Forty Nine, Bruce Holand Rogers

Forty Nine:  A Square of Stories by Bruce Holand Rogers is a book that I helped Kickstart.  Rogers has won several awards and his story samples looked promising, so I thought it made sense to help the author get some of his stories that publishers weren't publishing out into the wild.

Started: September, 2013 (?)

Completed: January 9, 2016

Recommendation:  Mildly recommended

Recommended by:  Nobody

Review:

This book of short stories was supposed to only grace my bedside table for a few days as the stories represent some pretty light reading.  Unfortunately, the book slipped off the bedside table (I wish I could write some great story about how that happened, maybe it was in the throws of passion or perhaps the book felt unappreciated or maybe the dust bunnies got lonely) and was lost beneath the bed until it was moved, about a week ago.

The stories are broadly inventive and the character of Donat Bobet is a masterpiece.  There were seven stories about stories (sort of along the lines of the book feeling unappreciated).  I found these self-referencing stories the kind of thing that might be submitted for a high school English class (the quality is better, but it felt like that kind of assignment).  They did not help the book.  There were two stories that had me laughing out loud to such a degree that I was compelled to read them to my wife.

The author's intent, I think, is to transport the reader to another place or another idea.  There were seven stories about hotels that were quite good and did this rather effectively.  I enjoyed several of the stories in this section, and found one in particular quite insightful into human character (this hotel allowed guests to deny amenities to others,  for a price).

I was hoping for some fantasy or science fiction themed stories as this was the area in which the author has received most renown, but was disappointed in that regard.

The Price of Civilization, Jeffrey D. Sachs

The Price of Civilization:  Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity by Jeffrey D. Sachs was an audio book that I picked up at a library sale in a local Farmer's Market.

Started: August 2015

Completed: End of September 2015

Recommendation:  This book is already several years out of date, but many of the principles apply.  I think the value of the book will go down as time goes on and many of the underlying assumptions are no longer valid.

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

This is not a "sky is falling" popular economics book.  Rather, it is an investigative look at the economic position of the United States circa 2010 and what can be done to remedy the economic situation.  The economics of the book are guided by broader social issues, particularly poverty, and the general issue of disenfranchisement of the individual.  Sachs makes extensive use of the term "Corporatocracy" to describe the current political situation in the United States.  The fundamental premise of the book is that income inequality is being driven by a free market economy to the detriment of the poor.  Dr. Sachs has a history of trying to help the poor and he feels that this can best be done through an emphasis on support institutions to include education.  He would divert considerable sums from other activities (such as war) to invest in children of chronically poor families in the hope that the history of poverty can be changed.

His arguments are compelling and his willful desire to help others is evident.  His disdain for corporate opportunism in the face of governments trying to find work and economic advantage for their constituents is emphasized by his feeling that governments should coordinate (some might say collude) to insure that a corporate tax base is not constantly eroded as increasingly global corporations pursue the location of lowest taxes.  Recent developments suggest that at least Dr. Sachs is not the only one to think this kind of thing should be stopped and may offer third party credence to his concepts.  On the other hand, it is possible that his analysis of this particular issue is just riding down a well-trodden economic path of which I am unaware.

It is clear from this work, however, that the economics problems of the United States cannot be resolved in any way by reducing government or continuing to reduce taxes.  Since it simply is not possible to get blood from a stone, it seems unlikely that raising taxes on the poor or even the middle class (by class, I mean class of wage earners, not some indistinct social class).  Like everyone these days, Dr. Sachs jumps on the concept of closing loopholes in the tax code (this is common sense that only eludes politicians who want to stay in office more than helping the USA), but shows that simply closing loopholes is not nearly enough.  The rich are going to have to contribute more.  If for no other reason, then that they have the money, the rich are going to be the subject of increased taxes.  Sheer growth cannot sustain us and the illusion that there is some sort of causal link between reduced taxes on the rich and growth has been thoroughly debunked (one-sided analysis from Salon and a more unbiased analysis from the International Monetary Fund).  Likewise government excesses and mismanagement (though present) make up such a tiny portion of the deficit and debt that making fixes in those areas are a red herring.

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, along with Unemployment, government retirement, and veteran's benefits (generally referred to as "mandatory" spending for a good reason) comprise the largest section of the budget.  The remainder is literally broken into two equal halves (defense and everything else).  The Congressional Budget Office created a nice graphic showing this split.  Dr. Sachs points to defense as a place to realize substantial reductions (he advocates cutting it in half) and additional taxes on the rich as a place to reduce the deficit.  He offsets some of these gains, however, by increasing spending on the poor (e.g. increasing the food stamps program and grants/aid for education).  The net still is a reduction in deficit which is greatly needed.

As time goes on, however, our opportunity to take the reigns and resolve our budget deficit issues without saddling future generations to Greek style Austerity Programs is swiftly sliding through our fingers.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk:  A modest Bestiary by David Sedaris is a collection of the humorists works with an animal theme.  My wife and I decided to read this on long trips.

Started:  6/21/2015

Completed:  6/21/2015

Recommendation:  Mildly Funny

Recommended By:  Nobody, we have both enjoyed David Sedaris

Review:

These are funny, but not split your sides funny.  We enjoyed most of the stories (except one which clearly involved animal testing and we just couldn't read that one).  David Sedaris seems to be obsessed with loss of eyes in this book.

The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde is the first book in the Thursday Next series.  It looked like a fun spoof on Jane Eyre.  My wife is reading this book to me on long drives.

Started:  Cannot Remember

Completed:  6/21/2015

Recommendation:  Fun Read

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

Full of lots of puns, word play, and horrible jokes at the expense of great literature, this book examples an alternate universe in which the great books play a much bigger part of everyday life then they do here and now.  The characters in books can even, sometimes, come into this world and vice versa.  The literature police (with Thursday Next leading the Swindon office), however, do their best to straighten up any mishaps (even going so far as to fix Jane Eyre's ending :) ).  This time travelling, alternate universe, romp though literature involves all kinds of action, mystery, and even evil for the sake of evil.  Join Thursday as she fights to straighten things out in literature (and even addresses the long war in the Crimea).

The Law of Dreams, Peter Behrens

The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens is a book that received the Governor General's Award for English Fiction.   This book is based on the Irish Potato Famine.  For the life of me, I can't remember where or why I picked it up.  I have long had an interest in Ireland and the Irish in general after visiting, but I cannot remember buying this book.

Started:  3/4/2015
Completed:  Cannot remember
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended by:  Nobody


Words and Concepts for which I sought help:

Billing -- the action or fact of being publicized in a certain way

cadging -- ask for or obtain (something to which one is not strictly entitled)

conacre -- to sublet land

Haggard -- area adjacent to the farm yard (Irish slang)

metaled road -- A road surface formed with a mixture of tar and stone chippings


Plangeant -- a loud, reverberating sound usually associated with melacholy

profligate -- recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources

skirl -- a shrill wailing sound, especially of bag pipes

Review:

The book was interesting and started quietly, but seemed to move rather quickly into the horrors of the potato famine.  The adventures of the protagonist seem truly unrealistic, but suspending disbelief, I moved on.  The characters were hard to like and the horrors which were experienced automatically distanced the reader.  I did not enjoy it.

People of the Moon, Michael and Kathleen Gear

People of the Moon by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear is another book in their "North America's Forgotten Past" series that looks at Native American communities.  As mentioned in a previous post, this book has been awaiting its turn to see the light.

Started: 9/1/2014

Completed: 6/18/2015

Recommended: Mildly

Recommended By: Part of a series

Review:

I have enjoyed the "People of" series.  The beginning (with some archaeologist facing opposition of some sort to whatever has been found or to the act of archaeology at all) is almost always slow and so it was hard for me to get started on this book (as it has been for the others in the series).

The plot here is decent, although, frankly, gory.  I'm sure that this story needed to be told and it is an ugly story.  That said, I would prefer to read less gore these days.  That is my personal preference and it made this book difficult to read.  The Gear's seem to want to focus on that in this book, although they pursued their normal love story in the book as well.  The story is good and moves along pretty well.  The preachy material is kept to a minimum, but stands on its own as enough to inform about some of the nature of the native peoples who inhabit this novel.

I can mildly recommend this book to anyone who has wondered what it must have been like to climb into your home via a ladder in the roof.  I've wondered and this book doesn't go to great lengths to detail that component, but it does come up as a normal part of the lives of the people and that alone was interesting to me.

Einstein's Enigma, C. V. Vishveshwara

Einstein's Enigma or Black Holes in my Bubble Bath by C. V. Vishveshwara caught my eye at a library book sale.  I originally picked it up for my wife who has some interest in the life of Einstein, then realized it was more about black holes which is up my alley!

Started: 9/4/2014

Completed: 6/15/2015

Recommendation: Strongly Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This is a layman's view of the physics behind a black hole.  For most of the book, I was fine, but I can see where most of the book would be quite challenging to laymen.  I found the last part of the book quite challenging.  The author tried to ease the reader through it by relying more and more heavily on dream sequences that originated in a magic bathtub and was a sub-plot running through the book allowing physicist to "add their own" contributions to the author's understanding directly.  The basic plot is that of one professor teaching another about black holes.

I can't imagine a more readable approach to the topic.  It is worth noting, however, that this topic is not easily read or understood.  The mathematics behind the physics are brutal and the physics is truly impenetrable to the average reader.  I've spent more time reading Hawking's most recent paper on black holes then I spent working through this book.

That said, however, this book is approachable for the lay reader.  You do not have to be physicist to understand the material.  Of course a high school or college background in physics is going to help dramatically, but the information is presented exceedingly well.  If you enjoy the history of science you will be doubly pleased with the short history lessons presented.  If you are so well-rounded as to be an English scholar as well, then you will simply be over the moon with this book.

I enjoyed it and appreciated how difficult it was to write.  It is already dated.  I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in black holes.