laugh often while perusing this book.

Unsolved Mysteries of American History by Paul Aron - The author takes a scholarly approach to answering such questions as Did Leif Ericsson discover America?, What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?, Why did Lee order Pickett's charge?, Why did Truman drop the bomb?, Who killed JFK?, and What did Reagan know about Iran-Contra? First he sets the scene and describes what happened. Then, instead of merely giving the reader what he thinks are the correct answers, he presents the findings of historians and others over the years. If one answer rises above the others, he says so, but he is also willing to admit where there is no definitive answer. Aron provides a short bibliography after every question with comments about each book. The curious reader (perhaps one who doesn't have as many unread books as I do) can use this book as a starting point to explore these topics in greater depth.

On Sunday, I went to The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square to celebrate their fifth anniversary. Naturally, I had to buy some books to support this great local business. Congratulations to Suzy T, and my apologies for whatever impact my New Years resolution has had on the store's profits this year.

Current tally: 53 books finished, 48 books acquired

Triple Play

2009-06-23T22:55:00.003-05:00

It's been a slow June so far, but today I finished three books! (Although I reviewed News Junkie earlier today, I finished it several days ago.) Not only is my resolution going well at the moment -- nine books is my biggest margin yet -- but I am also on track for my informal goal of reading 100 books this year.

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry Petroski - This book is getting a bit old, but then, so am I. Consequently, I remember most of the failures described in this book such as the Kansas City Hyatt Regency walkway collapse and the DC-10 crash near O'Hare Airport. I've been on an engineering kick lately -- we watched a Discovery Channel DVD of Extreme Engineering last night -- perhaps because most of the money I made last year involved an engineering project whereas this year I haven't made much money, period. I never thought I'd recall 2008 as the good old days. But anyway... While I enjoyed this book, I understand why Amazon reviewers criticize Petroski's writing. He often belabors his points, but the overkill helps lay people like me to comprehend thoroughly. The book's premise is that engineers learn more from one failure than a thousand successes. This idea transcends engineering, so it isn't exactly a revelation. Regardless, it's an interesting book for anyone who wants to learn more about engineering and the stories behind some well-known disasters.

Between You and Me: A Little Book of Bad English by James Cochrane - I buy a lot of books about language. I think it's helpful to remind oneself of correct usage occasionally to resist developing bad writing or speaking habits. This book is good but short. One of the entries I never thought about was lowest common denominator -- in math, the LCD is usually a relatively high number, but that isn't how we use the term in general (Cochrane laments this as "a Lost Cause"). Between You and Me also includes George Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language." At first, I dismissed this as a lame way to stretch out a too-short book. When I read the essay, however, I recognized that Orwell and Cochrane have similar perspectives, which makes the inclusion worthwhile. Believe it or not, I managed to get through high school and college without reading Animal Farm or 1984, so this is the first time I've read anything by Orwell. I enjoyed it more than I expected.

F My Life by Maxime Valette, Guillaume Passaglia, and Didier Guedj - This one is just plain fun. Anytime you feel like you're having a bad day, read this book or go to http://www.fmylife.com/ and you'll find someone whose day is worse. Of course, one might ask, "Why buy the book when you can read the Web site for free?" First, I wanted to cheer up my wife, and she's the anti-DJWriter as far as the Internet goes -- I spend many hours a day online, she spends several minutes a month. Second, I would hope that the authors filtered out the lousier Web entries. Suffice it to say*, if you like the Web site, you'll like the book. It's probably best in smaller doses (the format gets repetitive after a while), so keep it where you can read it for 5-10 minutes at a time.

Current tally: 50 books finished, 41 books acquired

* I initially left "it" out of this phrase, and then I remembered something from Cochrane's book: "If one is going to use this rather old-fashioned expression one should get it right: suffice it to say, meaning 'let it be enough to say'. Suffice to say is ignorant and lazy." Ouch.

News Junkie

2009-06-23T08:10:00.001-05:00

Readers of this blog know that one of my pet peeves is when a book purports to be about a particular subject but turns into a memoir. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't enjoy a good memoir every so often, as long as it isn't disguised as something else.

Jason Leopold was one of the reporters who covered the California energy crisis and exposed Enron. Before he became a reporter, he was addicted to cocaine and stole to support his habit. News Junkie is about falling into addiction and trying to start over with the constant fear that the past will be exposed. This fear leads him into a self-destructive cycle, and his life falls apart multiple times. He eventually discovers that the thrill of writing an exclusive news story is almost as exciting as scoring a line of coke, the classic case of replacing one addiction with another.

News Junkie offers advice and inspiration for beat reporters everywhere. Leopold explains how one cultivates trusted sources, which is probably even more important than writing well. Indeed, in spite of the front cover art, I picture the author talking on the phone rather than typing at a keyboard. He also describes how he sometimes manipulated sources by playing them against each other, but he takes the viewpoint that it's okay as long as the story is true (some journalism ethicists may disagree with this aggressive perspective).

Leopold's memoir illustrates a complex, realistic character. He isn't entirely likable -- he confesses to doing some pretty rotten things -- yet the reader can't help rooting for him. It's refreshing to read a memoir where the author doesn't carry on about how great he is, although the self-criticism can get a bit whiny at times. This book also describes the California energy crisis, Enron's demise, and the reporting behind it all. Leopold was definitely fortunate to be "in the right place at the right time." Overall, it's an entertaining page-turner. I actually finished the last 20 pages in a parking lot because I couldn't wait until I got home!

Current tally: 47 books finished, 41 books acquired

Scurlock & Spurlock

2009-06-17T14:14:00.000-05:00

One benefit of having a huge backlog of books to read is that I can group my selections by theme. My first two books of June are companions to documentary films by rhyming author-directors James Scurlock and Morgan Spurlock. I also rented the movies from Netflix for a multimedia experience. I have included Amazon links to the books and DVDs below.

Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit by James Scurlock - This book was a steal at the Borders outlet in Gurnee Mills last year -- only $1.98 -- which I finally got around to reading. The book and movie are a good pair for anyone interested in abusive financial practices and the roots of the current economic malaise. My wife was fascinated by Maxed Out -- she had no idea of how banks target consumers -- and she's probably the ideal reader/viewer. As someone more familiar with devious bank tactics, I found the book and movie interesting but not shocking. The greatest shortcoming of both, especially the movie, is that they are largely anecdotal. As such, they do a better job of illustrating the problems than offering solutions or explaining how we got here (though the book provides a bit of credit card history). There are other problems. The national debt is covered so briefly that it might as well have been excluded. Also, almost everyone is portrayed as an innocent victim, as if there is no personal responsibility in the act of acquiring and using a credit card. Scurlock's effort to draw attention to the credit card problem is commendable, but clearly not enough people got the message before the financial meltdown of late 2008.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? by Morgan Spurlock - In contrast to Maxed Out, Spurlock uses a humorous perspective on an even more serious subject. Under the guise of looking for the Al Qaeda leader, Spurlock travels the world and examines terrorism, Islam, the Israeli-Palistinean conflict, and U.S. involvement in all of the above. I suppose it's no secret that Bin Laden remains unfound, but Spurlock discovers much about the cultures and religions of the Middle East. He talks to people in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East including a former IRA terrorist, Muslims in the slums outside Paris, Egyptian radicals, a Moroccan publisher, Palestinian refugees, Saudi women, U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and Shimon Peres, former prime minister and current president of Israel (the movie omits the European portion of Spurlock's journey except in the bonus material). This book exceeded my expectations; I thought it would be merely entertaining, but it is also thoughtful and informative. One of our country's greatest failures in the "Global War On Terror" is in misunderstanding or not knowing anything about the people, religion, and conflicts of the Middle East. For that reason, Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? should be required viewing/reading for all Americans.

Current tally: 46 books finished, 40 books acquired

The Geography of Bliss

2009-05-31T20:01:00.001-05:00

I stalked this book. After seeing the hardcover edition, I regularly searched for an used copy at Half Price Books. When the paperback came out in January, I bided my time, waiting for a good price. When Borders added The Geography of Bliss to their "buy one get one at half price" sale, I waited two more months until I found a second book to fulfill the "BOGO" requirement. I finally acquired this book three weeks ago and started reading it when I finished the books reviewed in the previous blog entry.

Incredibly, The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World was worthy of stalking. I enjoyed this book even more than I expected. Excerpts that I read in bookstores had led me to believe it was largely a travelogue, but Eric Weiner goes far deeper. He examines what elements conspire to make us happy, finding pieces of the puzzle in countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, Iceland, Bhutan, Thailand, and India. When he feels overwhelmed by all this happiness, he visits Moldova, a notoriously miserable country that doesn't disappoint.

It's rare that a book combines travel and philosophy like The Geography of Bliss does. As a tour guide, Weiner is informative and insightful, not to mention funny. He does a good job of involving himself in the book without making it an "all about me" memoir. In his search, Weiner discovers many ideas (or tactics, perspectives, whatever) that one can borrow and apply regardless of geography. For example, my life would be happier with the Thai concept of mai pen lai (it basically means "never mind," as in "let's just forget about this and move on"). If The Geography of Bliss isn't the best book I've read so far in 2009, it's at least in the top five.

Current tally: 44 books finished, 40 books acquired

Finishing May Strong

2009-05-31T18:48:00.000-05:00

I finished a few more books this past week. More significantly, I made it through a Half Price Books storewide 20% off sale without buying anything!

Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters: From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire -- Two Evolutionary Psychologists Explain Why We Do What We Do by Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa - I found this book to be a thought-provoking investigation of what we can attribute about "human nature" to evolutionary -- as opposed to environmental -- factors. When I told my wife about some of the findings within, she had a different take: she says it's just a lame justification for men being pigs. The reviewers at Amazon are similarly split as to the book's worth. My biggest complaint: the authors attribute so many behaviors, emotions, and preferences to the desire to reproduce that those of us who don't want children are made to feel outcast at best, genetically flawed at worst.

Dinosaur Training: Lost Secrets of Strength and Development by Brooks Kubik - If you have an unruly brontosaurus, this book won't be much help, but if you want to build honest muscle, Kubik can tell you how. He looks back to the strongmen of the early 20th century for training methods and inspiration. These men were phenomenally strong long before today's celebrity workouts and supplement-pushing muscle magazines. To be like them, one must work hard with progressively heavier poundages in productive exercises like deadlifts, squats, and presses (no "isolation" exercises or "toning" for those guys). Kubik also recommends pressing, pushing, or pulling sandbags, barrels, cars, and other "odd objects" to build real strength rather than "pumped" but ineffective muscles. He makes a lot of wisecracks about the "chrome and fern" health club denizens who use the same weights year after year, looking pretty but never getting stronger. I had already gravitated toward Kubik's approach before I started reading Dinosaur Training, and I thoroughly enjoyed this informative and inspirational book. Those who have been spinning their wheels using the "modern" training methods advocated by Mr. Steroid Olympia will find Dinosaur Training to be nothing less than a revelation. Order from Brooks Kubik's Web site.

Do Polar Bears Get Lonely and Answers to 100 Other Weird and Wacky Questions About How the World Works by New Scientist - This book examines a number of life's little mysteries. For example, as a longtime AquaFresh user, I finally learned how the manufacturer makes it come out in stripes. I was a bit disappointed with the format because it contains few definitive answers -- most of the questions have several responses contributed by New Scientist readers, and even then, some are not satisfactorily resolved. Nonetheless, the book is fun and quick reading.

Current tally: 43 books finished, 40 books acquired

Bastard of the Day

2009-05-24T12:54:00.000-05:00

The bastards at Wyndham Rewards (formerly TripRewards, formerly Super 8 VIP card) closed my account with no warning and screwed me out of several free nights of motel stays. Thanks a lot, assholes.

Wyndham is a typical example of corporate merger mania ruining decent companies. Years ago, Super 8 had a basic "VIP" card that saved loyal customers 10% on a room. When those Wyndham bastards (or whatever they called themselves back then) took over the chain, they got rid of the simple discount and created a convoluted "rewards" program. Damn it, I hate "rewards" programs. Why make a good customer jump through hoops like a circus animal instead of offering a straightforward discount? (I know why -- because many customers won't bother or won't do it within the proper time frame or whatever -- it's the same bullshit anti-consumer philosophy behind mail-in rebates.) It was bad enough when Super 8 increased their rates ridiculously over the past few years with no visible improvement in accommodations or amenities ("Super 8, where you can pay $90 for a $45 room!"), but this is the last straw.

Here is a list of hotel chains where I will not be spending money anymore:

Super 8
Days Inn
Ramada Worldwide
Microtel
Baymont Inn & Suites
Howard Johnson
Knights Inn
Travelodge
Hawthorn Suites
Wingate
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

You bastards can take your rewards program and stuff it. You just lost a loyal customer forever. Congratulations!

Keeping My Head Above Water

2009-05-15T18:37:00.000-05:00

On Mother's Day, my aunt asked how my book challenge was going. "I'm up by five," I proudly announced. Well, on the way home I stopped at Borders and they were having a big clearance sale... and suddenly I was in the hole again. Fortunately, I was close to finishing several books, so now I'm breaking even just a few days later.

Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Confrontational Times by Geoff Nunberg - The title may sound like a Bush-bashing book, but it's not. Going Nucular is a collection of articles and commentaries about words and grammar, especially how meanings have evolved and certain words have gained or lost favor. I bought this at Powell's in June 2007, started reading it a few months later, and then set it aside for over a year. I rediscovered it two-thirds finished a month ago. I mention all this because it illustrates my problem with this book. While I enjoyed most of the essays, I couldn't read many in a row. Even making a concerted effort, I could only get through five or six in one sitting. Yet in small doses, it's an interesting book for anyone who is into words, linguistics, etymology, media, or writing. If you're the kind of person who plays "dictionary roulette" (I can't be the only one), you'll enjoy Nunberg's book.

History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them by Stephen Weir - This book, which is titled Encyclopedia Idiotica in the U.S., is a good idea weakly executed. The book briefly examines 50 fateful decisions throughout history, ranging from Adam & Eve to the December 2004 tsunami. As a U.K. book, its choices are biased toward British history. Weir also divines the motivations of the bad deciders, classifying them among the Seven Deadly Sins or the three Cardinal Virtues, but this adds little to the book. I bought the illustrated edition ($9.99 at Barnes & Noble), which is indeed a lovely printing. Weir's writing, however, is another matter entirely. First, his tone is inconsistent. Early entries include funny, sarcastic remarks (my wife asked if this was the same author as in Who Hates Whom), but he doesn't keep them up with any regularity. Worse, his sentence structure is atrocious. Run-ons and lengthy fragments abound, which makes History's Worst Decisions annoying and difficult to read aloud. To top it off, Amazon reviewers note some obvious errors. Being poorly written, factually suspect, and only sporadically funny, this disappointing book isn't worth your time.

Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life by John Sellers - I'm a little surprised that I bought this since I'm not much for "indie rock" -- I like many bands that fit the description, but as a category, it's far too broad to have much meaning (ditto for "alternative"). What sold me is the first half of the book. Like me, Sellers was born in 1970, so we experienced many of the same fads and music growing up. His reminiscences about the early days of MTV are hilarious. The book is entertaining until he gets into "indie rock." Then he writes about bands that don't interest me (the Smiths/Morrissey, Joy Division/New Order, Pavement, Guided By Voices). I had to work to plow through those chapters, encouraged by the occasional reference to something I cared about. The appendices are amusing: A is a collection of lists, B is a goofy formula for determining how good a band is, and C is a list of "judgements" rendered on current bands. Bottom line: if you were born when I was, you'll probably like the beginning of the book, but the rest of the book might bore you if you're not into Sellers' favorite bands, especially Guided By Voices.

Current tally: 40 books finished, 40 books acquired

The Year of Living Biblically

2009-05-13T00:28:00.001-05:00

Jen Garrett indirectly encouraged me to read this book. She recently purchased a book by A.J. Jacobs called The Know-It-All. I commented that I own two books by Jacobs but haven't read either of them. So when it was time to choose another adventure from the stacks, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible became the obvious choice.

Jacobs sets out to follow the Bible, particularly the odd, outdated, or weird edicts, literally. Had he stuck to this narrow perspective (a joke that would have been beaten to death in 100 pages), the book would not have been nearly as enjoyable. Throughout the year, he discovers a lot about religion, the Bible, and the meaning and purpose behind them. It's more of an experiment in spirituality rather than a spiritual journey. Although he remains basically agnostic (saying, "I'm officially Jewish, but I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant"), he gains a certain respect for sacredness and structure.

The Year of Living Biblically straddles an interesting line: it contains enough earnest religious material to merit back cover blurbs from religious men, and yet it is entertaining enough that one needn't be religious to enjoy it (though a Jewish or Christian background helps make the references more familiar). I think Jacobs went a little half-assed on the New Testament (I guess he's Jewish enough that he couldn't quite embrace Jesus), but I still liked the book a lot. It strikes the right mix of humor, religion, skepticism, and memoir.

This book also inspired another project. Because some parts of the Bible seem to promote slavery, Jacobs did the next best thing: he acquired an intern. While serving Jacobs, intern/slave Kevin Roose got the idea of transferring from ultra-liberal Brown University to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University for a semester. The result is The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University. I haven't looked at it yet, but it's been positively reviewed at Amazon.

Current tally: 37 books finished, 31 books acquired

When the Rivers Run Dry

2009-05-12T23:18:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned before, I have read a lot about water issues. Naturally, I have come to a point where many books, especially those without a narrow focus, don't provide much new information. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by Fred Pearce's When the Rivers Run Dry: Water -- The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century. By presenting dozens of new (to me) case studies, this book shows just how pervasive water issues are. Despite the river-centric title and theme (each of the book's ten sections begins with "When the rivers run dry..." followed by "...the crops fail", "...engineers pour concrete", "...men go to war", and so on), Pearce recognizes that water is a system and that rivers are only part of the picture. He does not give short shrift to aquifers, rainwater, desalination, and other topics. My only complaint is that there should have been many more maps (those included are excellent).

Pearce describes the failures of a U.N. program to drill wells for "safe" water to replace disease-carrying river water in India and Bangladesh. It turns out that the groundwater is often polluted with poisonous levels of fluoride and arsenic (ironically, in one town the only healthy people were those of a lower caste who were not allowed to drink from the new wells). There is a sickening story about farmers using polluted water to grow crops. They try not to touch the water because it burns their skin, and yet they use it to grow the vegetables they eat. Pearce even adds depth to some familiar tales such as the tragedy of the disappearing Aral Sea.

It's hard to choose one definitive book about worldwide water issues, but When the Rivers Run Dry is a good candidate. An Americentric reader may be disappointed (for that person, I'd recommend Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert), but anyone interested in global examples of water-related troubles should thoroughly enjoy this book.

Current tally: 36 books finished, 31 books acquired

Buy Indie Day!

2009-05-01T23:52:00.002-05:00

I happened to be walking along Lincoln Avenue today when I heard the siren song of The Book Cellar. Their chalkboard sign was in the foyer because of the rain, but I noticed it said today is Buy Indie Day, a celebration of independent booksellers.

Well, shoot. I wasn't going to buy anything, but how could I walk out empty-handed on Buy Indie Day? Besides, I already feel like a schmuck for annually missing Record Store Day.

I always find interesting things on the front tables at The Book Cellar, and today was no exception. With two paperbacks in hand, I rushed toward the register before my brain could rationalize just a peek at the shelves, which would have wiped out the slim margin I built last month in Book Challenge 2009. As a bonus, I got to say hi to owner Suzy T for the first time in many months.

Current tally: 35 books finished, 31 books acquired

Who Hates Whom

2009-04-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

This informative yet amusing book by Bob Harris (Trebekistan), subtitled "Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up: A Woefully Incomplete Guide", provides a grand overview of trouble spots around the world. The author goes from continent to continent, describing wars and tenuous peaces. He does an admirable job of wading through and summarizing a lot of complicated ugliness. Americans need this information because our media ignore so much of it -- the author points out several events that we "missed" because they occurred on the day Anna Nicole Smith died, for example.

Although the subject matter is often grim (dictators, oppression, genocide), Harris injects humor here and there. I read this book aloud to my wife, and we particularly enjoyed this passage about Nicaragua:

In 1956, [Anastasio] Somoza was fatally shot by a poet, proving that the gun is mightier than the pen. One of Somoza's sons, also named Anastasio, became the new dictator. Nicaragua clearly needed more poets.

The plentiful maps (quite useful for such unfamiliar regions as Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone) strike a similar wry tone.

Incredibly, Harris manages to remain positive about humankind after all of this awfulness, concluding with an expression of hope. He points out that although war seems inevitable and never-ending, we really have evolved rapidly -- just 150 years ago, the U.S. had slavery, European nations had colonies, and women couldn't vote (by the way, those colonial days figure prominently in a lot of current conflicts).

I'd recommend Who Hates Whom to anyone who wants a general understanding of conflicts around the world. Though certainly not comprehensive (the subtitle admits that), this engaging, entertaining book is a good place to start.

Current tally: 35 books finished, 29 books acquired

The View from Babylon

2009-04-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

Continuing with the entertainment industry/Los Angeles theme of the last two books, my next choice from the endless, unread stacks was The View from Babylon: The Notes of a Hollywood Voyeur by Donald Rawley. Although Rawley wrote many fictional works (poems, short stories, screenplays, novels), this is a collection of non-fiction essays about Los Angeles and Hollywood. As the title suggests, the subject matter is often tawdry and unsettling. He writes about a homicidal female bodybuilder, suburban meth addicts who kill their babies, and snarky movie industry people. It's not all "downer" material, though. For example, Rawley visits Tippi Hedren at her Shambala animal sanctuary. Amazon.com reviewers suggest that one must be a Los Angeleno to appreciate this book, but I disagree. I've only been there once, for about three days nearly 20 years ago, but I still enjoyed this book immensely. It's a quick, memorable read, and Rawley writes better than most.

Current tally: 34 books finished, 29 books acquired

Television with the 'koffs

2009-04-20T22:40:00.001-05:00

Last week, I read two very different books that together span the past three decades of network television.

The Last Great Ride by Brandon Tartikoff and Charles Leerhsen - Tartikoff is often lauded as the programming genius who brought NBC back to life in the 1980s, leaving a legacy of popular series including The Cosby Show, Cheers, Family Ties, Hill Street Blues, and many more. I grew up with these shows, so I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is written in an anecdotal format rather than chronological, which suits the material well. The style is conversational; it's like having dinner with Tartikoff and hearing him recount tales from his career. Although the content is obviously dated, anyone who watched prime-time TV in the 1980s should love this book.

Billion-Dollar Kiss: The Kiss That Saved Dawson's Creek and Other Adventures in TV Writing by Jeffrey Stepakoff - This author's career began as Tartikoff's was ending (with a couple years of overlap). Billion-Dollar Kiss is more chronological than The Last Great Ride, and it also provides much more historical context. Rather than just telling about his own experiences, Stepakoff devotes many pages to the evolution of the television industry and the Writers Guild of America. He starts working near the end of the independent studio era and then describes the effects of deregulation in 1996, followed by the stock market crash of 2000 and the rise of "reality" programming. Along the way, he gives insight into the daily life of a TV writer. Although Dawson's Creek figures prominently in the subtitle and in Stepakoff's career, this book isn't really "about" that series (which was fine with me since I never watched it). Billion-Dollar Kiss is a good history and description of the TV writing world that should interest anyone curious about how TV series are made, especially someone considering a career in the industry.

Current tally: 33 books finished, 28 books acquired

A Solid Week of Reading

2009-04-10T20:25:00.003-05:00

The Walrus Was Ringo: 101 Beatles Myths Debunked - I went through a heavy Beatles phase about 20 years (not coincidentally on the heels of a Charles Manson phase). Back then, I bought and read at least a dozen books about them. Although I still like their music, I'm not the Beatle-ologist I used to be. But while I was looking for something else at Half Price Books, this book by Alan Clayson and Spencer Leigh caught my eye.

I enjoyed the way this book reawakened brain cells last accessed years ago, but it's not a good book. Most of it is trivial or esoteric, and I disagree with some of the authors' debunkings. For example, they contend that John Lennon was not a pacifist. Aside from an admittedly unconfirmed allegation that he gave money to the IRA, their argument is based on several incidents where Lennon got into fights. But that just proves he was a mean drunk, not that he supported war or violence as a solution. I hardly think punching some guy at a party in 1963 makes Lennon a non-pacifist any more than it makes him a pugilist. There's a lot of crap like that in this book. Many debunkings are merely conjecture and opinion. I expected some eye-opening revelations, but I found little that I didn't remember from somewhere in the deep recesses of my teenage mind. This book does have a lot of info about the early years in Liverpool, but I was never particularly interested in the details of the band's origins. There is little about the music (less than 20%), which is ultimately the most important thing about the Beatles. Also, I found it ironic that their selected bibliography criticizes books that lack indices since this book doesn't have one, either.

One Knee Equals Two Feet (And Everything Else You Need to Know About Football) - I wasn't sure whether I'd like this 1986 John Madden book, but when I saw the chapter titled "Why Payton Is The Best," I figured I couldn't go wrong. Actually, I know the players of the 1970s and 1980s much better than I know the current NFL, so this book was a lot of fun to read. My favorite chapters are the meat of the book where Madden names his favorite players at each position and explains what made them great. There are many good anecdotes, too. This is easily the best book out of the four here, and it only cost me $1!

Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages - This book is a disappointment. I've read several similar books, and Stupid History repeats many stories I've seen before. Author Leland Gregory employs too many corny puns, and some of this "stupid history" is just random "fun facts" with little or no historical value (isn't there enough real history to fill a book?). Even worse, there are mistakes. For example, Gregory asserts that Eugene Debs is the only person ever to run for president while in prison. But Leonard Peltier ran for president in 2004. The book is copyright 2007, so the author should have known. Amazon reviewers cite other errors, as well. I wouldn't recommend it and I definitely wouldn't trust it.

50 Ways to Build Muscle Fast: The Ultimate Guide to Building Bigger Muscles - I started reading this late last year and came back to it this week. I put it down because I didn't agree with some of author Dave Tuttle's suggestions, but in retrospect, I was being a bit hard on him. Aside from the typical volume training/isolated body parts silliness and a bit too much rah-rah about supplements (Tuttle's specialty), there are some good ideas here. There isn't a lot of new info, but it is useful as a quick refresher about a variety of training concepts. The end of the book is primarily motivational, which never hurts. All in all, there's nothing "ultimate" about this guide, but it's worth reading if it's cheap (as my copy was).

Current tally: 31 books finished, 26 books acquired

Braver Than I'll Ever Be

2009-04-07T23:08:00.000-05:00

This story caught my attention because it's about a bicycle tourist from my sort-of hometown*, Montgomery, IL:

In 18 months on the road, Isai Madriz has pedaled nearly 12,000 miles from his family's home in Montgomery through Central America and along the western coast of South America.

That alone makes him pretty brave. You couldn't pay me to ride through the notoriously dicey political environment of Latin America. But the kicker is Madriz's story about Patagonia:

The only food available here on the vast pampas of Patagonia is califate, a small fruit that has a center full of seeds. Llamas, emus and hares are the animals in this region, but they proved to be very difficult to trap. The moment came when I didn't have anything at hand to eat and, without any calafates or some succulent insect in sight, I turned to looking for those unfortunate critters who had died crossing the road. Hares adorned the highway, but the majority were flattened or bloated and, without question, I wasn't about to spend another day like that night south of Iquique, in Chile, when I was poisoned by algae. Fortunately I found a semi-fresh hare.

I cannot imagine how starved I would have to be to turn to roadkill for sustenance. And that's what makes Madriz braver than I'll ever be!

* I didn't really live in Montgomery, but I had a Montgomery postal address.

Resolution Reflections

2009-04-07T22:32:00.001-05:00

Now that the first quarter of 2009 has passed, this is a good time to evaluate "Book Challenge 2009." My resolution was to finish reading more books than I acquire. This challenge has been about as difficult as I expected, a series of regular gains wiped out by occasional shopping sprees. Unfortunately, I was behind by one book as of March 31st, although I've since begun to rebuild a positive balance.

In the process of trying to keep this resolution, I've discovered a few things:

I am learning that it will be almost as big a challenge to review every book I finish. I should have expected that since I have at least 30 books piled up around my computer from last year that I never got around to reviewing online (and probably never will). Although I could cop out with one-line reviews, I'll try to continue writing at least a paragraph about each book.
The public nature of my resolution has influenced my shopping. I have rejected several books because I really didn't want the world to know I had spent (wasted) money and time on them. I guess that's a positive thing since it kept me from buying books.
I've never tracked my reading statistics before. After finished 24 books in the first quarter, I've decided to shoot for 100 books for the year (and I hope to buy fewer than 100!).
Reviewing the back-and-forth of the finished/acquired counts, it has become clear to me that I will never come anywhere near "catching up." I'm not terribly surprised, but it is disheartening. I feel like Sisyphus.

Okay, enough navel-gazing -- I've got reading to do!

Travels With My Donkey: One Man and His Ass on a Pilgrimage to Santiago

2009-04-05T21:15:00.003-05:00

Following in the footsteps of medieval Christians seeking forgiveness for their sins, Englishman Tim Moore decides to walk the Way of St. James, a 500-mile pilgrimage from St. Jean Pied-de-Port in the French Pyrenees to the cathedral of St. James at Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. To lighten his burden and make things more interesting, he procures a donkey for the journey. Having no prior donkey experience, Moore has to learn along the way, adding another dimension to the usual pilgrimage tale. He approaches the long walk as a non-believer, so this isn't a religious meditation. He does show a sort of irreverent respect for the legendary journey, though.

Moore provides an entertaining history of the pilgrimage, referencing guides and journals from the past 1,000 years, often with understandable skepticism. On his journey, he meets dozens of interesting characters and peppers the travelogue with humor and sarcasm. His donkey, Shinto (an amusing name considering this is a Catholic pilgrimage), becomes a celebrity. Kids want to pet him (though older ones tease him), elders who perhaps remember a less mechanized world gaze at him fondly, and a number of people contribute grains and grasses to sate his appetite.

Moore is sometimes compared to Bill Bryson (as Travels With My Donkey is likened to A Walk In The Woods), but I'd say Moore is coarser and more curmudgeonly. I formed this opinion while reading French Revolutions, wherein the author bicycles the Tour de France course as a tourist, but it fits this book, too. By the end of Travels With My Donkey, however, Moore softens considerably, though he still cannot resist photographing Shinto's bodily functions.

I read this book aloud to my wife, who loves all things equine. I found it rather difficult. Moore's sentence structures are hard to anticipate, and the mixture of Anglicisms, French, and Spanish weren't easy to enunciate. I'd say it is written at a more complex level than the average mass market book.

Travels With My Donkey (published as Spanish Steps in the UK) is a funny, entertaining tale, better than French Revolutions. Many armchair travelers -- particularly those who are not easily offended -- will enjoy going along for the walk. I just wish Moore had included some photographs.

Current tally: 27 books finished, 25 books acquired

You Can Lead a Politician to Water, But You Can't Make Him Think

2009-04-05T16:15:00.001-05:00

It is a testament to my book buying addiction that I have absolutely no recollection of purchasing this book. Heck, I don't even remember ever seeing it before. With the subtitle "Ten Commandments for Texas Politics," it probably wouldn't get prominent display in an Illinois bookstore anyway. The price tag says I got it from Half Price Books (which one?) sometime after April 2008, but that's all I know. Anyway, I was looking for a book to take to dinner last week (I never dine alone, but I usually have a book for a partner since my wife works nights), and I found it on the "to read" shelf amid several hundred other volumes.

That's not to say that I didn't want this book. I have about 10 of Kinky's books, and I've even read most of them. If I lived in Texas, I would have voted for him for governor in 2006. And that's the focus of this book, Friedman's independent 2006 Texas gubernatorial campaign. It's not a straight-up memoir, but rather a collection of tales about campaigning and what he might have done if elected. I'd describe it as more of a campaign souvenir than anything else. It's even illustrated with political cartoons, photos, and magazine covers.

You Can Lead a Politician to Water is a quick read; by the time I finished my fifth or sixth Coke refill, I was more than halfway finished. Friedman actually has some good ideas about government, and it's a shame he didn't win. Following in the footsteps of Rick Perry and G.W. Bush, he couldn't possibly have done any worse! I like his "Five Mexican Generals" solution to the immigration problem. Kinky left me in tears at the end with his heartfelt tribute to writer Molly Ivins, who gave him one of his best campaign slogans: "Why the hell not?"

The book is thin, only 128 pages, and probably not worth the $22.00 list price to most people. Some of the material is recycled from elsewhere, and many of the jokes will be familiar to longtime fans. But if you voted for Kinky -- or would have if you lived in Texas -- or you care about Texas politics (which I do, for some odd reason), then You Can Lead a Politician to Water, But You Can't Make Him Think is worth checking out.

Current tally: 26 books finished, 25 books acquired

Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors the Movies

2009-04-03T19:42:00.001-05:00

This book by David L. Robb is a real eye-opener. It explores the influence the Pentagon exerts on filmmakers who use military equipment or bases in their movies. If a movie's credits thank the armed forces for assistance, there's a good chance the Department of Defense (DoD) edited the script. The military has played a similar role in certain TV programs. JAG is an obvious one, but even Lassie and The Mickey Mouse Club were altered by the DoD.

What the DoD really wants are recruiting films, rah-rah stories like Top Gun that make teenagers enlist. The Pentagon film office examines the script and sends the producer a list of changes that must be made. Sometimes it's just a few lines of dialogue, often it's a scene or two, but occasionally the entire story is rejected. Films that address racism or sexism are unlikely to get support (because, of course, those do not exist in the U.S. military!). Even when history is on the filmmaker's side, the military will insist on its own version of events. To get DoD approval, a movie must show the military in a positive light. Without approval, a movie will cost millions more to make (although the producers pay to use military resources, it's cheaper than fabricating their own), or the entire project may be abandoned. Politics and business relationships come into play as well -- a studio would rather kill a movie that criticizes the military than jeopardize future DoD cooperation on other projects.

Some may view this as a logical quid pro quo -- you can use our toys as long as you don't make us look bad. But it is more insidious than that. At best, it's propaganda. At worst, it's censorship. The author argues that Congress is violating the Constitution whenever it passes appropriations bills to fund the Pentagon film office ("Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech...").

Robb cites dozens of examples of Pentagon-movie industry conflicts, talking to people on both sides and reproducing documents that dictate changes to filmmakers. He provides enough background that I enjoyed the book without having seen many of the films discussed. For those that I have seen, it was fascinating to learn how different the original scripts were. After reading Operation Hollywood, I may never be able to watch a war movie again without wondering whether it was edited by the Pentagon.

Current tally: 25 books finished, 25 books acquired

Economic Hit Men, Hard Gainers, and Dead Celebrities

2009-03-31T13:38:00.003-05:00

The Secret History of the American Empire by John Perkins -- I thought Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man was a pretty interesting book, so I looked forward to reading this one. It promised to provide more specifics, and it delivers. Perkins moves from continent to continent describing how the American corporatocracy has enslaved and manipulated so-called Third World countries since World War II. Actually, A Secret History would be a more appropriate title because the book is far from thorough. It is based on Perkins' own experiences (lapsing occasionally into memoir) and those of other economic hit men and jackals (his word) that he has met over the years. The examples he gives are just the tip of the iceberg, but this book could really shock a less jaded reader. Perkins ends on a hopeful note with a rousing call to action, comparing our times to the days of the American Revolution with corporate tyranny in place of King George III. As always, I remain pessimistic.

Beyond Brawn by Stuart McRobert -- This is one of the most thorough books about weight training that I have ever seen. Beyond Brawn is aimed at "hard gainers." At first, this was a turn-off to me because I don't consider myself to be one -- I've always been able to build muscle reasonably quickly when I bothered to lift regularly. But McRobert's broader definition of hard gainer includes the 85% of us who aren't genetically gifted or chemically enhanced. The book describes in painstaking detail how most people should train. Throw away the muscle magazines with their "12 sets per isolated body part" workouts that will only exhaust and frustrate most people. McRobert advocates "abbreviated training," which means fewer sets of fewer exercises with less frequency, focusing on multi-joint exercises that stimulate muscle growth throughout the body. He likes squats, bench press, overhead press, etc., and he loves deadlifts. Unlike many books in the genre, Beyond Brawn doesn't prescribe specific workouts. McRobert instead gives readers the tools (and freedom) to create their own routines. The book also excludes instructions regarding exercise form; for that, get McRobert's forthcoming Insider's Tell-All Handbook on Weight-Training Technique. The author is intent on imparting information rather than providing entertainment for the reader. My wife doesn't like his serious, somewhat dry, often repetitive style, which I also find tedious at times. She prefers the lighter (but still informative) tone of The New Rules of Lifting, which similarly concentrates on multi-joint exercises. Note: I read the Revised Edition from 2001, not the 2007 Second Edition available from Amazon.com below.

The Last Days of Dead Celebrities by Mitchell Fink -- I wasn't going to buy this, but after reading the chapter about Warren Zevon in the store, I decided to give it a shot. Covering 15 celebrities who have died since 1980, Fink sets the scene and then describes their final months or days. It's a thoughtful survey of death in general: sometimes it comes suddenly, other times naturally or mercifully. The tragic tales of the Johns (Lennon, Belushi, Denver, Ritter) are the most painful to read, even after many years have passed. Perhaps the saddest passage in the book comes from Dan Aykroyd. After his efforts to save Belushi from himself, he recounts having "the talk" with River Phoenix, Chris Farley, and James Taylor's brother Alex-- yet all three died of drug overdoses. Several of the deaths in the book are surrounded by controversy, such as Margaux Hemingway, who did not seem suicidal; Ted Williams, who allegedly did not want to be frozen; and Tupac Shakur, whose Las Vegas murder remains unsolved. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book, even the chapters about people who never interested me before.

Just when I felt confident that I was getting ahead in the game, I answered the siren song of a Half Price Books e-mail full of coupons and bought seven books. Now I'm behind by one book for the year. I'm still struggling to keep this New Year's resolution.

Current tally: 24 books finished, 25 books acquired

Americans Are Too F***ing Sensitive

2009-03-23T14:55:00.004-05:00

or "Why I Will Never Be a Prolific Blogger Again"

As the media tell it, President Obama's only words in his recent late-night talk show appearance were an insult to Special Olympics bowlers. He probably said more, but apparently it wasn't important. Was the comment ill-advised? Of course, it was. Was it offensive? I would argue that it was not because Obama clearly did not intend it to be. Unfortunately, it's virtually impossible these days to speak off-the-cuff for more than a few minutes without someone somewhere taking offense. As a blogger, I've been targeted several times by people who choose to be deeply offended by my words, even when -- no, particularly when -- no offense is intended. Frankly, that is a major reason I've posted less frequently in recent years. It's not that I'm afraid to speak my mind; I just don't need the irritation of defending myself from the perpetually offended American public anymore.

The Chicago Tribune had a ludicrous article on Saturday headlined "Obama's 'Tonight Show' gaffe one of many for president: Special Olympics slip isn't the first time he has stumbled." The story goes all the way back to the Democratic primary campaign to point out every single time Obama said anything vaguely offensive. Give me a freaking break. Imagine how many words the man has spoken in public in the past nine months. Who could do that without upsetting someone in modern America? It's ridiculous to hold anyone to such a standard. Besides, George W. Bush made as many "gaffes" almost every week for the past nine years, speaking a previously unknown dialect of the English language, and most of the media (David Letterman excepted) let him slide.

Someone commented on the Tribune story (insert rant about the general inanity of Tribune commenters here) that the media aren't being nearly as critical of Obama as they would have been if Bush had made the same comment about the Special Olympics. Well, that's because Bush would have flashed his malicious, condescending smirk, as if to say, "Take that, you little retards!"

Two More Books

2009-03-15T14:29:00.001-05:00

Earlier this month, I found myself reading seven books at once. With my attention divided, it was hard to finish any of them. I finally got my act together and completed a couple in the past few days:

Oil: A Concise Guide to the Most Important Product on Earth by Matthew Yeomans - Lately, I've been buying oil books as if they were water books. This one is a very good introduction, but I already knew much of the material from reading a lot of articles on AlterNet (btw, Yeomans has a similarly liberal perspective). Oh well, the subtitle warns that it's concise, so I had no reason to expect depth. If you haven't read much about petroleum, you'll get a lot out of Oil. If you've already read books like The End of Oil (a thicker volume in my to-read pile) or Beyond Oil, however, it's probably not worth your time.

Any Old Way You Choose It: Rock and Other Pop Music, 1967-1973 by Robert Christgau - When I aspired to be a rock critic, I read Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs. That was freshman year of college, two decades ago (damn, I'm old). By the time I was halfway through Christgau's book, I remembered why I hadn't read a book of rock criticism since: I like it in small doses. The shorter works here are the best, especially the negative reviews. Unfortunately, the longer material sometimes founders under the weight of the critic's self-importance and overwrought prose. Christgau is one of the legends of the genre, though, and I ultimately enjoyed the book mostly because I know and like the music of that era. Note: this is the "expanded edition" of the original book with an extra 20 pages of material.

Current tally: 21 books finished, 18 books acquired

I Bought It At Polk Bros.

2009-03-12T12:50:00.001-05:00

When I took this book to the counter at Half Price Books in Highland Park, the clerk's face lit up. "Oh, I remember when this book came in," he said. "I loved Polk Bros.!" I told him that two of my aunts had worked there, and one had met her husband there. "Well, I'm glad this book is going to a good home!"

I Bought It At Polk Bros. by Ann Paden is the classic tale of the children of immigrants working hard and succeeding in America. Sol Polk (nee Pokovitch), his five brothers, and his sister built a retail empire that once dominated appliance, furniture, and electronics sales in Chicagoland.

They did it by moving high volumes of name-brand merchandise at low prices. That doesn't sound like a big deal today, but Polk Bros. revolutionized the appliance industry in many ways. When they started out, most stores carried only one or two name brands, and the list price was unshakable. In fact, many manufacturers were reluctant to deal with the Polks because they didn't want their brands to be cheapened by discounting. Most manufacturers eventually changed their minds once they saw how quickly the skilled Polk Bros. salesmen turned over inventory.

Promotions were another key to Polk Bros.' success. Many Chicagoans remember the thousands of lighted, plastic "Jolly Super Santa Claus" lawn ornaments from Polk Bros., but that was only one of many premium or giveaway offers contrived to bring people into the stores. They gave away crates of fruit, circus tickets, and just about anything else they could think of. The book begins with Polk Bros.' 20th anniversary party: they bought out Chicago Stadium for a night, gave away tickets to customers, and treated them to a live broadcast of Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" followed by an Ice Capades show.

I learned a lot about retail history from this book. For example, in the 1930s the utility companies used to sell appliances to encourage people to use more electricity and natural gas. Before he opened his first store, Sol Polk sold electric irons door-to-door for Commonwealth Edison.

Polk Bros. deserves special credit for what I call "going out of business with honor." They ceased retail operations in 1992 because their stores were losing money, but they made this decision from a position where they could still pay their employees (including severance) and suppliers. The company never went bankrupt. One could cite many reasons for Polk Bros.' demise, including a changing market with greater competition, antiquated information systems that would have been costly to update, a devastating warehouse fire in 1987, and the death of founder Sol Polk (preceded by his brothers). The company's remaining assets were transferred to the Polk Bros. Foundation, which is still granting millions of dollars (nearly $24 million in 2007) to Chicago social service, education, culture, and health organizations.

Paden discusses such unpleasantries as the stress on the family caused by the brothers' insane work schedule, but the book is generally positive and celebratory. Since it is copyrighted by the Polk Bros. Foundation, I can't help wondering whether that influenced how certain events were covered. The photo section is entertaining but too brief, and I would have liked to see examples of the advertising that the author describes.

I Bought It At Polk Bros. follows a prominent retailer in a rapidly changing consumer environment. I would recommend it to someone interested in 20th century Chicago or retail history, or even anyone who wonders about the source of that Jolly Super Santa Claus in the attic.

Current tally: 19 books finished, 18 books acquired