This is a great little book that gives an overview of a variety of different subcultures of Japanese life. He covers the AV (Adult Video) scene, the club scene, the yakusa, among other groups... One favorite chapter discusses the systematic theft that is required for Japan's "no inventory" motorcycle industry to work smoothly... suprisingly interesting stuff. Another stand-out chapter delves into the lives of a small group of juvenile deliquents. The fact that the chapters are arranged to give you a necessary base of information for the next chapter is really helpful... you find out about the Yakusa, then the unofficial gangs that act as recruiting grounds for their ranks, then the deliquents that end up in gangs (and the juvenile justice system which often fails to rehabilitate them), for example. Great read.
I picked this up at Value Village, and read it in an afternoon... actually, probably about 3 hours. Lots of photos, huge type, but a fun read. There are lots of cool facts about the Evil Dead pictures, and he makes you see the schlocky Hercules and Xena shows in a bit of a different light... also it highlights the 180 degree difference in the filmmaking process that Sam Raimi used on his earlier projects versus the Spider-Man films. A fun little book.
This was disappointing. I have always been a fan of Vachss' books, especially those that branch off from his repeatative Burke series: Shella, the Getaway Man, A Bomb Built In Hell and now Two Trains Running. Unfortunately, I didn't like this one... I felt it was a very conscious attempt to do craft a more "mainstream" novel, and quite possibly to attempt what James Ellroy is doing fairly well with his America trilogy - that is, retread his pet themes in a fictional retelling of American history. However, this book is no 'The Cold Six Thousand'. It's muddled and just not very fufilling. A shame.
I picked this up and gave it a quick skim a few weeks back, but recently I picked it back and delved deeper - it's good! I like the fact that many of the stories are basically weird superhero tales... I like art comics to an extent, but superheroes I can understand! Good stuff, Zack.
I'm reading this now - a nonfiction account of a smallpox outbreak, as well as a primer about bio-warfare and bio-terrorism. Gripping so far - I didn't know much about smallpox, and the gory details are pretty amazing...
brandon [email] said at 11:07 PM 01-08-2006: I thought If Chins Could Kill was a great book, I love all the back-story he provides on the Oldsmobile and how many times that almost killed someone
trying to get good shots.
I'm reading or have recently read:
Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India - dry but interesting
Isn't it Romantic: 100 Love Poems by Younger American Poets - not recommended
Kramer's Ergot - 'cause Zack gave me a copy gratis before he left
The Most Evil Secret Societies in History - a bargain-bin B&N book, Christmas Gift, kind of a joke, really. But who knew that the Hellfire club actually existed?
Real Ultimate Power - by Robert Hamburger - totally sweet
What Would Betty Bower's Do? Also a gift. Funny.
A couple of books on homebrewing, mostly I'm looking for recipes and stuff.
The Republican War on Science - Chris Mooney - in the forward, he says he grew up in NOLA, which is horribly ironic, since it came out before the hurricane, forcefully and cogently arguing that something like the disaster in NOLA was inevitable with sciences contribution to policy being as it is. How's that for prophecy, Robertson, suck it hard, suck it long. Mooney has a blog, too ChrisMooney where he talks about issues related to those of the book, traveling in support of it and other writers and journalists of similar bent.
jess [email] said at 1:43 AM 01-09-2006: Another World is Possible If ... by Susan George. Practical rundown of What's Wrong with the World Today, from a far-left standpoint, grounded in facts rather than wingnuttiness and featuring recommendations for action.
After the First Death There Is No Other: Short Stories by Natalie Petesch. Bought this because William H. Gass recommended her for a short story prize in the late '80s/early '90s. Writing is sparse and I only wish I could be so eloquent.
myriam [email] said at 11:17 AM 01-09-2006: Wait wait I have heard the 'first death' referred to in poetry or literature or something... I no longer remember what it signifies... is it the death of being born? Help!
jess [email] said at 9:57 PM 01-09-2006: I think it's Biblical? If I remember correctly (I just googled to make sure), the first death is the death experienced by all humankind after Armageddon. It's supposed to be more like a deep sleep.
Then the "unbelievers" experience the Second Death - they never wake up, while the faithful are supposed to come back to life.
amy [email] said at 2:59 AM 01-09-2006: wow, for once i'm actually reading a book.
Ungodly Women: Gender and the First Wave of American Fundamentalism, by Betty A. Deberg
Basically the premise is that the 1st wave of amer religious fundamentalism was a direct consequence of victorian error gender roles being applied during the industrialism and the ensuing turmoil. interesting stuff.
only book i've read since flan was born except for the 2 harry potters.
andrew [email] said at 6:03 AM 01-09-2006: i read the history of guided by voices. also i get about 12 magazines. i filled out that stupid thing where you can cash in frequent flier miles for magazines. so i get a new magazine every day, read it, then throw it in the garbage.
jeremy [email] said at 11:14 AM 01-09-2006: Josh, can I borrow Spreed Tribes?
I am currently reading "Hackers and Painters" by Paul Graham. He has some interesting thoughts about technology startups and programming languages but mostly spends his time spewing philosophies about sociology as it pertains to wealth and nerds, targeted towards an 8th grade assembly.
meredith [email] said at 10:27 AM 01-10-2006: I've mostly just been reading the plays that I'm doing and magazines in the bathtub. So The Glory of Living by Rebecca Gilman and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee.
ed [email] said at 9:58 PM 01-09-2006: Actually, I've been reading a lot more lately. Unfortunately, I suppose, I have been re-reading fantasy novels that I first read in high school. For like the eleventeenth time.
brandon [email] said at 10:16 PM 01-09-2006: There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. As we get older and revisit books we see things and connections we missed the first time or were incapable of seeing because of reasons of development or whatever. If the book is well-written and worthwhile, it's like reading a new book over again.
brandonA [email] said at 2:39 PM 01-10-2006: True, but with some fantasy novels a re-read is more like "How the fuck did I manage to read this drivel???".
Like anything by piers anthony excepting the first five books in incarnations of immortality. or anything by anne rice...
ed [email] said at 4:03 PM 01-10-2006: Like anything by piers anthony excepting the first five books in incarnations of immortality
Ding ding! Although that was not the author in question, that is exactly correct. If I ever start re-reading Xanth novels, I have a trust fund set aside for anyone who travels down here to kill me.
But, for the record, the series I am rereading is Stephen R. Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" series... I've reread the first three, and am about to start the second three. All of this is in response to the unexpected jolt I got a coupla months ago when I was in a bookstore and saw that he has started a NEW series of books set in the same world.
I'm thinking there's no way it couldn't suck, comparatively, to a bunch of books I've loved for almost 30 years. But there's no way I can ignore them, and not find out for myself. Plus, I will now be strung out like a junkie by two of my favorite authors - Donaldson and George R. R. Martin.
brandonA [email] said at 5:00 PM 01-09-2006: the last two weeks:
Lies, Inc - Phillip K Dick
Under the banner of heaven - Krakauer (thanks again KSS) I dropped everything else and read this in a day or two. Is theocide a word? because I wouldn't mind committing it right now.
Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend - I like the deadwood character so much, I had to dind out about the real one.
a Fritz Lang bio that doesn't have enough bio - I don't think I'll finish it.
2001 & 2010 - just cuz
Black Hole - Charles Burns has the ability to make my skin crawl with every page. This book is big on style and mood , if a little light on story.
and I still haven't gotten through the last 100 pages of Martin's Feast for Crows...
ed [email] said at 10:02 PM 01-09-2006: and I still haven't gotten through the last 100 pages of Martin's Feast for Crows...
Don't you blaspheme in here!
Oh, man. That is my favorite series in forever, and if Martin comes up with the next novel before I die of old age, I will likely die of cardiac arrest.
Yes, my absolute favorite t-shirt is gray, with a Stark family crest ("Winter Is Coming") on the front. Somehow, in Florida, that crest always has some comedic/ironic value.
ed [email] said at 6:29 AM 01-10-2006: I haven't. I'm aware of its existence, but never got around to getting that.
I think it has to do, in large part, with the fact that Martin's storytelling is so rich that I tend to visualize his stories very vividly, and am a little afraid that a graphic novel would be a disappointment.
jake [email] said at 4:35 PM 01-10-2006: I had the same concern, but it was completely ungrounded. The art is beautiful and precise with clean lines and strikng colors. All of the graphic elements capture the quality of Martin's prose perfectly, including the pacing, framing, and even the multiple pages of heraldry included at the end. You'll be blown away.
art [email] said at 5:05 PM 01-09-2006: The Harry Turtledove Southern Victory Series - with Wikipedia comments along with my comments because I don't feel like writing it all out. Turtledove is a master of this genre (alternate history). His books are readable and imaginative. He weaves in historical inventions and how they would have been used in context, ie. tanks, gatling guns, aircraft, subs, carriers, etc.
Essentially, the South has won the US Civil War, these books detail what would then happen over the next century.
First Book (End of Civil War and etnire Second Mexican War)
* How Few Remain (1997)
Robert E. Lee's Special Order No. 191 note was NOT found, which detailed the Army of Northern Virginia's invasion of the Union in September 1862 during the American Civil War. In reality the orders were lost and recovered by a Union soldier, allowing General George B. McClellan to surprise Lee and force the Battle of Antietam.
Because of this the South destroyed McClellan's troops and got to keep Kentucky and Philadelphia. The South also bought the provinces of Sonora and Chihuahua from the financially-strapped Mexican Empire, giving the South their own transcontinental railway. The South also kept Cuba. The Alaska purchase never happened.
* The Great War Trilogy
o American Front (1998)
o Walk in Hell (1999)
o Breakthroughs (2000)
In WWI, the North allies with Germany to fight the South, Britain, France and Canada
* The American Empire Trilogy
o Blood and Iron (2001)
o The Center Cannot Hold (2002)
o The Victorious Opposition (2003)
The United States has occupied Canada (less the Republic of Quebec, a U.S. puppet state) and Sequoyah (Oklahoma), has annexed Kentucky and portions of Texas, Arkansas, Sonora and Virginia, and has placed the rebellious state of Utah under military occupation. Having led the U.S. to victory, Theodore Roosevelt now faces a challenge to his third-term bid by the Socialist candidate Upton Sinclair, and struggles to maintain order in the occupied territories as rebels and terrorists strike.
The lassitude of the North and resentment of the South encourages the rise of a Hitler-like leader in the South, complete with their own final solution to wipe out Negroes and Communists from their lands
* The Settling Accounts Tetralogy
o Return Engagement (2004)
o Drive to the East (2005)
o The Grapple (due for 2006)
o In at the Death (expected in 2007)
WWII: On an international scale, Britain and France, both ruled by fascist movements, are allied with the Confederacy, as are Japan and Tsarist Russia. The U.S. is allied with the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, while Quebec stays officially neutral but continues to supply occupation soldiers to the U.S. for now-exclusively-English Canada. Ireland, which saw independence from Britain at the end of the Great War with the help of the United States, has been invaded by British forces and there now exists a state of guerilla war.
This is where I am now. I have yet to read any of this Settling Accounts series
emily [email] said at 10:22 AM 01-10-2006: Everyones reading such smart books. I'm reading the Tori Amos biography and started reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac but can't really get into it.
gen [email] said at 12:34 PM 01-10-2006: I got The Demon in the Freezer the minute it came out, a few years ago now. I'm a big fan of Richard Preston - I think he's a terrific writer, and I obviously have a personal and professional interest in his books' topics - but The Demon in the Freezer is not my favourite.
I've been reading Laurie Garrett's Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health for months now - it's extremely well researched, but painfully written. I think that literary phrases like "the profundity of Biggs's insights would prove so deep" have no place in a scientific narrative, and they irk me enormously.
I read Dan Bortolotti's Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders on the way to NYC, and I was not impressed. I found a lot of repetition between chapters, and a possible overrepresentation of French Canadian doctors among sources. The book didn't sell me on the mouvement, in fact it did the opposite.
I recently finished Behind the Mask: How the World Survided SARS, published by the American Public Health Association, and I must say it's my favourite SARS narrative so far. There are a number of typos and repetitions, but it is nonetheless a well-researched story, and it conveys a global picture of the outbreak, which is crucial to understanding the emergence and spread of SARS, and lacking in many other SARS books of more limited scope.
NathanK said at 2:46 PM 01-11-2006: Gen, I'm reading a book that might interest you, Intuitive Biostatistics by Harvey Molutsky. I'm TA'ing this material next semmester and it clarifies the strengths and weaknesses of biostats well.
abby [email] said at 2:11 PM 01-11-2006: the knight! isn't it wonderful, zack. i'm reading the wizard now. or i'm trying to. i keep playing animal crossing.
zackinpdx said at 2:28 PM 01-11-2006: yeah, it's pretty fantastic. It's kind of dreamlike... I thinkI need to go back and re-read the book of the new sun stuff, I have a better handle on gene wolfe now, like how he jumps in time and such (though I loved it when I read it, I think I missed some stuff.)
atchafalaya said at 8:07 PM 01-10-2006: Last Thursday night I started
> Cash: The Autobiography , and in lieu of doing what I was supposed to be doing at work on Friday, finished it. It’s the only book I have read on Cash. It was written by him with the help/guidance/ghost-hand of Patrick Carr, editor of Country Music magazine.
It is not highly polished prose, and skips over a lot episodes/times/events I thought Johnny would have included. But what do I know? He does address the things he omitted, and offers a reason why, so that’s that. The only other gripe I have concerns the issue of candor. You sometimes feel he is holding back/hedging on some stories and anecdotes. Maybe he is, or maybe there really isn’t anything else to tell. Certainly in other parts he is telling everything there is to tell and is laying it all out, and that reading is pleasurable.
I didn’t learn anything new about the Johnny cash myth. Everything we know is what there is to know about that, and the book serves as validation. I did learn some new things about country music however, and some of Johnny’s contemporaries like Kris Kristopherson and Merle Haggard. The book also offers the first and only account from Johnny himself of the violent 1988 (I think that’s the year) robbery perpetrated upon the Cash household at Cinnamon Hill, in Jamaica.
Sunday I fucked up real bad and read
> A Man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut. It is a shameful, embarrassing, repulsive, reprehensible, awful thing of a book. I kept reading it only to understand its full horror and to have a bowel movement, which was overdue. His editor and the publisher should be prosecuted for allowing the poor 82 year old Vonnegut to disgrace himself so gallantly and triumphantly.
In short, the book is decidedly German, as Vonnegut makes clear. He is also right when he says “'I used to be funny, and perhaps I'm not anymore.” No shit.
Tonight I finished See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism by Robert Baer. It is well written by Baer and offers a very good account on the making of a CIA agent, from the word go through the training at The Farm all the way through to the end of an agent’s first real assignment (his was Madras, India). From there Baer cherry picks the stories he wants to tell to get his point across, which is that the CIA was essentially dismantled and fucked over in the 90’s all the way through to 9/11. Chapters representing that progression (or regression) of events offer all sorts of awesome insights into many people, not the least of which being Yasser Arafat, who was a genuine piece of shit. Baer stops and stands incredulous at several points in the book and marvels at Arafat receiving the Peace prize in Oslo. I agree with him. The true natures of other figures are revealed as well, including Ollie North, Bill Clinton, many former CIA Directors of Ops and Intelligence, etc. Iraq is covered and critical missing pieces of the puzzle are provided.
The book is well written by Baer, but unfortunately it is also well edited by the CIA. You can tell, and he hints in many places, that if you only knew what he knows and had seen the things he has seen, you would be fucking amazed. CIA policy (and the policy of DoD, NSA, etc) is that disclosure of any successful operation is not allowed. Despite the fact that Baer can only tell his story through accounts then of unsuccessful operations, he nonetheless gets his point across and you learn a lot in the process.
I would like to write some more about this book, but Rick is here and I need to go play with him, watch Lost, etc. I will say that from what I heard about the recent movie that was loosely based on this book, Clooney and his crew really fucked up and went overboard at best, and jerked us all off at worst..
Josh, I will send Rick to you in a couple of days when I am through with him.
rick [email] said at 2:03 PM 01-11-2006: I second the endorsement on See no Evil though however annoying the instituitional censorship was, I thought it clever of Mr. Baer to show exactly what was stricken.
atchafalaya said at 2:21 PM 01-11-2006: He only shows what was stricken from the manuscript he submitted. You may be assured that he had already censored his own writing as he wrote, to exclude accounts of successful ops. Thus, what you see are the CIA edits on what was already supposed to be a heavily sanitized work. To be honest, the black-outs function as more of a marketing gimmick and sales facilitator than an illustration of the CIA censor arm. I agree they are interesting, and if you know a little about what he is talking about and the field, you can actually fill in the blanks. My main lamentation is that he could never write the whole story from the outset, to include the successful ops. Thus the only info revealed to us is the intelligence garnered from failed missions, which is cool but not the real good shit.
rick [email] said at 2:23 PM 01-11-2006: I am sure thirty years from now, when the hair is grey, the teeth are gone, and the hands shaky, the files will be declassified and we will learn what REALLY happened at those meetings.
I am a bit surprised though that none of his rivals so as far as I know have written their own books to counter or to "clarify" some of the things that might have gone on.
I thought the fact that he bought his vineyard in france with CIA money interesting. It's a common misconception that CIA employees are underpaid. Indeed, the salaries are very low, and after 20 years you might be lucky to be making 120k. What isn't known however is the extent to which agents and operatives make personal use of their infinite supply of operating account cash. I would have bought a vineyard too.
Also, as you say, if I were a retired agent, the first thing I would do is write a book as well.
rick [email] said at 8:41 PM 01-10-2006: I have read:
Pistols and Politics
Up there, I think with Bounded Lives, Bounded Places and The Earl of Louisiana as far as explaining the way things went in the simmering dark cauldron some of us crawled out of. I am familiar with at least two of the families described in the book. It also upholds something I have read elsewhere: the Wild West was not so wild, or at least not next to some parts of the East.
Garbage Land
Where does your garbage go? What happens to it? Are some bits and pieces better than others? Could one recycle their own excressence? Read about all of that in Garbage Land
The Undercover Economist
What makes or breaks a Starbucks or a Cosi? Is Safeway really more of a bargain than Whole Foods? Why are there so many camelback houses in New Orleans? This book is rather similar to Freakonomics by Levitt though nowhere near as controversial I would think.
anotherben [email] said at 10:07 PM 01-10-2006: i once helped sam hyde unload pumpkins from a truck at church while we listened to the saints lose on the radio. the truck driver thought he was my dad and at one point told me to "go get your dad, they (the saints) are about to score". when i returned with my father there was momentary confusion. i continued unloading pumpkins from the back of the truck.
brandonA [email] said at 12:29 PM 01-11-2006: I liked the pistols and politics book mainly because it was just a more accurate and complete retelling of the stories my grandfather told me when I was growing up.
