In our monthly book club, we discuss whatever we happen to be reading and ask everyone in the comments to do the same. What Are You Reading This Month?
How To Be Depressed by George Scialabba
The joke is that I want to go from proficient to expert. Or that I’m such a sad case that I need help being depressed. Closer to the truth is that I have an interest in the topic, especially when it’s viewed by someone with a literary sensibility. In How To Be Depressed, critic George Scialabba presents his lifelong history of chronic depression, with the bulk of the book composed of his psychiatrists’ and other health care workers’ case notes, spanning 50 years of treatment. These reports—often written in such a way as to preempt liability—summarize his therapy sessions, in- and out-patient treatment, and medication regimens. Despite, or because of, the dry prose, there is humor to be found here: “His life is ‘bearable but dull,’ which sounds to me like an improvement,” reads one note. It all comes together as a character study of sorts, especially when considering the stories people tell about themselves, which often obscure deeper truths. (I think of the Kenneth Koch poem “One Train May Hide Another.”) The chapter “Tips For The Depressed,” published this March on n+1, comes closer to satisfying the implied promise of the book’s title. While none of his suggestions are revelatory, Scialabba understands that often what a depressed person most needs is to be told what to do, even, or especially, the simplest, most mundane tasks: get out of bed, eat a good breakfast, go for a walk. He knows that none of it is a cure; each thing is merely a way to get a person to the next moment of their life, to lighten their burden even a little. This line, for example, made me laugh: “Also mentioned compulsive book-buying, despite the fact that ‘I’ve only read 10% of my books.’” Some problems are incurable. [Laura Adamczyk]
DisneyWar by James B. Stewart
The thing about devouring the 2005 showbiz exposé DisneyWar in the past few weeks is that I couldn’t stop running into its major players whenever I closed the book and opened my phone or computer. There was Bob Iger, the loyal Capital Cities/ABC soldier who ascends to the top job at the Walt Disney Company in the final pages (despite taking an absolute drubbing from some of the book’s other sources), walking back his retirement announcement in order to see the never-more-dominant entertainment conglomerate through the challenges posed by COVID-19. There was Jeffrey Katzenberg, the executive who helped mastermind the so-called Disney Renaissance with animated films like The Little Mermaid and Beauty And The Beast (and whose explosive exit from the studio gives author James B. Stewart the perfect ending to the first of DisneyWar’s three parts), spinning, spinning, spinning while his newest baby, Quibi, failed to meet the expectations set by the $1.8 billion invested in it. About the only living DisneyWar principal without a noticeable footprint in today’s popular culture is the guy whose rise and fall Stewart exhaustively charts across 500-plus pages: former CEO, chairman, and out-of-his-depth Wonderful World Of Disney host Michael Eisner. The events chronicled in the book are all at least a decade and a half in the past now, but they still reverberate in 2020—when Disney gobbles up whole rival studios rather than just fourth-place TV networks, when the internet still tempts yet befuddles suits who came up through the legacy media ranks, and when the person whose name has become synonymous with the Walt Disney Company (who isn’t a Disney themselves) once again struggles with ceding the Magic Kingdom’s throne. Stewart’s gift is to make boardroom politics and obligations to shareholders as compelling as Disney’s making-of triumphs and its c-suite’s outrageous misfires; what’s happening with the company now begs for a DisneyWar sequel, but Stewart divulged so much in the first book, I doubt he’s allowed anywhere near Iger and his staff at this point. [Erik Adams]
“The Pressure To Perform Is Wearing Us Down” by Britni Danielle
Medium’s ZORA publication is made by and for women of color, but it should be bookmarked by everyone. I’ve found a lot of comfort and insight in the site’s “Burnout Effect” series, which explores the cumulative effect (and potential dangers) of our responsibilities and desires, now that we have “all the time in the world” to fulfill them. I read Britni Danielle’s piece, “The Pressure To Perform Is Wearing Us Down,” before bed last night, and for the first time in ages, turned on my phone’s “do not disturb.” [Danette Chavez]
Normal People by Sally Rooney
I binge-watched all of Normal People on Hulu over the course of two late, weepy nights, and was completely absorbed by the intimate relationship between Marianne and Connell, two Irish students who weave in and out of each other’s lives over the course of several years. The granular, nakedly impassioned breakdown of just how much one person can mean to another had me riveted, and when it was over, I was a little bereft. So I read the novel the series is based on and, remarkably, underwent a similar experience. I was pleased to see that Normal People the show picked up much of the dialogue in Sally Rooney’s book word for word. I was even more impressed with how the series was able to translate the many internal monologues in Rooney’s novel into potent emotional performances. I wound up with even greater regard for both the series and the book, a combination I highly recommend if you’ve got the emotional stamina for a few soggy, late nights. [Gwen Ihnat]
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I’m about halfway through The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus by Richard Preston, and I’ve been making that Michael Scott cringe .gif face the entire time. I’m also still slogging through Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August on audio. There’s so many people to keep track of!Other books read in May:The City We Became by N.K. JemisinThe Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady HendrixStrange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons by George PendleThe White Album by Joan Didion (that was I think re-read #3)
What, you can’t handle all that stuff about melting organs? I read it when it was first published. Still creeps me out.
Wow, I read the Hot Zone back when I was 12 or so and Ebola was first becoming a thing and I was able to focus on a nonfiction book for more than 20 minutes. How does it hold up?I was deciding between Guns of August and John Keegan’s The First World War when I decided I wanted to learn about WW1. I got through half of Keegan’s book but then just ended up listening to (part of) the Hardcore History podcast instead.
Just borrowed the Kindle version of “American Hippo.” It’s set in an alternate timeline in which hippos are brought to the Mississippi River to provide meat. But things don’t go so well. Written by Sarah Gailey, who also wrote the charming “Magic for Liars.” I just started it but so far, very adventurous, imaginative and fun with a great cast of characters.
Finally got around to starting ‘Lonesome Dove,’ which I’ve been meaning to read since the late ‘80s. I’m reading it in stages, taking a break from it with Lee Child’s ‘Blue Moon’ (props to Child for having a formula down pat, even if the formula leads to pretty dumb results) and Suzy McKee Charnas’s ‘The Vampire Tapestry.’
Oh man, you picked a perfect read. Lonesome Dove is incredible, one of the few books I’d recommend to anyone and everyone, and I bet it’s even better reading about people on a vast journey now when we’re all stuck at home.
I read Lonesome Dove about 10 years ago and loved it. It read it straight through (why read it “in stages”?) After I finished it, I went and read Streets of Laredo, Dead Man’s Walk, and Comanche Moon. They were all well-written and very entertaining.As of last week, I’m all caught up on Lee Child novels.
I typically do that doorstop books. Don’t judge me!
*withFucking Kinja.
Reread of Desolation Island and The Fortune Of War by Patrick O’Brian — ah, the open sea! A perfect escape from this current nightmare, following Jack and Stephen and the boys as they *reads further* deal with a plague that devastates everyone on board, leading to quarantine and social distancing? Oh well, at least by Fortune our guys are *continues reading* stuck in Boston and feeling the psychological oppression that comes with defeat at the hands of a seemingly unstoppable enemy? GOD DAMMITDespite these annoyances, O’Brian has fully hit his stride here. Desolation has what may be the best battle in the series (although Fortune is not shabby in this regard either), and the plots’ ups and downs never feel contrived — one day you’re enjoying cataloguing a wealth of island animals, the next you’re dying of thirst on an empty sea. Some quality ownage, especially when Stephen ices a few French intelligence agents, but there’s not much triumph. Fortune is where Jack (in another captain’s boat, and in an encounter that really happened) runs afoul of the USS Constitution, the boss undefeated ship that you can still visit in Charlestown, and the Brits in general are devastated by the US Navy somehow beating them in multiple encounters. This is something that I cheer for a bit, but the depression that Jack especially feels at these losses is too well-evoked for me to feel that good about the USA kicking ass.
I read the new William Gibson book last month and realized that I had never read any of the Blue Ant trilogy, so I read those three books last week
They were…disappointing.So on Saturday I reread Neuromancer, yesterday I reread Count Zero and half of Mona Lisa Overdrive and tonight I’m going to finish MLO. They are WAY better than the Blue Ant trilogy.
The Mirror & The Light (after I finish the second book today) and then The Peripheral.
I finished the by Martha Wells in about three days when it came out last week.
I have made quite the score of e-galleys recently. I am currently reading Empire of Gold, the third Daevabad book by S. A. Chakraborty and loving it. I have loved all of them, but I think the middle book of the trilogy was probably the weakest. After this is done, I have one called Hench by Natalie Walschots next and then I am incredibly lucky to have the new Naomi Novik, A Deadly Education. When I’m done with them, I will track down a copy of the new N. K. Jemison.
I’m so thrilled to have new Martha Wells, Naomi Novik, Jemison and Chakraborty books at the same time. There is nothing like having several of your favorite authors all release new titles within a short span of each other, especially when I have more time to read.
I also finished Network Effect! And had binged all four novellas just beforehand. I’m sorry we won’t have any new Murderbot until April 2021 (new novella announced, Fugitive Telemetry).In the hopes of cleaning off some bookshelves by going through my home print library, I picked up Christopher Moore’s Sacré Bleu. It’s…OK so far, I’m not very far along.
I’m glad to hear there will be new Murderbot, but I would also like her to finish the Raksura story she left hanging. Her characters are so engaging I never want to stop spending time with them.Speaking of Christopher Moore, I was reading an e-galley of his latest, Shakespeare for Squirrels, when the pandemic hit. I spent over a month mourning that I wouldn’t get to finish it because it was on my work computer and I was literally 6 pages from the end. When I signed up for a new e-galley and logged into my account at home, I was surprised and thrilled to be able to access it. It didn’t used to work that way, but I guess they changed the settings. Which is a long way to go to say if you like Moore’s Fool books, you will enjoy it.
Haven’t read any Wells other than Murderbot, but have heard good reviews of the Raksura stuff, will check it out once my library re-opens.Six pages! Oy. And I liked Fool; I haven’t read The Serpent of Venice yet, and the new one is on my wishlist. I’ve been on a Shakespeare kick lately — just watched the Macbeth production from the Globe on YouTube yesterday, it was mostly good (I thought Malcolm was maybe too schoolboyish?) — and might need to read Steinbeck’s The Moon is Down next, its title comes from Macbeth, it’s an old favorite…
I missed Serpent of Venice somehow, too, so I can promise you don’t need to have read it to enjoy the latest. The Stratford Festival of Canada has been posting full productions on Youtube. They do a watch-along on Thursdays, but then it stays up. I haven’t watched with them yet. I had seen two of the productions live and wasn’t that interested in the other two. This week is Timon of Athens, which has to be my least favorite Shakespeare play, so this week won’t change that.
https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/The Raksura books are very different. The series title refers to the race of shape-shifting people that are the main characters. They go from human looking to winged, clawed vaguely reptilian. Start with Cloud Roads. Fortunately for me, my boss at the library got hooked on the Raksura books and bought everything she could find in ebooks. There are older series and one-offs of hers I have worked my way through as well. The Ile-Rien books were quite fun. Like I said she always has characters I want to spend more time with, no matter the setting.
Thanks for the tip, will check out Stratford on YT! I was supposed to go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the early fall, but that’s off for now. Maybe next year. Have never been to Stratford, a trip there is on the wishlist too.The Raksura books will be a change in usual genre for me, but I’m willing to give it a try…
I just started reading Dune and so far I am enjoying a lot! It has been a while since I read a book so classically structured (hero’s journey and whatnot) and I find it really comforting in a “Lord of the Rings” kind of way. But then again I just begun reading it, so who knows if the narrative rupture at some point. I, for one, am excited to find out.
I just finished Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park (different from her other novels in compelling ways, but too long, and at times feels like it could have been more provocative than it is), and am now about a hundred pages into James Ellroy’s L..A Confidential. I’ve already seen the movie several times, so comparing the two makes for an interesting experience. In retrospect it’s for the best that the subplot about Kevin Spacey’s character dating a much younger woman didn’t survive the adaptation process.
I finished Imaginary Friends earlier this month. It’s a bit overly long for what it is. Currently, making my way through Lovecraft Country. So far it isn’t as creepy as I had hoped, but there is some suspense. I have The Power queued up next.
Just want to say thank you to Gwen for that wonderful write up on Normal People. I also felt like the show and the novel both enhance each other. It might have something to do with Rooney being one of the head writers of the show. I just wish the actual AV Club review had been as thoughtful. I know art is subjective or whatever but I feel like the author chosen for that review was not the right person to appreciate it.
I’m still reading NOS4A2. It’s still good, but I much preferred Horns.