I'm not political. I have a cynical streak akin to George Carlin's. But I want to be more informed, so I just bought Who Stole the American Dream? by Hendrick Smith. It's 400 pages, not including end notes. I hope I can get through it at night over the next couple of weeks.
Louis C.K. says being a consumer is a full-time job. We're up reading lengthy reviews by people who went crazy because the remote control for the DVD player was "counterintuitive."
Going nuts over radios, watches, and about anything else I need to do research on, I'm glad I picked up this book On Desire: Why We Want What We Want by William B. Irvine. He relies on diverse ancient masters to explain that we're happier when we pinpoint the cause of our desires and in essence control them. Also people are happier when they learn to enjoy what they have as opposed to longing for what they don't have. I may have to teach this in my critical thinking class.
I need to read this book quickly. Recently, I have developed an appetite for a space gray BMW 135.
I heard Martin Amis on NPR this morning talking about his new upcoming novel Lionel Asbo, reviewed today in the NYTimes.
Amis spoke of his own literary celebrity, not as an evil, but as "a necessary complication," not something to be savored.
In contrast, he said, the world worships fame, erects it as a religion and looks at the condition of not being famous as a "deprivation."
This theme informs a lot of his new novel, about a thug who winns the lottery. I just wish-listed it.
I agree with those critics who place David Abram' satirical novel about the Iraq War, Fobbit, with Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse-Five.
It was a privilege to get an advance copy and be the first to review it for Amazon.
Maybe the American Dream of More obliterated the thermostat that says "enough already." Here's a book I want to read about this subject: How Much Is Enough: Money and the Good Life by Robert and Edward Skidelsky.
I'm thoroughly enjoying Andrew Delbanco's book College: What It Is, Was, and Should Be. In it, he poses the question: What's college going to be? A collaborative learning community that culfivates critical thought, fortitude, toughness, discipline, and a curious soul?
Or is college going to be vocational training with its myopic aim resulting in self-commodification?
Sadly, it seems forces are pushing more for the latter than the former.
With college costing more than middle-class aspirants can afford and causing enough debt to ruin a graduate's life, it still exists as a business model for its own benefit. Is this what college should be? Author Andrew Delbanco explores the state of higher education in his new book College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be. I need to make this the first book I read at the start of summer.
In middle school, circa 1974, I was a competitive Junior Olympic Weightlifter and I learned that the squat could kick your butt fast. So it wasn't surprising to hear Gretchen Reynolds, last night on Terry Gross' Fresh Air, discuss in her best-selling exercise book The First 20 Minutes that the research supports the argument that the squat is the king of all exercises: In terms of cardio and muscle building no other exercise can touch it.
You don't have to go heavy (I compromised my back repping 500 in my teens). Light, high-rep squats can do the trick.
I just did a few sets with my 30-pound dumbbells. I am winded. I think I'll start up again.
This morning on NPR the author A.J. Jacobs discussed his new book Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection. He talked about the dizzying array of workouts and diets that he embraced after accepting the fact that his body looked like a "python that swallowed a goat."
This sounds like a must read.
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