#106: The Outsourced Self

The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market Times, 

by Arlie Russell Hochschild

(New York: Metropolitan Books, 2012)

Summary:
"From the famed author of the bestselling The Second Shift and The Time Bind, a pathbreaking look at the transformation of private life in our for-profit world.

"The family has long been a haven in a heartless world, the one place immune to market forces and economic calculations, where the personal, the private, and the emotional hold sway. Yet as Arlie Russell Hochschild shows in The Outsourced Self, that is no longer the case: everything that was once part of private life—love, friendship, child rearing—is being transformed into packaged expertise to be sold back to confused, harried Americans.

"Drawing on hundreds of interviews and original research, Hochschild follows the incursions of the market into every stage of intimate life. From dating services that train you to be the CEO of your love life to wedding planners who create a couple's "personal narrative"; from nameologists (who help you name your child) to wantologists (who help you name your goals); from commercial surrogate farms in India to hired mourners who will scatter your loved one's ashes in the ocean of your choice—Hochschild reveals a world in which the most intuitive and emotional of human acts have become work for hire.

"Sharp and clear-eyed, Hochschild is full of sympathy for overstressed, outsourcing Americans, even as she warns of the market's threat to the personal realm they are striving so hard to preserve."

Table of Contents:

1. You Have Three Seconds
2. The Legend of the Lemon Tree
3. For as Long as You Both Shall Live
4. Our Baby, Her Womb
5. My Womb, Their Baby
6. It Takes a Service Mall
7. Making Five-Year-Olds Laugh Is Harder than You Think
8. A High Score in Family Memory Creation
9. Importing Family Values
10. I Was Invisible to Myself
11. Nolan Enjoys My Father for Me
12. Anything You Pay For Is Better
13. I Would Have Done It If She'd Been My Mother
14. Endings 
15. The Wantologist

My Take:
Another Second Shift or Time Bind this ain't. I suspect Hochschild's decision to write it was born of her own conflicted, guilt-spiked feelings at seeking a paid caregiver for her elderly aunt, and I think the book might have been stronger and more compelling had it focused on those intimate activities -- child and elder care, for example -- that pretty much everyone needs, and which have increasingly been moved to the market sphere and paid for. That story's been told many times, though, so what we're left with seems less like a thoughtful exposition and discussion-starter and more a voyeuristic "Wow, look at all the crazy, unnecessary stuff the 1% (or maybe just the 0.1 or 0.01%) will pay people to do for them!" Sure, it's interesting and may seem creepy or just weird that someone who's rich enough will spend beaucoup bucks on a kid's birthday party or various aspects of the wedding-industrial complex, but it's hardly a social problem on the order of the second shift.

#101: Talk to Me First

Talk to Me First: Everything You Need to Know to Become Your Kids' Go-To Person About Sex, by Deborah Roffman

(Boston: Da Capo Press, 2012)

Summary:
"Nationally acclaimed educator and author of Sex and Sensibility, Deborah Roffman distills her more than thirty years of experience teaching kids -- and their parents -- into this indispensable guide, helping you to be your kids' number one source for information and guidance on human sexuality. Roffman tackles everything from developmental stages to strategies for handling embarrassing or difficult conversations, offering the best way to make sure you both keep talking (and listening)."

Table of Contents:

1. Getting There First About Sex
2. Raising Children in a World Gone Upside Down
3. Parenting Is a Five-Piece Suit
4. Affirmation: Our Children as Sexual Beings
5. Information: Folding in the Facts
6. Clarity About Value: Honing Your Message
7. The Delicate Art of Limit-Setting
8. Anticipatory Guidance: Turning Children over to Themselves
9. Practice Makes Perfect: Let's Go Fishing

My Take:
Here's one where I really wish I'd kept up on my blogging, as I remember this being an especially useful book about parents, kids of all ages, and communications around sexuality (and in general). Unfortunately, enough time has gone by that the book's long been returned to the library and I don't recall enough specifics to comment on in more detail. Oh well. If you're looking for a good book about talking with kids about sex that doesn't push a particular agenda, read this one.  

#98: French Kids Eat Everything

French Kids Eat Everything: 

How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters, by Karen Le Billon

(New York: William Morrow, 2012)

 

Summary:

"Moving her young family to her husband's hometown in northern France, Karen Le Billon is prepared for some cultural adjustment but is surprised by the food education she and her family (at first unwillingly) receive. In contrast to her daughters, French children feed themselves neatly and happily -- eating everything from beets to broccoli, salad to spinach, mussels to muesli. The family's food habits come under scrutiny, as Karen is lectured for slipping her fussing toddler a snack -- 'a recipe for obesity!' -- and forbidden from packing her older daughter a lunch in lieu of the elaborate school meal.

"The family soon begins to see the wisdom in the 'food rules' that help the French foster healthy eating habits and good manners -- from the rigid 'no snacking' rule to commonsense food routines that we used to share but have somehow forgotten. Soon, the family cures picky eating and learns to love trying new foods. But the real challenge comes when they move back to North America -- where their commitment to 'eating French' is put to the test. The result is a family food revolution with surprising but happy results -- which suggest we need to dramatically rethink the way we feed children, at home and at school."

Table of Contents:

1. French Kids Eat Everything (and Yours Can Too)
2. Baby Steps and Beet Puree: We Move to France, and Encounter Unidentified Edible Objects
3. Schooling the Stomach: We Start Learning to "Eat French" (the Hard Way)
4. L'art de la table: A Meal with Friends, and a Friendly Argument
5. Food Fights: How Not to Get Your Kids to Eat Everything
6. The Kohlrabi Experiment: Learning to Love New Foods
7. Four Square Meals a Day: Why French Kids Don't Snack
8. Slow Food Nation: It's Not Only What You Eat, It's Also How You Eat
9. The Best of Both Worlds
10. The Most Important Food Rule of All 

My Take:
Liked it, but not quite so much as Bringing Up Bebe. I think the chief difference is that Le Billon managed to push some of my rusty-but-still-functioning parental guilt/ smugness buttons in a way Druckerman's book didn't. To be fair, the two aren't identical; French Kids is more narrowly focused on the French attitude towards food and eating, while Bebe is a broader observation on French parenting in general.

Anyway, it's no secret that I've wrestled with my share of parenting demons over the years. I've always been a working mother; I nursed my daughter for a year; she has no siblings. For all the much-publicized trials of raising a teenager, this is one thing that gets better with time; you've realized by now that whether and how long you breast-fed and what you do from 9 to 5 really doesn't matter all that much, and you can commiserate with other parents about adolescent attitude flare-ups without their insisting that you wouldn't have this problem if only you were co-sleeping.

One of the areas where I never quite fit the toddler parenting mold was preparedness. I carried a diaper bag when we still needed one, and would toss in a favorite toy or 2 if we were traveling to a kid-free home overnight, but other than that, I was never The Mom Who Has Everything. And while I sometimes wished I had a Band-Aid or box o' wipes handy, neither Twig nor I ever suffered for a lack of little prepackaged baggies of Teddy Grahams and goldfish crackers. Sure, I felt a little sheepish on those play dates where other moms ended up feeding both their own kid and mine from their Cheerios stash, but I also knew Twig was way more interested in the playground than the food, and probably wouldn't have thought to ask for a snack on her own if her friend wasn't having one right there in front of her. In fact, my first inkling that the local Supermom (a truly lovely person whose child was Twig's favorite preschool playmate) just might not win all the medals in the parenting Olympics came when we took the kids to lunch at a grocery store cafe, and Twig happily devoured her strawberries and yogurt without much prompting, while Supermom laboriously spread cream cheese on tortilla chips one by one for Superkid.

Point is, I was primed from the get-go to do some private eye-rolling at some of the French parenting norms that proved so hard for Le Billon to accept. Of course you don't make special kid-friendly food at every meal; if a child is hungry enough, s/he'll eat at least some of what everyone else is having. And naturally the after-school snack can wait till you get home; barring exceptional circumstances, there's no need for regularly dining a la car. (5 hour road trips? Sure, pack a few snacks. A 15-minute trip home from school or day care? Not so much.) Long story short (or at least shorter than it would be if I kept on keepin' on), Le Billon's observations about French food culture are fascinating to think about for anyone interested in the topic, whether or not they have young children, though I ended up without much sympathy for the author herself.

#95: Victory

Victory: The Triumphant Gay Revolution, by Linda Hirshman

(New York: Harper, 2012)

Summary:
"A Supreme Court lawyer and political pundit details the enthralling and groundbreaking story of the gay rights movement, revealing how a dedicated and resourceful minority changed America forever.

"When the modern struggle for gay rights erupted—most notably at a bar called Stonewall in Greenwich Village—in the summer of 1969, most religious traditions condemned homosexuality; psychiatric experts labeled people who were attracted to others of the same sex 'crazy;' and forty-nine states outlawed sex between people of the same gender. Four decades later, in June 2011, New York legalized gay marriage—the most populous state in the country to do so thus far. The armed services stopped enforcing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, ending a law that had long discriminated against gay and lesbian members of the military. Successful social movements are always extraordinary, but these advances were something of a miracle.

"Political columnist Linda Hirshman recounts the long roads that led to these victories, viewing the gay rights movement within the tradition of American freedom as the third great modern social-justice movement, alongside the civil rights movement and the women's rights movement. Drawing on an abundance of published and archival material, and hundreds of in-depth interviews, Hirshman shows, in this astute political analysis, how the fight for gay rights has changed the American landscape for all citizens—blurring rigid gender lines, altering the shared culture, and broadening our definitions of family.

"From the Communist cross-dresser Harry Hay in 1948 to New York's visionary senator Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010, the story includes dozens of brilliant, idiosyncratic characters. Written in vivid prose, at once emotional and erudite, Victory is an utterly vibrant work of reportage and eyewitness accounts, revealing how, in a matter of decades, while facing every social adversary—church, state, and medical establishment—a focused group of activists forged a classic campaign for cultural change that will serve as a model for all future political movements."

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: How an Army of Good Gays Won the West
• 1. Gays and the Cities: Community First, Politics Later
• 2. Red in Bed: It Takes a Communist to Recognize Gay Oppression
• 3. It Was the Sixties That Did It: Gays Get Radical, Radicals Get Gay
• 4. Stonewall Uprising:  Gays Finally Get Some Respect
• 5. The Good Gays Fight the Four Horsemen: Crazy, Sinful, Criminal, and Subversive
• 6. Dying for the Movement: The Terrible Political Payoff of AIDS
• 7. ACT UP: Five Years That Shook the World
• 8. Failed Marriages and Losing Battles: The Premature Campaign for Marriage and Military Service
• 9. Founding Fathers: Winning Modern Rights Before Fighting Ancient Battles
• 10. Massing the Troops for the Last Battle: The New-Media Gay Revolution
• 11. With Liberal Friends: Who Needs Enemies?
• 12. Victory: The Civil Rights March of Our Generation
• Epilogue

My Take:
I've gotten backlogged in my blogging again (backblogged?) and don't recall either any especially profound reactions to the text or vivid pictures of what else was going on while I read it, but this was a thorough, informative, and engaging history of the U.S.'s final (as of right now) civil rights frontier. Victory should be required reading not just for the LGBT community (many of whom won't require a mandate anyway) but for their mostly straight allies (even if they/ we're afraid of what someone will think if they see them/ us carrying it at work) and for anyone interested in contemporary politics, culture, and social movements.

#87: Bringing Up Bebe

Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting, by Pamela Druckerman

(New York: Penguin Press, 2012)

Summary:
"When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn't aspire to become a 'French parent.' French parenting isn't a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren't doing anything special.

"Yet the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old, while children of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. Her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, but her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.

"Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France. There's no role model for the harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers assume that even good parents aren't at the constant service of their children, and that there's no need to feel guilty about this. They have an easy, calm authority with their kids that Druckerman can only envy.

"Of course, French parenting wouldn't be worth talking about if it produced robotic, joyless children. In fact, French kids are just as boisterous, curious, and creative as Americans. They're just far better behaved and more in command of themselves. While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French kids are -- by design -- toddling around and discovering the world at their own pace.

"With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman -- a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal -- sets out to learn the secrets of raising a society of good sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things, and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don't just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.

"While finding her own firm non, Druckerman discovers that children -- including her own -- are capable of feats of understanding and autonomy that she'd never imagined."

Table of Contents:

• French Children Don't Throw Food
• 1. Are You Waiting for a Child?
• 2. Paris Is Burping
• 3. Doing Her Nights
• 4. Wait!
• 5. Tiny Little Humans
• 6. Day Care?
• 7. Bebe au Lait
• 8. The Perfect Mother Doesn't Exist
• 9. Caca Boudin
• 10. Double Entendre
• 11. I Adore This Baguette
• 12. You Just Have to Taste It
• 13. It's Me Who Decides
• 13. Let Him Live His Life
• The Future in French

My Take:
Maybe it's just because it provides some justification for my own parenting style (my admittedly-human and thus imperfect teenager also "did her nights" at 3 months, and has always had a remarkably broad palate), but I enjoyed this book. There's always a danger, when comparing two cultures, to fall into the "A is good, B is bad" trap, and Druckerman does some of this, but she at least acknowledges some of the ways in which American parents may be onto something (for example, the far-greater prevalence of extended breastfeeding), and those in which cultural and political differences undergird those in parenting styles (i.e., it's much easier to establish and enforce widespread norms for parent and child behavior in a country where state-supported creches are ubiquitous and high-quality).

According to Druckerman, the advantages of French parenting essentially boil down to two. First is the concept of attend, or "wait." In the glossary of French parenting that precedes the body of the book, she explains "'Wait' implies that the child doesn't require immediate gratification, and that he can entertain himself." This begins in infancy, when parents pause for a moment before responding to a noise from the baby's room (is she really hungry or wet, or just stirring in her sleep?), and continues to be a common command throughout childhood, whether prompted by kids' requests for snacks or parental attention. The second is the cadre, or framework: "setting firm limits for children, but giving them tremendous freedom within those limits." While this makes sense, I do wish Druckerman had paid more attention here to the role society as a whole plays in setting these limits. Certainly, the prevalence of creches gives the French an edge here, as does (I believe, from what I've read) the far-greater value the French place on assimilation. Nonetheless, as someone who always strove to be a minimalist parent and often felt like an ill-prepared or merely grouchy one, there's more than a little appeal to the notion that a Good Parent need not follow her child around the playground, haul a week's worth of toys around in her diaper bag, or offer a pre-prepared, processed food snack every 30 minutes. (Parisian parents, says Drucker, offer children an afternoon snack -- gouter -- at about 4:30 pm, but otherwise just feed them at mealtimes along with the rest of the family.)

An interesting and thought-provoking read, especially for anyone who's had it up to here with the One True Way/ more self-sacrificing than thou parenting ethic of certain US sub-groups.

#83: 1491

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

by Charles C. Mann

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005

 Summary:
"In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

"Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew."

Table of Contents:

INTRODUCTION / Holmberg’s Mistake

1. A View from Above

PART ONE / Numbers from Nowhere?

2. Why Billington Survived
3. In the Land of Four Quarters
4. Frequently Asked Questions

PART TWO / Very Old Bones

5. Pleistocene Wars
6. Cotton (or Anchovies) and Maize (Tales of Two Civilizations, Part I)
7. Writing, Wheels, and Bucket Brigades (Tales of Two Civilizations, Part II)

PART THREE / Landscape with Figures

8. Made in America
9. Amazonia
10. The Artificial Wilderness
11. The Great Law of Peace

My Take:
Interesting, I guess, but as something to read on my own, somewhat dense and slow (or maybe that's just me).
 

#63: Nudge

Nudge: Improving Decisions 

About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, 

by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein 

New York: Penguin Books, 2008

Summary:

"Nudge is about choices -- how we make them and how we're led to make better ones. Authors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein offer a new perspective on how to prevent the countless bad mistakes we make in our lives -- including ill-advised personal investments, consumption of unhealthy foods, neglect of our natural resources, and other numerous bad decisions regarding health care, our families, and education. Citing decades of cutting-edge behavioral science research, they demonstrate that sensible 'choice architecture' can successfully nudge people toward the best decision without restricting their freedom of choice. Terrifically straightforward, informative, and often very entertaining, this book is a must read for anyone with an interest in our individual and collective well-being."

Table of Contents:

Part I: Humans and Econs

• 1. Biases and Blunders
• 2. Resisting Temptation
• 3. Following the Herd
• 4. When Do We Need a Nudge?
• 5. Choice Architecture

Part II: Money

• 6. Save More Tomorrow
• 7. Naive Investing
• 8. Credit Markets
• 9. Privatizing Social Security: Smorgasbord Style

Part III: Health

• 10. Prescription Drugs: Part D for Daunting
• 11. How to Increase Organ Donations
• 12. Saving the Planet

Part IV: Freedom

• 13. Improving School Choices
• 14. Should Patients Be Forced to Buy Lottery Tickets?
• 15. Privatizing Marriage

Part V: Extensions and Objections

• 16. A Dozen Nudges
• 17. Objections
• 18. The Real Third Way
• 19. Bonus Chapter: Twenty More Nudges

My Take:
Surprise, surprise. For all the behavioral economics/ consumer decision-making stuff I've read, this one was different. It focuses less on the why we make the weird, illogical decisions we do and how policies in various areas might be designed to nudge us in a spirit of what the authors call libertarian paternalism:

"The libertarian aspect of our strategies lies in the straightforward insistence that, in general, people should be free to do what they like -- and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so. To borrow a phrase from the late Milton Friedman, libertarian paternalists urge that people should be 'free to choose.' We strive to design policies that maintain or increase freedom of choice. ... Libertarian paternalists want to make it easy for people to go their own way; they do not want to burden those who want to exercise their freedom."


"The paternalistic aspect lies in the claim that it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better. In other words, we argue for self-conscious efforts, by institutions in the private sector and also by government, to steer people's choices in directions that will improve their lives. In our understanding, a policy is 'paternalistic' if it tries to influence choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by themselves. ...


"Libertarian paternalism is a relatively weak, soft, and nonintrusive stype of paternalism because choices are not blocked, fenced off, or significantly burdened. If people want to smoke cigarettes, to eat a lot of candy, to choose an unsuitable health plan, or fail to save for retirement, libertarian paternalists will not force them to do otherwise -- or even make things hard for them. ... [Choice architects] are self-consciously attempting to move people in directions that will make their lives better. They nudge.


"A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people's behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid. Putting the fruit at eye level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not."

The bulk of the book offers examples from a variety of public policy arenas, from retirement savings to health care to school choice to freedom to marry. Thaler and Sunstein's writing is accessible and funny, and they're never afraid to poke some gentle fun at themselves or at the mostly well-earned reputation of economists in general. If the topic sounds interesting, you'll probably enjoy the book.

#54: Generation Debt

Generation Debt: Why Now Is A Terrible Time to Be Young 

by Anya Kamenetz

(New York: Riverhead Books/ Penguin, 2008)

Summary:
"In this thoroughly researched and rousing manifesto, Anya Kamenetz chronicles and questions the plight of the new 'youth class': 18 — to 29-year-olds who are drowning in debt and therefore seemingly unable to 'grow up.' Many older adults perceive today's youth as immature slackers, 'twixters,' or 'boomerang kids,' who simply cannot get their act together, but Kamenetz argues that this perception is a misinformed stereotype.

"Numerous economic factors have combined to create a perfect storm for the financial and personal lives of America's youth: a college degree is essential for employment yet financially crippling to many, government grants for education are at an all-time low, Social Security and Medicare are on their deathbeds, and our parents and grandparents are retiring earlier and living longer. How will we get ourselves out of this mess? By analyzing and explaining the causes of this phenomenon, Kamenetz demonstrates the urgent need for people to begin investing in our nation's youth. Generation Debt will get you thinking in new ways about American values — and America's future."

Table of Contents:

1. Why Generation Debt?
2. College on Credit
3. Low Wage Jobs
4. Temp Gigs ...
5. ... Without Benefits
6. Federal Rip-Offs: Deficits, Social Security, Medicare
7. Family Troubles: Love and Independence
8. Waking Up and Taking Charge

My Take:
As usual, I'm going to find a cop-out:  The Frugal Law Student's blog says it better than I can (especially as it's been about a month since I read it). In a nutshell, makes some interesting points but is a bit on the whiny side in places, especially when making a crisis out of problems faced chiefly by the privileged. (The whole book isn't like this, but it gets there in places and they're the ones where I found the whining particularly grating.)

#52: When She Woke

When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2011)

 

Summary:

"From the author whose international bestseller, Mudbound, so hauntingly re-created America’s past comes a stunning creation of America in the near future, where faith, love, and sexuality have fallen prey to politics.

"Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family, but after her arrest, she awakens to a nightmare: she is lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, and cameras are broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for home observing new Chromes — criminals whose skin color has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime — is a new and sinister form of entertainment. Hannah is a Red; her crime is murder. The victim, says the state of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father — a public figure with whom she’s shared a fierce and forbidden love.

"When She Woke is a stunning story about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of a not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated and convicted felons are released back into the population after being 'chromed.' In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she has held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes the personal."

Opening Lines: 
"When she woke, she was red. Not flushed, not sunburned, but the solid, declarative red of a stop sign."

My Take:
Spectacular, contemporary/ dystopian reimagining of The Scarlet Letter.

#31: The Town That Food Saved

The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food, by Ben Hewitt (Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2010)

Summary:

"For decades, the rural Vermont town of Hardwick (pop: 3,200) grappled with a challenged economy. Like so many small towns, the once-thriving regional industry had died, and the majority of the working population was forced to commute far beyond the town line to find work.

Enter the 'agripreneurs,' a group of ambitious young agricultural entrepreneurs with big ideas about how regionalized food-based enterprise can be used to create sustainable economic development and wean our nation of its unhealthy dependence on industrial food.

In The Town That Food Saved, Ben explores the contradictions inherent to producing high-end 'artisanal' food products in a working class community. To better understand how a local food system might work, he spends time not only with the agripreneurs, but also with the region’s numerous small-scale food producers, many of which have been quietly operating in the area for decades. The result is a delightfully inquisitive peek behind the curtain of the town that has been dubbed the 'Silicon Valley of local food.'"

Opening Line:

"If you come into the town of Hardwick, Vermont, from the east, you come in on Route 15, weaving through a series of curves that begin as gentle sweeps and become progressively sharper until you find yourself leaning in your seat, the view through your windshield tilted just a few degrees off its axis."

My Take:
Balanced if somewhat lightweight/ superficial look at what becoming a "local foods Mecca" can and can't do for a town -- specifically, the small and mostly blue-collar town of Hardwick, Vermont. I especially appreciated how Hewitt returned time and again to the problem of how most native Hardwickians (median income $15,000) were supposed to be able to afford $4 per gallon soy milk, $5 loaves of hand-made bread, and $20 per pound artisanal cheese. Some more possible answers to this question would have been even more appreciated, but at least the issue's on the table. An interesting companion to books like The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, though probably not much of an introduction for someone not already familiar with the topic.

#15: A Nation of Moochers

A Nation of Moochers: America's Addiction to Getting Something for Nothing, by Charles J. Skyes (New York: St. Martins, 2011)

Summary:
"Have we reached a tipping point where more Americans depend on the efforts of others than on their own? Are we becoming a nation of moochers?

"In A Nation of Moochers, Charles J. Sykes argues that we are already very close that point, if we have not already crossed the line. From the corporate bailouts on Wall Street, to enormous pension, health-care, and other entitlement costs, to questionable tax exemptions for businesses and individuals, to the alarming increases in personal default and dependency, the new moocher culture cuts across lines of class, race, and private and public sectors.

"A Nation of Moochers explores the shift in America's character as well as the economy. Much of the anger of the current political climate stems from the realization by millions of Americans that they are being forced to pay for the greed-driven problems of other people and corporations; increasingly those who plan and behave sensibly are being asked to bail out the profligate. Sykes's argument is not against compassion or legitimate charity, but distinguishes between definable needs and the moocher culture, in which self-reliance and personal responsibility have given way to mass grasping after entitlements, tax breaks, benefits, bailouts, and other forms of feeding at the public trough.

"Persuasively argued and wryly entertaining, A Nation of Moochers is a rallying cry for Americans who are tired of playing against the rules and paying for those who don't."

Table of Contents:

Part One: Moocher Nation

Scenes from Moocher Nation
Chapter 1. A Nation of Moochers
A Moocher Checklist
Chapter 2: Have We Reached the Tipping Point?
Moocher's Dilemma

Part Two: The Joys of Dependency

Chapter 3. The Rise of Moocher Nation
Chapter 4. The Joys of Dependency
The Kindness of Strangers (A Moocher Manifesto)
Chapter 5. Addicted to OPM (Other People's Money)
Want --> Need --> Right
Chapter 6. Feed Me

Part Three: At the Trough

I, Piggy Bank
Chapter 7. Harvesting OPN
Moocher's Dilemma II
Chapter 8. Crony Capitalism (Big Business at the Trough)
Chapter 9. The Two Americas

Part Four: Bailout Madness

Lessons in Moral Hazard
Chapter 10. Mortgage Madness
Chapter 11. Bailouts for Idiots (How to Make Out Big by Screwing Up)
Chapter 12. Walk Away from Your Mortgage!
An Interactive Reader's Exercise
Chapter 13. No, They Didn't Learn Anything

Part Five: Middle-Class Suckers

Chapter 14. The Bank of Mom and Dad
Chapter 15. Middle-Class Suckers
Chapter 16. Why Get a Job?
Chapter 17. Mooching Off the Kids

Part Six: What's Fair?

An Abbreviated History of Mooching
Chapter 18. We're All from Starnesville Now
Chapter 19. What's Fair?
Chapter 20. Step Away from the Trough

My Take:
Really mixed feelings about this one. The author has some valid points, especially about the pre-recession craziness that was the housing bubble and the bailout mania that came afterward. Unfortunately, a lot of that was tough to see and appreciate through Sykes' sophomoric style (not sure what the reviewer or jacket blurb writer was reading when calling the style "wryly entertaining," but I found it juvenile and mean-spirited myself) and blatant partisanship. Again, the jacket says the moocher problem cuts across race and class, but a disproportionate share of Skyes' references come from the likes of The Cato Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and even Ayn Rand (who, last I checked, was a novelist with some obvious political axes to grind, and not a political scholar). And it's amazing how often President Obama and his extended family seem to get bashed, while -- even in the chapters on the housing bubble and the bank bailouts -- references to the George W. Bush administration were surprisingly scarce.

In the same vein, I always get a little grumpy when folks try to redefine middle class to include whatever they want it to; Sykes cites a 2009 Forbes magazine story about a single mother who made $120,000 a year and was considering taking a less stressful job that paid half that, because the taxes, loss of financial aid eligibility for her kids, etc. didn't make the higher salary worth the bother. Um, just checked on the Census Bureau's website (yeah, I'm nerdy like that), and median household income in 2010 was $49,445; for family households, it was $61,544. Ya have a job where you make twice that, you're not really middle class. Just sayin'.

Would be interested to read a more balanced treatment of these issues and exploration of how the complicated mess of government benefits and entitlements we have may affect our culture, but this book wasn't it.

#68: The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School, by Alexandra Robbins (New York: Hyperion, 2011)

Summary:
"Cross Gossip Girl with Freaks and Geeks and MTV's MADE, a shocking plot twist, and Alexandra Robbins' signature investigative style -- and that only begins to describe Geeks, a smart, entertaining, reassuring book about the secrets of students who are popular and the triumph of those who are not. Robbins follows seven real people grappling with the uncertainties of high school social life, including:

• Danielle, the Loner, who has withdrawn from classmates since they persuaded her to unwittingly join her own hate club
• Whitney, the Popular Bitch, a cheerleading captain both seduced by and trapped within her clique's perceived prestige
• Eli, the Nerd, whose differences cause students to laugh at him, and his mother to needle him for not being 'normal'
• Joy, the New Girl, determined to stay positive as classmates harass her for her mannerisms and target her because of her race
• Mark, the Gamer, an underachiever in danger of not graduating, despite his intellect and his yearning to connect with other students
• Regan, the Weird Girl, who battles discrimination and gossipy politics in school but leads a joyous life outside of it
• Noah, the Band Geek, who is alternately branded too serious and too emo, yet annually runs for class president

"In the middle of the year, Robbins surprises her subjects with a secret challenge -- experiments that force them to change how classmates see them and teach us why the things that set students apart in high school are the things that help them stand out later in life.

"Robbins intertwines these narratives -- often victorious, occasionally heartbreaking, and always captivating -- with essays exploring subjects like:

• How do you get to be popular?
• Being excluded doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you
• Why outsiders succeed
• How schools make the social scene worse -- and how to fix it.

"The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth is more than just a book. It's a movement. And whether you're a student or an adult, it will change the way you think about your friends, your school, and -- most of all -- yourself."

Table of Contents:

• Prologue
• Chapter 1: Meet the Cafeteria Fringe

Late Summer to Early Fall: The Popularity Myth

• Chapter 2: Quirk Theory and the Secret of Popularity
• Chapter 3: Why Are Popular People Mean?

Fall: Why Quirk Theory Works

• Chapter4: In the Shadow of the Freak Tree
• Chapter 5: It's Good to Be the Cafeteria Fringe

Winter: Outcast Profiling and Other Dangers

• Chapter 6: Challenges
• Chapter 7: Misperceptions

Late Winter to Early Spring: Being Excluded Doesn't Mean There's Anything Wrong with You

• Chapter 8: A Brief Introduction to Group Psychology
• Chapter 9: Why Labels Stick: The Motivations of the Normal Police

Spring: Quirk Theory's Origins: Why These Issues Are Hardest in School

• Chapter 10: Changing Perceptions
• Chapter 11: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Late Spring to Early Summer: Popular vs. Outcast

• Chapter 12: Popularity Doesn't Lead to Happiness
• Chapter 13: The Rise of the Cafeteria Fringe
• Chapter 14: Cafeteria Fringe: Lucky and Free

My Take:
Brilliant, sometimes painful, but on the whole inspiring and provocative. An absolute must-read for (among others) anyone who still struggles from time to time with their own adolescent-outcast demons at the same time they're trying to help their own child start to navigate the same shark-infested waters. Not that I'd know anything about this personally, mind you.

#65: World and Town

World and Town, by Gish Jen (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010).

Summary:
"Hattie Kong -- the spirited offspring of a descendant of Confucius and an American missionary to China -- has, in her fiftieth year, lost both her husband and her best friend to cancer. It is an utterly devastating loss, of course, and also heartbreakingly absurd: a little, she thinks, 'like having twins. She got to book the same church with the same pianist for both funerals and did think she should have gotten some sort of twofer from the crematorium.'

"But now, two years later, it is time for Hattie to start over. She moves to the town of Riverlake, where she is soon joined by an immigrant Cambodian family on the run from their inner-city troubles, as well as -- quite unexpectedly -- by a just-retired neuroscientist ex-lover named Carter Hatch. All of them are, like Hattie, looking for a new start in a town that might once have represented the rock-solid base of American life but that is itself challenged, in 2001, by cell-phone towers and chain stores, struggling family farms and fundamentalist Christians.

"What Hattie makes of this situation is at the center of a novel that asks deep and absorbing questions about religion, home, America, what neighbors are, what love is, and, in the largest sense, what 'worlds' are we make of the world.

"Moving, humorous, compassionate, and expansive, World and Town is as rich in character as it is brilliantly evocative of its time and place. This is a truly masterful novel -- enthralling, essential, and satisfying."

Opening Line:
"It's the bai shu you'd notice most -- the thousand-year-old cypresses -- some of them upright, some of them leaning."

My Take:
I've gotten backlogged again (gee, why on earth would it be hard to keep up with a list no one reads?) but this one was pretty good. How does Hattie make a life and find meaning for herself with her husband and best friend gone? How do her new neighbors, Chhung and Sophy and the rest of their family, Cambodian immigrants fleeing the trouble their kids tend to get into in the big city, build their own lives and hold on to some semblance of family when absolutely nothing in this new world makes sense? More a character study (not only of the people but the town in the story) but still pretty satisfying for that -- enough so that I'm looking forward to seeking out other Gish Jen novels in the future.

#57: Butterfly's Child

Butterfly's Child, by Angela Davis-Gardner (New York: Dial Press, 2011).

Summary:
When three-year-old Benji is plucked from the security of his home in Nagasaki to live with his American father, Lt. Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, and stepmother, Kate, on their farm in Illinois, the family conceals Benji's true identity as a child born from a liaison between an officer and a geisha. But when the truth about Benji surfaces, it will splinter this family's fragile dynamic, sending repercussions spiraling through their close-knit rural community and sending Benji on the journey of a lifetime."

Opening Line:
"It is spring in Nagasaki, and the strands of silk she has set out for the mating birds are gone from the maple tree in the garden, and the mother birds are nestled in silk, but still he has not come."

My Take:
Really enjoyed this one; I'm always a sucker for new takes on old classics (how many times have I said this before?), and was actually just thinking about this book last night, as I listened to Miss Saigon while I prepped dinner. I only wish I hadn't let a full month go by before writing about it -- some of the details have since blurred a little, plus I'm in a trying-to-catch-up-and-reinvigorate-the-book-blog hurry -- but I liked that it gave voice and agency to some of the characters who weren't really endowed with much in the original. Pinkerton himself is important, of course, but almost a secondary character in this book; far more compelling are Benji himself, the well-meaning if inconsistent Kate, and the kindly widower neighbor (whose name escapes me now) who becomes probably Benji's truest friend. Ultimately, even Cio Cio/ Butterfly herself becomes something a bit more than, well, a victim and/or a stereotype, but to say much more here would give too much away. I may even have to go back and read this one again at some point, and that's high praise.

#48: Who Killed Change?

Who Killed Change? Solving the Mystery of Leading People Through Change, by Ken Blanchard, John Britt, and others (New York: William Morrow/ HarperCollins, 2009)

Summary:
"Every day organizations around the world launch change initiatives -- often big, expensive ones -- designed to improve the status quo. Yet 50 to 70 percent of these change efforts fail. A few perish suddenly, but many die painful, protracted deaths that drain the organization's resources, energy, and morale.

"Who or what is killing change?

"That's what you'll find out in this witty whodunit. The story features a Columbo-style detective, Agent Mike McNally, who's investigating the murder of yet another change. One by one, Agent McNally interviews thirteen prime suspects, including a myopic leader named Victoria Vision; a chronically tardy manager named Ernest Urgency; an executive name Clair Communication, whose laryngitis makes communication all but impossible; and several other dubious characters.

"The suspects are sure to sound familiar and you're bound to relate them to your own workplace. In the end, Agent McNally solves the case in a way that will inspire you to become an effective Change Agent in your own organization.

"A step-by-step guide at the back of the book shows you how to apply the story's lessons to the real world. Key questions help you evaluate the health of your organization's change initiatives, and you'll learn best practices for enabling and sustaining the desired change."

Table of Contents:

• Scene of the Crime
• Suspect #1: Culture
• Suspect #2: Commitment

Reflections on Culture and Commitment

• Suspect #3: Sponsorship
• Suspect #4: Change Leadership Team
• Suspect #5: Communication

Reflections on Sponsorship, Change Leadership Team, and Communication

• Suspect #6: Urgency
• Suspect #7: Vision

Reflections on Urgency and Vision

• Suspect #8: Plan
• Suspect #9: Budget
• A Vision of Death
• Suspect #10: Trainer
• Suspect #11: Incentive

Reflections on Plan, Budget, Trainer, and Incentive

• Suspect #12: Performance Management
• Suspect #13: Accountability
• Super Cops and Stakeholders
• The Autopsy Report
• Murderer Announced: Invitation Only
• Change Lives!
• Helping Change Thrive in Your Organization
  

My Take:
I knew what I was getting into, I suppose, but Who Moved My Cheese? this ain't. (Or maybe it is; I've probably read Cheese but don't have a clear memory of doing so.) It's your classic short, sweet, and grossly-oversimplified business primer -- not surprisingly, as Blanchard's a master of the genre. Are there some good points here about what's needed for organizational change to succeed? Sure, but probably only a page or two's worth when you cut through the silly whodunit mystery stuff. Oh well. As I said, I expected as much.

#34: The Cheapskate Next Door

The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means, by Jeff Yeager (New York: Broadway Books, 2010).

Summary:
"He's at it again, but this time he's not alone. America's Ultimate Cheapskate is back with all-new secrets for how to live happily below your means, a la cheapskate. For The Cheapskate Next Door, Jeff Yeager hit the road to interview and survey hundreds of fellow cheapskates, getting them to divulge their secrets for living the good life on less.

"Jeff reveals the sixteen key attitudes about money -- and life -- that allow cheapskates to live happy, comfortable, debt-free lives while spending only a fraction of what most Americans spend. Their strategies will change your way of thinking about money and debunk some of life's biggest money myths: learn how to cut your food bill in half; get a college education without ever borrowing a dime; save serious money by negotiating and bartering; and -- find free stuff and free fun all around you.

"The Cheapskate Next Door also features dozens of original 'Cheap Shots' -- quick tips that could save you more than $25,000 in a single year! Cheap Shots tell you:

• how to save hundreds of dollars on kids' toys
• how you can travel the world without ever having to pay for lodging
• what single driving tip can save you $30,000 during your lifetime
• even how to save up to 40 percent on fine wines (and we're not talking about the kind that comes in a box)

"From simple money-saving tips to truly life-changing financial strategies, the cheapskates next door know that the key to financial freedom and enjoying life more is not how much you earn but how much you spend."

Table of Contents:

• Preface -The Dawning of the Age of the Cheapskate
• Introduction - Cheapskates: They're Everywhere and They're Loving Life
• Chapter 1 - The Phrenology of Frugality: 16 Idiosyncrasies of the Cheapskate Mind
• Chapter 2 - Good Habits Are Hard to Break
• Chapter 3 - Money Management, Cheapskate Style
• Chapter 4 - The Oxygen Mask Approach to Raising Kids
• Chapter 5 - Thrift: The Greenest Shade of Green
• Chapter 6 - Clean Your Plate ... and Save $1,500 a Year
• Chapter 7 - Come on and Take a FREE Ride
• Chapter 8 - We Can't Retire. We Went out to Dinner Instead.
• Chapter 9 - The Joys of Horse Trading
• Chapter 10 - Break the Mortgage Chains that Bind Thee
• Chapter 11 - Bon Appe-cheap! Come on into the Cheapskate's Kitchen
• Chapter 12 - Don't Laugh. It Gets Me There ... and It's Paid For.
• Chapter 13 - Cheapskates Come out of the Closet
• Chapter 14 - Insurance: Betting on Yourself
• Chapter 15 - Cheapskates Just Wanna Have Fun
• Chapter 16 - Back to the Future?

My Take:
I should really know better by now. Perhaps I'm just the proverbial choir to whom pro-frugality books like this are preaching, but I don't tend to get much out of them and frankly, they don't even make me feel all that superior anymore.

Let's look, then, at Yeager's much-hyped 16 idiosyncrasies. If this were a joke or a movie, and if anyone were actually reading this, I'd be spoiling the punchline, but oh well. So, the question is: Do I think the following tips/ attitudes are helpful to someone who's looking to live more frugally, even if I personally already knew them and already choose to follow them (or not)? Let's see:

1. The Joneses Can Kiss Our Assets, i.e., live in the home and have the stuff you need and which pleases you, rather than that which impresses your neighbors. Agreed, though this is a long, hard mindset to cultivate if you're not already there.
2. A Cheapskate Values Time More than Money. Yes, one should consider not just the cost of a new item but what that translates to in terms of hours worked. I don't think Yeager does this principle justice, though. As he acknowledges, Robin and Dominguez tackled this issue first in Your Money or Your Life years ago, and Amy Dacyzyn of 1990s Tightwad Gazette fame offered a surprisingly balanced treatment of the fact that even for an avowed cheapskate (nee tightwad), it's not always just about the money. Some activities that cost less but take more time might offer other benefits, such as extra family time or personal enjoyment (e.g., making homemade jam or Hallowe'en costumes), while others may offer little of either (e.g., changing your own oil, combining errands, stocking up on sale items): "If you have some financial flexibility you can choose an enjoyable task with a small financial yield. If both time and money are in short supply you might have to stick with tasks with the highest hourly yields, even if they provide little enjoyment. But there are so many ways to save money you should no have to do tasks that provide a small hourly yield, offer little enjoyment, and satisfy no other values. Because we all possess different abilities, resources, likes, and values, no two tightwads would fill out this chart the same way. There is no 'right way' to be a tightwad."
3. A Cheapskate Values Value, i.e., durability and cost-per-use rather than just sticker price, are the issue here. Agreed.
4. Shopping Isn't a Cheapskate Sport. No argument here, except that this seems to contradict an argument made in favor of item 2) above. On one hand, we're supposed to be "premeditated shoppers," because spending 2 days yard-saling to find a decent pair of used kids' boots negates the money you'd save over buying them new ... but on the other, we're not supposed to shop for fun? Yes, I get the difference between trawling the yard sales and hangin' at the mall, but still.
5. A Cheapskate Regrets Nothing, i.e., no buyer's remorse for all those items you purchased on a whim, brought home, and immediately asked yourself, "WTF?" Not sure I completely buy this one. I'd allow that on balance, people who don't make a habit of impulse buying have less regret over stuff they didn't buy than impulse buyers have over things they did ... but I'm sure I'm not the only cheapskate who's ever taken a chance on a good deal that really wasn't in the end. (I'm looking at you, Target socks.)
6. A Cheapskate Appreciates Appreciation (and Depreciation, Too): Pardon the pun, but I will buy this one. "When the cheapskates next door shop for things like furniture, homes, automobiles, and even clothing, they tend to approach it as an exercise in acquiring assets rather than buying disposable commodities. ... When cheapskates shop for things they need, they're ideally looking to buy things that will increase in value. Second best is buying something that will retain its value. ... If it's not possible to buy something that will increase or retain its value, then the last resort is to buy something that will depreciate in value the least amount and as slowly as possible."
7. A Cheapskate Differentiates Between Needs and Wants: Um, yeah. Like I said, I think there's some preaching to the choir going on here.
8. A Cheapskate Is a Premeditated Shopper: OK, here's where the book distinguishes between "premeditated shopping" and "bargain hunting" (i.e., my mother-in-law's version of retail therapy): If you go armed with a list, you're doing the former. Somewhat of an artifical distinction, but I see the point.
9. A Cheapskate Knows the Best Things in Life Aren't Things: This one's definitely a keeper. In short, we cherish and remember experiences more than we do stuff.
10. A Cheapskate Does What He Loves for a Living: Wouldn't that be nice? Sure, in an ideal world, we'd all have the option of choosing rewarding-but-not-lucrative work, but in reality ... I don't think we all do, and there's probably a significant correlation between those who have the social/ educational capital to be frugal by choice vs. just plain poor and those for whom this is a legit option,
11. A Cheapskate Has Spending Anxiety Disorder ("SAD" -- But It Really Isn't): In other words, you/ we/ they hyperventilate at the thought of wasteful, unnecessary spending. Guilty as charged.
12. A Cheapskate is Brand Blind and Advertising Averse: Seems to mostly be a restatement of 1). I do agree that brands don't and mostly shouldn't matter (see Cheap for a detailed explanation of why they don't), but I'll also go out on a limb and say that while I don't care so much about the snob appeal, I will go out of my way to buy brands with which I've had consistently good luck in the past, and avoid brands I've found to be of poor quality.
13. A Cheapskate Understands Change vs. Progress: Here's where Mr. Hazel and I often butt heads. I'm a bit of a Luddite; he's, well ... to be fair, he is an IT guy and is on the low end of the curve there as far as gadget-headedness is concerned.
    
14. A Cheapskate Abhors Debtor Dementia: Basically a frilly way of saying debt is bad and should be avoided as much as possible, though Yeager and most of the cheapskates he interviewed make an exception for mortgage debt. I'd personally add a modest amount of debt for a college education to this list, though he'd disagree.
15. Cheapskates, Know and Trust Thyself: In other words, why hire someone to do your yard work, taxes, etc. when you can just as easily do it yourself? Agreed, with the caveat that you need to be realistic about your abilities and not take on bone-headed DIY projects that endanger people's safety for the sake of saving a few bucks. Do your own basic taxes, replace a light switch, mow your lawn? Absolutely. Rewire your house or chop down a 3-story dead tree? Not so much.
16. A Cheapskate Answers to a Higher Authority: I myself am a person of faith, but don't think this is essential -- at least, not the way the book defines it. I agree that it's hard to resist the greater consumer culture when you don't have some other, deeper sense of right and meaning to fall back on, but I think that could just as easily be family or self-sufficiency or environmental stewardship as it can be the deity of one's choosing.

That's probably enough for this book -- if the above sounds intriguing, check the book out of your library or borrow a copy from a friend. If it seems stupid or obvious, don't bother.

#16 - Skipping Toward Gomorrah

Skipping Toward Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness, by Dan Savage (New York: Dutton, 2002).

Summary: "Bill Bennett. Robert Bork. Pat Buchanan. Dr. Laura. Bill O'Reilly. They have written bestseller after bestseller condemning the sins and liberal views of America. It's time for someone to speak up for the sinners.

"Dan Savage is irreverent, irrepressible, opinionated, and he's had it up to here with the moral, conservative scolds who proclaim America is slouching towards Gomorrah (to use Robert Bork's phrase). Are we really that bad?

"Yes, we are! And in Skipping Toward Gomorrah, Dan Savage eviscerates those cynical screeds as he takes readers on a wickedly funny tour celebrating America's sinners. He commits each of the Seven Deadly Sins himself (or tries to) and finds those everyday Americans who take particular delight in their sinful pursuits. Among them:

• Greed: Gamblers in Vegas, who reveal surprising secrets behind outrageous fortune.
• Lust: 'We're swingers!' -- you won't believe who's doing it.
• Gluttony: Dan attends a fat-acceptance conference that highlights gluttons with an attitude.
• Sloth: Not the most difficult of sins to celebrate, but leave it to Dan to find a way that will get him in trouble with his mother.
• Anger: Texans shoot off some rounds and then listen to Dan fire off his own about guns, gun control, and the Second Amendment.
• Envy: Meet the rich and beautiful at an ultra-exclusive spa -- then be glad you're not one of them.
• Pride: You'll never look at another gay pride parade the same way again.

"Come along for the ride and learn a unique history of the Seven Deadly Sins, discover a new interpretation of the biblical stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, and read enough Bork-, Bennett-, Buchanan-, et al-bashing to more than make up for their incessant carping. If America is headed for the biblical bad-boy city of Gomorrah, Dan plans on skipping all the way."

Table of Contents:

• Well Endowed
• Greed: The Thrill of Losing Money
• Lust: The Erotic Rites of David and Bridget
• Sloth: I Am Not a Pothead
• Gluttony: Eating Out with Teresa and Tim
• Envy: Meet the Rich
• Pride: Jake and Kevin and the Queen of Sin
• Anger: My Piece, My Unit
• Welcome to Gomorrah
  

My Take: I'm a huge fan of Dan Savage and so far, the introduction is promising. I especially love the line on page 2 about how "[t]he virtuecrats haven't succeeded in halting the sale of rap CDs, the giving of blow jobs, or the getting of high." Should be a good read.

Well, it was. May or may not get to write more later, but this was both an interesting take on some of the hypocrisy of some of the aforementioned right-wing pundits' positions ... and, being by Dan Savage, laugh-out-loud funny in many places. Definitely one of his earlier works, and you can see how his style and some of his positions have evolved over the years, but very entertaining nonetheless.

#12: Yellow

Yellow: Race in America beyond Black and White, by Frank H. Wu (New York: Basic Books, 2002).

Jacket Summary: "The days when racial dialogue in the United States was limited to a discussion of black and white are through. As the twenty-first century dawns, the Asian-American population is growing at a faster rate than any other demographic, increasing by 48% throughout the 1990s and altering the nature of American color politics forever.

"Writing in the tradition of W.E.B. Du Bois, Cornel West, and others who confronted the 'color line' of the twentieth century, journalist, scholar, and activist Frank H. Wu offers a unique perspective on how changing ideas of racial identity will affect race relations in the new century.

"Wu's description of the alienation faced by Asian Americans tackles key milestones in history, suc as the 1940s internment camps and the 1992 L.A. riots, as well as surprising statistics about the continuing presence of anti-Asian sentiment. In May 2001, a major national survey of highly educated individuals showed that almost half of all Americans believe that Chinese Americans are likely to pass secret information to China. About a third agree that Chinese Americans are probably more loyal to China than the United States, and few distinguish between Chinese Americans and other Asians.

"Yellow looks at the problems of racial diversity with a new focus, elevating the age-old debate from its formerly static terms. Wu examines affirmative action, globalization, immigration and other controversial contemporary issues through the lens of the Asian-American experience. Mixing personal anecdotes, legal cases, and journalistic reporting, Wu confronts damaging Asian-American stereotypes such as 'the model minority' and 'the perpetual foreigner.' By offering new ways of thinking about race in American society, Wu's work dares us to make good on our great democratic experiment."

Table of Contents:

• 1 - East Is East, West Is West: Asians as Americans
• 2 - The Model Minority: Asian American "Success" as a Race Relations Failure
• 3 - The Perpetual Foreigner: Yellow Peril in the Pacific Century
  
• 4 - Neither Black Nor White: Affirmative Action and Asian Americans
• 5 - True But Wrong: New Arguments Against New Discrimination
• 6 - The Best "Chink" Food: Dog-Eating and the Dilemma of Diversity
• 7 - The Changing Face of America: Intermarriage and the Mixed Race Movement
• 8 - The Power of Coalitions: Why I Teach at Harvard
• Epilogue - Deep Springs

My Take: Interesting, but in places, a bit too dense and philosophical for the layperson. Did offer a different take on race in American life, but I think I need to read about something else for a while.