BOOKS THREAD

OK, on PopeDirk's recommendation, I finished "Dark Horse" -- the chronicling of the election and subsequent assassination of James Garfield. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about an era in which the politicians played ninth-fiddle to industrialists, cowboys, Indians and others.

It was fascinating, especially the fact that Garfield probably would have lived if it wasn't for the gross incompetence of his doctors, who basically killed him with their reckless probing and treatment.

On to "Fast Food Nation." The author of that book is speaking at the university I teach at in two weeks and I'm taking my class to hear him. I'm five chapters in and it's one of the most fascinating books I've picked up in quite some time.

 

So based on some connections, I found myself invited at the last minute to a welcome reception for the Hispanic Heritage Awards last week. To digress, I got to meet Rosario Dawson. Anyway, afterwards the reception attendees were treated to the first U.S. screening of "Love in the Time of Cholera," based on the Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel that I had always meant to read but never gotten around to. The movie was good, not great, but it sparked the interest enough so that I bought the book Saturday and read it all on Sunday. It's among the top three books I have ever read. I would argue that the only feeling that inspires greater art than love is unrequited love. It's why "Of Human Bondage" by W. Somerset Maugham achieves similar greatness.

 

I don't suppose anyone has read these, but they have been life-changing for me.

I just finished Donald Miller's "Blue like Jazz" and look forward to reading his other two books.

Am nearly finished with Rob Bell's "Sex God" which is a truly fascinating book.

When I am done with it, I intend to hit some of jgmacg's suggest reading.

 

Blue Like Jazz is on my list to read, about two books down.

Our life group at church recently finished Sex God, and it made for some good discussions. I think some of the people (the guys, mostly) were disappointed that the content - as good as it was - didn't live up to the title of the book.

We're also about through with Grace, Eventually, by Anne Lamott. What a waste of paper, ink and my time in reading it. Oh, and also a waste of the $20 it cost, even though it was at a discount because we bought a bunch at once.

 

Blue Like Jazz is awesome, I hope you enjoy it.
Sex God has been extremely good for me as I continue to struggle with what the heck is going on in my life. I could care less that it isn't really about sex and I am a guy.
Anyway, I think I may pick up another Donald Miller book called Through Painted Deserts which looks very good as well.
I'm glad someone else is reading some of the same stuff I am.

 

Canadian SJ'ers, I highly recommend you purchasing Jean Chretien's memoirs. It gives a blow by blow account of his infighting with Paul Martin. I bought it and jumped to that section. Must read stuff.

Now I am going to start back at the beginning but I think it's better than the Mulroney one.

 

I read Jones' book, Too Far From Home, again this week. I hadn't touched it since I read it right when it came out. It's a damn good story and a damn fine piece of writing.

 

Can anyone recommend a good book on the Cuban missle crisis?

 

Just finished reading Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" and Don DeLillo's "Falling Man," which was excellent.

The first time I ever read DeLillo was in college, when "End Zone" was required reading for a literature of sports course. I can't remember how many bewildered looks my friend and I exchanged in class when the teacher was trying to explain the symbolism and the satire of it. I just didn't get it.

However, "Falling Man" - which is an examination of a handful of New Yorkers post-9/11 as well as third-person accounts of a hijacker - was almost universal. Still a little surreal because I had trouble keeping track of the plot line at some points but still powerful. The ending just got to me.

 

"Thirteen Days," by RFK and Arthur Schlesinger, is the original.

Some people who don't like Stephen Ambrose feel that Michael Beschloss is the Stephen Ambrose of presidential history (i.e., someone who pumps out too many superficial books), but "The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Kruschev" covers the Missile Crisis along with the Berlin Wall and the assassaination.

 

I asked about Savage and this book back in August, thinking F_B might be the guy to reply ....

 

"Service Included" by Phoebe Damrosch

It's a memoir of her time as a waiter at Per Se, a frighteningly posh restaurant in the Time-Warner Center in Manhattan.

The book's not nearly as serious as many of the recommendations on this thread, nor as long. I finished it in a couple of days, mainly because I stayed up entirely too late wanting to find out what happened next! ;D If you liked Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" or Ruth Reichl's foodie memoirs (but not necessarily "Heat" by Bill Buford, which I thought dragged on entirely too long), you'll probably like this as well!