Book #7 Gang Leader for a Day and Book #8 American Wife

I’m seven weeks into 2010 and eight books into my challenge. One week ahead of schedule!

These two books could not be more different. The first, Sudhir Venkatesh’s Gang Leader For a Day follows Venkatesh as he gets more and more intertwined with Chicago’s Black Kings gang during the 1980s in Chicago. The second, Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife provides a fictionalized account of Laura Bush’s life, from the eyes of protagonist “Alice Lindgren.”

A little background: I spent six years in Chicago, four of them on the South Side. By the time I moved to Chicago, the Robert Taylor Homes has already been closed, and the city was in the process of tearing down Cabrini Green. I was also in Chicago when Freakanomics came out, and I remember both Leavitt’s celebrity on campus, and everyone’s fascination with the chapter on why drug dealers make only minimum wage.

Venkatesh’s work is fascinating — he calls it sociology, but I’d suggest it’s more anthropological in that’s it’s an intensive study of a civilization. That civilization happens to be public housing residents. He’s an adept story teller, and in many ways I felt like this book taught me more about urban poverty than anything I read in my African American studies classes in school.

On to American Wife. I’ve read Sittenfeld’s two previous books. Both of them — Prep and The Man of My Dreams — left me with a sort of melancholy feeling; this one was no different. I was worried when I picked it up, after reading the reviews on Amazon. Many were scathing. I think, for the most part, they must have come from Republicans, as I found the book fairly complimentary to Laura Bush.

The protagonist, Alice, is simply madly in love with her husband, Charlie. And because of this love, she’s able to accommodate his lesser qualities… his interest in his legacy; initially, his drinking; later, his born again beliefs; expectations of her, etc.

Reading it, I enjoyed the first few sections more than the latter. By the time they arrived at the white house, I’d lost my interest a little. I think it may be that the White House section is where it becomes less fictional seeming. There’s a 9/11, a Cindy Sheehan-esque character, etc. Sittenfeld is a deft storyteller though, and regardless of whether or not you like the Bush family, it’s a compelling read, at least for the first 400 (!) pages.

Sunday, February 21, 2010
brit:

I’ve been wishing for something like this. I don’t care how stupid it looks - no one likes cold arms in bed. (And there’s even finger openings so that you can use your iPhone or iPad.)
Happiness In Bed

brit:

I’ve been wishing for something like this. I don’t care how stupid it looks - no one likes cold arms in bed. (And there’s even finger openings so that you can use your iPhone or iPad.)

Happiness In Bed

Blanka || Supersize
Amazing modern art posters for TV shows.

Blanka || Supersize

Amazing modern art posters for TV shows.

P020510PS-0231 (via The White House)

P020510PS-0231 (via The White House)

It’s time.

It’s time.

via www.montereybayequestrian.com
For Valentine’s Day this year, I would like a Pygmy Goat.

via www.montereybayequestrian.com

For Valentine’s Day this year, I would like a Pygmy Goat.

Will You Be My F—-ing Valentine? - Gop - Jezebel
I know this is paid for by the RNC, but I think it’s hilarious. I would love to get one of these valentines…

Will You Be My F—-ing Valentine? - Gop - Jezebel

I know this is paid for by the RNC, but I think it’s hilarious. I would love to get one of these valentines…

As anybody who lives in a big city knows, there are times when space-commadeering is acceptable, and there are times when it is unacceptable. There are no hard and fast rules, but like porn, you know unacceptability when you see it. For example, in the subway scenario, a shoulder brush is sometimes unavoidable but a crotch-fondle is never warranted. Similarly, a car entering the bike lane to get around a garbage truck or to parallel park might be the equivalent of a shoulder brush. But sitting in an expensive car and having a cellphone conversation in the middle of a bike lane during the evening rush is just a full-on ball grab.

Trying to explain the difference between Gang Leader for a Day and Lucky (by Alice Sebold)

  • me: no no, it's like a freakanomics protege who spends like 10 years at the Robert Taylor Homes
  • me: learning about the economics of urban gangs. It's sad but not like "i was raped in a tunnel" sad.
  • me: Chronically sad as opposed to personally sad
  • Olivia: ha
  • Olivia: sad but not 'i was raped in a tunnel'"
  • Olivia: quote of the day

As it turns out, starting my weekend with Alice Sebold’s Lucky (first chapter details her rape as a college freshman), wasn’t such a good idea.

I need to learn how to red books that aren’t just about horribly sad, depressing things. Does Daily Puppy have a blog to book deal yet?

Saturday, February 6, 2010