I am not your typical Robert McManus fan.  I was aware of his outdoor writing and columns - via my wife and father-in-law - but hadn’t really read any of his work.  Although I grew up fishing and camping, I have never really been a hunter or an “outdoorsman” per se and so didn’t really read his columns or essays.  Instead, I came to enjoy his quirky style and sense of humor through his recent Bo Tully Mysteries.

I enjoyed those books enough that when Kerplunk, a new collection of McManus essays, was released I decided to add it to my “office” reading (short essays or columns are ideal for this).  And I am glad I did.  Kerplunk turned out to be just what the publisher promised: a collection of “gently comic stories about outdoor life” and  “folksy, wonderfully wise depictions of country life.”

As I noted above, despite a love for the outdoors, I would imagine I am not really the target demographic for McManus.  I haven’t been camping or fishing in some time and have never really hunted.  But you don’t have to have experienced everything that McManus has to appreciate his wit and insight.  You just have to be a human being.  I have been involved in enough camping trips and outdoor outings with family and friends to appreciate the truth in McManus’s slightly exaggerated and tongue-in-cheek stories of his adventures in the Pacific Northwest.

Of course, if you are a veteran hunter/camper/fisherman/outdoorsman than these stories will probably bring more than just a smile or chuckle - they will probably make you laugh out loud as you recall similar experiences.  The more experience you have with the trials and tribulations involved in the outdoor life, the more you will relate to the perspective McManus brings and the folk wisdom that results from having been there and done that.

So if, like me, you have a relative or friend who loves to hunt, fish or explore the great outdoors - even if they don’t get to do it as often as they would like - Kerplunk would make a great gift or reading recommendation.  In this case, the book flap copy really does offer a fair description of the book’s appeal:

These wry, curmudgeonly tales appeal to real outdoorsmen and the armchair variety alike. Often nostalgic, occasionally philosophical, and always funny, the stories in Kerplunk! reaffirm Patrick F. McManus’s reputation as an American classic.

Last week I described the Eddie Dickens Trilogy as “over-the-top farcical romps” for children; a mix of Dickens, Monty Python, and Lemony Snicket.  Gideon Defoe’s The Pirates! adventure series is in many ways an adult version without the Dickens and with pirates instead.

I stumbled upon The Pirates! In An Adventure with Scientists at Half Price books.  As I am always on the lookout for short, well packaged, and humorous reading material I picked it up.

It wasn’t very long before I was laughing out loud as I read it.  And when I laugh out loud while reading my wife always makes me read the passage out loud to her (she hates to be left out).  Soon I was practically reading the book to her.  Luckily, the book was short.

The plot is rather hard to describe, but it involves The Pirate Captain and his band of merry men sailing the high seas arguing about shanties and looking for adventure.  Led to believe that the HMS Beagle is full of gold bullion from the Bank of England the captain and his crew sail to the Galapagos Islands to attack the famous ship.  But they are disappointed to find no gold but the young scientist Charles Darwin instead.  embarrassed at having attacked the research vessel they agree to give Darwin a ride back to London.  And soon find themselves embroiled in a battle with the Bishop of London.

One of the many twists involved, however, is that Darwin has a slightly different quest in the book then he does historically.  Here is how he describes his important theory in the book:

In short, I believe that a monkey, properly trained, given the correct dietary regime, and dressed in fancy clothes, can be made indistinguishable from a human gentleman.

As this should make clear, the books are silly - even a little absurd.  But I enjoy that sort of thing.

For more on this series click below.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am now the proud owner of an Amazon Kindle My wife got me one for Christmas and it arrived last night.

My first impressions are largely positive.  It is sleek and light.  I am not a design type but it looks better in person than it does in pictures online.

One problem that others have pointed out, is the “next page” toggle takes a big chunk of the right hand side of the device.  This gives you very little space to leverage when you are trying to put it in the case or put the battery cover back on.  I guess you can just turn the device off and thus not worry about pushing anything but it is a little annoying.

But I can say that the Kindle is easy to read and use.  I downloaded a book and read the introduction last night.  It was amazing to order a book and start reading it in less than a minute in the comfort of your own home.  I found it easy to read and turn the pages.  There is a little blip as you turn the pages, but I found it didn’t interrupt my reading pace.

One handy aspect is that you don’t have to keep putting a bookmark in place if you are interrupted.  I could get up and let my dog out or help my daughter with something and then simply pick up the Kindle and start reading again.

I also tried out a magazine subscription and found it very convenient as well.  It was easy to scroll through and find the articles you wanted to read.  The idea that the latest issue of a magazine is wirelessly sent to your Kindle automatically is also cool.  Simply by having this small device with you you never will be without reading material.

I hate having a bunch of magazines or newspapers cluttering up the house so Kindle subscriptions make for an easy way to read these sources without all the clutter.  I know you can read online - and I do have digital subscriptions to some - but the Kindle is an even smaller and less awkward way to read.  Whether on a plane, in a coffee shop, or waiting at the doctors office, it is great to just carry this small device and have access to so much reading material.

If there is an initial drawback it is the lack of choice in some areas.  The magazines available are minimal.  There are a lot of books available but it stinks when a book you would really like to access is not available in Kindle format.  I hope over time more and more content will be available to Kindle owners.

I didn’t really contemplate subscribing to blogs.  I just can’t see paying money for that.  Plus, most of the blog reading I do is interactive (leaving comments, linking, etc.) so I don’t think the Kindle is ideal for this area. 

So far I am very happy with my new Kindle.  I will offer more thoughts as I have them.  Anyone else out there get the Kindle?  If so let me know what you think.

Given my book addiction and natural affinity for libraries, I have often thought about a career as a librarian. But I could never see myself spending the time to get the degree, and the pay isn’t great, so it remained just a unrealized possibility; but one that still knocks around the back of my brain on occasion.

Not surprisingly then, when Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library came my way I thought: “Hey, here is my chance to get some insight into the life of a librarian.”

Here is the publisher copy for the book:

Not long ago, the public library was a place for the bookish, the eggheaded, and the studious–often seeking refuge from a loud, irrational, crude, outside world. Today, libraries have become free-for-all entertainment complexes filled with rowdy teens, deviants, drugs, and even sex toys. Lockdowns and chaperones are often necessary.

What happened?

Don Borchert was a short-order cook, door-to-door salesman, telemarketer, and Christmas-tree-chopper before landing a job in a California library. He never could have predicted his encounters with the colorful kooks, touching adolescents, threatening bullies, and tricksters who fill the pages of this hilarious memoir.

In Free for All, Borchert offers readers a ringside seat for the unlikely spectacle of mayhem and absurdity that is business as usual at the public library. You’ll see cops bust drug dealers who’ve set up shop in the men’s restroom, witness a burka-wearing employee suffer a curse-ridden nervous breakdown, and meet a lonely, neglected kid who grew up in the library and still sends postcards to his surrogate parents–the librarians. In fact, from the first page of this comic debut to the last, you’ll learn everything about the world of the modern-day library that you never expected.

Despite this description, what I found was more reflections on the social space of an institution, and the community it serves, then a day in the life of a librarian. Sure, Borchert recounts various stories and episodes of his job, but what makes it interesting is how he captures the role of the library in his community and the people that make up that community. For example, I was stuck by how much school life impacts the library. School children and their schedule play a huge role in the library’s day-to-day activities and the work of the librarians.

What makes the book an easy and interesting read is the way Borchert’s style balances realism, humor, compassion, and cynicism. for example, he uses humor to poke fun at the bureaucratic nature of state and local government even though his paycheck comes from the city; he is able to laugh about the odd people that patronize and work at libraries without sounding overly judgmental or harsh; and he is able to see that some kids are trouble without losing his compassion or becoming darkly cynical.

Free for All isn’t one of those Wow! books that blow you away or that you immediately want to tell your friends about. Instead it is a good natured and humorous look at a profession and institution that many of us are vaguely familiar with but from a limited perspective. Borchert offers his perspective on not only the unconventional activities that happen in and around the library; but also how he found himself working there and the role the library plays within the larger community.

Not being a librarian I don’t know how typical these kind of stories are, or whether they are of interest to those in the profession, but I enjoyed reading them; and I gained a better appreciation for the community function of the local library. I would think that anyone who has spent considerable time in a library would enjoy Free For All.

Walter Borneman’s The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America is a very good popular history of this crucial war in not only American, but world history.  It is a short and concise retelling of the war.

Here is a brief synopsis of the book from its back cover:

In the summer of 1754, deep in the wilderness of western Pennsylvania, a very young George Washington suffered his first military defeat, and a centuries-old feud between Great Britain and France was rekindled.  The war that followed would be fought across virgin territories, from Nova Scotia to the forks of the Ohio River, and it would ultimately decide the fate of the entire North American continent - not just for Great Britain and France but also for the Spanish and Native American populations.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.  Borneman does an excellent job of describing the major events of the war.  If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of the war, this book is not for you.  But, if you are trying to understand the reasons for and the consequences of the war in a brief work, this book is for you.

I have never truly understood why the war is called what it is called because the French and the Indians were the losers in this war.  After all, the French lost almost all of their North American and Caribbean colonies and the American Indians lost some territory that would eventually lead to losing all of their territory.  The British and the American colonists came out as the biggest winners - the British gained some valuable colonies and the Americans were freed from one of their greatest threats - French influence and expansion in North America.

Bornemans’ representations of the major players in the war are accurate and honest.  British General Braddock is justifiably criticized for his poor tactics in his defeat on the way to Fort Duquesne.  British General Wolfe is rightly criticized for his enormous ego and his lapses in judgment during the Quebec campaign.  Borneman equally criticizes the French for their shortsightedness in not reinforcing their Canadian colony in rebuffing the British attempts to invade - in fact, their efforts bordered on incompetence.

Borneman also does not shy away from Analyzing America’s earliest heroes.  For example, Major Robert Rogers of Rogers’ Rangers fame was not the perfect Boy Scout that many of us have come to believe partly from Spencer Tracy’s portrayal of him in Northwest Passage.  Rogers was involved in some questionable land speculation issues in the war.  Borneman portrays a young George Washington as a surly - maybe even insubordinate - member of General Forbes’ campaign to capture Fort Duquesne in 1758.

If you are looking for a good overview of the French and Indian War, Borneman’s book is a perfect choice.

As long time readers of this site will recall, I am a sucker for imaginative young adult or children’s books

My most recent exploration of this genre was the Edie Dickens Trilogy.  The books, that began as letters written

by Ardagh to his nephew at boarding school, are over-the-top farcical romps that mix Charles Dickens and Monty Python to create a sort of British Lemony Snicket.

The series starts with A House Called Awful End .  Here is how Amazon attempts to describe the ridiculous plot:

“When Eddie Dickens was eleven years old, both his parents caught some awful disease that made them turn yellow, go a bit crinkly around the edges, and smell of old hot water bottles.” So begins author Philip Ardagh’s silly story of an ill-fated boy who, due to his parents’ jaundiced condition, is forced to take part in a quest so preposterous that it could only conclude at A House Called Awful End. Set in England, back in the days when “postage stamps were a pretty new idea,” Eddie finds himself put in the dubious care of his Mad Uncle Jack and Mad Aunt Maud, who not only assault him with a stuffed stoat and make him sleep in his trunk, but carelessly turn him over to the St. Horrid’s Home for Grateful Orphans. There, he stages a breakout, smuggles himself and the other orphans out in the belly of a cow parade float, and is miraculously reunited with his newly recovered parents.

Next up is Dreadful Acts.  School Library Journal:

It all begins when an accidental explosion at Eddie’s house leads to the appearance of a renowned escapologist named The Great Zucchini. Due to this encounter, Eddie meets and is enchanted by the “camel-faced” Daniella, kidnapped by escaped convicts with names like Bonecrusher, spends a night in jail, digs up part of a graveyard, and helps to solve a mystery.

And last but not least, is Terrible Times:

In the third installment of the Eddie Dickens saga, Eddie, our steadfast hero, finds himself en route to North America aboard the sailing ship Pompous Pig along with a cargo hold full of left shoes, the world-famous Dog’s Bone Diamond, and some of the most disreputable traveling companions anyone might have the misfortune to share a berth with. A mysterious stowaway and some familiar faces from Eddie’s past only complicate matters, as does being tied up and set adrift in a leaky rowboat. Will Eddie ever reach America?

 So what to make of the series?  I have never felt I was a good judge of grade school kids will or will not like.  If you like silly oddball humor I would think you would enjoy this series.  They are clearly in the mold of Lemony Snicket as the Amazon reviewer noted:

Snicket-ites will find it impossible to ignore the similarities to their beloved series about three orphans who undergo much hardship with little hope of relief. For one thing, Ardagh, like Snicket, enjoys spinning an over-the-top Gothic tale. Also, he assumes the voice of a personable, mostly omniscient, sometimes pedantic narrator who is eager to explain the origins of the terms he uses, such as “pitch-black,” “unbridled joy,” and “nailing” as well as offering a running commentary on the development of his story as he is telling it. One big difference is that this trilogy is set “in England sometime during the reign of Queen Victoria (who sat on the throne for more than sixty-three years so let’s hope she had a cushion…).” And of course, Ardagh has a sense of humor all his own and an overriding cheerfulness that Snicket likes to snuff the moment it might surface.

For my part, while I enjoyed them and got a chuckle out of the silliness, they didn’t grab me to the point that I wanted to go out and start the next series (Unlikely Exploits).  Also worth noting are the illustrations done by David Roberts which PW describes as “hilarious pen-and-ink drawings of wide-eyed Eddie and his insane family resemble a cross between Charles Addams and Edward Gorey.”

So all in all, if you like Lemony Snicket and are looking something along the same lines but with a different sense of humor and a different setting, Phillip Ardagh might fit the bill.

Now you See Him by Eli Gottlieb

Publishers Weekly:

A mesmerizing blend of suspense and long-buried family secrets, Gottlieb’s second novel (after 1997’s The Boy Who Went Away) culminates in shocking revelations that rock a quiet upstate New York town. Nick Framingham is still reeling from the recent death of his childhood best friend, the writer Rob Castor, who committed suicide after killing his ex-girlfriend in Manhattan. Nick’s own marriage to his college sweetheart, Lucy, begins to unravel as he struggles to understand what drove Rob to murder. Rekindling an old relationship with his first love, Belinda, Rob’s volatile and beautiful sister, Nick begins to retrace not only Rob’s last days but also their shared childhood, looking for clues to explain his friend’s actions. Gottlieb skillfully ratchets up the suspense by doling out the details of Rob’s death in bits and pieces, until everything falls into place in a startling conclusion that will rattle even the genre’s most experienced readers. With his pitch-perfect dialogue and flawed yet empathetic characters, Gottlieb’s sophomore effort should win him widespread recognition.

The Eye of Jade by Diane wei Liang

Publishers Weekly:

Chinese exile Liang, who fled her country after participating in the Tiananmen Square protests, makes an impressive debut with this understated mystery set in the late 1990s, the first in a prospective series. After resigning from the ministry of public security, Mei Wang launches a private investigative agency, a technically illegal business in China, much to her family’s dismay.After an old family friend, ‘Uncle’ Chen Jitian, hires Mei to track down a jade seal from the Han dynasty, previously believed to be destroyed, Mei and her assistant, Gupin, follow slim leads to a shady dealer who might have connections to the same museum collection supposedly incinerated by the Red Guard. Readers familiar with Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs will find many parallels between that independent and unconventional PI and Mei. Mei’s challenging family life nicely complements the puzzle of the missing jade and the shifting Chinese political climate.

Lizka and Her Men by Alexander Ikonnikov

Kulturnews:

With his first full length novel, this talented young writer has succeeded in producing both a detailed psychological study of a young naïve girl’s transition into a fully fledged confident woman and a true reflection of Russian character and behaviour of the last 35 years.

I just want to take a moment to brag on myself.  I actually accomplished one of my goals in 2007.  In 2006 I pledged to attempt to read 75 books but came up one book short.  I renewed my pledge in 2007 and rededicated myself to the challenge.  And I succeeded in reading 80 books last year!

So that is one goal I can cross off as having met.  Who says no one achieves their New Year’s Resolutions?

I am not going to make such a pledge this year, however, as it is already clear that my time and focus are going to be severely challenged.  Things might change, but right now I can’t set that as a goal and be realistic.

Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers or those interested in the history of the NFL will want to be sure and check out Dan Rooney’s autobiography My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL recently released by Da Cappo.

The publishers description of the book reveals why this is such an interesting book:

For the first time, Dan Rooney, chairman of one of the greatest NFL dynasties ever, the Pittsburgh Steelers–winner of five Super Bowls–tells his compelling life story.

In 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers will turn seventy-five years old. So will Dan Rooney. In Dan Rooney, the owner talks about growing up on Pittsburgh’s North Side, competing with Johnny Unitas for top high school quarterback honors in western Pennsylvania, learning the ropes of big-time sports from his father and mentor, Art Rooney (”the Chief”), helping to shape the modern NFL into America’s all-consuming passion, and forging the Steelers into a Super Bowl-winning dynasty. He also speaks frankly about winning and losing, and discusses his relationships with family, coaches, players, owners, NFL commissioners, the media, and the fans–”Steeler Nation.”

It’s all here: the difficult contract negotiations, controversial decisions, memorable teams, and many behind-the-scenes stories of the growth of America’s favorite game. A dedicated family man and proud native of Pittsburgh, this chairman of one of the most successful franchises ever reveals the dynamics that have made him such a respected owner in the NFL.

Dan saw the rise of one of the great sports franchises from the ground up. As a result he has a vast knowledge of the history of not only the Steelers but of Pittsburgh, the NFL, and sports in America.

An added bonus is that the author is clearly a man of great character; a man devoted to his family, his faith, his city, and his team. If you want to know why the Steelers are the class of the NFL you need look no farther than the Rooney family.

If there is a drawback to the book it is that it is an autobiography - co-authored by the President and Director of Library & Archives of Pittsburgh’s Smithsonian-affiliated Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. This allows Rooney’s personality to come through but it sometimes lacks the drama that a professional writer might have brought to the project. The story of the Steelers rise from perennial doormat to dynasty is a fascinating and dramatic one. A writer with a little more polish could have turned it into a powerful read.

But even in its more laid back structure it is still and insightful and interesting look at sports and cultural history. As a Steeler fan who has never lived in Pittsburgh, and who came of age during the dynasty, I found it deepened my understanding of the Rooney family, the Steelers organization, and the history of the NFL. As a fan of both football and history I found it compelling reading.

Steeler fans and fans of the NFL will want to have this contribution to history of the sport on their shelf.

Readers might be getting a little tired of my focus on Liberal Fascism but such is the nature of blogs.  There has a been a great deal of pixels spilled over this book and the left side of the blogosphere has been particularly up in arms about the very existence of such a book.

For those out there that still might have an open mind, I think Jonah captured the impetus for the book very well over at the NRO blog about the book:

Correcting arguably the biggest and most slanderous spin of the 20th century - that fascism and national socialism are somehow related to classical liberalism — strikes me as a pretty worthwhile subject for a
book.

How is it that every allegedly racist sin committed by any Republican going back 50 years is relevant to today’s politics (so says Paul Krugman et al), but the eugenic and fascistic foundation of American progressivism - and hence American liberalism - amounts to intellectually unserious and uninteresting “trivia”?

Why is it relevant? One answer might be that because people such as yourself are
constantly looking in the wrong direction for the fascist peril, you won’t spot it when it arrives.

I will get into the details when I post my review, but I think this gets to the heart of Jonah’s project.  Those on the left love to label their opponents as fascists so why not explore the origins of this controversial political philosophy and movement; and note its historical connection to American progressives?  Why not force the left to defend some of its history for once?

You may not agree with Jonah’s argument(s) or his style but I think if the left could get over the outrage that liberal and fascism would be in any way connected, they might find the book interesting.

I also continue to find it annoying that many simply refuse to get past the title or cover art.  It is as if you have to forgo marketing and controversy if your argument is to be taken seriously.  Only dry and boring academic tomes - that cost a fortune and will never sell more than a few hundred copies -  will be considered worthy of engagement.  If the title or cover art are a little too provocative suddenly your allowed to ignore the book’s thesis or insult its author without having read it.

This is particularly rich given that a former New York Times foreign correspondent recently wrote a book explicitly calling Christian conservatives fascist.

a large chunk of the responses to the book are simple not worth even reading.  They are merely insults and non sequiters dressed up as cutting criticism.  This is the part of the web that I really could do without - all the vulgarity, name calling, and general lack of civility.  It happens across the political spectrum and I find it tiresome and boring.