I know stylistically I'm copying Nick Hornby's monthly column in the Believer. But, I adored those columns! So, why not start with an imitation (it is a form of flattery after all) and hope to move on from there eventually...here we go!
BOOKS BOUGHT:
Alinea--Grant Achatz
The House That TRANE Built--Ashley Khan
Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin--Kenny Shopsin
Good Calories, Bad Calories--Gary Taubes
American Nerd--Benjamin Nugent
Secret Suppers--Jenn Garbee
The Big Sort--Bill Bishop
Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front--Joel Salatin
BOOKS READ:
Downtown Owl--Chuck Klosterman
American Nerd--Benjamin Nugent
In Defense of Food--Michael Pollan
Old, Rare & New: The Independent Record Shop
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running--Haruki Murakami
The Ten Cent Plague--David Hadju
The Big Sort--Bill Bishop (currently finishing)
You may notice from the above list an overall theme of non-fiction writing (the one exception being Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman). You may also notice a strong theme of food related writing. Much like anything else, these are phases I go through which are often brought about by a book that completely sucks me in. From there, I tend to look for other similar books that expand upon the initial interest.
First of all, I've missed out on a lot of fiction writing for some time now. Not that I don't appreciate or enjoy fiction, it's just not my thing lately. Downtown Owl is the one exception recently. When you think about it, it makes complete sense. I've loved everything else by Mr. Klosterman especially IV and Killing Yourself to Live. So it comes as no surprise that his first foray into fiction is not that far off from his previous non-fiction ventures. The story follows a small secluded town in North Dakota full of quirks and social oddities. It reads as a coming of age story (Mitch and his high school cohorts) and a coming to terms with life story (Horace and his coffee drinking pals). Add plenty of signature Klosterman culture references (One girl listens exclusively to the Rolling Stones album, Goat Head Soup) and you have a quick page turing time. I have to agree with the publisher's nice and tidy description of the book as: " a Reagan-era version of The Last Picture Show fused with Friday Night Lights."
As I'm sure I will continue to mention throughout the blog, I write another blog with my wife, Carrie, called Put it In Our Mouth. We are, for lack of a better term, Foodies. I cook for a living and until recently so did my wife. Often we find ourselves searching for new recipes and new ideas to try at home and at work. This is where books like Alinea, Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin, and Secret Suppers come into play. These books really are a triumvirate of cooking in a way. Alinea representing the haute cuisine, Eat Me representing the more basic but still highly adventurous fare, (Kenny Shopsin was also the subject of an amazing documentary film, I Like Killing Flies, that I highly recommend) and Secret Suppers representing a nice balance between the two. I have browsed recipes in all three and will probably be writing more on these next month once I read them cover to cover.
The rest of the food related books all basically stem from reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma a few months back. Reading In the Defense of Food was, more or less, a shortened and more direct version of Omnivore. Pollan makes all the same points here but he steers the conversation towards what you as the reader can accomplish on your own. It's still a great read, but I was hoping for a little more considering the impact that Omnivore had on me.
After that I happened to come across a used copy of Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, which is mentioned time and time again in In Defense of Food. Pretty excited to read that one.
The final connection stems from Pollan's detailed chapter about Joel Salatin and his Polyface Farms. I found the descriptions of his farm incredibly fascinating. I never really thought much more about Salatin and his farms until dinner the other evening with Carrie's parents. Carrie's dad, Guy, talked about how Omnivore's Dilemma was a huge eye opener for him (and for myself as well!) and mentioned the book Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal by Joel Salatin. According to Guy Salatin's book takes more of a layman's approach to local farming and Pollan's grandiose ideas. Needless to say I've already picked up a copy and have already taken in the preface and introduction.
I have digressed recently from food writing (notice that although I have bought multiple books of food writing, I have been holding off on reading them) and turned toward some lighter fare. American Nerd by Benjamin Nugent only held my interest for the first few chapters. It may be that I just can't related all that well but the extensive writing on D&D secret societies and sci-fi conventions just loses me. I loved the first half of the book where Nugent tackles the history of the word nerd and some of the implications that race has on the idea of nerdiness. But Nugent lost me when he veered off the history and moved onto actual nerds. I guess that's the point when writing a book about the idea behind a "nerd," but I never felt compelled to feel sympathy or empathy or anything by the end of the book.
Old, Rare, New: The Independent Record Shop is a quick book all about the joys of record shopping. How could that be bad? Lots of anecdotes from some wonderful music writers. It makes me want to go buy records, so it must be an effective book! Haruki Murakami's new nonfiction rant, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running was a quick read, but really only interesting if you also happen to have a similar love for running as Murikami does (which I have lately). And finally The Big Sort by Austin's own Bill Bishop is currently on my plate. It's a subject I normally wouldn't seek out but after hearing an NPR interview with him I was sold. Since I'm only about halfway through I'll wait to give a full synopsis, but given the current political climate in the US this book is an eye-opener in many ways too.
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