What are you reading?

[birdman]

   Interesting story about a fat, slovenly, Dominican Uber Nerd. Lots of shocking Dominican history which I was absolutely oblivious to. Diaz won the Pulitzer for this book. Not sure it was worthy of the award but what do I know. Im looking forward to reading some of his other stuff.
 
Just getting into the new John Irving:

[gainesvillegreen]

   Interesting story about a fat, slovenly, Dominican Uber Nerd. Lots of shocking Dominican history which I was absolutely oblivious to. Diaz won the Pulitzer for this book. Not sure it was worthy of the award but what do I know. Im looking forward to reading some of his other stuff.
 
Just getting into the new John Irving:

Diaz's new story collection This Is How You Lose Her is supposed to be quite good. I read his first collection Drown, and if you like Wao, you will like it too (assuming you like short stories).

I am making a resolution to read a biography of each president next year, so starting a little early with Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life which is pretty good so far. I read 99% fiction to 1% non-fiction, so trying for more balance in that regard and doing US history in a back-handed way. We'll see how it goes.

[sls.stormyrider]

I am making a resolution to read a biography of each president next year, so starting a little early with Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life which is pretty good so far. I read 99% fiction to 1% non-fiction, so trying for more balance in that regard and doing US history in a back-handed way. We'll see how it goes.

haven't read all of them, but most of the "big ones". GW, Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, TR, FDR,Truman, and JFK iirc.
a really enjoyable way to learn history (for me)
the wife just gave me a Jeffersion bio for the holidaze

I should probably go back and re-visit GW, it's been a while.

[gainesvillegreen]

I am making a resolution to read a biography of each president next year, so starting a little early with Ron Chernow's Washington: A Life which is pretty good so far. I read 99% fiction to 1% non-fiction, so trying for more balance in that regard and doing US history in a back-handed way. We'll see how it goes.

haven't read all of them, but most of the "big ones". GW, Adams, Jackson, Lincoln, TR, FDR,Truman, and JFK iirc.
a really enjoyable way to learn history (for me)
the wife just gave me a Jeffersion bio for the holidaze

I should probably go back and re-visit GW, it's been a while.

Nice. Which one is it? Jon Meacham's The Art Of Power?

This Washington bio is good (it is New Yorker/New Republic level reportage type writing, with not a little bit of gush about its' subject). Definitely learning a lot, but at 900 pages, I risk burn out before getting off the ground  :| For instance, I am getting more information regarding what Washington ordered from his London tailor at age 23 than I really need.

It will pick up during the AR and Presidency periods I'm sure.

[sls.stormyrider]

I heard that GW had quite the wardrobe. I was hoping if I improved mine, I might get lucky, so maybe that information about the tailor is helpful.

Yes - the book on TJ is the one by Meachem
I just started reading Who Am I (I alternate between musicians and world leaders), then Art of Power is next

[gainesvillegreen]

Almost bit on the Meacham today with a GC I received but will wait to hear your prelim thoughts on it once you begin.

[Mr. Natural]

While I was reading it, and when I finished it, I didn't think it lived up to my expectations. But then I started looking back over it and now I've decided I like it. I think I was a little disappointed that it was half JEFF BRIDGES AND THE ZEN MASTER, and half THE DUDE AND THE ZEN MASTER (he talks a lot about his own career, not just THE BIG LEBOWSKI). But there is a lot of good stuff in here - "The Dude isn't uncomfortable with his discomfort," and "The Dude has thoughts, frustrations and everything that we all have, but he doesn't work from them."

[gainesvillegreen]

Three books at the moment:

A Map Of Tulsa by Benjamin Lytal. (Fiction/Novel)
-- Not very good, unless perhaps you live or are from Tulsa. 19 year old boy moves back home for summer after freshman year, starts to chase and bang an oil heiress meanwhile trying to write poetry and doing what 19 year olds do. The actual writing reminds me of a 19 year old in many places.

What Happened To Sophie Wilder by Christopher Beha. (Fiction/Novel)
-- Very good. 28 year old writer in a stagnant phase after first novel published to lukewarm reception, bumps into woman - also a writer who was very successful in his college class - he hasn't seen in many years at a party. She has since given up writing after converting to Catholicism. They were once a couple, but she has since married and divorced prior to the encounter. She leaves shortly after the reunite for unknown reasons and he goes off to find her. Compared to Graham Greene is what made me pick it up hesitantly - generally I hate books set in New York City - and I haven't read a bad review of it anywhere. Recommended.

Island: Complete Stories of Alistair Macleod. (Fiction)
-- Not sure yet. Takes place mostly in the Nova Scotia coast area. On a sentence level it is brilliant (think James Salter) but the stories seem dated and overly sentimental. Only read a few so far though.

Since moving to Tallahassee it has been hard to find a rhythm for reading, hard to find a rhythm for a lot of things, but I am hopefully finding a stride again.

[sls.stormyrider]

Almost bit on the Meacham today with a GC I received but will wait to hear your prelim thoughts on it once you begin.

up to where he became Sec of State during the GW admin, about 1/4 - 1/3 in.
I like it, well written, informative, good commentary that seems supported by the data he presents
you can't sit and just slam through it - 1/2 chapter here, 1 chapter there, etc. Expected for this type of book.

[cactusfan]

if you guys want to read a truly brilliant U.S. history book, check out The Metaphysical Club by Louis Menand. won the history Pulitzer in '02. it's an amazing read. here's the write-up on it:


The Metaphysical Club was an informal group that met in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1872, to talk about ideas. Its members included Oliver Well Holmes, Jr., future associate justice of the United States Supreme Court; William James, the father of modern American psychology; and Charles Sanders Peirce, logician, scientist, and the founder of semiotics. The Club was probably in existence for about nine months. No records were kept. The one thing we know that came out of it was an idea -- an idea about ideas. This book is the story of that idea.

Holmes, James, and Peirce all believed that ideas are not things "out there" waiting to be discovered but are tools people invent -- like knives and forks and microchips -- to make their way in the world. They thought that ideas are produced not by individuals, but by groups of individuals -- that ideas are social. They do not develop according to some inner logic of their own but are entirely depent -- like germs -- on their human carriers and environment. And they thought that the survival of any idea deps not on its immutability but on its adaptability.

The Metaphysical Club is written in the spirit of this idea about ideas. It is not a history of philosophy but an absorbing narrative about personalities and social history, a story about America. It begins with the Civil War and ends in 1919 with Justice Holmes's dissenting opinion in the case of U.S. v. Abrams-the basis for the constitutional law of free speech. The first four sections of the book focus on Holmes, James, Peirce, and their intellectual heir, John Dewey. The last section discusses some of the fundamental twentieth-century ideas they are associated with. This is a book about a way of thinking that changed American life.

[VDB]

Finally got around to starting the recent Phish biography. It's an easy read and I'm nearly through it. There are basically no huge revelations here for anyone who's watched the band closely -- the story is familiar, but the book does a good job of filling in space with little details or anecdotes you might not have known about, which keeps it engaging.

One interesting thing I read last night, that doesn't quite jibe with the popular narrative, is that on Summer Tour 2003, the band members made a point of toning down the partying and not "enabling one another." The book states that Trey swore off everything, including caffeine, and stuck to a strict yoga regimen. We know not everyone was 100% clean that tour (see: Mike Gordon, Atlanta aftermath in Raleigh), but I think this does conflict with (what I take to be) the prevailing belief that all of post-hiatus was one big fuck-up fest, with Trey and his opioids playing the lead role. So actually, that's the most revelatory thing I've found in the book so far.

[sls.stormyrider]

Waging Heavy Peace
Neil Young

Neil is a weird guy, but I guess we all knew that. Also, I guess I would be more surprised if he wrote a standard birth to present day book than the one he did. A good read, but at times it's a little tough to follow his stream of consciousness.

The story of him catching up with Stills in LA is reminiscent of the way Miles caught up with Bird in NYC.

[Mr. Natural]

"Kasher in the Rye" by Moshe Kasher


Great, great read. At first it was entertaining. Then I started losing my empathy for him. Then I was like 'What the hell are you doing, dude?' and I got to thinking he was a piece of shit.
However, once he takes the turn toward taking control of his life (sobriety being a significant part), the book really takes off. It was unexpected, but all these very moving passages at the end just bang!bang!bang! in a row.
I don't remember any books that have provoked tears like this one. And for half of the book, I didn't even like the guy.

* oddly, his stand-up comedy is mediocre at best. But wrapping up his life story the way he does in this book makes his lukewarm jokes totally redeemable.

[gainesvillegreen]

The Orphan Master's Son
Author: Adam Johnson

The Map And The Territory
Author: Michel Houllebecq
Translated from the French by Gavin Bowd

[sls.stormyrider]

Big in China, by Alan Paul.

The author is a free lance writer / columnist / edito for Guitar World and Slam. His wife was head of the WSJ office in Beijing for 3 years. The book is about their experience as ex-pats and also the blues band that he formed which aparantly became very popular.

It's a very enjoyable read and now on sale at Amazon, the Kindle version is $1.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Big-China-Adventure-Reinventing-ebook/dp/B004HD61JA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0