BOOKS THREAD

"The Sack of Rome" about the rise and fall and rise again of Silvio Berlusconi by journalist Alexander Stille. Fascinating read, though, as often with books about politicians, it came out too soon and much of his gross story still lay ahead.

I had first read it in 2009 several years after it came out, but wanted to re-read it in the age of Trump. The similarities between these two creeps are staggering: real estate developers who used TV to become stars, racist pervs with mob ties, voters believing they were too rich to steal government cash, never read anything, massive conflicts of interest, used their public office to enrich themselves.

Let us HOPE that Trump doesn't return like Berlusconi did. Basta Trumpo!

 

I finished “Infinite Jest” for the third time, and the specific mechanics of that things are still a mystery to me. And is there another book that has sold a million copies where you can’t find more than a handful of people who can really break it down for you. It’s still the inspiring, depressing, pretentious work of genius it has always been to me and age hasn’t helped me solve its riddle. I’m glad to spend another three months inside David Foster Wallace’s mind, though. It actually flattens out my thoughts, makes me seek simplicity to know someone that brilliant still ended up as flawed and at times awful and alone. I had “Lean not on your own understanding” posted above my bed as a child. It takes on less religious meaning to me as I age, but it does steer me towards a more comforting notion of seeking community and less time inside my own head the older I get. Wallace’s own shortcoming are more inspiring to me than his dizzying works of genius at this point.

 

"A Mystery of Mysteries: the Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe" by Mark Dawidziak. Excellent page-turner. He alternated chapters focused on biography and his final days. The author interviewed dozens of Poe scholars and medical professionals to entangle the central mystery of Poe's life....his demise.

Highly recommend.

 

Dawidziak was good enough to work for The Plain Dealer for 21 years.

 

Right now, Humble Bundle is offering eighteen of Cory Doctorow's novels for eighteen dollars. I've read reviews that declared he was the second coming of P.K. Dick. I am not so sure I agree with that, but I do find his fiction compelling.

 

I AM LOOKING FOR A COCKADOODIE BOOOOOOOOOK!!!!

 

I've never cared for the Blues Brothers movie, I find it a bloated mess that seems like one big car wreck with some decent music but the new book, The Blues Brothers, about the movie by Daniel de Vise is a really good read that serves not just as a chronicle of how the movie was made but as a bio of John Belushi (and Dan Aykroyd to a lesser extent) as well as a pretty good history of the early days of SNL.

 

If you liked Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Henning Mankell.

 

Come Fly the World by Julia Cooke. An entertaining pop history of the Pan Am flight attendant program 1965-1975. Focuses on a few women who went through it and their bright, accomplished lives. Interesting look at a bygone era. Recommend.

 

First of all, thanks for sharing.
What particularly piques my interest in what you wrote pertains to Aykroyd. He was/is a writer; worked hard at it. Belushi, in his drugged-out mind, only thought he was.
Agreed on the Blue Brothers movie. Then again, I'm hard-pressed to come up with anything Belushi was in, other than Animal House, that was all that good.
I may see if my local library is getting the book. Don't think I'll waste money on it ... unless you suggest otherwise.

 

I'm about 100 pages in and really like it so far. I'm a fan of the flick, but certainly understand the criticism.

I know a lot about Belushi, Aykroyd and the early days of SNL. But there's been some really great stuff so far about the period when they met and how they became friends/partners.

 

Also posted this on the baseball thread, but in case anyone is interested:

Just finished “Charlie Hustle” the Pete Rose bio. I think it’s very well done. Page-turner for me.

I was really getting into baseball when Rose broke Cobb’s record. And of course I was really engaged by the time Giamatti handed down the lifetime ban. But I didn’t know much else beyond the stats and highlights.

It’s a thorough telling of a driven person who was deeply flawed, reckless and unable to admit mistakes even as he destroyed his life and legacy.

It’s also just an interesting span of baseball during his career, starting when players still worked other jobs in the offseason to the end of the reserve clause and into free agency. And when a singles hitter could be a superstar.

Also great stuff on the 1975 World Series. When 75 million people watched Game 7.

Good book. Recommend.