Seeing the glass "Half Empty"

Half Empty by David Rakoff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Rakoff's laugh out loud observations of the peculiarities of life is well worth delving into its pages.  Whether he is highlighting the banality of Rent or cutting through the agony of facing terminal illness, he will push you to see the full range of human experience through humor and tragedy.



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California Crack-Up

 California Crackup by Joe Mathews and Mark Paul

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


California Crackup offers an excellent analysis of the dysfunction that plagues California's system of governance. This insightful read on the perils of the Golden State presents the best explanation I have read on how our state governance got to be so bogged down and unresponsive to the challenges we face.  What I appreciated most about the book is that the authors do not simply offer a gloom and doom assessment, but instead, they move beyond finger-pointing to provide some concrete changes that could greatly improve how we do things. 

A must read for residents living within its borders.  This book is on my required reading list for engaged citizens.  For more specific information about the authors' diagnosis of our troubles and what we can do about it, check out their website at: http://www.californiacrackup.com/.

Below is a segment from KQED's This Week:

Hot Time in the Old Town....not so hot

Hot Time in the Old Town: The Great Heat Wave of 1896 and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt by Edward P. Kohn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I originally picked up Hot Time in the Old Town after hearing an interview with the author on NPR's Fresh Air.  As someone who is interested in our history, particularly those moments that resonate with our present times, I found the book to be uneven (hence the three star rating). 

Far and away, the best parts of this book are those that take the reader into the dark and dank tenements and illustrate in rich detail the cramp and stifling conditions.  Kohn draws upon contemporary reports from the time period such as those written by Jacob Riis to bring into vivid detail how the rising temperatures left poor immigrants vulnerable to the ravages of extreme heat.  His description of the conditions in the city and the impact of the heat wave on its residents is fascinating.

When he ventures from the streets and tenements into the terrain of city and national politics, the book begins to lose its luster.  The reader is certainly provided with rich background on Theodore Roosevelt and his political career.  However, when Kohn attempts to link the events surrounding the heat wave to "the making of Theodore Roosevelt" he is on shaky ground.  Certainly, the reader sees in Roosevelt's response to the heat wave his distaste of concentrations of power and a compassion for those less fortunate, but his claim that this event was instrumental in establishing his political standing is not well supported.

Readers who enjoyed the historical novels of Caleb Carr (The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness) will find the account of city life and the struggles of the working poor interesting context.  If however, readers enter the text looking for explanations for Theodore Roosevelt's rise to national prominence will find themselves on a lost search.

Here is a clip of Jon Stewart's interview with Edward Kohn author of Hot Time in the Old Town:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Edward Kohn
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

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Hellhound on His Trail...

Hellhound On His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the International Hunt for His Assassin by Hampton Sides

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hellhound On His Trail reads like a psychological thriller and uncovers new material on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the international hunt for his assassin, James Earl Ray.  Tracing the stalking of the MLK, first by the FBI under Hoover and later by James Earl Ray, Hampton Sides provides a richly woven historical narrative of the events leading up the assassination. For those interested in history of the period as well as a gripping read, this is the book for you.

You can watch the fascinating PBS documentary, Roads to Memphis, based, in part, on Hampton Side's book.

Get ready for an adventurous romp through Merry Old England...

Defender of the Realm by Corey Holst


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I must admit that I do not usually read historical fiction set in the medieval period.   However, reading Corey Holst's Defender of the Realm made me rethink my reading preference.  My interest in history initially pulled me in.  However, as the story unfolded, I found so much more... 

The novel mixes adventure, action, and even humor in just the right combination.  The rich detail and compelling narrative drew me in and didn't let me go.   In the process, I was treated to an adventurous trip that took me through the struggles of daily life to the heroic battles of the period; through castles, and fields and towns.  Highly recommended for readers looking for an engaging story and richly-drawn characters.

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As the disco ball turns...

Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture by Alice Echols

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alice Echols's new book, Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture, sifts through the dust bins of "the platforms, polyester and plastic vibe of it all" to answer her key question: "What was it about this much-maligned music that made it such hot stuff?" 

What started as an underground phenomenon reached mainstream notoriety with the film Saturday Night Fever and its ubiquitous soundtrack. As it dominated the airwaves, disco faced a vicious backlash best known for the "Disco Sucks" rantings.

Echols book easily fits within the ranks of other notable scholarly works that sift through the dust bins filled with platform shoes, polyester and glitter, to find the gems. In so doing, her book helps to resurrect the 1970s disco scene as a subject worthy of our consideration.

Historian Jon Wiener interviewed Alice Echols on his 4 O'clock radio show on KPFK.  You can click on the link to his website and download the podcast.

The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the 70s in San Francisco by Joshua Gamson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Joshua Gamson's The Fabulous Sylvester:  The Legend, The Music, The Seventies in San Francisco makes a good companion piece.  Gamson's book invites the reader to view the broader perspective of gender politics and music.  Through the eyes of one performer, the reader bears witness to someone who lived his life out loud.  Sylvester embodied "a respect for the uniting freedom of fabulousness, for the power of audacity over conformity."  (p. 270)

Just a sample of Sylvester's mighty realness:



The luscious sounds of Gamble and Huff, creators of the "Sound of Philly":


Dimitri from Paris presents "Get Down With The Philly Sound" from BBE Music on Vimeo.

In America, is crazy "a preexisting condition?"

Below is a piece I first published on my (Not) Idle Chatter blog (August 22, 2009), during the Summer of Crazy (1967 had its Summer of Love...since then we have descended a few notches).  The post references a couple of interesting reads that I thought followers of the Reading Corner might appreciate.  I have posted it here for my fellow bibliophiles.  

**************************************************************

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Right Wing furor over the health care debate. In that post, I tried to place the hysteria into a historical context. See "When the Going Gets Tough...".

For a more detailed and eloquent analysis of this same phenomenon, please read Rick Perlstein's Washington Post editorial "In America, Crazy Is a Preexisting Condition: Birthers, Town Hall Hecklers and the Return of Right-Wing Rage" that appeared on August 16, 2009. In his piece, he points out that commentators tend to view the so-called "Astroturf protests" as either "genuine grass roots" activism or an evil conspiracy "staged for You Tube." In fact, Perlstein argues they are both:

If you don't understand that any moment of genuine political change always produces both, you can't understand America, where the crazy tree blooms in every moment of liberal ascendancy, and where elites exploit the crazy for their own narrow interests.

Perlstein provides ample evidence for the presence of reaction and counter-reaction in periods of reform in the United States. Everything, from FDR and Truman's social safety net of the New Deal, to Kennedy's efforts to limit nuclear proliferation, to the Civil Rights movement and the legislative correctives that came about as a result, has been linked to Soviet style takeovers and the creeping spector of Communism.

It also bears mentioning here that Reagan's infamous 1961 recording warning about socializing medicine was directed at the legislative moves toward Medicare, a now hugely popular program, even among critics of health care reform (the "Keep government out of my Medicare" crowd).

Those interested in the emergence of the Right in the aftermath of the 1960's are encouraged to check out -- Rick Perlstein's book, Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of an American Consensus (2001) and Lisa McGirr's Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New Right (2002). These authors distinguish the old Right, primarily concerned with economic and market-based interests with the New Right, a broad-based constituency that melded the economic interests of business with social issues such as abortion, women's rights, etc. Both analyze how through grassroots efforts, conservatives built a movement that captured the imagination of the predominantly white, suburban middle class in the wake of Goldwater's resounding defeat in 1964. Progressives and liberals alike would do well to take these historical lessons into account.

Yes, these are truly strange times in which we live. As we have seen in recent weeks, there is no shortage of fear-mongering. However, as Perlstein and McGirr point out, it is not advisable to underestimate the power of irrational, scare tactics to win the hearts and minds of the American populace. If health care reform is to become a reality, we need not sit idly by and wait for the Right to implode under the weight of its own illogic. If we are serious about creating change that we can all believe in, we need to make our voices heard.

If you've ever wondered....where does the money go?

Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis by Scott Bittle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the book for you.  We often hear how our overspending ways will lead to our demise.  In the partisan bickering that bogs down our political system, it is difficult to figure out the extent of the real threat.  Just how bad is it?

Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson make it very clear -- it's really bad.  They move beyond the hyperbole and finger pointing to highlight the sources of our fiscal crisis and how it threatens our future.  Writing in an accessible style, the authors dispel myths about the largest categories of federal spending (spoiler alert: no, it is not welfare or defense) and show exactly why and how we're headed for trouble.  Bittle and Johnson illustrate in painful detail how push is going to come to shove once the Baby Boomers hit retirement and draw upon Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Here are six things, Bittle and Johnson think every American should know about the federal debt dilemma:

The Budget Debate: Parking-lot Version:

1. For thirty-one out of the last thirty-five years, the country has spent more on government programs and services than it has collected in taxes.

2. Every year the government comes up short, it borrows money to cover the difference. We've now built up a very big debt —roughly $9 trillion, and yes, that is trillion with a t.

3. The country will have humongous additional expenses over the next couple of decades as the baby boomers begin to retire and need more medical care.

4. There is no realistic way government can lower taxes (or even keep them at current levels), spend money on everything people want the government to do (at least according to the polls), and still end up with a balanced budget.

5. If we keep on going the way we're going, the debt will get bigger and begin to endanger the U.S. Economy and our own personal finances and plans. And the government won't have enough money to pay for Social Security and Medicare for the boomers and still do what most of us expect government to do.

6. A substantial portion of the country's debt is held in foreign countries. Right now, these foreign investors consider U.S. Government bonds one of the safest places in the world to put their money, but they could decide at some point that Europe or China or some other place is a better bet. This would be the global equivalent of a store clerk seizing your credit card and cutting it up.

Comeback America by David Walker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

David Walker's book, Comeback America, is a good companion piece to Bittle and Johnson's work. Walker served as the seventh Comptroller General of the United States and was the CEO of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008. Though non-repentant Keynesians (like myself) may try to eschew the book as just another vitriolic partisan rant. Please be assured it is not. Instead, Walker lays out compelling evidence that shows how our huge national debt will limit our ability to tackle the challenges ahead -- providing health care for an increasingly aging population, quality education and future opportunities for our children. Writing in a clear and accessible style, Walker makes a strong case for our need to wake up and muster the courage needed to secure our economic future.

Despite the sobering conclusions presented, these books are not doomsday tales.  They provide an exploration of what we can change course before it is too late.  In this regard, the authors not only help us to understand our current fate, but they also point to some promising directions into a better, more secure future.  I would put both of these books on the list of the recommended readings list for all Americans.

Related links of interest:

• Click on this link to see the Bill Moyers interview with the authors:  The Debt Dilemma.  (The interview begins a couple of minutes into the video segment).
• For more information on the federal budget check out the website for the Public Agenda, "a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to strengthen our democracy's capacity to take on tough issues" 
• For more information on David Walker's Comeback America.
• Click on this link to see a 30 minute segment of I.O.U.S.A. -- a non-partisan documentary that explains the national debt.

Thelonious Monk...an American Original

"The piano ain't got no wrong notes!" 

-- Thelonious Monk

Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin Kelley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thelonious Monk:  The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D.G. Kelley is a meticulously researched and engaging read that seeks to put the record straight without any chaser.  Popular mythology about Monk tends to cast him as untrained, childlike and eccentric.  Drawing upon a wealth of family documents, Kelley masterfully weaves a story that counters these myths and captures Monk's genius and his humanity with compassion and profound appreciation.

As an educator, I found myself drawn to the parts of the story that brought the people and local institutions that nourished Monk's musical creativity into vivid clarity.  Very early on, Monk demonstrated a keen interest and talent in music, especially the piano.  Growing up in Harlem during the early part of the twentieth century, his talents were nurtured thanks in part to his participation in an after school boys and girls club.  At this youth center, Thelonious was able to begin his musical education and develop his piano playing.  His mother, raising three children by herself, also provided a pivotal role in the young musician's life -- acquiring a piano at home and lessons to further hone his creativity.  Later on, as an adult, his wife Nellie provided a solid foundation of love and support -- emotional, financial and business.  

However, to highlight the people who nurtured Monk's musicality is not to detract in any way from his sheer genius.   Kelley makes clear that for many years Monk did not receive the accolades he richly deserved.  His style of playing discordant notes formed the basis of what would become BeBop, popularized by two other jazz greats -- Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. While their names are most often associated with the emergence of BeBop, Monk's compositional mastery was foundational to this new form of jazz.

While the book follows the twists and turns of the history of jazz, it is much more than your usual musical biography.  Kelley's book stands as a tribute to Monk's humanity.  Even as a budding jazz musician, he took an active role in caring for his children, while Nellie worked outside the home to provide financial support for the family.   He pursued his profound sense of social justice by supporting civil rights organizations such as the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) among others.  He courageously struggled with manic-depression, made even more acute due to alcohol and drug usage.  Clearly, there was more to the man that his mind-blowing musical virtuosity.

Reading Kelley's book deepened my appreciation for Monk and his contributions to modern jazz, the Civil Rights movement and social justice, in general.  Highly recommended for those interested in the history of jazz and the development of a true American original.

See comments by the author, Robin Kelley, on Thelonious Monk:



To see the original in action, check out this video clip of Monk performing one of his classics, Blue Monk:

"It's the end, the end of the Seventies"...or is it?

The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics by Bruce J. Schulman


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"It's the end, the end of the Seventies/

It's the end, the end of the Century"

-- The Ramones

The Seventies is often dismissed as an era of leisure suits, bad hair, disco music and cheesy TV shows.  Yet, historian Bruce J. Schulman argues that these images fail to capture the era's real significance.

 Schulman gives the Seventies its due as a time period worthy of scholarly consideration.  According to popular characterizations of the 1970s, it represents nothing more than the "in-between" decade nestled between the radical 1960s and the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s.  The author dispels this misconception, arguing that: 

The Seventies transformed American economic and cultural life as much as, if not more than, the revolutions in manners and morals of the 1920s and 1960s.  The decade reshaped the political landscape more dramatically than the 1930s.  In race relations, religion, family life, politics and popular culture, the 1970s marked the most significant watershed of modern U.S. history, the beginning of our own time. (p. xii)

 Throughout the book, Schulman skillfully weaves together a wealth of evidence into a highly engaging analysis of the key political, cultural and economic shifts in the American landscape during this critical period of our history.  During the 1970s, the center of political and economic power shifted from the industries of the Northeast to the Sunbelt (the southern and western regions of the United States).  And, our nation has never been the same since.

As Schulman highlights, these changes brought about a "thoroughgoing southernization of American life."  Religion, especially personal expression of faith, have become commonplace in our politics and public life.  Country music, NASCAR and "a kind of wide-open libertarian boosterism" have become mainstays in our national culture.   The roots of what has come to be called the "New Right," and more recently the so-called "Teabag Movement" can be traced to the tumult of the 1970s. 

Schulman concludes:  "The long, gaudy, depressing Seventies reinvented America.  We live in their shadows." (p. 257)  For those seeking a better understanding of this transformation and the shadow it casts on us today, The Seventies is highly recommended. 

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The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 "Wherever you are, death will find you,

even in the looming tower."

With these words, quoted from a passage from the fourth sura of the Quran,  bin Laden "sent an obvious signal to the hijackers who were on their way" (p. 350).

Today's headline announcing the most recent hijacking attempt illustrates the relevance of Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower:  Al-Qaeda and The Road to 9/11.  For those seeking to understand the philosophical underpinnings and motivations behind these kinds of terrorist attacks, Wright's book provides a highly readable and informative primer on the sources of the most pressing conflicts of our time.

Wright's book traces the emergence of Al-Qaeda ("The Base") from a rag-tag bunch of largely uneducated religious zealots who got their first taste of jihad fighting against the Soviets in the late 1970s and early 1980's to the highly disciplined force capable of executing international acts of terror such as embassy bombings, an attack on the USS Cole and the destruction of the World Trade Center towers and the death of thousands.

By analyzing the intersections of radical Islamic thought, Middle Eastern political developments and the rigidity of the U.S. intelligence and investigative bureacracies in the post-Cold War global context, Wright helps to explain how America came to be the target of Al-Qaeda's struggle against "The West" and how the very agencies charged with our public safety let us down.  In so doing, he provides details on how these developments culminated in the global conflict we find ourselves engaged in today.

Wright's narrative make a crucial distinction between more traditional Islamic laws -- against murder (especially of innocent bystanders) against suicide, etc. -- and the ways bin Laden and other radical Islamists twisted teachings from the Quran to justify killing and mass destruction.  Like adherents of fundamentalist Christianity who espouse a so-called "Pro-Life" position, yet see no contradictions in the bombing of abortion clinics or the murder of doctors who provide safe procedures for women, the advocates of radical Islam engage in similar contortions of logic fueled by religious zealotry.

As Wright makes clear, the central contradiction of Al-Qaeda's actions on 9/11 is that while they sought to strike at "the head of the snake" (the source of the evil of The West) by attacking a symbol of American dominance, they left a vast array of humanity in their wake:

"In so many ways, the Trade Center dead formed a kind of universal parliament, representing sixty-two countries and nearly every ethnic group and religion in the world....The manifold ways in which they attached to life testified to the Quranic injunction that the taking of a single life destroys a universe.  Al-Qaeda had aimed its attack at America, but it struck all of humanity."  (p. 368)

The Looming Tower connects the legacy of Al-Qaeda's attacks on 9/11 with our ever deepening military entanglements in Afghanistan.  Wright's analysis provides much needed historical context to help us understand why more troops and more expenditures in a misguided attempt to gain control of this region will not make us more secure.  Wright explains that through Al-Qaeda's terrorist strikes:  "Bin Laden wanted to lure the United States into Afghanistan, which was already being called the graveyard of empires" (emphasis added mine -- p. 272).

If the United States is not to end up buried in "the graveyard of empires", we would do well to read and draw lessons from the history Wright so articulately presents.

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What's wrong with America's Health Care System...

Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much by Maggie Mahar


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Maggie Mahar's fascinating and compelling book, Money-Driven Medicine:  The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much, contributes much to our understanding of the current health care crisis.  Mahar takes the reader behind the hysterical ranting about "pulling the plug on grandma" and "socialized medicine."  In doing so, she provides the reader with a clear and accessible analysis of why we pay more, for less. 

The disciples of the "free market" would have us believe that competition between insurance companies serves to dampen soaring prices.  Unfortunately, as Mahar shows, the fiercely competitive health care arena pits doctors against doctors and hospitals against hospitals.  In the current system, everyone gets paid on a piece rate basis.  The more procedures, prescriptions, surgeries provided, the higher the profit.  The problem with this kind of arrangement is that often times, more is not necessarily better.  That is, more treatment does not result in better health outcomes for patients.

Mahar is at her best when she presents strong evidence for the failure of more treatment to foster greater health.  She details examples of how the flurry of unproven treatments, unnecessary tests, and defective medical devices actually threatens patients' well-being. 

Money-Driven Medicine should be required reading for every member of Congress as well as all Americans.  We need to move beyond distracting and obfuscating hyperbole toward a thorough accounting of exactly how our health care system works and doesn't work.  Only then will we be able to develop more rational and effective policy options to ensure the health and well-being for all. 

For those interested in seeing the film based on Mahar's book, go to the link www.moneydrivenmedicine.org for more information.

Smoke gets in your...

The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America by Allan M. Brandt


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is difficult to find a person who has not been touched in some way by the all-encompassing reach of the tobacco industry -- from the carefully crafted marketing manipulations to the well-documented health risks associated with smoking and second hand smoke.  The cigarette has featured prominently in our culture, politics, legal system and public health debates for more than a century. 

In The Cigarette Century:  The Rise, Fall and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America, Allan Brandt draws upon an exhaustive array of historical documents (i.e., secret in-house memos, court records, advertisements, government reports, scientific research, etc.) to illustrate "how the cigarette reflects the most powerful cultural and political debates of our time." 

Brandt sheds light on the tobacco industry and its masterful efforts, at the turn of the twentieth century, to capitalize on Edward Bernays's (Sigmund Freud's nephew) insights from the budding field of public relations or "the science of 'group mind' and 'herd reaction.'"

Long before the latest health insurance industry staged "town hall" fiascoes, Bernays's approach called for the manipulation of public opinion by "staging" public events that could then generate news that could be tainted to serve the self-interests of the corporation.

Under the guidance of the PR expert, the tobacco industry initiated a campaign to solicit new female smokers by planting photos and news items in local papers connecting cigarette use with women, beauty and smoking accessories. Thus, the new science of public relations delivered a fresh new group of consumers upon which to profit.

When scientific evidence, supporting a connection between cigarette smoking and disease, began to accumulate in the 1940's and 1950's, the industry shifted tactics.  Industry representatives began to raise questions about the basis for research findings that established a link between smoking and chronic illnesses like cancer.   Tobacco companies hired their own scientists to create a smokescreen that effectively hid the mounting truth about the health impact of cigarettes behind a shroud of "controversy". 

Throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, as these strategies effectively shielded the industry from accountability, tobacco executives managed to deftly dodge a variety of efforts to limit the potential harm of cigarette smoking through efforts to bring forward civil lawsuits and governmental regulation.

Even in the moment when it looked like the weight of whistle-blowers' disclosures of previously hidden documents, class action lawsuits and punitive damages would bring the industry to its knees, cigarette manufacturers demonstrated a keen persistence in "cultivating" new markets in the developing world for its deadly products.

As Brandt makes painfully clear, the tobacco industry has employed a variety of tactics to explicitly market and profit from the sale of a product that caused death and disease for millions for over a century.  They conducted this campaign largely beyond the scope of public scrutiny and government regulation.

In documenting this sinister history, Brandt has provided us with an important, well-researched and engagingly written analysis of exactly how corporate greed and power have come to take precedence over our health and well-being.

Check out this video segment of Jon Stewart's interview with Allan Brandt on The Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Allan Brandt
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

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Republican Gomorrah...tales from the dark side

Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party by Max Blumenthal


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Max Blumenthal has done what few contemporary commentators have managed to do. He has sifted through the extreme rhetoric of the Right Wing of the Republican Party to analyze the underlying conditions that have fueled their assault on our democracy. Republican Gomorrah helps to cast a bright light on the dark side of Fundamentalist Christianity and its bigotry.

In doing so, his book goes a long way toward helping those seeking to understand why ordinary Americans often align themselves with the interests of the rich and powerful against their own well-being. It is a familiar strategy -- divide and conquer -- that wraps itself in the flag and twisted interpretations of the Bible.

Blumenthal has provided a well-written and richly documented account of the tendency toward authoritarianism in American politics. Highly recommended.

You can see a video segment on Republican Gomorrah with Max Blumental below.



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Shock and Awe...

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
While other writers have documented the growth of corporate power, the rise of the military-industrial complex and the shredding of our constitution in the expediency of protecting us from international terrorists, few have managed to piece the shards together to provide a crystal clear view of the major crises facing our country and the world. 

Drawing upon documentary evidence of the CIA's use of shock therapy to remold human beings, Klein makes a striking comparison with the use of extreme tactics as part of the "Shock Doctrine" to remake nations along the lines of privatization schemes.

To support her case, Klein paints a grim portrait of what she calls "disaster capitalism" -- the self-reinforcing cycle of corporate pillage and neglect of the public sector, the environment, etc. that then feeds the recurring pattern of natural and political disasters which in turn, create the need for lucrative governmental contracts.  In the process, corporations enrich themselves on the public largess.  Their actions are not part of some sinister plot cooked up in back rooms, but rather the result of the pursuit of neo-conservative free market ideology.  And so it goes.  

Klein's book is profoundly unsettling in a way only true stories can be.  Yet, do not be frightened away.  In the pages of The Shock Doctrine, the reader will find a way to put together the fragments so that one can begin to make sense of the ecological, economic and political crises we face. 

Check out online interviews with Naomi Klein. http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/video-audio

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Tales of postsuburban sprawl...and how it got to be that way

Inventing Autopia: Dreams and Visions of the Modern Metropolis in Jazz Age Los Angeles by Jeremiah B.C. Axelrod


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As a former resident of Southern California who has often wondered how L.A. area got to be so congested, so disorganized, and so bogged down with freeways, Jeremiah B.C. Axelrod's fascinating new book, Inventing Autopia:  Dreams and Visions of the Modern Metropolis in Jazz Age Los Angeles provided me with some answers. 

Contrary to popular belief, the sprawl that characterizes the L.A. area did not just spring up in a haphazard fashion.  Instead, as Axelrod argues, this pattern of development resulted from the process of conflict over competing visions of the possible. 

Going back to the early 20's, planners in L.A. were divided between two camps.  One group sought a concentric model of L.A. with a downtown business zone and outlying areas devoted to suburbs (think of a target with the bull's eye as the downtown region and the series of circles spreading out).  This model dominated the major Eastern metropolis such as Chicago and New York City.

The other model, based on utopian visionary Ebenezer Howard's notion of "the garden city", offered a different view of urban development.  Howard proposed the garden city as an alternative to the alienation of the modern city "to disrupt and debunk the concentric emphasis on the city by replacing it with an ideal of self-contained towns ordered on a more human scale."  In this way, "the garden city would be tailored to promote social familiarity and community interaction instead of alienation and impersonality endemic to the metropolis."  This vision of L.A. sought to provide residents with a more humane balance to the onward march of modernity.

Axelrod's analysis traces how the social and political clash of these competing ideologies resulted the establishment of Southern California as a "postsuburban region."  Rob Kling, Spencer Olin and Mark Poster characterize this pattern of development as "the fundamentally decentralized spatial arrangement...in which a variety of commercial, recreational, shopping, arts, residential, and religious activities are conducted in different places, linked primarily by private automobile transportation." (p. 221)  

For a detailed analysis of this phenomenon readers are encouraged to check out their book, Postsuburban California: The Transformation of Orange County since World War II.

The impact of these changes are still being experienced today, not only in Southern California, but across the country.   Axelrod has provided us with a highly readable and informative analysis to help us better understand how "postsuburbia" became the dominant model for communities.  Recommended for those who struggle each day with lengthy commutes, congested communities and seemingly never-ending development.  If you've ever wondered how did it get this way, this is the book for you.

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A glimpse behind the wall of sound -- the life and times of Phil Spector

Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector by Mick Brown


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As a kid, I remember listening to AM radio while riding in the car with my parents.  Invariably, we would be serenaded by catchy pop confections -- Da Do Run Run, Be My Baby, -- to name just a few.  The music found a place deep in my soul.  When I stumbled upon Mick Brown's Tearing Down the Wall of Sound  I was intrigued -- it combined two of my favorite things -- biographies and musical history.  Brown did not disappoint.

Tearing Down the Wall of Sound is a well written and engaging biography of the arc of Phil Spector's life and musical career.  Brown tears down the wall of sound, exposing the multiple layers and complexity of the man behind the music.  The book begins with his early days in tragic detail giving the reader a glimpse of the musical genius as a wounded child of an absent father (who committed suicide when Spector was a boy) and an overbearing mother.

Brown is at his finest when he traces the early history of rock 'n roll and the music industry.  Through Spector's life story, the reader gets a tour through the inner sanctum of the Brill Building and its cadre of songwriters and into the recording studio's where Spector crafted what came to be known as "the Wall of Sound" -- a bigger than life ensemble of layered sound that characterized his contribution to pop music.

The last third of the book follows Spector's spiral into madness and ultimately up to the moment a young actress, Lana Clarkson, is found dead of a gunshot to the face in his home.  It stops short of the resolution of the trial and sentencing. 

Overall, this book is highly recommended.  It is filled with behind-the-scenes tidbits and anecdotes of the history of pop music in the second half of the twentieth century as seen through the lens of "the rise and fall of Phil Spector." Those seeking a glimpse behind the wall of sound will find much to enjoy.

One of Spector's most well-known hits featuring the "Wall of Sound":  "By My Baby" by the Ronettes (1965) -- for your listening pleasure.



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Lincoln's Melancholy

Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book provides a fascinating perspective on Lincoln. Shenk draws upon letters, diaries and first person accounts to fill in the contours of Lincoln's depressive state of mind and how it influenced his thinking and approach to the challenges of his day. As such, it gives us a useful corrective to the simplistic notions of the range of human emotions. In this day and age, where anything other than a rosy outlook is suspect, the author reminds us, through Lincoln's example, that it is possible to be deeply affected by tragic events and to draw upon these experiences as sources of genuine strength. Overall, an engaging and inspiring read.

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Always look on the bright side of life....?

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich

A couple of years ago, a book club I belong to read The Secret.  While many in the group felt the words to be powerful and inspirational, I had a nagging feeling that I could not quite shake.  There was something creepy about the over-emphasis on positive thinking to "attract" possessions, wealth, health, that unsettled me.  It seemed like the precepts of the "laws of attraction" promoted in the pages of the book could lead to a frightening tendency to blame the victim.  You're suffering from a terminal illness with a few months to live, then maybe you just did not visualize your healthy self sufficiently enough.  Living in poverty, having trouble getting by, then maybe you lacked the power to "attract" an ever diminishing resource -- gainful employment.

In her new book, Bright-Sided:  How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, Barbara Ehrenreich focuses her laser-like gaze on the myriad assortment of gurus, motivational speakers, pop psychologists, preachers and other "enlightened" beings who espouse the gospel of "positive thinking."   According to this gospel, critical thinking or challenging existing conditions is somehow suspect.  At its most extreme, followers are encouraged to avoid "negative" people -- family, friends, neighbors.  And, herein lies the danger. 

Taking the reader through workshops and mega-churches, she uncovers this dark side of the bright side of life.  In so doing, she helps to explain how, even in these times of economic distress, compassion and activism directed toward social change are so rare.   She is at her best when she draws insightful comparisons between the positive thinking dogma and other rigid systems of thought (i.e, Calvinism with its emphasis on self-scrutiny to ferret out any trace of sin and pleasure; vs. positive thinking emphasizes self-scrutiny to suppress any negative thought to project a sunny disposition).

Ehrenreich concludes that ""The alternative to positive thinking is not despair."  Rather, "we need to try to get out of ourselves and see things as they are."  There is both light and dark.  In truth, we need an accurate assessment of both to live a more authentic life full of the entire spectrum of human experiences -- pain, pleasure, struggle, joy.

I think Monty Python poked fun of this sort of thinking.  Here is the classic scene from The Life of Brian.



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All aboard...

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As an amateur history buff, I can usually get drawn into a well told story of a riveting episode from our past. I must admit that reading about the Puritans has never made it to the top of my list. They always struck me as a stuffy, humorless people hellbent on suffering.

Sarah Vowell's book, The Wordy Shipmates, changed all that. First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with Vowell, she writes about the past with an engaging mix of expansive intelligence and wit. Who knew one could laugh out loud while reading about the exploits of this motley crew of Bible thumping religious zealots?

While Vowell does provide keen analysis and much humor, her greatest achievement is in making the Puritans' story relevant to us today. A long line of American Presidents (such as JFK, Reagan, etc.) and politicians have made use of John Winthrop's "City on the Hill" metaphor. This idea has been twisted into a call for American Exceptionalism that has caused us to turn to a blind eye toward our flaws and overemphasize our superiority over other nations (and led us into numerous wars to prove it).

Those who have narrowly focused on this aspect of Winthrop's thinking fail to acknowledge that deeply embedded within the "City on the Hill" is a profoundly "communitarian ethos" -- the well-being of the least among us is inextricably bound up with our own. It is ironic that in this Christian land, there are some who troll through the past, selectively choosing tidbits to support their claims of greatness while missing this important point entirely.

Highly recommend for those in search of a good laugh while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of the roots of our current political discourse and conflicts. Enjoy!

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