Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!

A present from Will, I greatly enjoyed this book of Feynman's reminiscences!  I was familiar with some of the tales, which I enjoyed re-reading, and I was delighted to read many new accounts of Feynman's insatiable curiosity and lively sense of fun.  As a child during the Depression, he bought many broken radios and repaired or recombined them - and then was hired by relatives and, eventually, stores, to repair their radios and other appliances.

Sometimes his ingenious inventions created gigantic and very humorous consequences, as when he devised a rapid-fire string bean slicer and, enthusiastically demonstrating it for the head chef, cut his finger, releasing blood into an entire bowl of beans, dooming his invention! His adventures in drumming, safecracking, deciphering Mayan codices, art, and frequenting topless bars are all absorbing and very entertaining.

The book ends with a transcription of his commencement speech to graduating Caltech students, titled Cargo Cult Science.  I have read this before and again found it interesting; he describes the difference between real science and "phony" science - but his concluding advice was dishearteningly relevant to much of today's academic research:

So I have just one wish for you - the good luck to be somewhere where you are free to maintain the kind of integrity I have described, and where you do not feel forced by a need to maintain your position in the organization, or financial support, or so on, to lose your integrity.  May you have that freedom.

This is really a very enjoyable read!

House of Earth

Woody Guthrie's only full-length novel, written in 1947, languished in a closet until ferreted out by author Douglas Brinkley and actor Johnny Depp, who edited it and brought it to publication.  The interesting backstory is available in a NY Times story and a very nice piece from NPR.

The novel tells a bit of the story of the dirt-poor,  farming couple Tike and Ella May Hamlin.  Tike and Ella May are struggling to make a home for themselves, struggling against the harsh midwest dustbowl conditions and the even harsher exploitation of bankers, politicians and landowners.

The book is one of the most interesting, least interesting books I have ever read.  It falls into the category of least interesting because there is very little plot - essentially nothing happens for 150 pages, until the story of Ella May's childbirth is told - which ends the book.  The cornerstone of the book is the dream of building a house of earth - one made from the very earth they live on, out of adobe bricks, as described in a government pamphlet that never leaves Tike's body.  The thick, solid walls of the house of earth would provide protection against the elements  - and also insulation from the exploiters, as it could be built at little cost, through their own labor.  At the conclusion of the book, the house of earth remains a dream, though perhaps one that could be realized in the future.

Of least interesting books, though, House of Earth is one of the most interesting!  The voice of Woody Guthrie is very distinctive - descriptive words and events are strung together in near rhyming, streams of consciousness - and these drones of words sometimes convey powerful emotions or evocative portraits of the land and life of Tike and Ella May.  It is also surprising that the 1947 book is very frank, sexually.  Not lurid, but definitely earthy and very human.  Interestingly, one of the thousands of songs written by Woody Guthrie is entitled House of Earth - and this song asserts that prostitutes play a valuable role:

Come here to my house of good rich earth if you

Would like me teach your wife a thing or two.

The Man of Two Tribes and The Will of the Tribe

Finished two more enjoyable Napoleon Bonaparte mysteries.  The Man of Two Tribes was quite interesting, but the mystery was thin, so it was really more of an adventure tale than a detective story. Bony is called to investigate the baffling disappearance of a woman, recently acquitted of murdering her husband.  His investigation leads him to become trapped in an unusual colony comprising the Released Murderers Institute.  Bony quickly deduces who has entrapped him and these other very interesting characters, so the story focuses largely on the fascinating psychology of the fellow prisoners and the group's effort to escape rather than the unraveling of a mystery.   Interesting and pleasant, but lacking the driving force of the better Bony mysteries.

The Will of the Tribe was a stronger mystery, though the solution ended up being more of a deus ex machina rather than following from the initial facts and suspects.  Still, the story centered around a cultured aboriginal girl, adopted and educated by an Australian family, who ends up facing conflicting pulls from her adoptive family and loyalty to her tribe - highly intriguing and worth reading.

The Emperor of All Maladies

My bookclub's most recent book (recommended to me by dad) is The Emperor of All Maladies, an unusual piece of nonfiction which reads like a novel, and which the author calls a "biography of cancer." This tale spans the entire known "life" of the disease(s) we call cancer, from the earliest ancient references (Herodotus recorded the strange tale of the Persian Queen Atossa's breast cancer) to the latest advances in medicine and technology. Mukherjee is a masterful storyteller (and a wise person), and weaves a riveting and at times heartbreaking tale of the hundreds of years of scientific inquiry (and ignorant butchery) which form the largest part of cancer's story. It is a frightening tale but ultimately a hopeful one, and I highly recommend this surprising page turner to all.

Dad's review here.

Women & murder

Over the summer I read five great page-turners. Although I picked each out for different reasons, they all coincidentally fit a grisly theme:

NOS4A2 - Our teen heroine, who rides her bike across a bridge/portal to "find things," goes looking for trouble. She finds a mass-murder who kidnaps children away to "Christmasland." She escapes but doesn't really get away.  Recommended in a NYT article by Janet Maslin.

The Shining Girls - Our young heroine escapes a mass-murder who finds his victims across time using a house/portal. She has to track him down and thwart him. For my office book club.

The 5th Wave - Our teen heroine has survived the first four waves of an alien invasion that murders 99% of humanity. She has to stay alive and rescue a kidnapped kid. Recommended in a NYT article by Janet Maslin.

The Rook - Our heroine wakes up with no memory, surrounding by the bodies of people who were trying to kill her. She has to figure out who was trying to kill her while running an intelligence agency that combats supernatural foes. Recommended by a friend.

The Cuckoo's Calling - A famous model is murdered. Our hero, a down-on-his-luck PI, tries to crack the case. The new book by JK Rowling.

I'd highly recommend all of them - they're fun and fast.

Fathers and Children

Lauren has already reviewed this book by Turgenev , often published under the title Fathers and Sons, providing a nice summary of its depiction of two generations of Russians, the idealists of the 1840's (the Fathers) and the nihilists of the 1860's (the Children).

Turgenev's portrait of the self-proclaimed nihilist Bazarov provoked huge controversy: opponents of the utilitarian nihilists reviled Turgenev, denouncing Bazarov as a villain.  Most nihilists dismissed the portrait as a laughable caricature, though a few actually praised him as a "new man" of the type who would rejuvenate Russia.

 "Your sort, you gentry," Bazarov tells Arkady, when the two friends come to the parting of the ways, "can never get beyond refined submission or refined indignation, and that's a mere trifle.  You won't fight.....but we mean to fight.....we want to smash other people!"

Interestingly, one of the few people in Russia who seemed to accurately understand Turgenev's portrayal was Dostoevsky, who saw Bazarov as a tragic character, doomed to unhappiness by the contradiction between his sterile and brutal intellectual beliefs and his human needs and longings. Dostoevsky's praise and understanding helped forge a strong but brief friendship with Turgenev, which, however, was quickly dashed to pieces by their widely divergent views on religion and whether Russia's future lay in adopting western ideas (Turgenev) or seeking guidance from the true Russian character, which, in Dostoevsky's view, derived from a deep faith in Christ.

I really enjoyed the book, which is lyrically written, with great sensitivity to human love and loneliness. Though Bazarov is infuriating in his brutality, he is captivating in his passions and deep emotions.

Notes from Underground

In the 1840's, Dostoevsky was part of an intellectual movement in Russia that was heavily influenced by European thought.  This movement, spearheaded by Belinsky and Herzen, originally endorsed Christian Socialism, but later advocated a very rational and idealistic socialism that denied and denounced religion.  Dostoevsky identified with these intellectuals because of a common commitment to social reform, particularly to liberation of the serfs. He participated in a semi-revolutionary group that aimed for reform, perhaps even via overthrow of Tsarist rule, and in 1849 was arrested, sent before a sham firing squad and then exiled to Siberia for four years in a prison camp, four more in exile in Siberia as a petty military officer, and finally allowed to return to St. Petersburg only after two more years of banishment from that city.  The prison experience had profound effects on him, intensifying his own Christian faith and strengthening his belief in the deep wisdom of the Russian people - which he saw as a direct result of their belief in Christ.  Further, the extremes of behavior of other prisoners that he witnessed during his years in Siberia convinced Dostoevsky that the human need for self-expression, for free will, is stronger than any other human force or need.  Accordingly, he became increasingly distrustful and scornful toward those intellectuals who, in his view, were tainted by Western philosophy, especially when based in atheism and motivated by a belief in determinism.

Dostoevsky came to believe that the westernized, misguided idealism of the 40's, which he had originally shared, led directly to these utilitarian, mechanistic views of radical leaders in the 60's,  Notes from Underground is a powerful attack on the intellectual ideas of the 40's and 50's, forcefully depicted through the complaints and experiences of the Underground Man - but depicted through sharp satire and parody, which were misunderstood by the vast majority of readers.  Such misunderstandings were abetted by changes demanded by the censors that disrupted some of the logic of the presentation. Not a pleasant read, though occasionally punctuated by sharp humor.  Nevertheless, a powerful depiction of how social philosophy can distort character.

Vanity Fair - Thackeray

I told my doc I was reading Vanity Fair, and she asked if a new one had come out. Well... Not since 1848!

Anyway, this gossipy novel follows the beautiful schemer Becky Sharp as she climbs from her lowly beginnings as a poor opera dancer's daughter to the height of English aristocratic wealth and influence. A gorgeous portrait of English and continental life during the Napoleanic war, which sounds utterly blissful (although of course filled with ridiculous intrigue).

Thackeray is a master of the language, and this lighthearted but keen examination of vanity is a delight to read.

Recommended if you liked The Scarlet Pimpernel, reviewed here: http://blogenburyisreading.blogspot.com/2012/01/scarlet-pimpernel-by-baroness-emmuska.html?m=0

Dad's VF review: http://blogenburyisreading.blogspot.com/2009/06/vanity-fair.html

REAMDE by Neal Stephenson

Just finished reading Stephenson's 1000-something page novel, REAMDE, which was amazing. (Excellent overview by Colin here: http://blogenburyisreading.blogspot.com/2011/12/neal-stephenson-reamde.html?m=1).

Stephenson has the impressive ability to weave together a host of characters and circumstances which, in the hands of a lesser author, would feel they had been chosen by a random word generator: jihadists, MMORPG, computer virus, British spy, Russian mafia, ski resort, Wikipedia. Well, maybe they do have a theme: it sounds like a James Bond movie, but without the glamour, and set against the new realities of postmodernity: the digital age and the international War on Terror.

Stephenson is truly a great author: each section of the book is told from the perspective of one of a handful of key characters, and each has a distinctive and authentic tone. Although the book plays like an action movie and largely examines the meaning of life as experienced in the scopes of a rifle, the detailed attention to psychology and the richness of the world feel (almost) Tolstoyan. (Making the Acknowledgments page quite interesting, since he lists areas of expertise, such as guns, which are seamlessly integrated into the plot, yet evidently draw heavily upon the knowledge of others.)

Although set in the present (near future?) and so less earthshatteringly visionary than The Diamond Age, I preferred this to Snow Crash and definitely recommend.

Stephenson's Novels

• The Big U (1984)
• Zodiac (1988)
• Snow Crash (1992)
• Interface (1994) 
• The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995)
• The Cobweb (1996) 
• Cryptonomicon (1999)
• The Baroque Cycle
• Quicksilver (2003), volume I
• The Confusion (2004), volume II
• The System of the World (2004), volume III
• Anathem (2008)
• The Mongoliad (2010–2012)
• Reamde + Colin's review (2011)

Adam Bede

Adam Bede was the first full novel by Marian Evans, under the pen name of George Eliot.  Evans had already been working for several years as assistant editor of The Westminster Review under her own name and had a solid but modest reputation as essayist and reviewer. But Adam Bede received wide acclaim and sparked great  interest in the identity of the mysterious author.  Surprisingly, an imposter stepped forward, forcing Evans to acknowledge that she was "George Eliot".    Her subsequent novels were all published under George Eliot -  "She used a male pen name, she said, to ensure her works would not be taken seriously."  No, wait - that they WOULD be taken seriously, she said.  (I wonder what she was thinking).  

Eliot is an insightful observer of humanity and nature and her insights are presented in fluent and memorable language.  The setting is rural and unsophisticated, but the interactions among the characters are timeless and fascinating.  All of the conversations, and particularly the repartee between Mrs. Poyser and any of her natural adversaries, feature lively rural expressions that vividly convey the essence of the issues under discussion.  Adam Bede tells the story of four intertwined lives and loves, centering on the carpenter Adam Bede, who is strong, skilled, upright, and true.  Very admirable, and likable, yet also rather rigid.  He bears some clear resemblance to Tom Tulliver from Mill on the Floss (reviewed in this Blog), who shares many characteristics with Eliot's brother, who bitterly disapproved of her "unconventional" marriage to philosopher George Henry Lewes.   Perhaps a theme of Eliot's is to show the far-reaching consequences of apparently minor acts and decisions that are determined, for better or worse, by elements of character.  This is a very readable, gratifying and rewarding book.

Dostoevsky: A Writer in his Time

This book is a condensed version of a five-volume examination of the life, world and works of Dostoevsky, by Joseph Frank.  The condensed version still runs to over 900 pages.  But Frank writes beautifully and the condensation (by Mary Petrusewicz) is outstanding - so it is a pleasure to read.  Frank weaves together the story of Dostoevsky's life, the literary and political history of Russia from about 1830 to the early 1880's, and the development of Dostoevsky's thought,  in such a way as to illuminate clearly and forcefully the underlying beliefs and philosophical "arguments" that Dostoevsky converted so brilliantly into gripping characters and stories.  Frank's books have been described as magisterial, because, in addition to the thorough research and literary insight,  Frank also writes with tremendous empathy for human struggles and aspirations and the ability of artists to distill  these currents into profound works that stir the soul.  It is truly ennobling to read this book and feel the power of great art.  I have read several books by Dostoevsky, and found them to be thrilling, but always felt there were underlying currents I was missing.  Frank's work filled in these gaps for me - I have come to understand that each of Dostoevsky's books portrays political, religious, moral and philosophical ideas through the actions of the characters.  Dostoevsky led a tremendously dramatic and passionate life.  He was arrested along with other intellectuals for revolutionary ideas, sent before a firing squad, but saved by the Tsar at the last minute; imprisoned in Siberia for four years, and exiled from St. Petersburg for another six; suffered from frequent and debilitating bouts of epilepsy; was crushed by the early death of children; was terribly addicted to gambling for many years; but was a loving and devoted husband and father.  Late in life, he was revered as a virtual saint by all classes of Russians. But Frank's work is not hagiography - Frank depicts Dostoevsky's virulent anti-semitism and nationalistic fervor with honesty and censure.  More than any book I have read recently, this comes close to being life-changing.

Ernest Cline's Ready Player One

WOW! My bookclub's most recent pick was Ready Player One, and I read this thrilling 372-page sci-fi novel cover to cover over the last several hours. Talk about a page-turner! I won't give away the main quest driving the plot, but suffice to say, it is action-packed and awesome.

The experience of reading this book was very self-indulgent for a cyberpunk nerd like myself -- it is a book about otaku, for otaku, and it has the works: a post-apocalyptic wasteland where everyone with enough money for a visor and "haptic gloves" escapes the filth and squalor of our used-up Earth via a full-dive VR universe called OASIS; brilliant teen hackers; a soulless corporate entity in full villain mode; and, in an unusual twist on your typical sci-fi novel, endless real-world references to obscure sci-fi, video games, and everything 1980s.

The British newspaper The Observer says that the otaku is "the passionate obsessive, the information age's embodiment of the connoisseur, more concerned with the accumulation of data than of objects." In Ready Player One, and in many nerd subcultures IRL, a player's ability to amass vast knowledge of game-related trivia is a sought-after mark of authenticity, and a status symbol within the group.

In one early scene, our ridiculously erudite, but chronically poor and therefore low-level hero, Perzival, spars with the braggart I-r0k in a VR chat room, about what it takes to be a "gunter" (egg hunter, or elite gamer):

"Poseur."
"Poseur? Penis-ville is calling me a poseur? ...This chump is so broke that he has to bum rides to Greyhawk, just so he can kill kobolds for copper pieces! And he's calling me a poseur!"
..."That's right, I called you a poseur, poseur." I stood up and got in his grille. "You're an ignorant know-nothing twink. Just because you're fourteenth-level, it doesn't make you a gunter. You actually have to possess some knowledge."

As Perzival's friend Aech would say, "Word."


This novel is recommended for everyone, but especially if you like:
- Stephenson's Snow Crash
- Sword Art Online (anime TV series)
- Gibson's Idoru

Book Blog Tags

Hello all,

I think one of the nicest features of this blog is the tag ("label") system, which allows you to find interesting reviews on a wide variety of topics by clicking on a label at the bottom of a post. I have tried at various times to go back and add labels to posts which were labeled minimally or not at all, to help build this feature.

Today, I began a new project, of organizing all the existing tags into some sort of schematic. Not really a necessary project, but it was interesting to see what all we had come up with over the years. I will probably edit this list from time to time.

Heads up, many of these tags could fit in different categories, so I went with what seemed best to me, but if there are any mistakes (e.g., fictional personnage in the historical personnage list), please do let me know, as I didn't recognize all of the labels. (Also, I tried to be pretty serious about the categories --although it was tempting to editorialize by putting "capitalism" under "Maladies," for example, I resisted those urges.)

Thanks, and enjoy!

WHO

Authors, Thinkers, and Historical Personages

Alexander McCall Smith, Alice Waters, Amara Lakous, Ann Patchett, Anthony Bourdain, Armitage, Asimov, Arthur Upfield, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, Ben Franklin, Billy Collins, Bin Laden, Bogart, Bologna, Branch Rickey, Buddha, Camilleri, chandler, China Mieville, Confucius, Dalgliesh, Dante, David Foster Wallace, David Harvey, David Sedaris, Day Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, dostoevsky, Douglas Adams, Edith Wharton, Elbert Hubbard, Emily Dickinson, Ernest Callenbach, Fermi, Fortinbras, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Galileo, Gawain, George Eliot, Greimas, Hegel, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Herman Melville, Hoover, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Isaiah Berlin, J.K. Rowling, Jack Kennedy, Jackie Robinson, Jaimy Gordon, James, James Russell Lowell, Jim Butcher, John Brunner, John Grisham, John Masefield, Jonathan Franzen, Joseph Conrad, Josh Foor, Joyce Carol Oates, JT Kalnay, Kay Thopson, Ken Wilber, kim stanley robinson, Kimball, King, Kurt Vonnegut, Lauren Belfer, LBJ, Le Carre, le Carré, Lee Blessing, Leonid McGill, Lisbeth Salander, Lyndon Johnson, Marcus Samuelsson, Marx, Mikael Blomkvist, Miyazaki, Napoleon, Neal Stephenson, Ned Kelly, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Orwell, pasternak, Paul Gilding, philip k. dick, Philip Marlowe, Philip Pullman, Plato, Reinhold Nieburhr, Robert Caro, Robert Kennedy, Robert Louis Stevenson, Roycroft, Sam Irvine, Sayers, Seeger, Shakespeare, Sir John Mortimer, Smiley, Stanislaw Lem, Stephen Hawking, Stieg Larsson, Studs Terkel, Tesla, Thackeray, Thomas Cleary, Thoreau, Tim Powers, Tolstoy, Trenton lee Stewart, Truman Capote, Turgenev, Umberto Eco, upfield, Ursula K. LeGuin, vory, walter benjamin, walter m. miller, Walter Mosley, Warren Buffett, william gibson, William Kennedy

Fictional Personages and Series

Bony, Hamlet, Harry Potter, Harry Dresden Files, Inspector Montalbano, Moby Dickens, Mysterious Benedict Society, Neuromancer, Rabbit Fence, Satan, Spiderman, Wimsey

Categories and Groups of People

Aborigine, aristocracy, baby, bushman, celebrity, coven, cowboy, dandy, doctor, dysfunctional family, idoru, immigrant, family, ghosts, junkies, LGBTQ, mafia, monk, nark, orphan, otaku, outlaw, pirates, police, private eye, prostitutes, serial killer, social networks, spy, teenager, twins, witches

Creatures

aliens, animals, demons, giant flying cats, mutants, panther, snakes, stoats, swordfish, vulture, whales

WHAT

Genre

adventure, apocalypse, apocalyptic literature, autobiography, biography, children's book, classic, comedy, comic book, coming of age, cyberpunk, detective, diary, drama, dystopia, essays, epic, experimental, fantasy, fiction, futuristic, graphic novel, light reading, lit theory, magical realism, mini-reviews, mystery, noir, nonfiction, Odyssey, parable, play, poetry, post-apocalyptic, post-nuclear, practical advice, National Book Award, problem comedy, propadana, revolutionary, romance, russian lit, satire, sci-fi, self-help, seminal, series, short stories, social commentary, steampunk, thriller, utopia, western, whodunit

Mood

comic, dark, depressing, heartwarming, humor, inspirational, motivational, searing, sentimental, uncomfortable

Disciplines

art, astrobiology, astrophysics, cosmology, criminal justice, geology, ecology, economics, health, history, law, math, medicine, metaphysics, philosophy, politics, psychology, religion, science, statistics, theology, theory, zoology

Maladies

alcoholism, autism, blindness, cancer, disease, drug culture, insomnia, paranoia, schizophrenia, tuberculosis

Computers and Sci-Fi

artifical intelligence, computer virus, computers, cyberspace, Fermi's paradox, hacking, nanotechnology, robot, space exploration, spaceship, time-travel, video games, virtual reality

Other Topics

abortion, adultery, airline, banks, baseball, chess, CIA, coal mining, cooking, corruption, cricket, crime, cuisine, death, espionage, eucharist, farming, feces, finance, fishing, folk music, food, gaming, glossolalia, heresy, horseracing, labyrinth, Latin, legal system, magic, martial arts, matrix, media, memory, mnemonics, murder, music, money laundering, networking, newspaper, organic, parenting, penicillin, precognition, protest, revenge, seafaring, semiotic square, sexuality, soul patches, technology, tennis, terrorism, tombstones, travel, treasure hunt, UN, war

WHEN

Historical Events and Time-period

1600s, 1700s, 1812, 1930s, 1970s, Civil War, Copernican revolution, early 1900s, French revolution, mid-1800s, postmodernity, revolutionary war, Soviet Russia, Spanish Civil War, twentieth century, World War II

WHERE

Places

Africa, amazon, America, ancient Greece, Australia, Boston, Buffalo, California, Chez Panisse, China, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, farm, Florida, France, Ghana, graveyard, India, Indonesia, Inferno, Israel, Italy, Japan, Los Angeles, manhattan, mars, monastery, moscow, New York, New Zealand, Niagara Falls, Nicaragua, NYC, old west, Online, Orange County, outerspace, Pacific Northwest, Philadelphia, Poland, Provence, Rockefeller Institute, Rome, Russia, Seattle, Thailand, Tokyo, vienna, Vietnam

WHY

Concepts, Movements, Ideologies and Ways of Life

asceticism, capitalism, communism, conspiracy, Daoism, democracy, emergence, environmentalism, free will, gnosticism, green movement, Judaism, liberty, messianism, mysticism, nihilism, poverty, power, racism, rationality, realism, spiritual enlightenment, spirituality, zen

Historical Events and Trends

Black history, civil rights, colonization, evolution of culture, global climatic disruption, globalization, race relations, serfdom

Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose

The first book I read with my Reedie bookclub was Umberto Ecos’s The Name of the Rose, a beautifully written murder mystery set in medieval Italy. In this thrilling tale, the young monk Adso follows his brilliantly perceptive but unorthodox master, William, to a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy, to investigate a murder which has taken place in a small but ostentatiously wealthy monastery whose heart is a labyrinth library. More horrors and mysteries are unveiled the deeper William and Adso dig, and the more the two suspect that certain persons are working against them to keep the monastery’s secrets from ever being revealed.

This novel is a true page-turner, but also deals in depth with many interesting themes revolving around the nature of Truth – its complexity, mutability, and debatable impenetrability, the meaning of heresy, and whether knowledge should be shared freely with all, and if not, under what circumstances secret knowledge should be guarded, by whom, and through what means.

A truly fascinating book that I would recommend to all, and would definitely enjoy discussing at greater length!

Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia

A recent choice for my book club was Ecotopia. Written in 1975, Ecotopia depicts a vision of the United States in 1999, in which the Pacific Northwest has seceded from the union and been completely isolated from America for the past two decades. The motivation behind this split, led by the women-directed Survivalist Party, was the desire to entirely reform society on egalitarian and ecological grounds – achieving equality for all people, eliminating cars and other pollutants through strict regulation, and creating a “stable state,” sustainable society, which emphasizes recycling and a return to nature. In the (optimistically brief) period since its inception, the nation has largely achieved these goals, unbeknownst to America, which has continued on its wasteful decent into widespread pollution and overpopulation – alas, much like the America we know today.

The story of Ecotopia is from the perspective of William Weston, a journalist who becomes the first American emissary to visit the new country since its founding. Weston is a hard-nosed reporter, and the novel is divided into personal reflections written in his diary and his largely fact-based articles, which he posts back to America to be published. Fairly predictably, Weston’s initial prejudices are softened by the month+ he spends in the new country, and we see him open up to the nation’s “strange” and “barbaric” practices and “surprisingly” brilliant inventions.

Although at times a little heavy-handed, pat, and unrealistically utopian, I found the novel to be very well-imagined and articulated, and the tone believable. Moreover, I was happy to realize that Callenbach’s vision has in some ways been realized – Seattle recently instituted a ban on plastic bags, and all homes and apartments (and most businesses) are equipped with bins to divide “garbage” into recycling, compost, and (thus much reduced) waste. (Although I was horrified to see how inconsistently this is practiced in Ohio!)

It was depressing to finish the novel and remember that I cannot emigrate to Ecotopia, but even so I would definitely recommend this book.

The Transmigration of Timothy Archer - Philip K. Dick

Just finished reading Philip K. Dick's The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982), published posthumously. (For those who may not know, transmigration is "the religious or philosophical concept that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body that may be human, animal or spiritual depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions.")

The novel is set in the 1960s and 1970s, and follows the descent into drug addiction, radical religion, and madness of a deeply entwined but unhappy circle of five friends - intelligent but lonely Angel Archer, "professional student" at Cal Berkeley and poetic grass fiend, her disaffected husband, Jeff, whose maniacally intensive study of Wallenstein and Hitler becomes a pointless bid for his father's attention, Jeff's father, the dreamy but brilliant Bishop Timothy Archer, who unwittingly destroys himself and his friends, the Bishop's secret lover, the spiteful barbiturate addict Kirsten, and Kirsten's angelic son, the schizophrenic Bill.

The action begins on the day of John Lennon's death, with Angel's attempts to make sense of the "retributive fate" which has enveloped her life and destroyed those closest to her. For all this darkness, the book is a fairly light read, with some good humorous bits. For Philip K. Dick enthusiasts, it is also an interesting window into his thoughts in later years, and perhaps his most mature piece of writing. Although the repetitive nature of some of the lines was at times tedious for me, I believe it was a deliberate stylistic choice to evoke the obsessive nature of Angel's thoughts, and was effective for that purpose.

Bishop Archer's darkly comic misadventures are in fact based on the doings of the unfortunate Bishop James Pike - definitely worth reading a bit about that man, although save it for after you've read the novel - spoiler alert!

The 5th Wave

Janet Maslin recently wrote a piece for the New York Times about quality beach reads, and The 5th Wave is the first I've tackled from her list. It is a post-apocalyptic young adult novel about an alien invasion - War of the Worlds plus The Hunger Games plus The Stand. A great page turner - or wait for the movie, as it's already been optioned by Somy.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore

This wonderful children's book was so moving that I was unable to finish reading it to Henry, Oliver, and Eve - so Henry finished reading it aloud to us. It is even more touching if you know the author's personal history. The illustrations are beautiful, and the book has been turned into an Oscar-award-winning animated short.

(Sorry no links - I'm posting from my phone.)

Spiderman and The Vulture

Spiderman and The Vulture by Henry Brackenbury is a short, can't-put-it-down,  gripping account of a fierce battle between the antagonists of the title.  Forceful illustrations and muscular text drive the story forward.  Spoiler alert:  Spiderman discovers a secret power of The Vulture, but is able to catch him and turn him over to the Police.  A terrific read!

The Emperor of All Maladies

A 608 page book that describes the history of cancer research and treatment sounds like a dry-as-dust sedative.  But, this Pulitzer Prize-winning book by physician-scientist Siddhartha Mukherjee is anything but! Dr. Mukherjee subtitles his book "A Biography of Cancer," and this subtitle accurately conveys how Mukherjee characterizes the "personality" of cancer as it has been perceived over the ages.  The book also discusses changes in ideas of how cancer should be treated, especially focusing on instances when those ideas, though wholly incorrect, were persuasively, even dogmatically championed by accomplished and articulate physicians and researchers.  The scholarship is impressive, but first and foremost, this is an immensely readable and thoughtful consideration of a menacing, devastating, yet fascinating disease.  Very highly recommended!

Yes, Chef - Marcus Samuelsson

A delightful, pleasurable book!  Marcus Samuelsson was born in a very small, primitive village in Ethiopia.  When he was 3, he, his mother and his older sister contracted tuberculosis.  Against all odds, and with amazing strength and determination, his mother carried him and, holding his sister's hand, walked with them  to a distant hospital - she died, but Marcus and his sister survived.  In a few months, they were adopted by a Swedish family who already had one adopted black child - and now had three!  The book consists of two parallel  stories - Marcus' unusual life history, and his development as a cook.  He has a passion for different kinds of tastes and cuisines.  Through exceptionally hard work and a can do attitude "Yes, Chef" - he progressed  up the "food chain" rapidly; at 24, his talent and training, together with a stroke of luck, allowed him to become the head chef at a classy Swedish restaurant in New York, Aquavit.  He quickly garnered a three-star review from Ruth Reichl and went on to other noteworthy successes - and some serious setbacks and personal trials, recounted with candor.  Great insights into the diverse world of first-class restaurants, and a warm, winning human story.

Galileo's Dream

Quite an unusual story, from Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy.  Well, two stories: one is the life of Galileo in Italy and the second is set in about the year 3000 on the planets of Jupiter.  Humans who have settled the planets have a way to time travel and, and for reasons never made completely convincing, they retrieve Galileo from time to time, to help settle some ongoing disputes.  The second of these narratives is a little loopy, but interesting.  Without serious spoilers, it's fair to reveal that the crux of some of the major dispute is whether Galileo is spared or martyred  for his heretical views.  A brief but terrifying part of the book allows Galileo and the reader) to visualize/experience being burned at the stake.  The main narrative describes  Galileo's life, vigorously portraying his vitality, his passion for experimentation, his astonishing breadth of interests and achievements, and his loving but tragic relationships with his daughters.  Not a perfect book, but a wonderful, absorbing read.

Moonwalking with Einstein

From the cover and the title, I can understand why no one would understand what the heck the book is about. If, however, you observe the tiny subtitle, "The Art and Science of Remembering Everything", you'll find this book to be a treatise on memory and its history.

While the book's main story is the chronicle of how its author, Josh Foer, became the Memory Champion of the United States, some of the more interesting parts of the book are about the history of memory. In fact, the ability to remember things particularly well has been around since ancient Greece, and in ancient cultures, a proclivity towards recall was considered one of the chief attributes of intelligence.

Today, no one cares how well you can memorize things. And Josh Foer gives a detailed account of why. If you think you'd be interested in learning how to remember everything you ever wanted, maybe check out this book.

Never Eat Alone

Here's one that I think everyone could take a quick look at-- Keith Ferazzi is the CEO of a well-known marketing firm, and the very existence of his company depends on the power of his network. So, if you've ever wanted improvement on networking skills, here's a good place to start.

Keith goes into detail in this book about the various ways you can up the power of your network, the proper way of thinking about networking, and, most importantly, keeping in contact with your network. While I think the guy sounds like a bit of a schmoozer, and someone that I would never be fast friends with, he sounds like he's mastered the social skills to creating useful business contacts, and that's worth its weight in gold.