A Walk in the Woods

Subtitle: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Author: Bill Bryson

What does it say about itself: "Not long after I moved with my family to a small town in New Hampshire, I happend upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town."

So begins Bill Bryson's hilarious book A Walk in the Woods. Following his return to America after twenty years in Britain, Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Spring Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The AT, as it's affectionately known to thousands of hikers, offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes - and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to test his own powers of ineptitude, and to witness the majectic stillness of his fellow human beings.

My thoughts: Every so often a reader returns to an author that they had loved but never returned to. In the interest of full disclosure I would like to mention here that I didn't actually read this book per se, I listened to it on CD on a long drive, as read by the author. This is the manner in which I first discovered Mr. Bryson and memoirs in general. As best I can remember the first memoir I ever encountered in the realm of pleasure reading was Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Bryson has a great wit and wonderful storytelling style that lends itself to his preferred mode of writing. Bryson is best known as a travel writer, and has written a handful of books about rediscovering America after returning to the states from Britain. Bryson grew up in Iowa, his childhood recounted in his memoir noted above, and moved to Britain as a young man. Travel writing is not technically memoir, however many travel books can be seen as memoir in that they focus on short, specific periods of time and discuss the changes in the self caused by the adventure.

This example is quite enjoyable, as the book jacket states Bryson weaves a hilarious story of hiking portions of the Appellation Trail (of course I would giggle to myself every time "hiking the appellation trail" was said, due to recent political scandals causing the phrase to become a euphemism). As someone from the decidedly western part of the country I never considered the Appellation mountains to be rather impressive or daunting, as the mountains in my area are higher and much more imposing on the sky line. Bryson's adventure is quite compelling, moving through the troubles of being completely unprepared for the physical demands of the AT to the comfort and realization of being a hiker and bonding with the trail as a whole. In general this is quite the composition of love to the trail, and anyone interested in travel writing or the AT should check out this little gem.

Grades
Quality of writing: 4
Entertaining: 4 (had some slow sections)
Compelling: 4
total: 12/15 - B

up next: A double feature! Waiter Rant - Steve Dublanica and Waiting - Debra Ginsberg

As it Happens Interview with Wayson Choy

Hi all.

No new book yet. If you want to know the next book will be "Waiter Rant" by Steve Dublanica which I just found out I must have bought on the first day the paperback was available. Hmm. The reason for the delay is I have taken on Great Gatsby for the time being.

Anyway the point of this post:

As it Happens did an interview with Wayson Choy about his memoir Not Yet a Memoir of Living and Almost Dying. The interview was great and talks about what he experienced and a bit about the writing process. The CBC book club has a blog post about it here. (at the bottom of the post is a audio file of it, and I'm sure it will be available on the podcast soon) It's definitely worth a listen.

read on friends.

Little Chapel on the River

Subtitle: A pub, a town and the search for what matters most

Author: Gwendolyn (Wendy) Bounds

Sub Genre: Major life shift, community, memoir of the place

How many pages: 278

What does it say about itself: "Forced from her downtown Manhattan apartment by the terrorist attack of September 11, journalist Wendy Bounds was delivered to Guinan's doorstep - a legendary Irish drinking hole and country store nestled along the banks of the Hudson River in the small town of Garrison, New York - by a friend.
Captivated by the bar's charismatic but ailing owner and his charming motley clientele, Bounds uprooted herself permanently and moved to tiny Garrison, the picturesque river town they all call home. There she became one of the rare female regulars at the old pub and quickly swept up into its rhythm, heartbeat, and grand history - as related by Jim Guinan himself, the stubborn high priest of this little chapel. Surrounded by a crew of endearing, delightfully colorful characters who were now her neighbors and friends, she slowly finds her own way home.
Beautifully written, deeply personal, and brilliantly insightful, Little Chapel on the River is a love story about a place - and the people who bring it to life."

My Thoughts: I have this tendency to buy books and not read them, they just languish in obscurity to my mind on shelves, taunting me and filling me with shame every time I see them. I thought this book was going to be one of those. I'm really glad it wasn't. There is something dubious about a book blurb stating something is "beautifully written" or something similar, one expects them to by lying. In this case the blurb does not lie. Bounds is a writer/editor at the Wall street Journal, a job which lends credibility to the quality of the writing. Because Bounds has spent most of her professional life recording and reporting her surroundings the observations found in this book are pointed and poignant. This is an interesting account of a time frame that is arguably the most news worthy of many of our lives. Bounds and her partner's proximity to those events of September 2001 add an interesting layer to this retelling. I found myself feeling really close to all the people in this story and the author. One reason I read is to add color to the black and white map of the world that is in my mind, to have accounts of small places in deep detail makes me feel like if I were to travel to these places I would be able to find my way around and feel comfortable in this foreign place. All in all this memoir brought up a whole lot of interesting character study and introspection about the relationship between the self and their community. I really enjoyed this one.

Another thing I love about contemporary memoirs is that in many cases the story doesn't end in the book and the author is still willing to share. You can generally find blogs by the author or websites giving more information on the subject. This book led me to Wendy Bounds' blog (featuring videos from the WSJ of her product testing tools for the home) and a blog about the chapel in general. I will let you find them yourself (just a quick google search will do the trick) but be warned that some spoilers can be easily found on these websites, or information which may change your perception of the book (which could be good or bad, you decide)

Grades: (All scores out of 5)
Quality of writing: 5 (WSJ should be proud)
Entertaining: 4
Compelling: 5
Total: 14/15 - 93% - A

Still Standing... ugh.

So this isn't a review (the review for Little Chapel on the River is coming, soon) but I wanted to say something about the news that Carrie Prejean has signed a book deal to write and publish her memoirs to be titled Still Standing. I've seen or heard a couple of news blurbs about this bit of "news" and thought I would write something about why I will NOT be reading this book.

Carrie is 22. This does not (NOT!) mean she cannot write a memoir at the age of 22, it's just that she seems to not have much to say other than the last six months. Six months can be really interesting to read about if treated in a more global scale. While Carrie, as a (former) pageant title holder, wishes for world peace (presumably) it is hard to imagine her using her own personal woes to create a more compelling piece. Perhaps she could examine society's obsession with celebrity and failure, or an insightful discussion on the right to personal opinions and society.

Rule number one is no celebrity memoirs. This includes those people holding on to their fifteen minutes of fame like it's the last lifeboat on the Titanic that is their public profile.

The publisher. Regnery Publications has given Prejean this book deal. Regnery seems to be an ideologue of a publishing company: (from their website) Welcome to the 62nd year of Regnery Publishing. Back in 1947, when Henry Regnery launched his bold adventure, the country was recovering from a World War, and a few brave souls were championing the start of the modern conservative movement. Regnery gave voice to that movement, publishing some of the most important conservative books of the age. I find it strange that the publisher has such a specific outlook. I checked the HarperCollins Publishers website (which seems to be a common memoir publisher btw) and couldn't find a single mention of the ideological bent of the publisher. Regnery has a "New and Noteworthy" section on their website that seems completely populated by books you find in the clearance section of your local barnes and noble. Notable titles from the publisher include, but are not limited to (text in parenthesis is from the website):

• Green Hell (Move over red, white, and blue, America is going green. Personal expression is fine, but this has much more sinister implications because going green is no longer a choice; it's a government mandate. In his shocking exposé, Green Hell, Steven Milloy unveils how the green movement is rapidly growing stronger—and more invasive—under our first green president.)
• Welcome to Obamaland (Does the election of Barack Obama fill you with dread, rather than elation? Do you feel like your country has been high-jacked by a bunch of liberal fruitcakes who have no idea how to fix the economy, but know exactly how to ruin your life? Then good news: you're not alone! )
• Boys Should be Boys (Boyhood used to be a time of freedom and fun—of catching bullfrogs, playing tackle football, and roaming the woods—but not anymore. Rambunctious, high-spirited boys—healthy boys—nowadays face an increasingly hostile world that doesn’t value the unique gifts of boys, that discounts their masculine virtues, and that undermines what boys need to become mature, confident, and thoughtful men. In Boys Should Be Boys, Meg Meeker, pediatrician and author of the critically acclaimed Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, unlocks the secrets of what parents can do to restore some of the magic of boyhood and help their son become the man they want him to be.)

I'm all about opening one's mind to differing opinions to their own, however the books published by this publisher seem to be completely opposite of my personal beliefs, and the logical foundations on which those beliefs are based. I like to read to relax and enjoy myself, not to raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels.

Do we really believe that Prejean will write in a competent way? Based on the few times I've seen video of her public speaking I do not hold out hope on her ability to write in a intelligent and well crafted way.

This memoir is slated to come out in November. It is currently July, this gives Prejean about 4 months to write the book, have it edited, change things for editor's notes and such. This seems rather truncated in the realm of publishing quality books.

I'm assuming this book will flop majorly. I had completely forgotten about Prejean until this info came out today (yesterday? I'm not sure, I get a lot of my cultural news on podcasts a day or so behind) and I bet people will have completely forgotten about her by November.

I hope you don't wait with bated breath for my review of Still Standing, because it will not be coming.

The Film Club

Author: David Gilmour

Sub-Genre: Narrative, memoir of the other, father/son relationship.

How Many Pages: 217

What does it say about itself: "When David Gilmour's fifteen-year-old son Jesse started flunking every subject at school, this father offered an unconventional deal: Jesse could drop out - not work, not pay rent - but there was a catch. He had to watch three movies a week of his father's choosing. And so week by week, side by side, father and son watched the world's best (and occasionally worst) films - and talked about movies and life. Then, as the Film Club moved toward its bittersweet but inevitable end, Jesse made a decision that would surprise even his father..."

My thoughts: I bet you can guess the ending. I started this thinking it would be an interesting look into a struggling father/son relationship with some movies put in there for some intelligent conversation. About half way through this book I started noticing that there seems to be something off about their relationship. I don't know anything about mental or learning conditions but it seems rather obvious that Jesse, the son, needs some professional help in his issues with learning and interpersonal interaction. The father, the author who apparently has won numerous awards, comes of as a self-centered jackass. The films are pretentious and rarely (if ever) venture into the realm of contemporary, it's clear that David is choosing these films from a narrow library of films he enjoyed earlier in his life. There is never a discussion of a film made in the last ten years, which is surprising because the majority of the book takes place between 2002 and 2005. The writing started out alright, but I began to tire of the over use of failed imagery, going so far as to mark every one I found after a certain point. It's an interesting book but I hope that not all parents would be so blind to the faults of their children and actually try to help them instead of appease them, the MO of this relationship.

Grades: (All scores out of 5)
Quality of Writing: 3
Entertaining: 3
Compelling: 3
Total: 9/15 - 60% - D

What's up next: Little Chapel on the River - Gwendolyn Bounds

Exile in Guyville

Subtitle: How a punk rock redneck faggot Texan moved to West Hollywood and refused to be shiny and happy

Author: Dave White

Sub-Genre: Epistolary - Gay, relocation

How many Pages: 246

What does it say about itself: "I really hope you haven't picked up this book thinking it's going to help you learn something about humanity or life or whatever. If that were the case, it would have tips or hints or something, maybe even one helpful bit of advice about how to make over your life with ease and grace, or, as in my case, make a cross-country move from a beloved hometown to a gay ghetto in a big city and how to fit in and not be constantly mortified. But it doesn't

"This book is simply the one-year diary of a man who grew up in a nomadic family, and who as an adult decided to make a stubborn fetish out of staying put. Then that man found himself uprooted in the middle of his life and dumped, panting and sweating, into an unfamiliar environment. That's when he sat and complained about it, all the while stuffing his face with doughnuts.

"My name is Dave. This is my story."

My thoughts: As you can probably gather from the blurb this book has a sarcastic wit that is quite enjoyable. The book came first as a series of e-mails to a group of friends and family left behind in Texas after Dave moves to West Hollywood. The mailing list grew as people started passing on the e-mails to friends and eventually they have been collected for this book. This is a great account of the culture shock of moving and the way that we latch on to the past. The main accounts are punctuated by sections at the end of the chapters which divulge random information such as celebrity sightings or anecdotes of horrible people around the author. The style of this book makes one feel like you are reading the letters of a friend (being that these chapters started as just that) allowing you to become emotionally connected to the characters. Deeply humorous and self aware this a fun quick read.

Grades: (All scores out of 5)
Quality of Writing: 4
Entertainment Value: 5
Compelling: 4
Total: 13/15 - 87% - A-

(This ends the seeding of the blog, I will in the future add books that I have read in the past and wish to share with the world, but this is good for now)

What's up next: The Film Club - David Gilmour

How I Learned to Snap

Subtitle: A Small Town Coming-out and Coming-of-age Story

Author: Kirk Read

Sub-Genre: Narrative - sexual issues, coming out

How many Pages: 228

What does it say about itself: "In his salty, laugh-out-loud memoir, gay and precocious Kirk Read will show you how it's done. Read comes of age in Pat Robertson's hometown as the youngest son in a large military family. Evan at his most rebellious, he keeps both his tart sense of humor and dignity intact while embracing sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. How I learned to Snap is a much a hilarious call to action as it is a touching call to acceptance."

My thoughts: It's funny, when I buy these books I read the back blurb to help make a choice but after reading the books I tend to be like "What?" This memoir is humorous but I wouldn't call it laugh-out-loud. There is an expectation with coming out stories that there will be a lot of external problems in the process. Surprisingly there are very few external issues in this particular story. The book sets up that there will be, flaunting that Kirk is from Pat Robertson's hometown, and that his father is a former Military man. Even in the moments you feel that something bad is going to happen it seems to twist into something less problematic, or even a positive experience. It is refreshing to see a coming out story that isn't all about being beaten up every day after school to come home to abusive parents who don't accept their child's homosexuality. This is more the story of the rebellious teenager that is Kirk Read rather than the homosexual Kirk Read.

Grades: (all scores out of 5)
Quality of the Writing: 3
Entertainment: 4
Compelling: 3
Total 11/15 - 73% - C