This is not a NaBloPoMo post...

...it's the first of December!

But I just want to show you what I waited for all last week...

...sitting at a coffee shop to read and write.

Read, reread, and think

Photo credit: Microsoft Clip Art

(I was glad to find this old essay, just because it reminded me of books that deserve my rereading.)

Wherever I go to work, do errands, or travel, I always bring a book along. When I am reading, I am never lonely, for throughout my life books have been my truest friends. No matter what time of day it is, no matter where my mind is at, books are at my side, never judging, always helpful - even if to take me away from my problems for a little while.

The words that came from people’s mouths were not always good to me. From them, I learned fallacy: I was ugly. I was stupid. I danced like a rhinoceros. I would never have the joys of marriage. I didn’t deserve the good things in life.

The words of people were untrustworthy. They lied to me. But the words of books speak the truth, even when the label on the outside is “fiction.” It is true that lessons taught from experience remain with you in a way that lectures never can. It is also true that a book can be an experience. It will be impossible for me to list all the lessons I have learned from books in this tiny patch of time. But these four are standouts:

From Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, I learned that a compatibility of souls, not a temporary physical attraction, is the basis of love that lasts, and that you may not get a second chance no matter how sorry you are – so take care in what you say and do to others.

From Elithe Hamilton Kirkland’s Love is a Wild Assault, I learned that a woman’s choice of husband is perhaps the most important choice she will make in her life - and that making a good choice is far, far more difficult than any advice can convey.

From Oriana Fallaci’s The Rage and the Pride, I learned that all cultures are not created equal – that it is perfectly okay, in fact vital, for free societies to denounce and fight back against fundamentalism of any stripe.

From Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements, I learned that “whatever you think, whatever you feel, I know is your problem and not my problem. It is the way you see the world. It is nothing personal, because you are dealing with yourself, and not with me.” I only wish I could have read these words when I was thirteen.

Now it is time for me to write a story which will be water to a parched soul.

What do I think of “Going Down with Janis” now?

I finished re-reading the book Going Down with Janis, thirty-one years after I read it the first time. What do I think now?

Meh. It may be another thirty-one years before I read it again, if at all.

Not because it’s a terrible book – it wasn’t like watching in adulthood the Sid and Marty Krofft shows you loved as a kid. It just felt like a been-there-done-that trip, which is not an optimal reading experience.

When I first read it, it was like anthropology – looking into the lives of exotic creatures, in this case people who use hard drugs. Hanging out with drug users – whether or not you use yourself – is like hopping on board Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Only you don’t end up in Disneyland.

After my first reading of Going Down with Janis, I searched for biographies and autobiographies of drug users – and that story got tired faster than knock-knock jokes. It’s a story with only two endings: death, or recovery into a life with a fraction of the thrills it had before. (Nothing wrong with being drug-free, but it’s more enjoyable to be sober yourself than to read about someone else being sober.)

I’m now into other kinds of stories – not the fanciful lifestyles of the rich and famous, but about people with difficult decisions to make. People who prove the principle that everyday life contains drama enough.

The 1960s did contain beauty, excitement, and a new freedom to take risks. Then and now, they are better experienced with a clear head.

Let's not live in an "Idiocracy"

This week, Two Dogs and I watched the movie Idiocracy on DVD. It was directed and co-written by Mike Judge, the creator of "Beavis and Butt-Head" and "King of the Hill" (note: the next time you watch KOTH, notice that the characters have five fingers on each hand, not four. Just like real people.)

Without spoiling it too much, it shows what could eventually happen when crassness, grossness, and lack of craftsmanship overwhelm a culture. It's funny, but it is scary as well. Once you're finished watching it, you're going to want to read a good, complex book with real meat on its bones. And I'm not talking about this one:

Two Other Books I Recommend

Speaking of books, here are two more that I've read lately that deserve a larger audience...

1. The Freedom Manifesto by Tom Hodgkinson

Tom Hodgkinson is the founder of the Idler magazine (also available online) and also wrote a book called How To Be Idle. He says that idling is not mere laziness, but a raised fist of freedom against the tyrants of the industrial world - corporations, television, credit cards, housework, and the so-called "good life" (which will make you miserable in the pursuit). Don't let the UK-centric language scare you - this book contains joyful news for people of all nations. Even though I am not quite ready to "Live Free of the Supermarket", this book came into my hands at just the right time.

2. You Or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr

This novel tells the story of Anne Rosenbaum, a highly educated and literate woman who is also the wife of a top Hollywood executive. Anne sets up several book clubs for motion picture professionals. It seems counterintuitive to have book clubs featuring heavyweights like William Faulkner, Edward Lear, and George Sand for people working in a business that has little respect for literature. Or is it?

The novel also explores the journey of Anne's husband, Howard. Born into an Orthodox Jewish family, but breaking away after falling in love with Protestant, English Anne, Howard barely thinks of religion until a family relevation shocks him into reconsidering his roots. You will see a startling - but understandable - comparison between Orthodox Judaism and one of its worst latter-day enemies. I will say no more. Just pick up this book where you can, and don't forget to write down the titles in Anne's book clubs, too.

E. Lynn Harris

I was shocked and saddened this afternoon to hear of the sudden death of author E. Lynn Harris, whose novels have entertained me over the years.

Mr. Harris is perhaps best known as an author of the black gay experience. Yet, that is not what I remember most about his work.

First, even though tragic events happen - beloved characters die of AIDS, love affairs crash and burn, betrayal and lies abound - the reader finished each book looking upon sunshine, knowing that the ones left living would not only survive, but thrive.

Second, and more important, these novels contained black characters who were educated, affluent, and mobile, who partook of American freedom as their due. They are not victims of poverty and/or racism. When I read Invisible Life, his first novel, I had not seen these kind of people in fiction before.

Of course, Mr. Harris started writing books in the 1990s, and not during the years of the worst racist outrages. Still, they were a relevation to me, and I hope they can be a relevation to you, too. The next time you're in a bookstore or library, stop at "H" in the fiction section for E. Lynn Harris