September/October Books

Wow, I don't know what's happened to my attention span lately, but I was unable to finish no less than three books in the past few months- very unlike me. It also shows either a decreasing attention span, or perhaps an increasing maturity that I no longer put up with books that bore me. The first was "The Black Swan" (no, not the basis Aaronovsky movie) the non-fiction by Nicholas Nasir Taleb- the thesis of which is that big, history changing events are basically unpredictable, and we try to explain them in hindsight, but this is pointless. Well, okay, but I'm not sure how we can stretch that out to an entire book Mr. Taleb, besides citing examples like the recent market crash or 9/11 over and over again, and saying that these things are unpredictable, but somehow you can predict them- either as a high priced consultant or for the price of a hardcover book. The other I just couldnt get into (sorry Aaron), was the sci-fi contemporary classic Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson. I get Sci-Fi, I like sci-fi, I appreciate that it creates a space for interesting ideas to test themselves and play out against a backdrop of the implausable or inconceivable, but I just didnt feel like I was seeing anything new or any important confirmation about human nature that I didnt see beforehand, which is why I read literature. So what have I read recently? Also finished though kinda hated (mostly out of boredom) "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. I was just bored, bored, bored and then annoyed- and this from a guy reads a LOT of self-help books and can usually understand what people find appealing about them.

Ranting aside, some things I did like in recent months:

Surviving the Dragon: Arjia Rinpoche

Fascinating, depressing look at Tibet during the cultural revolution as the communists seized power and sent in the red brigades to overthrow the existing order through attempting to erase culture, torture individuals to testify against each other and generally begin the cultural and literal genocide against the Tibetan people and culture. The book is written by a lama who became a collaborator with the Chinese, then fled from Tibet to tell his story. Really well worth reading for anyone with an interest in the Tibet issue or even just 20th century China.

Switch - Chip & Dan Heath

Very cool book about affecting behavior change on the individual and group levels. I have no idea why these kinds of pop sociology/social psychology books fascinate me lately, but they do. A great shout-out to my family friend Jerry Sternin also made this fun, as well as a unique explanation of solution-focused therapy and how it operates. Metaphors used throughout are easy to understand, and many I actually have already integrated into my work as a therapist - like "the elephant and the rider" as short term decision making vs. long term decision making, and how to fool yourself into better behavior (ie, saving money, eating healthy, etc). In the end, they also nicely explain that you cant force behavior change, but there are factors that are the same in all behavior change- looking for exceptions to the rule/problem, building those, making it as easy as possibly systemically for change, enlisting the "primitive brain" in helping us, etc. And, in January, you can actually read some applications that inspired me from this book in an article about sticking with new years resolutions that I will be quoted in in Good Housekeeping.

Freedom- Jonathon Franzen

As my friend Dan succinctly put it in his gmail status: Corrections > Freedom > Most Books. That about sums it up. I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this book, was reading it before work even. Sentence for sentence, it was perhaps better written than The Corrections. That said, I did feel it covered a whole lot of territory that The Corrections (possibly my favorite book ever) didn't cover, and was not quite as fun or efficient. The intertwined plots each went on slightly too long, as did the book as a whole, and I never laughed aloud as I did with The Corrections. The tone veered from mild satire into a Tom Wolfe-esque bizarre narrative devices, which also felt tonally inconsistent in spite of some unforgettable lines and poignantly revealing and truthful moments that hit like a punch in the gut. All told, I'd still highly recommend for a balance of pleasurable and thought provoking.

American Pastoral - Phillip Roth

This was recommended highly by Dan after we were discussing Freedom, as another upper-middle-class American family angst drama, and it is one I've been meaning to read for a long time. And yes, it was good, really good- well written, nuanced, terrifying, hilarious, many things, but somehow didnt quite capture my interest in quite the way that Freedom did, even as it explored similar themes. Still, a truly great book, much deserving of its excellent reputation and praise.

Palestine -Joe Sacco

Wow, friend Ben O recommended this, as a pure example of the amazing things that one CAN do with a comic/cartoon. Its a graphic novel travel memoir of his time in Palestine in the early 90's and offers some really interesting perspectives on the Palestine/Israel issue and history and complexity on both sides that rarely gets explored in the tiny narratives that we encounter in the media. Depressing, to be sure, but I'd still highly recommend this for a more human-scale understanding of the issue. And although critics fault him for examining only one perspective, I like that as Sacco himself points out he's not trying to tell two sides, he just is presenting one.

The Accidental Billionaires- Ben Mezrich

As Ben B points out "Oh, Ben Mezrich is writing another book about overprivileged Ivy-leaguers behaving badly?" Well, yes. This is the book that The Social Network movie was based on, and true to Mezrich's form, its both entertaining and impossible to put down, in spite of the fact that the writing is atrociously littered with hyperbole and cliche. Still, a fun read if you want a little more backstory on the lurid history of Facebook.

Bonk - Mary Roach

Sorta ended up being exactly what I expected and thus wasnt exactly "disappointed" because I had such low expectations. A snarkily written, double-entendre ridden pop history of sex and science from ancient times through the present. Some great anecdotes and fun facts to be sure, but ultimately even a topic like this one didn't have quite enough going for it to keep the irritating writing at bay.

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes - David Grann

Okay, so basically this is just a compilation of his articles from the New Yorker for the past few years, and capitalizing on the success of Lost City of Z and the infamous story about the Texas death penalty arson case. And I've read all these pieces before, but damn I forgot what a phenomenal writer he is and that he's written many of my favorite pieces in recent memory- the giant squid piece, the Aryan brotherhood piece, the French con man who pretends to be a missing child in Texas, and the crazy Polish novelist-murderer piece. Yeah this is good stuff, even on a second read. What makes the New Yorker great, and an heir to the great writing of William Finnegan.

Also fewer books this month in part due to my recent obsession with listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast which I highly recommend. (And yes, I also finally caved in and started listening to Radiolab, allowing the quality of its substance to generally overriding its extremely irritating stlye) Favorite captivating recent episodes of WTF include Louis CK, Judd Apatow, Maz Jobrani, Adam McKay, and Maria Bamford, and. Other ones with big stars are also really interesting- Robin Williams, Ben Stiller and others. I'd highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in the creative process, as its instructive and fun to hear about the creative process (and unbelievably hard work) of so many interesting talented people, and a pleasure to briefly feel like an insider in the crazy world of standup comedy. PLus Marc Maron is a great character himself, a recovering alcoholic whose resentments, insecurities and neurosis frame each interview while also leaking into and informing them, and in a self-aware but not self-pitying way.