Book List 2008

I'm supposed to be sticking to a one-book-every-two-weeks pace. Finishing grad school and tackling "Atlas Shrugged" has stifled my progress. I'm hoping to motivate (read: embarrass) myself into kicking it up a notch and making up for lost time.

If I don't, that's okay. I've seen more movies and listened to more new albums than you have, so just keep your mouth shut.

FICTION
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Zipped
by Laura and Tom McNeal
pub. 2003

I assume this book was meant to be a beach read, as I literally read the bulk of this book on a Mexican beach. I had trouble deciphering if this story of adolescent love and grown-up adultery was meant for young adults or grown-ups. The mature subject matter which also included rape, neglect, parenting and loneliness was written in such an uncomplicated fashion, I wondered if I was it's intended audience. C+

Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey
by Chuck Palahniuk
pub. 2007

Palahniuk is doing his evil humor-thing again. Really that's all Chuck ever does. As brilliant and provocative as the ideas pulsing and bleeding through this book tend to be, the story is missing the soul to make it matter. Buster "Rant" Casey is a rabid demolition derby-terrorist whose story is told through dozens of short recollections of people who knew him during his life. An interesting style of storytelling, with Palahniuk's normal zest for faux-informative bits, but little else. B-

Snuff
by Chuck Palahniuk
pub. 2008

Since 1999 I have thought of myself as a Chuck Palahniuk fan. I've read all his books, loved the first five, disliked the last five. I'm starting to believe I'm not actually a Palahniuk fan anymore. Palahniuk's been writing about sociopaths in despicable places, such as the porno film set in this story, from the beginning, but there has always been a modicum of creativity and wit. This was Chuck Palahniuk writing what an amateur Palahniuk fan would write if that fan set out to write like Palahniuk. D-

Atlas Shrugged
by Ayn Rand
pub. 1957

This grandiose railroad epic may not be may favorite book of all-time, but it is the only book I've ever labeled as inspiring. "Atlas Shrugged" is a willful, gritty, philosophical hurricane that matches intelligence in storytelling with the beautifully broken brilliance of its characters. I cannot recommend this book more. The only negative mark I can give to the book is the 100-page manifesto that occurs somewhere around page 900. "Atlas Shrugged" is the hilarious stranger that shows up to your house party, tells great jokes, kicks ass at beer-pong and makes out with the hottest girl in attendance. The 100-page manifesto represented the period of the party when that hilarious stranger over-drinks, rambles incoherently on his way to passing out in your recliner and leaves silently in the morning. A

And Then There Were None
by Agatha Christie
pub. 1939

I feared this 69-year-old mystery novel would seem rote and cliched after numerous mediums have borrowed and lifted directly from Christie's work on which the popular "Clue" board game was based. The fact is, this quick read goes by so fast because it's baffling in its simplicity. The story of 10 captive strangers falling farther and farther into fear and paranoia as someone among them kills them one-by-one has been retold so many times by now that I frankly had no clue which way Christie originally went. Without giving anything away, I was never close when guessing how it would end. Isn't that the point of a book like this? A-

The Watchmen
By Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
pub. 1986-1987

There isn't one likable character in this entire graphic novel, which makes it all the more compelling that the huge tome is so fun to read. Let's face it, most of us wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be a superhero, and unless any of start glowing bright blue and can see through time, "The Watchmen" suggests that if you're sick and cynical and face any number of psych-social malfunctions, you're just as likely to be a supehero as anyone else. B+

The Fountainhead
By Ayn Rand
pub. 1943

I'm not sure if it's more tragic that Rand had no friends or that she didn't seem to want any. I'm glad I read "Atlas Shrugged" first because she clearly didn't feel or hadn't fully formed her ideals and objectivist philosophies by the time she ended this book. "Atlas" has more plot and a better romantic expression of Rand's ideal man. Also, without seeing Howie Roark's architectural design, his greatness is told and not shown in the same way John Galt's is. "The Fountainhead" is good, but not compared to the greatness that we know follows. B+


NONFICTION
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IV
by Chuck Klosterman
pub. 2007

Klosterman's "Zoso" is good, but not great. And the reasons it's not a great book are completely hypocritical when compared to "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs." Both books were more or less compilations of previously published material, but Klosterman was a virtually unknown writer when he published his second book (I should know, as I was one of the few who knew him before 2004). I can't give him full props for publishing things I've already given him props for publishing. What saves "IV" are the inserts in between each chapter. Great conversation starters. Book: B Content: A

30: The Collapse of the Great American Newspaper
edited and introduced by Charles M. Madigan
pub. 2007

This book chronicles the many stages of the American newspaper business. Madigan's compilation doesn't uncover or offer much hope for the future of this shifting medium, but the book does uncover the manner in which this medium has weakened. Thoroughly fascinating, not often positive, but always informative. A-

The Pursuit of Happyness
by Chris Gardner
pub. 1994

A friend of mine called the Will Smith adaptation of this book "schmaltz," which frustrated me because I loved the movie so much, yet I don't consider myself a schmaltzy dude. The original material from Chris Gardner is considerably less schmaltzy, because the book details his malfeasances and imperfections as a father and lover. This isn't the feel-good tale its movie adaptation was, but a nevertheless intriguing tale of human internal endurance. B

Being Digital
by Nicholas Negroponte
pub. 1995

First thing's first, this book about digital technology was written in 1995, which in technological terms might as well have been hundreds of years ago. But many found worth in the predictions of Nostradamus, and Negroponte does a eerie job with his own predictions of our technical futures. Negroponte goes a long way toward proving the philosophy and process of technological development, from the lab to the hand of the consumers. More predated history book than anything, but worth reading for that reason. B

I Am America (And So Can You)
by Stephen Colbert
pub. 2007

If you like the Comedy Central show "The Colbert Report," it would be impossible to dismiss this book completely. Colbert offers his followers a belated Cliffs Notes of what makes Colbert who he is. All the hot topics are here: religion, class, sex and relationships, the family, old folks and anything on which Colbert imagines the nation wants to know his thoughts. Funny, but that comes as no surprise. That Colbert managed to keep the book under 1,000 pages however, is shocking. B+

Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga
by Stephen Davis
pub. 1985, 1997

Although this book reads much like any run-of-the-mill rock bio, Zeppelin is so infamously elusive, the fact that the book exists and is better than some hastily written scrapbook makes it worth a read for even the casual fan. The weakest part of the book is strangely the minimal amount of attention paid to the actual music. Hotel rooms and live happenings make up the bulk of Davis' book, while the creation of some of the most iconic songs in rock history are made to seem effortless and secondary. B+

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court
by Jeffrey Toobin
pub. 2007

This exhaustive examination of the nine (but really like 15 or so) Supreme Court justices is at times fascinating and at others dull. When Toobin magnifies each justice's peccadilloes (Sutter eats apples whole and moves around his office according to the sun) the book really seems to be uncovering who it is that shape the rules under which we all live. When the author recounts milestones ranging from the 2000 presidential election to the re-examination of Roe v. Wade, the book tends to get mired in a play-by-play of historical fact readily available in many other places. B

The Virtue of Selfishness
by Ayn Rand
pub. 1964

My education on objectivism continued in this thoughtful collection of essays making its case for egoism. Although this 168 page book amounts to little more than the 100+ page soliloquy John Galt gives near the end of "Atlas Shrugged," I absorbed far more by revisiting these deceptively complex ideals in a less contextual form. B+

Fake!: The Story of Elmyr de Hory the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time
by Clifford Irving
pub. 1969

Elmyr de Hory is an artist who, after failing to sell his own work, forged he work of famous artists. For 20 years, de Hory faked an estimated 1,000 art pieces in excess of $60 million. The major theme on which the book's author and subject agree, is that art is subjective and that the fallacy of the art world (in the 1950s and '60s, anyway) is that critics, collectors and sellers all pompously act as if they have an objective insight hat they do not. Clifford Irving, who also has a personal history of faking (Google it) is clearly interested, not in art, but in the art of swindling. His interest makes for a simple and interesting read. B



Below is a pace count. If it's at 14.0 or something close to that, I'm right where I want to be. I think I'm going to be well above that for quite some time.
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365 days in 2008/ 16 books = 22.8 days per book