Books and Magazines

Adam's Favorite Books

Of course I have my favorite books, the ones that I reread from time to time and couldn't imagine losing from my collection. Some are hopeful, others disturbing, a couple both at once, but all the books on the list have changed me in some way, hopefully for the better.

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury. When I first read this book, I was almost seventeen and insane, like Clarisse McClellan. Most people, like the book flap, find it a "compelling classic about the conflict between suppression of thought by the powerful and the indomitable human spirit that refuses to submit." I don't. To me, it's a story of salvation, for Guy Montag, the protagonist. And I think it has a happy ending. Imagining a world with people like Clarisse helped me through several rough patches, and it's one of the reasons I try to assist dreamers. Just one quote from my Clarisse, for now: "I don't think it's social to get a bunch of people together and then not let them talk, do you? It's a lot of funnels and a lot of water poured down the spout and out the bottom, and then telling us it's wine when it's not."
Obedience to Authority, Stanley Milgram. By far, the scariest book I have ever read. Describes the response of people under experimental authority, and the rate of (simulated) punishment they deal. Even at theoretically terminal levels, a majority of Americans continued. I gave this book to my brother as my gift when he graduated college, because I think every adult and child should think long and hard on this. It's one of the foundations of my musings on power and control.
The Man who Loved Only Numbers, Paul Hoffman. A book about Paul Erdos, the most prolific mathematician of the 20th century. For almost 60 years, he traveled from place to place, living out of suitcases and the goodwill of other mathematicians. He did what he loved. Over 1400 papers have his name, in a discipline where 75 is a very fruitful career. A good tale, a mathematician honored, a happy book.
1984, George Orwell. The basic classic of negative utopia, a world that none of say we desire. A bonus is that this forms the basis of Apple's spectacular introduction of the Mac. In some ways, we move away from this conception, in more anonymous communities. In others, like the facial recognition system used on Tampa public streets, we stride towards Oceania. And high school looks a lot closer to this than we care to admit.
The Complete Maus, Art Spiegelman. It's easy today to condemn World War II, and the acts of Germans and others, as something that would never happen again. Then I look at Cambodia and Rwanda, and wonder. Of the tales of the Holocaust, I find this one best, as a story of pain and destruction, but also love and a son and father. The cartoon only makes it more terrifying, as I'm forced to construct the things myself. Bleak times.
The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes, Bill Watterson. On the other hand, here's happy times. Calvin and Hobbes was my favorite cartoon, humorous, satirical, beatifully drawn, and charismatic all at once. Softball would be better with the secret base, transmogrifying into a butterfly seems great, the mathematics cartoons are hilarious, and I would love to play Calvinball sometime! Part of life is joy, and Mr. Watterson did a great job distributing some around.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee. I read this the first time in high school English, and like all mandatory books, was too concerned about plot lines and Christ figures and the like to enjoy the full tale. I bought a paperback about a year ago, reread it, and found it wonderful. Atticus is a wonderful man, giving me hope that Southerners (and Northerners) can be such strong folk. For another positive perspective, look at this article where Atticus plays a big role.

Book Reviews

As I read contemporary fiction and nonfiction, I'll write up little summaries here of particularly good, bad, or popular works. It takes doing to schedule time, and I average about one book per quarter, but I do finish some. Longer reviews are linked. The shorter ones I'll just keep here.

Long Reviews: In a long delayed response for a friend (hi Joan!), here's a little essay on the Left Behind series, a more mixed outlook than I first thought it would be. I read Robert Putnam's very important work Bowling Alone before September last, and this review primarily looks that way. Did the bombing of the Trade Center change some of the basic assumptions? Hmm. Plus, there's an obligatory short page on Tolkien.

Short Reviews:

Positively Fifth Street, James McManus: This was one of the first books about poker, and back then (by back then I mean 2003) editors felt that a book needed something more. That's what Mr. McManus tries, weaving in the murder of Ted Binion. The poker description is quite good, including the qualifying tournaments, the main event, and current player interviews. The murder stuff is distracting, but not annoying. What is annoying is "Bad Jim". Apparently, the author felt it necessary to pad his book with continual updates on his finances, and European trips with his wife, and Richard Nixon, and Girolamo Cardano, and way too many other things. Instead of a narrative, we get the introspections of an old unlikable man. This makes the book far less enjoyable than it could have been. Given the many other options available today, I can't recommend this poker book.
Word Freak, Stefan Fatsis: Like Positively Fifth Street, this was another of my travel fun books, a book I would get for a plane or train ride. I read this on the train home in 2002. Like the poker book, Mr. Fatsis chronicles his journey through a strange and different world, in this case competitive Scrabble. But it's a lot better, because this author knows enough to minimize his neuroses, and stick to the games and colorful players. It's amazing, and scary, to see how competitive he becomes. And it somehow feels better when the result matches his true skill, which he takes in the proper perspective. This is a wonderful book, in the right tone, the closest to the world (trading card games) that I inhabit. It's well worth a recommendation.
Crying, the Natural and Cultural History of Tears, Tom Lutz: This is a very comprehensive book, which is commendable. It includes biology, history, anthropology, and sociology, including lots of things I didn't know. The disappointing part was the sociology, his consideration of the social aspects of crying. That's why I read the book, and Professor Lutz is wrong. He vastly overestimates the effect of a few male examples and "metrosexual" culture. It might be misreading from his position, but he didn't research typical American response as much as he did tear ducts. There still is strong American stigma against crying, and he doesn't answer why, and for that I felt less than full at the end of this text.
The Mythical Man Month, Frederick Brooks, Jr: Highly recommended. I think all bosses should be forced to read and understand the lessons in this book. For one, he admits where he's wrong, with information hiding; that's a strong lesson in itself. The other basics - favor small teams, provide administrative support, maintain conceptual integrity, assign people to communication and organization - apply to all products, not just computer systems. There are too many fads of management. This book is not one of them. In my limited experience, I've tried to follow Brooks' principles, and I don't seem to be disappointing.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J. K. Rowling: It's not like this book needs another review, but one of my friends posted some thoughts. That she could cry and need ice cream is one of her truly wonderful qualities. As literature, book 6 does not suffer from the excess of book 5; someone edited it to a reasonable level. This is particularly evident in the climactic scene, where unlike last time, things progress in an order that doesn't require a flowchart. On the negative side, it seems that Hogwarts had a major outbreak of love potions. I'm not against teenage romance; for most people, it's a part of life. The strange thing is how students across several grades all seem to have caught the bug at once, that it moved from barely discussed to topic number one. At least we get romanticism from it: "Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her. After several long moments - or it might have been half an hour - or possibly several sunlit days - they broke apart."
Killing Dumbledore was an inspired thing to do, for it takes away Harry's most parental figure. Yes, that's the typical pattern for a fantasy world, but the tried and true become tried and true because they work. I wasn't sure it would happen until it did, so that's good suspense. Having Malfoy stutter, but Snape finish the job, is also well planned. We now know that Snape is not all good, but the exact level of his deceit is unknown. Is he fully evil or conflicted between promises? There's one book left, and the table is set. The amount of Hogwarts in Book 7 is debatable, and I think it should be small - we have a climactic battle to fight! I won't say Book 6 is the best of the series (Book 4 and especially Book 3 are better) but this is a substantial improvement over the last one, and a good read.

Magazines of Note

Since I'm poor now, grad student and all that, I don't subscribe to as many magazines as I used to. So the list here includes both the few subscriptions I maintain, as well as those I would carry given my old consultant strategy. I include comments about why I find them illuminative.

I've heard it called the best magazine in the world, and it's tough to disagree, at least on the news front. The British viewpoint of the Economist keeps the editorializing to a tolerable point. Pro-business in Britain is still sane, unlike the Cato Institute and other loopy people here. Don't get me started on the hideous preface of Justice Waite in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886). It was wrong. That, Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897), and Lochner v. New York (1905) formed some terrible law. What, I can't understand law too? Nevertheless, if you want to read one thing weekly to stay up to date on world news and business, choose the Economist.

A lot of what I read is religio-politicial in nature. As a Catholic, the best choices are Commonweal with a more liberal view, and First Things on the conservative side. Both are well written and insightful generally; as small faults, Commonweal might be too permissive, while First Things defends Marketism too vehemently. They snipe at each other occasionally; it's sort of cute.

Updated September 2005 with new short reviews.