3 Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager by Buzz Bissinger

First Mariner Books, 2006

(Boston)

I am a very picky person when it comes to reading books: I don't really like reading fiction all that much and most of the time I can't stand biographies, especially autobiographies.  There are many exceptions, which make me think that I am simply lazy when it comes to both fiction and biographies.  I tend to think this way especially of fiction, whereas biographies (of both kinds) must be an absolutely interesting person and someone whom I already respect immensely for me to even attempt to read it.  Case in point, apparently the actor Ewan MacGregor has a biography out there (albeit an unauthorized one by Brian Pendreigh).  I like him and his movies but he doesn't need a biography yet - he's only 40!  It's not a knock against him at all, just the idea that someone would write a book about him is a little more than idiotic.  Fiction is a little different because, like movies I've never heard of, it really only takes a few people to suggest it to me for me to consider it.  This excludes classic works of literature which are mostly more than 40 years old or more.  But then there is the many factors that may affect that referral for the better or for the worse.  Is the referrer reacting as part of a larger phenomenon in his or her referral?  I.e. Harry Potter.  Is the referrer a lover of reality shows?  Do they like Shia Labeouf as Indiana Jones?  Do they consider Korean pop music a "great advancement in culture"?  Do they use an inordinate amount of makeup and/or hair product?  Do they dislike the movies High Fidelity, The Usual Suspects, or The Castle?  All of these things weigh heavy on the mind when getting a referral from a friend or acquaintance.  What was I talking about?  

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"...the city's residents studiously avoided hearing the screams..."

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein

Picador Press, 2007

(New York)

I had put off reading Shock Doctrine for a long, long time until a good friend had reminded me about it about a year ago.  It wasn’t necessarily about negligence or laziness; rather, it was more a situation where I almost knew what she was going to say.  Like the tough subject of her earlier book, No Logo, I knew the subject matter contained in Shock Doctrine fairly well due to my studies at university.  After reading No Logo I remember being depressed and sad, angry and outraged at corporations and the governemnts that allowed them to ply their wickedly effiecient trades.  I knew that Shock Doctrine would be the same: governments exploiting other governments and their peoples; “visionaries” in effieciency and technological advancement held up as idols to millions of believers; and piles upon piles of dead or dying, abused, tormented, broken victims, albeit flecked with a few equally broken but nevertheless defiant survivors.  And in spite of all this, I read it. 

I was (and still am) outraged, angry, depressed, and sad.  But nevertheless, it is a book more than worthy of your time.  Hereafter are my thoughts on the matter...

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