Cite It, Confound It!

I've recently either completely read or skimmed through five or six non-fiction books, all of which have this in common: a lack of footnotes.

First of all, I'm cool with that. Really, I am. I understand that most publishers of popular non-fiction are trying to please their readers, people who get bogged down in footnotes. Even if they don't read them, those pesky little numbers and that pesky 5-point font can just drive most folks crazy. Second, publishers of popular non-fiction probably think, "Hey, let's leave all that stuff to the academic folks. They love all that crap and we really don't want or need it."

So okay, the masses don't like footnotes. But we still need some kind of documentation, don't we? The solution? Endnotes.

I'm cool with that, too. Just plug that little number in the text and I'll happily look for a corresponding number at the end of the book. (If I really want to, and sometimes I do.)

But what I'm not cool with is a section of endnotes with the first, last or middle part of a sentence in quotes followed by a citation. You see the endnotes section with a heading of "Chapter One," followed by something like this:

"...so then I told D. Cheney he could kiss my..." Author interviews and email communications with----

And that's it. So I'm supposed to fish through the entire chapter to find that quote? Some books at least give you the page number so that you only have to waste a smaller portion of your time.

Maybe this practice has been around for awhile and I just don't read enough non-fiction to know it. If so, I guess I'm a non-fiction Philistine who needs to get with the program. But with a lot of the non-fiction I read, I want to verify the veracity of the statements I read. I want to know where this information came from. I don't want to go on an expedition.

Okay. End of rant. Thanks for letting me get it "off my chest."1

_________________________________________________________________________

1 Sorry, I know this isn't a real footnote, but was this really so intrusive?

Only 47 Days Left

That's right, there are only 47 reading days left in 2008. Man. These are just the books on hand that I'd like to finish before the end of the year. (You can see that some of them already have bookmarks in them.) This humble stack does not include audiobooks or the seven books I have on hold from the library or the library copy of Kelly Link's Pretty Monsters that's sitting on my desk at work.

That's a total of 20 books (not counting audio) over a span of 47 days, or one book every 2.35 days.

What are the odds I'll make it? Whatever they are, I wouldn't bet on it.

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko (NF 2008) - Blake Bell

Earlier this year we saw the release of Kirby: King of Comics, an excellent look at the life and work of the late Jack Kirby. Now another comics art pioneer finally gets a book worthy of his talent and influence in the form of Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko.

I grew up reading and treasuring the first thirty-eight issues of Spider-Man, all drawn by Ditko. His quirky style was perfect for an awkward teenager like Peter Parker, yet Ditko could also portray the acrobatics of Spider-Man in a way no other artist ever quite captured. I never really got into Dr. Strange as a kid, but now as an adult, I can really see the reaches of Ditko's incredible imagination and creativity. In my opinion, his work on Dr. Strange far surpasses his work on Spider-Man, which is no small accomplishment.

Yet Ditko was (and apparently still is) a strange one indeed. Ditko was always a quiet loner, but his growing devotion to Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism separated him even further from his coworkers and fans. Unfortunately, it affected his work to the point that he became obsessed with devoting all of his work to Objectivism. Of course it didn't help that Stan Lee didn't give Ditko his due while he was at Marvel. Come on, the guy co-created Spider-Man! (It's ironic that Ditko spent years drawing Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson gypping Peter Parker in nearly the same way.)

In the end, Ditko refused to have much of anything to do with anyone, even turning down offers (many of them quite lucrative) that would help him finance his Objectivist ideals in comic form. For the past several years, the quality of Ditko's art (what little there has been) has been disappointing, but Bell's book displays some stunning images that helped influence comic art and storytelling for decades. An outstanding book/biography/retrospective that any comics lover will want to own.

YA Overload

It certainly looks like November (or at least the second half of November) is going to be YA Month. All of the above have either just come in at the library or have been recommended to me by people whose opinions I value. Right now I'm listening to The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson. So far there's no indication that this volume will not be as superb as the first, a beautifully written engaging novel. This volume may even be better. Anderson never ceases to amaze me.

I've certainly enjoyed them, but haven't been blown away by the last few things I've read from Neil Gaiman, but The Graveyard Book may change all that. Everything I've heard has been stellar.

The same can be said for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Just try putting the book down after this opening line:

The first thing you find our when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.

And then there's Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams, recommended by a co-worker.

I might need a little grown-up reading in December...

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (NF 2008) - Andy Crouch

Crouch understands and acknowledges from the get-go that his topic is enormous, so he begins by looking at just how enormous it is. He's not talking only about the arts, trends and fashion, science, technology, celebrities, ethnic identity, government and politics, education and about a zillion other things you can think of. He's also talking about the scope of culture from the beginning of human history until...well, the end and beyond.

That's a pretty big scope.

More specifically, how have Christians responded to and helped shape culture? Or failed to do so? What about today? Do we engage the culture or withdraw from it? Crouch looks at these topics and culture in general in the first section of the book, simply called Culture. In the second section, Gospel, Crouch takes an interesting look at culture from a gospel perspective. I'd never thought about it before, but the cultural aspect of the Bible begins in a garden in Genesis and ends in a city in Revelation. Significant? How about Jesus as a culture maker? How did culture change in the early church from Pentecost and beyond?

In the third section, Calling, Crouch asks the question "Can we (or anyone) really change the world?" Should we even try? One of the most interesting concepts in the book is that of The 3, the 12 and the 120. Crouch states that it may be a mistake to say that "all culture is local," but maybe all culture making is local. A cultural influence may be global, but it must be created by the efforts of a small group (3), shaped and refined by a slightly larger concentric circle of people (12), and distributed by a larger group on a larger level (120). As an example, Crouch's book was conceived by a publisher, an editor and an author. The circle of 12 expanded to an editorial director, a marketing director, publicists, designers and a few reviews and readers. The largest circle consisted of people endorsing the book, newspaper/magazine/media editors and reviewers and friends to spread the word. When you think about it, you start seeing the 3-12-120 concept all over the place.

But what do we do with all of this? Crouch challenges us to do something, to create something or at least be involved in engaging the culture rather than sitting by watching things happen. This is not an in-your-face "We're taking over the culture for Christ!" type of book. It's a call to pursue our passions in a way that allows us to use and celebrate the diversity of our gifts without condemning others of theirs.

A single reading of Culture Making was not enough for me. There's so much in there, it demands a second read, at least from me. For anyone interested in culture, I highly recommend this one.

Coming Attractions

For once, the "Books Read" pile is starting to increase. I'm either finished with or close to finished with several books, all of which I hope to write about soon, including:

Thirteen Reasons Why (YA) - Jay Asher

The Shack - William P. Young

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (NF) - Andy Crouch

The Dark Side (NF) - Jane Mayer

The Post-American World (NF 2008) - Fareed Zakaria

Zakaria opens The Post-American World with the following sentence:

"This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else."

Zakaria goes on to describe three significant power shifts that have taken place in the world over the last 500 years, events that have had global significance:

The rise of the Western world (early 15th century - late 18th century), including modern “science and technology, commerce and capitalism, the agricultural and industrial revolutions,” all resulting in dominance in the West.

The rise of the United States (late 19th century until roughly the last 20 years), which Zakaria calls “the most powerful nation since imperial Rome, and the only one that was stronger than any likely combination of other nations.”

The rise of the rest. “Look around,” Zakaria says. “The tallest building in the world is now in Taipei... The world’s richest man is Mexican, and it’s largest publicly traded corporation is Chinese. The world’s biggest plane is built in Russia and Ukraine, its leading refinery is under construction in India, and its largest factories are all in China.”

And on and on. Yet while Zakaria insists that we still live in “a single-superpower world,” power is shifting away from American dominance. Just because we’re living in a post-American world, however, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an anti-American one. (Hmmmm.... Wonder where’s he’s been for the past eight years?)

Has the United States been responsible for the rise of the rest? This section is a bit lengthy, but worth a look:

The irony is that the rise of the rest is a consequence of American ideas and actions. For sixty years, American politicians and diplomats have traveled around the world pushing countries to open their markets, free up their politics, and embrace trade and technology. We have urged peoples in distant lands to take up the challenge of competing in the global economy, freeing up their currencies, and developing new industries. We counseled them to be unafraid of change and learn the secrets of our success. And it worked: the natives have gotten good at capitalism. But now we are becoming suspicious of the very things we have long celebrated - free markets, trade, immigration, and technological change. And all this is happening when the tide is going our way. Just as the world is opening up, America is closing down.

I first listened to the audiobook version of The Post-American World. I pointed out to my friend John that I wanted to get my hands on a print version, since Zakaria makes many broad generalizations that I wanted to see documented. (And as John correctly reminded me, what political writer doesn’t make broad generalizations?) Zakaria does document frequently, but undocumented generalizations are aplenty, such as some of the ones in the above paragraph. There’s a lot of truth in that paragraph, but some of it is wrapped up in a package that's just a little too tidy. Yes, some countries have embraced capitalism. We are suspicious of some countries, sometimes for good reason. But it’s a lot more complex than that.

That’s not to say that Zakaria doesn’t have some very interesting thoughts and ideas. He does and the book is certainly worth reading for them. His look at the education systems in the U.S. and other parts of the world is striking, but he makes some conclusions that sometimes seem to be illogical, especially based on some of his own information. Zakaria claims on page 198 that by “2010, foreign students will get more than 50 percent of all Ph.D.” degrees in the U.S. He further claims that “If America can keep the people it educates in the country, the innovation will happen here. If they go back home, the innovation will travel with them.”

Not necessarily. Just a few pages previously, Zakaria claims that most foreign countries lack cultures that regularly challenge conventional wisdom, leading to more risk-taking and opportunities for innovation. Even if the innovation does travel with them, if it finds itself in a country that stifles it, what good is it?

Yes, I am nit-picking somewhat. Zakaria does a fine job of focusing on the history of two hugely emerging nations, China and India, two nations that the rest of the world simply cannot ignore if they want to compete globally. This nearly 100-page section is excellent.

Also thought-provoking is Zakaria’s New Rules for a New Age in the chapter called “American Purpose.” Americans can no longer simply copy history; we must learn from it. We have to realize that we can’t have it all. (I’m not even sure we should want it all.) We have to take a 21st century look at our foreign policy, not a 19th century one. We’ve got to stop thinking that the military is the ultimate answer to every problem. And we’ve got to stop being so damn scared of everything and everyone.

It may not sound like it, but The Post-American World is largely optimistic. The 21st century has brought with it globalization, enormous leaps in technology, and just a couple of days ago, evidence of a big shift in American thinking. Maybe there's good cause for optimism.

The Snowman's Children (2002) - Glen Hirshberg

The Snowman's Children (2002) - Glen Hirshberg

A few weeks ago I was looking for a really good Halloween read, something that would scare my socks off and send them flying around the room like ghosts. (Okay, maybe that's not such a scary thought, but these are my socks we're talking about, so then again, maybe it is.) What I got from The Snowman's Children was a different kind of scare, a different sort of terror than that usually offered by a conventional horror novel.

As the novel opens in 1994, Matt (Mattie) Rhodes returns to the Detroit of his youth seeking to reconnect with his three best friends from 1977, Jon Goblin, Theresa Daughrety and Spencer Franklin. Matt's on something of a quest not only to find his friends, but to find himself, to try to understand why his life isn't quite what it should be despite a successful career and a wonderful wife.

Narratives alternate between 1994 and the winter of 1977, when a serial killer/child abductor referred to as The Snowman terrorized the Detroit area. Mattie has a tenuous relationship with his parents and his younger brother, but spends most of his time with Theresa and/or Spencer, all of whom are extremely bright, participating in a game called "Mind Wars," conducted by Theresa's father. As the threat of The Snowman enters their lives, Mattie suspects something strange is happening to his world in general and to Theresa in particular.

With the best of intentions, the 1977 Mattie makes a very poor decision that changes not only his life but the lives of everyone he knows. The 1994 Mattie returns home, obsessed with the hope that he might somehow try to make things right again or at least make an apologetic appeal to his friends.

The Snowman's Children is just about perfect. I simply do not understand how Hirshberg does it: combines elements of horror, mystery, an understanding of the way children's minds work, the challenges of marriage, family and friendships, the culture of the 1970s and an unflinching look at true horror, especially the horrors we unwittingly create for ourselves and those we love. Hirshberg's pacing is superb and his writing on both the sentence and paragraph levels is to die for.

Yet it is Hirshberg's portrayal of youth that is perhaps the most impressive element of the novel. He understands how children can misinterpret the most innocent of statements by adults, yet see right into the heart of sadness, disappointment and hurt implied in a word or a simple facial expression. In trying to deal with things they don't quite understand, children can take actions that have implications far beyond what they're capable of imagining. Hirshberg knows this and through Mattie, reminds us of some truths we'd rather not face. But we must. Highly recommended.

October Books Read

One good thing about being sick: plenty of time to read. That's probably responsible for a couple of extra books read during October. If the books are engaging, you don't really mind being sick. But if they're not, well... Anybody got any Tylenol?

Here they are, the books I read in October, with a few links to what I wrote about them earlier:


City of Ember (J-Fic 2003) - Jeanne DuPrau


Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner (NF 2005) - Dean Karnazes


The Gargoyle (2008) - Andrew Davidson


Painted Devils: Strange Stories (1979) - Robert Aickman


Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His First Case (J-Fic 2007) - Shane Peacock


Midnight on Mourn Street (2008) - Christopher Conlon


Consolation of Philosophy (NF 524) - Boethius


Islam: The Religion and the People (NF 2008) - Bernard Lewis, Buntzie Ellis Churchill


Starting Friction (Poetry 2008) - Tenea D. Johnson
Cool poetry from my Clarion 2004 buddy Tenea D. Johnson


The Iliad - Homer (Fitzgerald translation)


The Post-American World (NF 2008) - Fareed Zakaria
I hope to write a little about this one sometime in the near future.


The Snowman’s Children (2002) - Glen Hirshberg
I definitely want to write about this one when I have the time. This turned out to be my "Halloween Read," although it's not a conventional horror novel. It is, however, superb. If you haven't read Glen Hirshberg, read this excellent novel or his two short story collections, The Two Sams and American Morons.

That's it for October. Go read something, then go vote tomorrow, then read some more.

October Books Bought

October's theme is "Few in Number, Large in Price." Most of these books were purchased at Daedalus Books, bane of my bank account. Ah, well...such is life.




We start this month's episode with The Collected Stories of Caroline Gordon, a Southern writer I was not previously familiar with until I ran across her name while reading an article about Flannery O'Connor, and you know I must investigate anything even remotely related to Flannery O'Connor.
Trade Paperback - Price = $5.95








Christ and Culture Revisited (NF 2008) - D.A. Carson

Not sure where I first heard of this one, but it's been recommended to me by several people whose opinions I respect.
Hardcover - Price = $16.32






Short Stories Writers and Short Stories (NF 2005) - Harold Bloom

Good gracious, what a hideous cover! Sometimes I can't stand to read Bloom, other times I think he's great. But this slim volume focuses on several great short story writers and their work, including Hawthorne, Kafka, Faulkner, Hemingway, Welty, Shirley Jackson and of course, Flannery O'Connor. Fine folks, all of them.
Hardcover - Price = $5.95





Apple Training Series: iWork 08 and iLife 08 Value Pack (NF 2008)

Since we bought our iMac, I've been looking for a comprehensive book (or two) that covers all the applications in iLife '08 and iWork '08. A little on the expensive side, but the price on Amazon for both books together is what one book would cost separately. Plus each book includes a DVD with lessons for practice. So far I'm very satisfied.
Trade Paperbacks with DVDs - Price as a set = $44.10




The Collected Tales - Nikolai Gogol, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

One thing leads to another at Daedalus. They plan it that way. I had already picked up the previously mentioned Harold Bloom book and read a bit of the section on Gogol, only to look up and, lo and behold, The Collected Tales by Gogol, not only in hardcover, not only in a handsome Everyman's Library edition, but also signed by translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. You can't say no to something like that, you just can't. So I didn't.

Hardcover, signed (not by Gogol; that would be impressive) - Price = $15.95

Total Book Expenditures for October = $88.27

5 Miles? No Problem!

Cindy and I ran the 20th Annual Hog Neck Scamper 5 Mile Run today. Terrible name for a run, but it was a good one. It was also the longest run I've ever completed. I actually felt pretty good as I finished, telling Cindy I probably could have done a 10K.
Now I think I'll sleep.

Eliminating the Pile....Somewhat

A couple of days ago I finished reading my hundredth book of the year. That's way earlier than normal, thanks in part to audiobooks on the iPod. I should be able to finish 2008 with somewhere around 120 books, which again, is a lot for me, a fairly slow reader. Of course I'll post my Best of 2008 lists in fiction, non-fiction, YA/J-Fic, etc., but what I wish I'd kept up with this year is the number of books I've given up on. It's gotta be at least 25 books and maybe closer to 40.

Why? Life's just too short to be stuck in a bad book. But to be fair, some of the books I've given up on are not bad, they're just not the right book at the right time.

To alleviate this problem, I've gotten into the habit (and it's too early to tell whether it's a good or bad one) of checking out books from the library, reading the first chapter or two, then making a note of whether it's something I want to keep reading, something I'd like to come back to, or something I never want to see again.

Case in point: A couple of weeks ago I checked out Presidential Debates: The Challenge of Creating an Informed Electorate by Kathleen Jaimeson and David Birdsell, which early on is fascinating. The same can be said for the more recent Inside the Presidential Debates: Their Improbable Past and Promising Future by Newton Minow and Craig LaMay. Yet with less than one week to go in the election, I know I'll be more inclined to read both of these in the coming months.

Maybe that's why I currently have 14 books checked out from the library and another 7 on hold. That's really not too bad. I have had both in the double digits, so I'm sort of in a slump.

But no, I will not (You can tempt me with candy corn, but it won't work.) reveal which books I gave up on because they....well, stunk. But maybe I'll tell you the ones I should have given up on.

We'll see. It's only October...

Dirda on Books

Lately I've discovered the wonderful and very addictive live online discussion of books by Washington Post writer Michael Dirda, only to find that the discussion ended on October 1, 2008. But never fear, the Post will launch another book discussion group soon. You can check out the above link for information on the new group and access archives of the past nine years of book discussions.

I've purchased two of Dirda's books, Bound to Please and Classics for Pleasure, both of which are delightful ways to pass the time when you feel like taking a break from the novel or short story collection you're reading.

I should point out that there are two huge problems with reading Dirda:

1. Like his online book discussion, his essays and reviews of books are highly addictive.

2. Your list of "Books to Buy" will increase by leaps and bounds. Be warned.

Dirda has the amazing ability to not only display a ferocious excitement for books, but to also infect you with the same level of excitement. The other night I was reading Dirda's review of The Letters of Gustave Flaubert, 1830-1857 (1980), selected, edited and translated from the French by Francis Steegmuller. Blast Dirda. I've never read any Flaubert, Madame Bovary or otherwise, yet after reading Dirda's review, I must read both the novel and Steegmuller's volume.

Every bit of both Bound to Please and Classics for Pleasure is like that. Both need to go on my "Banned Books" list immediately.

Dirda has been writing about books for a long time, but unlike most other book critics, you can tell he still gets excited about reading. And when you read Dirda, you can't help but get excited too. Plus the guy is a champion of quality speculative literature. Bound to Please includes a nice Science Fiction Reading List. You can sometimes find Dirda at the local sf/fantasy con Capclave, or if you don't get out much (like me), check out his work in The Washington Post Book World in print every Sunday and online. Enjoy, but don't blame me when the books start piling up.

The Perfect Halloween Read Pt. II

I'm still in search of the perfect Halloween read, but thanks to several recommendations (mostly from Facebook), I've got several to choose from. Among those suggested:

Ghost Story - Peter Straub
Saw the movie, never read the book.

Anything by Robert Westall
Got Demons and Shadows: The Ghostly Best Stories of Robert Westall and The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral from the library.

Anything by Stephen King
There's still quite a few King books I haven't read, but right now I'm just not in a King mood.

Anything by H.P. Lovecraft, especially "The Rats in the Walls"
Maybe. I do have an ex-library copy of Tales from the Library of America, so I'll probably read at least that story. With me a little Lovecraft goes a long way.

Of course, there are always a few titles that have been sitting around on my shelf that I might finally get around to reading:


Acquainted with the Night - Barbara and Christopher Roden, eds. With one of my favorite covers by one of my favorite artists, Jason Van Hollander.







All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By - John Farris

The Werewolf of Paris - Guy Endore

So many choices.... I may not have time to come up with a decent costume....

Islam: The Religion and the People (NF 2008) - Lewis & Churchill

Islam: The Religion and the People (NF 2008) - Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill

An overview of Islam in under 250 pages certainly sounds like an exercise in futility. Just imagine an overview of other broad topics such as The History of Western Music or American Political Thought in under 250 pages. It’s impossible. Yet Lewis and Churchill, with 167 pages of actual text (The rest of the book’s pages are devoted to the appendixes “Some Practical Matters” and a fairly large “Terms and Topics.”), give it a pretty good shot.

The authors generally do a good job of covering the basics of Islam such as the pillars of Islamic faith, the Koran, significance of mosques, the difference between Sunni and Shi’a, Islam and the economy, women in Islam, war and much more. Just exactly what is the difference between Islam and Christianity and where does the divergence begin? Why is it that reform and Islamic law just don’t mix? And is Islam really a religion of peace or one of violence?

I applaud Lewis (widely acknowledged as the West’s leading scholar on all things Middle Eastern) and Churchill for producing a badly-needed summary of Islam. Even though it’s not perfect, I hope many Americans will read it and that they will read it as a starting point, not as an exhaustive treatment of the subject. Some issues in the book need further clarification, such as the vast history of Muhammad, the spread of Islam since the 7th century and how things changed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And although the spotlight on Islam during the last seven years has been covered in many other books, not enough attention is given to it here.

The unencumbered writing style and short chapters make for fairly rapid reading and the authors sprinkle several photos and examples of (apparently rather dated) Islamic humor. The “Some Practical Matters” appendix covers much of the Arabic language, but could have greatly benefited from examples of actual Arabic letters. The “Terms and Topics” at 44 pages reiterates several definitions included in the actual text, but omits other important terms from the text such as jihad and mosque. That might be a little picky, but for book browsers with little or no knowledge of Islam, the “Terms and Topics” section might be the first place they turn, only to find common terminology missing.

Still, Islam: The Religion and the People is a valuable starting point for anyone interested in understanding the complex world of Islam.

Buy/Read This Now!

My good friends at Daedalus Books, always bringing you the best in excellent books, music and film, offer a true gem in Octavia Butler's Wild Seed. Sure, it's a Science Fiction Book Club edition, but who cares? SFBC titles tend to be better than the run-of-the-mill book club editions and anytime you can get your hands on an Octavia E. Butler title, do it. Especially this one.

Butler is one of the writers I bring up to people who say "I don't like science fiction." I have never met anyone who was not thrilled with Butler's skills and in particular the skills on display in Wild Seed. Here's what I wrote about the book a few years back:

Very few African Americans write science fiction. Fewer still are African American women. Octavia Butler knows how to write great science fiction, but more importantly, she knows how to write and tell a great story. I encourage you to read just the opening paragraph from the "Look Inside" section. After reading the paragraph, I dare you to NOT keep reading!
In that first paragraph, you've got a very mysterious event, subtle foreshadowing, wonderful description, and a pretty good sense of who your main character is. And most importantly, you want to read on.

Doro is an extremely complex character who has been alive for hundreds of years, breeding slaves endowed with special powers. They are obedient only to him. It's simple; if they won't obey, he'll kill them. Doro has the incredible ability to take over the bodies of others (thereby killing the host) even at a distance of many miles. His power is immense. But he meets in Anyanwu a formidable opponent. (Or will she become a trusted friend?) Anyanwu (who has also lived for hundreds of years) is a healer who is able to adapt her body to any living form - mammal, fish, bird, or another human. Anyanwu's main concern is the safety of her children. Doro's main concern is exploiting them as breeding stock. Doro and Anyanwu certainly have different goals, but they each learn some hard lessons throughout the course of the book. So do we.

Butler's characters and landscapes are so well drawn and so real that you really never think about the fact that you're reading science fiction. In fact the term speculative fiction is really a better term for this story; there's very little science in the book, but there is a plethora of examinations of human nature (even if those humans live for hundreds of years).

Wild Seed is a completely absorbing, unforgettable book, made even more so by Butler's fascinating ability as a writer. It's been a long time since I read a book with engaging characters, vivid description, tension, mystery, and emotion. Wild Seed met all my expectations and then some. A powerful novel from one of America's most talented writers.

279 pages

Sometimes It All Comes Together

This doesn't happen very often. I started a story yesterday about a birthday party during Halloween, having no idea what it was going to be about. Now the "having no idea what it was going to be about" part does happen often, but this morning it all came together in a way that's never happened before. I have no idea why. If I could replicate the factors leading to this revelation, I'd sure do it.

Maybe it's because I was tired of revising my never-ending YA novel and wanted to start something new (and short). Maybe it's because I'm listening to Western Swing, which makes even an embarrassing Cowboys loss seem something less than tragic. Maybe it's because the coffee maker decided to actually work this morning. But something clicked and I understand the story.

Now I've got to keep going without screwing it up.

Now that I think about it, I think I was inspired by the idea of a candy corn latte. When's someone going to invent one?

Short Thoughts on a Few Books

I've been sick for the past few days, which on the positive sign means reading a lot, but it also means coughing and sneezing a lot. Plus my voice sounds like a bad Brando imitation. But anyway, a few brief thoughts on what I've read:



Midnight on Mourn Street (2008) - Christopher Conlon

Earthling Publications specializes in horror, dark fantasy and suspense, so when I pre-ordered this one, I guess I was expecting something of a speculative nature. There are some somewhat strange goings-on, but nothing you could really call speculative. The story concerns Reed, a forty-something and the runaway girl Mauri that camps out outside his Washington D.C. apartment one rainy night. Both characters have something to hide and both have a confrontation coming. Conlon's first novel has a lot of good things going on. Mourn Street's characters do some pretty awful things to each other then try to put the pieces of what's left of their lives together. The ending wasn't what I expected and left me with a creepy, disturbing feeling (perhaps Conlon's intention), but all in all this is a good first novel.






Consolation of Philosophy - Boethius

If I've ever read any real philosophy of any length before this, I've blocked it out of my head, so I suppose you could say that this is my "first contact" with philosophy, thanks to some of my buddies who've studied this stuff for many years. I think this is a good introduction for the uninitiated like me: fairly straight-forward language and digestible, yet fascinating and extremely thought-provoking. (Read more about it on Amazon.)






Eye of the Crow (J-Fic 2007) - Shane Peacock

Eye of the Crow is an entertaining tale of the first case of a thirteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes. Told in the present tense (which drove me crazy), Peacock does a fine job of introducing young readers to 1860's London as well as the world's most famous detective. He also knows how to keep the pages turning without abandoning the quality of the story. Recommended for young readers who may not be quite ready for the Arthur Conan Doyle stories/novels. (Also check out the sequel, Death in the Air.)

The Perfect Halloween Read

Okay, maybe I'm not really looking for the perfect Halloween read, since such a thing probably doesn't exist, but a really good Halloween read. It doesn't even have to be about Halloween, but some element of horror should be present. It can be a novel, a collection, an anthology, or even a single short story, although I would prefer a novel. This morning I started Glen Hirshberg's The Snowman's Children, which early on looks excellent, but I suspect I may finish it well before Halloween.

So, whaddya got?

Ultramarathon Man (NF 2005) - Dean Karnazes

Dean Karnazes is either a freak of nature or just a freak. On his 30th birthday, Karnazes hits a mid-life crisis (a little early, perhaps) and decides to turn his life around. Immediately. "I'll go running," he thinks, "a mile for every year I've been alive." It doesn't matter to him that he hasn't run since high school or that he's just gotten blitzed at a local bar. He's going running.

And he does.

That's the least impressive story in Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. Not only does he begin to run marathons, Karnazes tackles 50-mile runs, the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run, the Badwater Ultramarathon (135 miles through California's Death Valley), the Western States Endurance Run (another 100 mile run through mountainous areas of California), and (get this) a marathon at the South Pole.

Did I mention that Karnazes also single-handedly completed the 199-mile Providian Saturn Relay? Six times.

Clearly the man is out of control.

Cindy and I had already seen the documentary Ultramarathon Man: 50 Marathons, 50 States, 50 Days (2008), which takes place after the events described in the book, so I knew that Karnazes was a little, shall we say, different. But come on!

Ultramarathon Man is an entertaining and often inspiring look at personal achievement, passion, drive and commitment. The fact that Karnazes can successfully complete any of these events is incredible, but even more incredible is the fact that he holds down a full-time job and has a wife and kids.

I wanted to know more about how Karnazes balances running and work, running and family life. He spends a little time talking about how his family supports his passion for running, but very little about how it affects his job. This has to take an enormous toll on his family. Even if he quit his job (which he possibly has done by now, with all of his endorsements), how does he have time for his family? Does he have any time for friendships, even inside the running world? Does that bother him? We never really find out.

The book ends with a detailed recounting of the 199-mile Providian Saturn Relay, a race Karnazes ran by himself with no other "team" members. Maybe it was because the event was such a grueling contest that Karnazes felt compelled to sprinkle lots of comic relief and cuteness on nearly every page, but I found this section just too sticky-sweet. There are lots of family scenes here, but they feel too manufactured and scripted.

Yet the book is very readable, interesting and inspiring. It's certainly made me want to run more, although I'll stick to 5Ks and five-milers, thank you. Yet as a look inside Karnazes, it doesn't go far or deep enough. Still I recommend the book, especially for anyone interested in running or getting in shape.