BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
December 2009 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe
Is it fair to call
the Dalai Lama a wise guy? He certainly doesn't seem like a holy man,
although that is what he's considered to the people of Tibet. To us in
the West, he's the closest thing we have to the proverbial
wise-man-on-the-mountain, although he's now in exile in India. In his
new book
THE ART OF HAPPINESS IN A TROUBLED WORLD, written with Dr. Howard
C. Cutler, who interviews him and supplies both context and
commentary, the Dalai Lama discusses in depth the philosophy and
science of achieving peace of mind, using anecdotal examples to
illustrate his points. What is happiness, and how can we overcome the
"us" versus "them" conditioning that we use to separate each other
into stereotypes to foster racism and aggression? There are logical
answers here that are as simple and beautiful as Einstein's equation
E=MC2. That they come from the mouth of the Dalai Lama, through the
voice of narrator Marc Cashman, seems both appropriate and ironic in
that, while the message is down to earth and filled with compassion
evoking equality, it comes from a man usually addressed as "His
Holiness." (Random House Audio; 14 hours unabridged)
Is it right that a person should complain when required to pay taxes
on part of their income after having their yacht taken away, and after
living in luxury for almost one hundred years at taxpayer expense? No,
you might agree, it's not right. And so Elizabeth Angela Marguerite
Bowes Lyon did not complain, nor did her daughter. She merely ordered
another drink. A martini. As THE QUEEN MOTHER, officially chronicled
by William Shawcross, Elizabeth I enjoyed an idyllic childhood, a very
long life, the admiration of her subjects, plus she got to wear the
Crown Jewels to state functions and endless appearances, parties, and
celebrations. Even her daughter's Golden Jubilee was an unmatched
procession of floats, bands, and aircraft at which Donald Trump might
have salivated. As read by the author, a famous BBC broadcaster,
(along with Sophie Roberts, who supplies quotes or passages in the
Queen's voice), this biography not only recounts the splendor of being
royalty (a fading anachronism in our modern age), but tells
Elizabeth's personal story, including her refusal to take refuge
during the bombing of London, and her disinclination to comment on
various later scandals. That she loved the military, horse racing, and
music is quite obvious in this extensive and approved biography, and
Shawcross maintains an almost regal English viewpoint throughout, his
tone only changing when describing the horrors of WWII, and the
Crown's reaction to it. Unlike pop stars of today, who are our only
royalty, Elizabeth did not comport herself inappropriately, but led a
full yet discretionary life as embodiment of her country. Knowing her
role well, she also passed that knowledge on to her daughter, although
whether it will continue is anyone's guess. Shawcross has obvious
affection for the subject, as he has written extensively about the
Royal Family in the past, and his natural British accent also bears
the seal of Royal approval, being the genuine article. (Random House
Audio; 10 hours unabridged)
Next, that aging hippie and comedian by the name of George Carlin is
gone now (he died in June 2008), but his legacy and history remain to
be plumbed in LAST WORDS, a new biography written with friend Tony
Hendra (a British comedian and author). Narrated with similar gruff
gusto by his brother Patrick Carlin, the audiobook recalls George's
very earliest memories on the streets of New York, and includes his
days on the road in various clubs from Dayton to Hollywood, his
battles with censorship, his unusual meeting and marriage to his wife
Brenda, her succumbing to cancer, his drug use, and his search for a
new voice, after being associated as much with the 70s as platform
shoes and disco. Carlin's subject matter moved from the typical to the
political in the 1980s and 1990s, when he appeared often on the
Tonight Show, HBO, and SNL, culminating in his 2001 Grammy win for
Brain Droppings, and he also loved to play with words and ideas, with
zero respect for anyone or any institution. Carlin was also hard on
himself, and sadly, some of this book relates to his hopes to continue
doing standup into the future, which was not to be. Patrick Carlin
sounds a lot like George, both in voice and in mindset, and no one
could have related George's thoughts and words better. The audiobook
also features opening commentary with Tony Hendra and Kelly
Carlin-McCall about her father. (Simon & Schuster Audio; 6 hours
abridged)
Finally, while it might be difficult to sort out all the characters in
a P.G. Wodehouse tale, the attempt is a genuine pleasure, given the
masterful interpretations of narrator Martin Jarvis. In SUMMER
LIGHTNING the ninth Earl of Emsworth fears his prize pig with be
snatched by Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, while Parsloe fears
Clarence's debauched brother Gally will publish scandalous memoirs
implicating him. Set in a castle, there is a butler named Beach, a
romance involving Clarence's niece Millicent, along with some private
eye detecting regarding the thefts, and patently absurd dialogue from
a great British humorist, all brought to amazing life by the
inimitable skill of stage and screen actor Jarvis. How does Martin do
it, knowing instantly the correct inflection, tone, voice, and mental
states of a dozen very, very quirky characters? We'll have to ask him,
won't we? (CSA Word; 5 hours unabridged)
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
November 2009 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe
Jim
Cramer is host of Mad Money, and a columnist for TheStreet.com. He was
taken to task by Jon Stewart for not adequately predicting the crash
of Oct. 2008, and here defends himself in GETTING
BACK TO EVEN, which he wrote with Cliff Mason, another Mad Money
writer. Actually, he says that he did tell his audience to sell stocks
prior to the fall (just not far enough before--only days instead of
months). In this audiobook, which Cramer also narrates, are his stock
picks for recovery, as well as his strategy for reversing one's own
losses into gains (which he himself claims to have done). The subtitle
is Your Personal Economic Recovery Plan, and while he might sound like
a male version of Susie Ormond, with a driving, urgent delivery, his
focus is more on investing and understanding how the market operates
than in personal expenditures and lifestyle. So while his every
sentence carries an exclamation point, as does Ormond, he's not
talking to you like you're a daughter or son in need of council, but
rather an equal who needs to know all the shenanigans utilized by Wall
Street insiders to keep you from playing the market like they do. Do
you buy-and-hold? No, no, no, says Cramer, that's a such way to lose
in a downturn. His motto is buy-and-homework. The more you know the
better your chances. Knowledge is power, as any self employed person
instinctively learns. The corporate CEOs who reap millions at your
expense know that the less information you have the bigger their
bonuses. If they can keep you a sheep, you can be fleeced again and
again. Which, of course, if what we say about television. (Simon &
Schuster Audio; 6 hours abridged)
Paolo Bacigalupi has, up to now, been primarily known as an SF short
story writer, praised for his original and confrontational vision.
With his new novel THE WINDUP GIRL he has vaulted himself onto the
center stage, alongside science fiction's longstanding icons. Here is
a novel postulating an unflinchingly corrupt and degradative
near-future society in southeast Asia, where powerful corporations vie
for control over rice yields, wielding bioengineered viruses as tools
of profit. Environmental disasters, terrorism, and the unrestrained
cruelty of prejudice backdrop the story of an engineered "new human"
girl bred for resistance to the newly perpetrated plagues, and to
serve her masters in all demeaning ways possible. The reader, and
particularly the listener to Jonathan Davis as narrator, comes to feel
every bitter debasement and shame that unfeeling men can inflict on a
sensitive, innocent creature, albeit designed to submit to it. Davis
is particularly good at infusing the manufactured (yet very human)
girl with a pathos that is heartbreaking, as when an admirer mistakes
her for a regular human, then recoils in revulsion when he discovers
from her jerky "tick tock" movements that she is "only a toy, a filthy
animal worthy only of mulching." The windup girl soon curls into a
ball, wishing to be thrown away with the trash, after her rape and
humiliation by heartless murderers, and we are made to feel her
exquisite pain, and to crave for her eventual resistance. In a way,
the novel is reminiscent of the movie A.I. (the Pinocchio story) in
which the little manufactured boy seeks to become a real boy.
Brilliant and literate, it is also a fascinating tale, well told, and
a cautionary extrapolation of how evolution can drag humanity backward
if we are unwilling to seek higher ideals. Not to be missed. (Audible)
Next, Dennis Lehane burst onto the literary scene with Mystic River,
and his 2003 novel SHUTTER ISLAND has just been re-released in new
packaging with Recorded Book's narrator Tom Stechschulte reading, all
due to the Paramount release of the movie version starring Leonardo
DiCaprio. Here is a psychological thriller with a twist reversal, set
in 1954, and featuring a hospital for the criminally insane on an
island facing a hurricane, and two men trying to make sense of the
evidence at Ashecliffe before it's too late. Stechschulte is a great
choice as narrator for two reasons. One, this plot would crumble into
an incomprehensible and unbelievable pile of sea foam were it not for
Tom's deft handing and direction of the narrative, knowing just how
much surprise to show, and what he needs to do to hide what's coming.
More importantly, though, his natural, understated delivery is
complimented by an unerring sense of character, and he juggles these
multiple personalities in his own mind, drawing each to the surface at
will--with all their eccentricities and liabilities of knowledge or
education or delusion intact. No easy task. So when the end comes, you
really are astonished at the sleight of hand. Or rather mouth. (Harper
Audio; 9 1/2 hours unabridged)
If you're starting (or have already started) a permanent audiobook
collection, one classic that should be included is THE GREAT GATSBY as
narrated by Anthony Heald. The 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
follows Nick Carraway into the love triangle of Daisy, Tom, and Jay
for a story about how marrying for money can prove to be tragic,
especially for those whose eyes are blinded by love. The book carries
the endorsement of one Ernest Hemingway, whose impressions of it are
recorded in his memoir "A Moveable Feast." The narrator of the
audiobook version carries the endorsement of this reviewer, who is
struck by Heald's capacity to render fresh what will be forever
lovely. A theater and film actor, Heald is supremely gifted in
conveying a character's idiosyncrasies through the clues of their
articulation, and in creating believable, living beings in the space
between script and microphone, utilizing a seemingly boundless
spontaneous imagination. (Blackstone Audio; 5 hours unabridged)
If there is a winery that can be said to dominate the U.S. market, it
is Gallo. For sheer volume of product sold, and the number of other
wineries it has gobbled, stretching from Modesto to the Napa Valley,
the empire established by Ernest and Julio Gallo in the early 20th
Century ranks number one. And so it is appropriate that the title of a
biography on this family's story is GALLO BE THY NAME. This
billionaire family synonymous with cheap wine sold by the gallon has
indeed a storied past, involving Al Capone, prohibition, murder, and
even rumored suicide. Written by Jerome Tuccille, it is narrated by
actor Grainger Hines, whose carefully enunciated sentences unravel a
twisted tale about an old man whose cheap, unremarkable rot gut flowed
like a river into world markets, while he battled the competition and
played games with labelling and suing anyone remotely encroaching on
his trademark, including makers of ceramics. The bitter rivalries and
family feuds are all chronicled here, from the early days until the
present, as granddaughter Gina transforms the winery into something
more prestigious, bringing award winning vintages to market, along
with a new responsibility to the environment and the workplace, thanks
to business savvy and a focus on the word "inexpensive" rather than
"cheap." The story is fascinating, and the reader's voice not too oaky
or tannic. A good compliment to the movies Sideways and Bottle Shock,
to be sure. (Phoenix Audio, 8 1/2 hours unabridged)
Finally, Winnie the Pooh, first published in 1926, became an instant
children's classic. Several other Pooh books came out soon after, in
1927 and 1928. Given how so many other bestsellers have had sequels
published soon after release, and often the very next year, it is
surprising that it has taken 80 years for us to have an authorized
sequel of new Pooh stories. Has it been worth the wait? Absolutely,
given that the narrator here is none other than Jim Dale, the Grammy
and Audie award winning reader of the Harry Potter series. Dale is
nothing less than astonishing in his versatility in character voicing,
and his rendering of RETURN TO THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD includes all the
Pooh characters, plus the new character of Lottie the Otter. Ten
stories follow Christopher Robin's return, and, oh yes, Pooh goes in
search of honey too. English writer David Benedictus has produced
previous adaptations of Pooh, and the only thing missing here are the
full illustrations from the print version, so you'll want to pick that
up too for your kids. Just don't miss Dale, because he really brings
the characters to life, as he did with Harry Potter. (Penguin Audio; 3
hours unabridged)
(Jonathan's new short novella about literacy and reading--WHO MOVED MY
TV?--can be read for free at
jonathanlowe.wordpress.com.)
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
October 2009 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe
In
THE DEEP BLUE SEA FOR BEGINNERS author Luanne
Rice introduces an influential family headed by Lyra Davis, who left
her wealthy family in Rhode Island to find a new life on the island of
Capri. The daughters she left behind begin to wonder what secret their
mother may have hidden in leaving them to be raised by their adoring
father. So Pell Davis goes to Capri to discover the truth, and
instigates some new complications to Lyra's life there, while inducing
guilt, affection, and also desire among the boys on the island. The
novel, like many of Rice's, is mainstream literary in nature,
unclassifiable in genre. Meaning family relationships, and how they
play out, (rather than suspenseful life-or-death plots) make up the
substance of these stories. The characters learn to understand and
accept themselves, and so grow in ways the typical romance cannot
delineate. The writing is descriptive and accessible, walking a
tightrope above sentimentality, while the narrator, actress Blair
Brown, is a perfect choice to enunciate all the changing emotional
discoveries. Having acted in movies like Stealing Home, Ms. Brown is
well attuned to how families operate, and the abridgment is
particularly deft at honing the text without losing the story's
intent. My only complaint is not with this novel, but with novels like
this in general: why are these families usually rich? Why not a novel
about families set in a trailer park? If you don't have money, are you
not still alive, with feelings? A good writer should be able to make
such families interesting, too. One might argue that the poor lead
more tragic and dramatic lives than the rich, too. Although, granted,
they aren't flying off to Rome for the weekend. (Random House Audio; 6
hours abridged)
Next, Dr. Andrew Weil's new book is his most urgent and important yet.
It is titled, simply, WHY OUR HEALTH MATTERS, and in it he describes
the nightmares afflicting the American health care system, then offers
solutions. Dr. Weil is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, and is
the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative
Medicine at the University of Arizona. In the book he exposes the
costly myths that have set us on a course to disaster. The first myth
is that we have the best and most efficient medical care on the
planet. Actually, the United States ranks 37th, on par with Serbia,
(how's THAT for a startling secret!) and if we continue to rely on the
kind of high-tech, last-minute emergency interventions exclusively
dramatized on TV medical shows, (as opposed to prevention via
lifestyle changes and nutrition), the current system (along with the
American economy) will go bust. This is inevitable, Weil says. Health
care costs are spiraling out of control, due to our reliance on costly
pharmaceuticals (some pills running $100 each) along with crisis
surgeries like heart bypasses. With chilling detail despite Weil's
matter-of-fact tone as he narrates the book, many case studies are
outlined, revealing that doctors in U.S. medical schools are only
taught practices that treat diseases after they occur (with risky
end-stage emergency medicine), and are taught virtually nothing about
prevention of disease. Under this for-profit system, and with medical
malpractice lawsuits rising, doctors are forced to encourage
expensive, unnecessary CT and MRI scans as a means to protect
themselves (while increasing radiation exposure to the patient.) They
perform unnecessary surgeries, too, and prescribe fix-it drugs for all
ailments, which do little but cause more problems. Meanwhile, the drug
companies get rich, legitimate claims are denied, and little is said
to the patient about cutting out junk food, taking vitamins,
exercising, and getting more sleep. After all, says Weil, a doctor's
life in a hospital today is all about lack of sleep, bad cafeteria
food, and lack of exercise. How can we expect them to recommend what
they themselves can't practice, especially when their paycheck is tied
to the frequent use of high-tech medical intervention procedures? "We
have to stop paying for failure," Weil says, before detailing what the
American medical system should be doing. I recommend you send this audiobook to your Congressman after hearing it. (Penguin Audio; 6
hours unabridged)
It never fails to amaze me how easily people can be swayed into
believing in something for nothing. No doubt television can be blamed
for some of this, given its gamut of game shows and focus on the easy
riches flaunted by celebrities. But how can even the rich and famous
be taken to the cleaners by investment advisors who promise ways of
beating the odds? In his book HOW TO SMELL A RAT author Ken Fisher,
along with Lara Hoffmans, detail the "Five Signs of Financial Fraud."
Bernard Madoff's $65 Billion Ponzi scheme was certainly the
inspiration for the book, but there are other scams over previous
decades from which the authors cull their simple rules. Rule #1 is
that you shouldn't allow your decision maker to also have access to
your money. Surprisingly, this rule is often overlooked by investors.
Money gets pooled together, and before long the hedge fund manager,
who may have started out innocently enough, runs into negative returns
that he is loathe to report, and so he dips into the new investment
stream for some liquidity to save the vines that are withering. Such
was the case with Madoff, whose evil began small and good-intentioned,
only later blossoming into a giant, man-eating fungus that could no
longer be hidden. As narrated by Scott Thomsen, this book is mainly
for those whose common sense is limited, or whose predilection for
taking risks is above average. The rats are out there, for sure, and
they will take whatever cheese you have, be it only crumbs. Don't
expect the S.E.C. to protect you, either. They might be at a
convention in Miami, while your investment advisor is set up in the
Caymans. (Highbridge Audio; 6 hours unabridged)
Next, Larry Niven is an author best known for his Ringworld SF series.
He has now teamed with Edward M. Lerner to pen JUGGLER OF WORLDS,
about a paranoid Earth agent hired to uncover the schemes of other
races. The Puppeteers, an advanced race with superior technologies,
have vanished after detecting a core explosion at the center of the
galaxy that will one day envelope Earth. But one of the Puppeteers has
remained behind, with schemes of his own. What will Sigmund
Ausfaller's fate be now, and how is his fate linked to the Earth's?
Narrator of this science fiction tale is Tom Weiner, whose alien
voices can create startlingly idiosyncratic characters, although he
has less success with female voices. Elucidating all the strange and
sometimes funny instruments utilized in this future society, Weiner,
reading Niven and Lerner's words, succeeds in transporting the
listener beyond our own mundane, violent world into one which is even
more strange and engrossing. (Blackstone Audio; 13 hours unabridged;
available on single Mp3-CD)
Finally, LEVEL 26--DARK ORIGINS by Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane
Swierczynski is the publishing world's first attempt at combining a
book with a movie. They call it a Digi-Novel, in which you can follow
"bridges" in the text with actual dramatized scenes online at
Level26.com. (Code words allow access.) In the audiobook version, an
extra DVD disk containing both the full narration and those acted
scenes is included, along with the standard CDs. (Penguin Audio; 9 1/2
hours unabridged) The plot concerns a serial killer whose crimes are
so horrific that an unnamed and clandestine task force has been
created to deal with him. Headed by a brilliant operative named Steve
Dark, who works just as slowly and methodically as the killer, this
group knows no laws but its own, and is not averse to executing
operatives who fail to deliver the goods. In this, Dark's first tale,
(to be continued, alas), his nemesis is named Sqweegel, a smarmy
killer who wears a latex suit more appropriate for a kinky sex worker.
Out of a possible 25 levels of evil, as classified by law enforcement,
he's also the only person to merit a 26. In the digi-movie, he's
portrayed as a tall, skinny wannabe contortionist (played by Daniel Buran) who enjoys hiding under his mostly female victim's beds,
waiting until they're in deep sleep, and then he sniffs them throughly
before waking them up for some slicing and dicing. He also likes to
hog-tie his victims and question them before the fun begins. He's done
50 people this way (female and male) over the years, and no one even
knows who his is, or why he's doing it. Enter Zuiker's creation, Steve
Dark, whose pregnant wife is the next target. The novel itself is
Zuiker's first, so the main reason all the stops (up to and past
publishing's level 25) were pulled out on this project is because he's
the creator of "the most watched television show in the world."
Namely, CSI. How's his writing style? Well, picture James Patterson on
steroids. It's all about turning that page, or inserting the next CD.
What you get at the end is nothing really new or meaningful, you're
just along for the ride. Which is why I'm recommending this only for
TV addicts who don't read much, or anyone who isn't yet burned out on
serial killer books (like this reviewer). Regarding the digi-movie,
the atmosphere is certainly intriguing, the acting passable, and
although an earlier showing of the characters to the reader might have
avoided the surprise of learning that the people your own imagination
just created aren't the same as those on the screen, overall it's very
stylish. Actor John Glover's audiobook narration is particularly
captivating, too, along with the sound effects employed in
transitions. Rarely heard as a narrator, Glover is a gifted screen and
Broadway actor with a great sense of character and timing. Other
actors in the video clips are Michael Ironside, Glenn Morshower, Bill
Duke, Kevin Weisman, Daniel Browning Smith, and Tauvia Dawn. Bottom
line: my problem is not with the style, but rather the substance. Of
course commercial TV is all about style over substance, and since the
authors say that the killer may ask for your phone number from their
website, to "reach you directly," I thought I'd present Sqeegel with
some questions of my own:
1) Okay, so I'll assume you had a horrid childhood, given what a sick
puppy you are today. What can you tell us about that?
2) At what point did actually sticking pins in caterpillars stop
working for you, and why?
3) Have you ever thought of slicing your own neck, or wrists?
4) What is this fascination you have with knives, anyway? What about
forks and spoons? Or would you be too fat, then, to fit into that
latex suit?
5) Have you ever thought of visiting James Patterson?
6) What are your favorite TV shows? And have you ever considered
putting the remote down, and going for a walk in the park with an iPod
playing a great book? Maybe you wouldn't be so screwed up, then.
7) Do you like the name Sqweegel, and what's with the funny spelling?
8) Is the whole point here not to know why you're doing this, because
if we did learn the truth we'd be laughing our heads off, and then
crying about all the time we wasted?
9) Have you ever given to charity? It might put a more interesting
spin on your persona...maybe get you on the cover of PEOPLE instead of
just POLICE DIGEST.
10) Do you know Satan personally, and if so, is he Level 27? Or is he
just bored?
(Jonathan's hardcover medical suspense novel Geezer is now available
in ebook format from ereader.com)
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
September
2009 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe
THE
ANGEL'S GAME by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a puzzling novel set in 1920s
Barcelona, about a poor writer named David Martin, whose patron
becomes famous while he himself languishes at the end of a leash, so
to speak. When a commission comes to write a book that may prove
dangerous, David is soon suspected of several murders, which he may or
may not have committed himself. As teller of the tale, Martin is both
comical and a bit sinister, as a balancing act must be decided by the
reader or hearer, thereby providing the suspense. Much atmosphere and
fine writing compliment the mix, with stage actor Dan Stevens
presenting the audio rendition in a manner suited to the complicated
narrative arc of the story. Thumbs up. (Random House Audio; 15 1/2
hours unabridged)
In EVERYTHING MATTERS by Ron Currie, Jr. the problem for the
protagonist Junior Thibodeax is to discover meaning and a reason to go
on living in a world which he knows will end on a certain date just 36
years from his birth. The mysterious voice that tells him this secret
also reveals other things about his family, about disease, about
violence. Junior cracks under the strain, but manages to eke out a
life amid the gathering ashes funneling down from his subconscious.
There is a lot to tackle here, by this award winning author of God Is
Dead, and the multiple viewpoints can be tedious at times, but the
ending is great, with its backward countdown. Hope, in this offbeat
novel, is a last lifeline thrown into the void. Narrators are Abby
Craden, Mark Deakins, Lincoln Hoppe, Hilary Huber, Arthur Morey and
Doug Wert. (Penguin Audio; 13 hours unabridged)
Next, have an intriguing Paris adventure listening to non-fiction set
in the romantic city of lights, with VANISHED SMILE---THE MYSTERIOUS
THEFT OF MONA LISA, by R.A. Scotti, read by Kathe Mazur. This is the
true story of the shocking disappearance of what would become the most
famous painting in the world. The theft, which occurred at a time of
lax security in August of 1911, would be blamed on none other than the
young Pablo Picasso, and on provocateur Guillaume Apollinaire. But who
really did it, and how? The answer is surprising. During the nearly
two year absence of Da Vinci's masterpiece from the Louvre, French
detectives investigated the case, using newly developed fingerprinting
techniques. Author Scotti delineates the mood of the public at the
time, offering glimpses into the backstory of the principals and
suspects. Of particular fascination are the lifestyles of painters
working in Paris, going back to a traveling Da Vinci himself.
Explored, too, is the beguiling nature of this nearly perfect (yet
odd) portrait of a Florentine woman, whose subtle smile hides secrets
of her own. (Random House Audio; 7 hours unabridged)
Finally, we all know about the French paradox when it comes to food,
but what about everything else? An intriguing new book on the subject
of love and life (including mindset) is WHAT FRENCH WOMEN KNOW by
Debra Ollivier, a freelance journalist who lives in Paris and Los
Angeles. She says that the French secret to happiness in and out of
bed is simply not to care about the things American women usually do.
Like being forever young. Or being rich and popular. There is no war
of the sexes in France because French women do not expect men to
understand them, not do they berate them. They love men, just as men
love them. (Vive la difference!) They are the opposite of American
women in that they place more value on enjoying the present moment
instead of fixating on the past or the future, on acceptance over
resistance to aging, and on the art of love over the stereotypically
American obsession with following dating rules, (or doing what
everyone else is doing). In short, French women don't give a damn what
others think of them, they are too busy living their lives. Want more
shock? Being ambitious, or having money and possessions, comes in last
place on their list of desires. But if you're fat in France, don't
expect people not to notice and to comment on it. They won't be
commenting behind your back, either, because being fat is the one real
taboo, unlike in America, where big is considered best, and
practically everyone gulps their food instead of savoring it. Narrated
by the author, who does her best with what at times reads like
literary essays, the book is nonetheless a real eye-opener or
ear-opener, full of many borrowed sayings like "American men marry
women hoping they'll never change, while American women marry men
hoping they will change. . .both are disappointed." Or: "Animals (and
Americans) eat, while the French dine." The French way is not the only
way to live, obviously, but it is definitely more relaxed, without all
the ridiculous obsessions we are constantly instructed to add to our
list of hang-ups. A French woman? She would rather laugh and say, "who
cares?" or simply "Bof!" (Penguin Audio; 5 1/2 hours unabridged)
(Author and reviewer Jonathan Lowe edits JustSayNoWay.com.)
BOOKS TO READ WHILE WORKING
August
2009 - Audiobooks reviewed by Jonathan Lowe
Buzz
Aldrin relates his own personal experience of the first moon landing
of Apollo 11 in MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION, an audiobook co-written with
Ken Abraham, and narrated by Patrick Egan, chosen for his no-nonsense
delivery (since the book is told first person.) The first two CDs
chronicle the mission itself, from launch to touchdown and back,
leaving little out that one might want to know about the mechanics of
what actually happened. It's the kind of account you might pay to hear
in an auditorium, and not regretting afterward the price of admission.
Included here are reactions to the tense moments when everything has
to work precisely or else. Like when they arrived, and Neil drifted
over acres of boulders looking for a good spot to put down, and then
were forced to land within thirty seconds or run out of fuel and
crash. Or when Buzz used his pen to unstick a faulty switch prior to
liftoff from the moon. You wonder what that must have been like, for
sure--knowing that if the engine doesn't fire, there would be no
rescue, just a short wait until air runs out as you stare across what
Buzz described as "magnificent desolation" toward a distant, blue
Earth. After the first two CDs, then the audiobook slows down, and the
remaining narrative branches out from the actual feat accomplished to
reveal (in depth) what Aldrin and his fellow astronauts faced, coming
home: the hordes of journalists that awaited them to emerge from
quarantine. The endless parades in New York, Chicago, and around the
world. How it all began to seem as though they were puppets on display
for NASA's public relations department. The alcohol and depression
that this led to, in Aldrin's case. And how he coped. Finally, there
is reflection on what it all meant, and what it means today. Aldrin
admits that not much space science was achieved by Apollo 11, and
although the missions that followed to the moon had more science, they
also got far less press. Should we go to Mars, and what is the cost of
going or not going, considering that engineering science would no
doubt benefit? The book attempts to give a big picture to all these
subjects, yet asks more questions than it answers. But that's okay.
It's honest and gutsy. . . although, granted, 40 years have elapsed.
Egan, as a narrator, disappears as he should, and if you didn't know Aldrin's voice you'd believe it was him speaking: an engineer, weary
yet optimistic, eyes open to the moment, yet seeing beyond his own
horizon. (Random House Audio; 13 hours unabridged)
Another chronicle of how the moon landing happened, (as well as an
examination of what the country was like at the time, for those too
young to remember). can be found in ROCKET MEN by Craig Nelson, a look
behind the scenes at NASA, and into the living rooms of all the
astronauts involved. The "one small step" that Neil Armstrong took was
also the giant leap for mankind that President Kennedy envisioned, and
although (as stated above) not much in the way of space exploration
was achieved by the mission, it did pull together the country (and the
engineers) to accomplish a monumental technical and political goal. A
former editor and winner of the Henry Adams prize for his book Thomas
Paine, Nelson is rigorous in his research, methodically examining the
Cold War space race while uncovering all the minutia that went
unnoticed by the press. Narrator Richard McGonagle is a good choice to
read the chronology, replete with its many interesting anecdotes,
since his masculine voice would also be ideal for a sports biography.
Essentially, that's really what this was: a touchdown on the moon. No
one really cared about the moon landings that followed, as most
Americans were too busy watching ball games on TV. Buzz Aldrin's
story, being part of this history making event, gets told too,
although Aldrin's own full biography is obviously more detailed in
that regard. (Penguin Audio; 17 hours unabridged)
Next, it makes sense that two lonely geeks at Harvard with an interest
in girls would be the founders of Facebook, the upscale social mega
website (whose less upscale rival, MySpace, has animated ads featuring
young girls staring alluringly into computer screens, hoping to score
the most credit card numbers.) In THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES, Ben
Mezrich (the gambling author of "Bringing Down the House") chronicles
how a couple of rowing jocks with an idea to meet the babes of Harvard
online defer to a computer geek named Mark Zuckerberg, who in turn
develops his own framework for something more than the jocks called
"The Harvard Connection." Mark, prior to meeting them circa 2003, had
hacked the university's computers as a crank, collected women student
photos, and started up a crank website he called Facemash. before
being forced to shut it down. So the jocks needed the geek to write
code for them. What happens next is detailed in the subtitle for the
book--sex, money, genius, and betrayal. The story is told
chronologically, with enough anecdotes to keep the somewhat imagined
narrative moving, using creative hypothesis to reconstruct Zuckerberg's thoughts and actions, given statements from Mark's
one-time partner and friend, Eduardo Saverin. (Incidentally, the
university's hacked student database was called Facebook, the very
name Mark eventually adopted as Facebook.com, with the idea of
creating an actual interactive social destination like those from
which he'd been denied entry.) The book is narrated by Mike
Chamberlain, a stage and voiceover actor. Obviously it is not the full
story, since Zuckerberg refused to cooperate with interviews for the
book, but if you like your fiction with more than a grain of truth
behind it, you could do worse. (Random House Audio; 7 1/2 hours
unabridged)
Next, Clive Cussler takes the helm from James Patterson for a new
compilation of suspense stories called THRILLER 2. The choices are
marked more by subtlety than mere shock or bloodletting, as eleven
narrators deliver short fiction by twenty-three authors, including
Jeffrey Deaver, Lisa Jackson, Ridley Pearson, R.L. Stine, and Philip
Margolin. Of particular originality is a suspense blended with SF
titled "The Fifth World" by Javier Sierra, and Kathleen Antrim's
"Through a Veil Darkly." Don't have other things on your mind, or you
might miss some of the subtlety here, and be forced to backtrack. Such
is usually the case with short stories, which are finely focused gems
with little wiggle room for inattention. Narrators are mostly on
target in this iPod ready collection introduced by Cussler, and
include Susan Ericksen, Mel Foster, David Colacci, and Jim Bond, among
others. (Brilliance Audio; 14 1/2 hours unabridged)
Finally, in the new book CHEAP--The High Cost of Discount Culture,
Ellen Ruppel Shell describes how we have fallen for the deceptions of
discount stores, thinking we are getting a bargain. What is actually
the result here, though, is low quality, low wages, and a richer rich.
On the tube, we are constantly shown sales, sales, and more sales,
with price the most important point being touted, while such a concept
as price is meaningless by itself, and is instead an elusive (and
profitable) tool used to manipulate us. This book, narrated by Lorna
Raver on audio, is a fascinating look at how we are brainwashed and
diverted from the big picture. Of particular attention for Shell is
Ikea, described as the most environmentally unsustainable company on
the planet. She also quotes studies made by Dan Ariely, author of
"Predictably Irrational" about how we fear any loss even more than we
seek a gain. Do we know that if we paid 24 cents more for a $20 shirt,
a sweatshop worker in China could get a 30% pay hike, and be able to
feed his or her family? No, we don't, because these facts are kept
from us by merciless market forces which dictate competition among
giants like Wal Mart. And then there's the food industry, where price
point is the entire game, irrespective of secondary considerations
like nutrition. Getting stuffed cheaply seems to be all that matters,
and with hidden trans-fats and saturated fats married to salt and
diabetes-inducing high fructose corn syrup. (Hey, ya gotta die
sometime, pal, might as well be sooner than later, right?) Narrator
Raver keeps the right level of urgency throughout the production,
neither slipping into dull recitation nor over-the-top dramatics. (For
my interview with Raver, see JustSayNoWay.com) The listener comes away
with a new perspective on advertising techniques, and finds new
questions popping up too, like a) Why are Floridians importing shrimp
from the Far East when a superior product is available off their own
coast? b) How can a giant hamburger cost only 99 cents, without there
being something inferior about the meat involved? (Corn fed beef means
higher fat, and like "Atlantic" salmon which never sees the ocean, the
cows never see a grazing field). Finally, c) Whatever happened to the
phrase, "you get what you pay for"? (Actually, you don't, anymore--you
get considerably less than you paid for, which is the whole point of
the discounting shell game, well researched by this revealing Shell.)
(Tantor Media; 11 1/2 hours unabridged)
THE
ANGEL'S GAME
