Notes: (1) Most of these receive quite a few stars. The reason is if I don’t like a book, I won’t keep reading. It won’t appear on this list. Thus, I consider these to mostly be winners. (2) I consumed many of these as audio books. I commute to campus by bicycle 20 miles each day, and thus have many hours at my disposal for audio listening. And I’ll often enjoy having a book read to me more than actually reading it if the narration is well done.
Books
Dispatches by Michael Herr, 1977: My classmate Matt Cretul decided to present this book in our Seminar in Journalism as Literature course, and I was intrigued enough to take it in myself a few days later. This is one of the first seminal works on the utter nonsense Americans engaged in during Vietnam, and Herr established a strong precedent and mark for other narrative works to follow on in war reporting. I have been a fan of “Apocalypse Now” and “Full Metal Jacket” since high school, so it was interesting seeing exactly where he took much of his inspiration from. The first morning I listened to this book, I rode my bicycle to campus through one of Gainesville’s worst downpours of the fall thus far. It felt like I was right back there in the rainy jungles with the troops Herr profiled, minus, of course, the bullets and napalm. I’d argue, though, that with the terrible drivers and their overall lack of respect for bicyclists, pedaling the roads here can often be as dangerous as ‘Nam (5 of 5 stars).
Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, 2005: I absolutely love Showtime’s series and thus envisioned being just as keen on the books. I have, however, been slightly disappointed by Lindsay’s print series; this is a very rare occurrence in the based-on-the-book realm. To the extent that I liked the Dexter animated YouTube series for its portrayal of the character’s genesis, I similarly enjoy these books. That is, they’re not inherently entertaining for their writing, but more so for their additional lines of entry into the serial killer’s world. I do find, however, that I become rather annoyed with Lindsay’s overwritten plot and first-person perspective. Dexter’s sister, Deborah, is even more annoying in print than she is on the screen. Still, now that I live down here, his descriptions of everything Florida (albeit southern instead of central Florida), from the heat to the light to the smells of suburbia, are spot on and worth the read. I’m trying to work my way through the rest of them that he’s written thus far so as to catch up with last month’s release. (3 of 5 stars)
Nigger by Randall Kennedy, 2002: After listening to the New York Times’ Book Review podcast two months back and hearing Kennedy talk about his interesting thesis on the current state of race and politics in America, I sought out “The Persistence of The Color Line a few weeks ago at UF’s Library West. As I began to flip through, I noticed the list of Kennedy’s other works, and this title, understandably, caught my eye. “The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word” likewise proved a perfect subtitle. I went downstairs and picked this one up, too, and found it to be a concise but thoroughly academic look at the origins, pervasiveness and present reality of this terrible word. His thoughts on why “nigger”, as with any other word, is not inherently bad in and of itself were intriguing. While this book is now nearly 10 years old, I recommend it for its scope, continued prescience, and balanced view of the term and its history. Plus, at 200 double-spaced pages, it’s a very quick read. (As an aside, I only ended up having time to skim “The Persistence of the Color Line,” and it is therefore not included here). (4 of 5 stars)
$20 Per Gallon by Christopher Steiner, 2009: The final assignment for Documentary and Social Change this semester requires us to pursue, at great depth, one topic relating to, of course, documentary films and social change. After some thought, I chose to examine a slew of recent films examining the impending oil shortage and overall global energy crisis, among them “Fuel,” “Escape from Suburbia,” “Collapse” and “The Power of Community.” In addition to the films, I picked up a few books that explore the situation with much greater depth than 90-minute films can. This is one of them. I sometimes get a little depressed exploring this topic, particularly when there seems to be so much resentment and public opposition to changes the environmental movement proposes. So much ignorance, really. Only with the rising popularity of the “go green” campaigns has this begun to change, but Steiner has crafted a far better argument for why our current deep-seated energy habits will soon have to change. Simply, gas prices will someday soon go up. And up. And up. And at that point, a whirlwind of economic paradigm shifts are likely to occur. My favorite chapter, having ridden one of Amtrak’s cross country trains last year, is about how train infrastructure and ridership will likely very soon improve dramatically. (4 of 5 stars)
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, 2010: This book was all the rage last year, especially after Obama gave it his nod. Not wanting to jump into it without familiarizing myself with Franzen’s other work first, I held off for quite some time. I read “The Corrections” last winter and really found it to be quite a snore. I couldn’t connect with its characters and was overall pretty disappointed. That made me apprehensive to approach such a highly-praised book like this one, but I had completely opposite feelings to Franzen’s work this time around once I got into the first few chapters. All the characters felt much more realistic, and I loved Franzen’s not-so-subtle running commentary throughout about life in America under the Bush administration. That’s really what the whole book was about, this disgraceful period of the past decade, and I found it a soundly reflective work. (4 of 5 stars)
Telling True Stories edited by Mark Kramer & Wendy Call, 2007: In trying to put the finishing touches on my 3,000-word story on the person behind the genesis of UF women’s basketball program (to be posted here in a few days), I quickly ran through this one. I most enjoyed the contributions by some of my favorite writers—David Halberstam, Malcolm Gladwell and Isabel Wilkerson—but there were invaluable tips on every page from a wide variety of writers about how to craft better narratives. Also of particular interest was Tom Wolfe’s concise summation of how New Journalism came into being and how writers today have adopted its successful techniques. The link to that can be found here. (5 of 5 stars)
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, 2011: Following his death and the corresponding media saturation coverage in October, this one was on many reading lists. With the holidays coming on, I suspect it remains there for those who haven’t read it and are interested in Jobs’ life. I whipped through it in just a few days, and Isaacson, as he is known to do with exceptional skill, took me on a complete journey through Jobs’ life. I have utterly mixed feelings about the lasting effects Jobs will have on all our lives; I write these words from my MacBook Pro while listening to music through my ubiquitous white iPhone-connected headphones but believe he will ultimately contribute most to the human race’s perpetually shortened attention span. But there is no denying he was an amazing, if acerbic, visionary. In tapping Isaacson to write his story, he certainly made yet another great user (reader) experience choice. (5 of 5 stars)
Best American Sports Writing 1991 & 1992: These are two separate books, but I combine them here because there’s not really enough to say about them individually. I stumbled into this annual series about three years ago and read through a large portion of the 2001 edition on a single flight from Pennsylvania to Florida. I was hooked. I have since tried to collect most all of the annual entries (they can usually be had for $2 to $6 each from Amazon’s authorized resellers). I plan to read at least one or two a month for the next year or so until I’m all caught up. Such great writing on every page. I have found the topics, though, to be sometimes a bit too far flung or obscure. I generally, though not always, gravitate toward the more popular figures and subjects being written about. That’s not to say I wouldn’t ever read a 4,000-word story on fishing, but it has to be some of the best prose ever created. Close-minded, I know, but there’s just so much out there that’s more worth the time. (4 of 5 stars)
Sweetness by Jeff Pearlman, 2011: I don’t know about most of you, but when I meet and get to personally speak with an author, that person’s work will immediately vault toward the top of my reading list. Such is the case with Mr. Pearlman, who visited one of my classes in early September via Skype to discuss the John Rocker/Sports Illustrated fiasco and his career at large. I’d already read his book on the Cowboys and thus knew and loved his style. On the way home from class that day, I stopped at the library and took out his books on Barry Bonds and the 1986 Mets. Those reviews are covered in a previous post. As for this one, I’ll admit that I really didn’t care much about Walter Payton, nor his life. Still, Pearlman worked so diligently in researching and writing this book during the past few years that I was inevitably drawn to it. It didn’t disappoint. For anyone who ever watched Payton play or for anyone who never did and simply wants a great sports read, I highly recommend this one. (5 of 5 stars)
The Thinking Life by P.M. Forni, 2011: This book, very small in size, is similar to one I read a few months ago, “Blackberry’s Hamlet” by William Powers. They both offered many tips and guidelines for discovering ways to disconnect from electronics and return more time to both introspection and interpersonal communication in the 21st century life. Being extremely connected for many hours of my day, I very much enjoyed both of these books. Forni, too, returned to a select group of classic philosophers who advocated the need for deep personal thinking and relaxation as the way to mental success. In the age of Twitter, I wholeheartedly agree. If we’re not conscious of the electronic demands on time, the hours tend to slip away. That leaves little time for reading or connecting with friends and family. I can’t recommend enough an examination of either Forni or Powers’ books. (4 of 5 stars)
11/22/63 by Stephen King, 2011: This first showed up on my radar back in August while browsing Stephen King’s Wikipedia bibliography. It’s obviously not your typical book title, and since I’m planning to someday have read all of his work anyway, it caught eye and went onto my reading list. I got it the day it came out a few weeks ago and immediately dove in. I found it to be an extremely polarizing book and one that King really didn’t need to write to enhance his legacy. In fact, for those of us who believe there just might be more to JFK’s death than Oswald’s alleged lone act, it reeked of a fingers-in-the-ears syndrome that many historians are afflicted with. King has stated that he read through many materials relating to the subject (supposedly from both sides) but finally settled on the theory of the lone gunman. He proceeded, then, for far too many pages to hatch an intriguing and engaging but ill-conceived narrative about how one man could stop the assassination and change history. Particularly strange was his epilogue-of-sorts on what the world would look like had JFK not been killed (and why it would be an even more depressing planet to live on). Still, read it if you’re a King connoisseur, an Oswald myth purveyor or someone who consumes all things related to time travel. (4 of 5 stars)
An Accidental Sportswriter by Robert Lipsyte, 2011: Wherever I’ve lived, one of my first stops on every visit to the public library has been to its new books section. Over the years, I’ve been able to find some of the most worthwhile reads there. This was one of those books. I had heard Lipsyte’s name a few times before, but was unfortunately not familiar with his body of work, having only recently taken an interest in the New York Times and its sports page. While some of the pages were self-indulgent (like any memoir, really), I enjoyed Lipsyte’s reflections on his career, sports figures of the past five or six decades and American society in general. Of specific interest to me were his early chapters about his beginnings at the Times, including initial interactions with David Halberstam and Gay Talese. (4 of 5 stars)
Out Of This Furnace by Thomas Bell, 1941: I first tried to read this novel during high school and had found it unapproachable, more out of my underdeveloped intellect than for any detracting qualities the book has. Now, having recently begun my own Slovak family history project, I found it to be an extremely interesting read due to its storyline that takes place in the late 1800s and early 1900s in the ethnic steel mill towns surrounding Pittsburgh. My grandfather immigrated to one such town in the mid-1920s, so his family’s narrative comes some time after Bell’s, but it all connects—certainly the descriptions of working class men trying to support their families all the while trying to survive under the thumb of the city’s steel magnates. (4 of 5 stars)
Robert Redford by Michael Callan, 2011: It seems that my introduction to some of Robert Redford’s most well known films have all been well-timed. When I first developed a love for the game of baseball at age five or six, my parents rented “The Natural.” Upon learning of my growing interest in writing, newspapers and journalism, my dad recommended I get “All the President’s Men” from Netflix, a film that is claimed to have helped launch a thousand journalism careers in the 1970s. I have since seen eight other films he’s either acted in or directed, and in reading this book, I realize that is only a tiny sample of what this prolific and influential American icon has produced. I may get to more at some point, but for now this was a five-star introduction and thorough discourse on his life and career. (5 of 5 stars)
Stories & essays
In the newfound tradition of sites like longform.org and longreads.com, I’m adding a new section at the bottom here each month to collect several of my favorite long (and/or thoughful) essays and stories from newspapers, magazines and journals.
“Zell to L.A. Times: Drop Dead” by James O’Shea from the Los Angeles Review of Books (Nov. 9)
“The Fracturing of Pennsylvania” by Eliza Griswold from The New York Times Magazine (Nov. 17)
“When Did the GOP Lose Touch With Reality?” by David Frum from New York Magazine (Nov. 20)
“Scandal. Shame. A search for answers at Penn State.” by L. Jon Wertheim and David Epstein from Sports Illustrated (Nov. 21)
“When Does a Writer Become a Writer?” by Betsy Morais from The Atlantic (Nov. 25)
These are related (on one of my favorite topics): “Wired for Sound” by John Schwartz and “The Mind’s Ear” by James Parker from The New York Times Book Review (Nov. 25)
