This Guy Falls Down

Carolyn See reviews Robert Olen Butler

Last week I promised, but didn't exactly guarantee, a review of Robert Olen Butler's From Where You Dream, a book I happened upon and read a couple of weeks back. In a providential turn of events, I found this review by none other than Carolyn See, author of one of my favorite books of recent memory. She seemed to think the book was a rehash of old ideas. I thought most of the ideas were pretty fresh and inspiring, although I haven't studied as extensively on writing like See has. I agreed with her that Butler's practice of including his critiques of student exercises was a bit odd - she goes so far as to call it cruel. And in the most interesting twist of the whole book, student Rita Mae Reese's short story nearly (clearly?) outshone Butler's own example. Check out See's review and decide for whether you deem Butler to be a worthy read.

JPod: A Novel, by Douglas Coupland (****1/2 out of 5)

I've long been a fan of Coupland, and I got this book about a year ago, thinking I was going to read it immediately. As is fairly typical around these parts, I just got around to it last week, and finished it last night. With today being Pi Day, that seems appropriate, as Coupland features a pages-long list of the first several thousand digits of pi (with one intentional mistake). If you've ever read Coupland before, this is completely expected, but if you're new to his writing, this might make you want to run screaming. Your reaction would be a good gauge of your interest in Coupland's writing style...

JPod is the account of a group of game programmers who got assigned to the same area for no other reason than that their last names all start with 'J'. During the day, you follow their work life as the skateboarding game they're working on gets sabotaged twice by meddling executives. Their "downtime" (of course there's a big blur between "work time" and "off time" here) includes a whirlwind trip to China to save a coworker who's been sold into slavery; ballroom dancing competitions; odd geek parties; a mom who grows pot in her basement and gets her son to help clean up the messes she gets into; and human smuggling, just to scratch the surface. JPod finds Coupland going to new depths: along with the usual geek culture commentary he has added a dark humor ala the best Quentin Tarantino films. Coupland even manages to work himself into the plot to hilarious results.

This could serve as a great introduction to Coupland for the newbie; those who have been on board since Generation X will be proud of the growth (and no, that's not a cannabis reference).

Making a Literary Life

A couple of years ago, in a long list of (mostly) unfulfilled New Years' Resolutions, I listed "Become more literary". I think I even followed that resolution with the phrase "whatever that means". Fast forward to last week. I'm walking through a local bookstore (I do that a lot) and I come across this book called Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See. I picked it up just because the title was so ironic after my New Years' Resolution. I didn't really think I'd read it. I started skimming a couple of interesting passages. Then I read a little bit more. Now I've just about finished it, albeit in a completely random fashion. It is at times hilarious and at other times heartbreaking. But there is never a dull moment. And there is some great advice contained within its pages.

See recommends writing 1000 words a day, five days a week. While this is specifically aimed at writers, any creator could take this idea to heart. The idea here is to immerse yourself in what See calls the "dailyness" of creation. It takes you out of the realm of fantasy and into the world of reality (See uses the analogy of marriage vs. romance). The other main idea of the book, and the idea I found to be the most interesting, is to write "charming notes" to authors, editors, and agents. I don't know why, but this struck me as the most "literary" idea of the book. I just get this image of Tolkien or Hemingway jotting off notes to other writers, and I like the image. You don't? Well, go check out AOL and leave me alone...

The subtitle of the book is "Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers". I guess I fall somewhere in between these two titles. I've picked up a pen a few times, mostly in the interest of song lyrics, and I would definitely consider myself a dreamer. But I would recommend this book for anyone who is intrigued by the idea of "becoming more literary" (whatever that means).

A few good books

I've (finally!) finished a couple of books lately, and I would love to do full "reviews" of them. Unfortunately that seems too daunting a task at the present moment, so for now I'll start with a mention:

1. The Solar Revolution: While this didn't quite end up being the manifesto to get me fired up about the "revolution", it did make a pretty compelling case. The bottom line is that technology in the solar energy sector has been growing at a rapid pace, as has demand (esp. in places like Germany and Japan). These two phenomena should build on each other for the next several decades, and the author predicts that solar will be a viable energy option in the not-too-distant future. And not just in sunny places like Arizona either. We're talking Seattle and New England and everywhere in between. The most exciting part of the book was a chart showing the predicted year in which solar will make economic sense in different U.S. markets. Honolulu? You're up. Atlanta? Ten more years. The elephant in the room which wasn't covered was the current silicon shortage and how that plays into the equation. Despite this and the general dry nature of the material, Solar Revolution was worth the time.


2. The Intimate Mystery, by Dan Allender: I saw Allender speak at a conference recently and picked up a copy of this book. It's a pretty easy read, and is one of the best books on marriage I've read. The basic theme of the book centers around the ideas "leave", "weave", and "cleave" from the book of Genesis. Allender makes some great points, and doesn't just gloss over difficult topics like arguing and sexuality. And he does a good job of including just enough stories to give it a personal touch without getting too sentimental.


3. Coaching the Artist Within, by Eric Maisel: Whether you're toying with the idea of becoming a creative coach, or you just want some advice on how to navigate through the creative life, Maisel presents a truly one-of-a-kind book. The knowledge you'll glean from this one is highly practical and pertinent. This is the kind of book that you don't just read. You try to implement it into your life. Look for me to pull some quotes from this one in the coming weeks. Highly recommended.


4. Finally, I'm still working through Creating, by Robert Fritz. I started reading this last fall during my daughter's gymnastics classes, and for some reason, I can now only concentrate on it when I read it during that time. I'm almost done, though, and it's been a delight. What's unique about Fritz is that along with spelling out the nuts and bolts of the creative process and how to apply it to your current project, he offers great advice on applying the creative process to your life. Intriguing, eh? Fritz actually has a follow-up called Your Life as Art that I hope to tackle in the near future.

Library Thing

You remember that Beavis and Butthead episode, right after the "fire" controversy? In case you don't remember, a bunch of teenagers started setting fires because Beavis would start yelling "FIRE! FIRE!" everytime there was an explosion on a video. MTV vowed to never air an episode with that word in it. It was too easy. Of course the next episode featured the guys watching the firiest, most explosion-packed music video ever and Beavis forced to try to contain himself. Bear with me here - I promise I'm headed somewhere.

Three or four days ago, I found this website and had a very similar experience to Beavis's. My head about exploded. This could be the coolest website ever. OK, when you're talking about books, "cool" might not be the appropriate descriptor. I've long said that there should be a last.fm/audioscrobbler-type site for books. Here it is. It's the Amazon "if you like this, you'll love this" idea on steroids. It's an online version of your bookshelf. It's the online book journal, book club, one stop review and recommendation place. It's, for lack of a better word, awesome.

Dan Allender

I recently had the opportunity to see Dan Allender speak. Dan is one of those rare individuals who can combine intellectualism with emotion. He has several books on marriage and a couple of intriguing titles on using your past story to point to where God wants you to go. Needless to say, I purchased a couple of his books and look forward to checking them out...

Two massively anticipated follow-up releases

Today marks a couple of debuts which die hard fans have long awaited:

• The Killers released Sam's Town, the follow-up to their hugely successful Hot Fuss. It promises to be one of the biggest rock albums of the year, and if their recent SNL appearance is any indication, it should live up to the hype.
• On the opposite end of the spectrum, author Charles Frazier released the follow-up to Cold Mountain, the novel which created a grass roots buzz and later a film sensation. Thirteen Moons has received mixed reviews so far, but the real tell will be what the die-hard Frazier fans have to say about it.

The Weather Makers, by Tim Flannery (***** out of 5)

Now for the other half of my pair of global warming books to review.* I started with Michael Crichton's entertaining State of Fear, which made the case that climate change is an inconclusive theory which has been pushed by overzealous scientists in the hopes of landing bigger research grants. It makes for an entertaining read, but it would not be my first recommendation as a starting point for your global warming research. That distinction would go to The Weathermakers, by Tim Flannery.

*While I hope that it proves to be a helpful exercise for me to hold these two books up side by side, for reviewing purposes I've tried to judge each work on its own merit. So my ratings of these books have nothing to do with whether I agree with the author's conclusions.

On to the review...

PaperBackSwap

If you've been around these parts for very long, you know that I love books. And I love hip ideas that pop up on the internet. And things that are green. Put all of those together and you get PaperBackSwap.

Think of it as kind of a Netflix for books, only it's essentially free. You register at least nine books with the site. When someone requests one of your books, you mail it to them and pay the postage. You then receive a credit towards getting a book from someone else. When they mail it to you, they pay the postage. And, for now at least, there are no fees to pay.

I'm signing up as we speak. Look for a review in the near future...

(via Norene's 5 Percent)

Nick Hornby on "How to Read"

Ironically, a few minutes after watching the end of High Fidelity on television tonight, I stumbled (via Rebecca's Pocket)across this excellent article by author Nick Hornby. Says Nick:

"Have you ever struggled with a turgid political biography when secretly you'd rather get stuck into 'The Da Vinci Code'? Put the book down. Reading should be a joy."

If you're like me and love to read but sometimes let it get the best of you (i.e. you get bogged down in a boring book and still make yourself finish it), this is inspiring reading.