Reading List Update

April 4, 2008

16. Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon
Gentlemen of the Road was written by the same guy who wrote the novel Cavileer and Clay, the fictionalized history of Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster, so I knew ahead of time that it was going to be good and it did not disappoint. This is one of those rare books that is not only a good airport reader, but also an interesting, complex novel. It is really short so a person can easily finish it in about 6-8 hours, but you are likely to spend the next four hours thinking about it. The novel follows two honorable yet criminal highwaymen as they travel around the fictionalized nation of Kazaria. Just as they finish another scam they are roped into escorting and protecting a “prince” of Kazaria whose father was deposed and murdered, and the two “gentlemen” who prefer solitude and anonymity become entangled in palace intrigue and war.

17. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
This memoir follows one of Waco, TX’s favorite sons, Steve Martin, from his early life and career as a small time magician and comedian to America’s number one stand-up act, and explains why, at the top of his game, Martin left stand-up comedy forever. Martin is a great writer, and he paints a vivid picture of life as a stand-up comedian and the struggles that one faces in achieving success in that field. I have to admit that before I read this book I generally thought that stand-up comedy was mostly a mixture of talent and luck, but this book shows just how much work it actually is and how success can bring with it the depression, drug use, and addiction that prematurely ends careers and lives as was the case with other great comedians John Belushi and Chris Farley.

18. Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks
If you have ever turned on CNN and wondered what the hell is going on in Iraq and why are we even there in the first place, this is the book for you. It follows the War in Iraq from the lead up to war in early 2003 to the surge of 2007 and details how a the machinations a few key political figures, conflict between the military and the Bush Administration, and the inability of our generals and political leaders to a new type of warfare led to a “fiasco” in Iraq and has landed us in a quagmire that threatens to be the most embarrassing and damaging foreign policy action in United States history. What was great about this book was that as the author goes through all of the mistakes that had been made, such as Bush’s false claims of WMD’s, Rumsfield’s insistence on fewer troops, Gen. Tommy Franks’ lack of overall strategy, and mistreatment of detainees, the author does not engage in partisan attacks but lays blame where it is due, regardless of political party. In fact, early on in the book he condemns democrats and the “liberal media,” for refusing to investigate the administrations claims more thoroughly and rolling over because war was “inevitable.” The book also was interesting in that it lays out the most likely end results of our actions in Iraq, civil war or, even more worrisome, the rise of a new caliphate.

19. Heartfire by Orson Scott Card
20. Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card
I may not like Orson Scott Card’s political and social ideas, and he is a bit of a jerk in person, but I have to say that I still really like his books. This is the second time that I have read each of these novels, and they were just as much fun the second time around as they were the first. Heartfire is the fifth novel in the “Alvin Maker Series” that takes place in an alternate early America where people have special powers and abilities. Furthermore, the United States was never created; rather the continent is made up of various small states like the Crown Colonies, Apalachee, and New England. I think what I like most about this series is comparing the true history of the United States with Card’s version and seeing how if certain events had played out differently our country would indeed look and feel much different than it does today.

Shadow of the Hegemon is nearly the complete opposite. It is part of the “Shadow Series,” a spin-off from Card’s “Ender Series.” Shadow of the Hegemon continues the story of the super intelligent child general, Bean, and his efforts to save his friends, defeat his greatest enemy, and bring peace to a fracturing world. The one thing I do not always like about this series is that Card’s ideas about International Relations are not usually that accurate and always run too conservative in my opinion. Overall however, I have no big complaints. After all, Card has my hometown of Greensboro, NC still going strong in 200 years!