Following are some good books I've read recently that I'd recommend. I'll keep the list updated -- provided I continue to find time to read! UPDATE to the above statement, Jan. 8th: Cat's book club won't just include "good" books I've read, because if that is the case, I shouldn't be writing about the next one. But it proves that I do read, even if I don't particularly enjoy it each and every book...
On The Road
by Jack Kerouac
Oh my God, WHY do people love this book so much? HELLO!! What a bunch of L-O-S-E-R-S! Hey boys, get a life! Look, I had a little backpacking/hitchhiking fun myself in Central America back in the days after college. But, seriously people, have some fun and then get a job already! Maybe I've been sucked up into corporate America for too long, but I'll be the first to say I missed the boat on this one. Or, err, the car.
For those who have it waiting in your "to-read" pile, let me spare you some time: It's 1940s America. Hobos are all the rage. This wanna-be loser guy (Sal) meets up with a bunch of other losers (the biggest being this certifiable moron named Dean who Sal is stupid enough to idolise for reasons unknown), and they spend the next God knows how many years of their life driving back and forth across the United States for no apparent reason, drinking, doing drugs, smoking pot, marrying multiple women, getting them pregnant and leaving them, sleeping around (often with prostitutes), stealing, scamming, leaving friends behind, picking up hitchhikers, talking a WHOLE lot of crap ALL the time, and on occasion, listening to some jazz (the only part of the book I remotely enjoyed were the jazz bar stories).
Frankly, I do not find this 'beat' generation to be one worth emulating. Each time they got stopped by the cops I prayed they'd get thrown in prison and stay there so the book would end already and put me out of my misery. Each time they zigzagged across the country, they would go to the same tedious places and meet up with the same tedious people. I got over it all the THIRD time they were in Denver...
It's a pathetic story about sad, lost people (the last, delirious, mud-caked chapter with the boys floundering in Mexico really drives this point home). I see how Mr. Kerouac's writing is very lyrical, and that's fab -- but imagine how great his prose might have been had he picked better subject matter!
So, in sumary, I must say, "Hit the road, Jack!" I'll get on a jet plane to cross the country any day vs. doing it your way!
The Hungry Years
by William Leith
This is a book about people who overeat, overdrink, overdrug, and basically can't do anything in moderation. Written by self-diagnosed compulsive overeater, English journalist William Leith, he tries to get to the bottom of his "hunger" that he just can't satisfy.
It was at times an entertaining little read (I must admit, I liked the picture of the doughnut on the cover) -- I'm always intrigued by people's battles with food and other binges. However, after he jumps around sporatically between the premise of the Atkins Diet (which is the first half of the book), to his excesses with food (he once ate an entire apple pie when he was 7!), and his many drug and alcohol binges (which he tells with an air of pride), he goes to a therapist and -- would you beleive it -- figures out all of his problems are becuase of his parents!! Of course!
And that's really the end of the book. He never figures out how to totally satisfy his hunger. But, he does go on a twenty-mile hike with his girlfriend at the end, eats a good dinner after, has some wine, and pretty much sums it up by saying it's all about moderation. Wow -- ya think? That's the part of the book where I felt rather cheated, I was hoping for just a little more resolution and insight than that. But hey, I guess it really is just that simple.
But if that's what publishers go for these days, I have a great story about how I ate an entire bag of Harry & David's Moose Munch in one sitting last Friday night in front of the tele, followed by a package of snowman Peeps and then chased the sugary delight with two glasses of wine. Some people may call that a binge. I call it dinner. And I know that's totally my parent's fault, because THEY gave me the snacks in my Christmas stocking. But I didn't have to pay a therapist to help me figure it out, because Moose Munch, Peeps and wine ARE my therapy. And if you don't count the small stomach ache that followed (totally worth it), I felt pretty darn good after...and I definitely wasn't still hungry. ;)
The Art of Travel
by Alain De Botton
This is a book I will read again and again. Botton's writing comes across like simple poetry that rings true in crystalized and gratifying ways. Anyone who is intrigued by travel -- be it in a plane, car or armchair -- will love this cleverly written book. He shares stories that illuminate different perspectives on traveling with the help of historically significant travel "guides" and classic art to add color and context. (Pretty cover too.)
Empire Falls
by Richard Russo
Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for a good family drama with strong characters and real people at the center -- especially if it's mixed in with some laugh-out-loud comedy. After all, aren't many real-life family dramas funny to some degree, even if they are yours? Empire Falls is warm, smart and poignant. It was a good read all the way through and left me very satisfied and content at the end. Russo's ability to make you connect with and care for his characters is a true talent, and the dynamic portrait he paints of Empire Falls makes the town and its people come to life and jump off the page....I felt like I had said goodbye to people I knew and liked when I finished the book.
The Opposite of Fate
by Amy Tan
I must confess, I am one of the 3 people in the world who have not read The Joy Luck Club (I think my New Yorker subscription can be revoked for that), but this book of essays by Amy Tan will likely prompt me to do so. A few chapters were not compelling (some a little too self-congratulatory and others pure, neurotic hypochondria), but becuase it's a book of independently written shorts, you can just skim past any that don't hold your attention. But for the most part, I really enjoyed the book and Tan's writing. The stories are mostly based on her (twisted) relationship with her mother, her mother's family history, and other impactful moments in her life. It was a smooth, easy read, and did leave me pondering whether some things in my own life have been fate or circumstance. I actually got this book free with a newspaper while traveling through Heathrow airport and was surprised when I had finished it cover to cover by the end of my 2-day trip.
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