More Books on the Shelf

A while back I finished Phillip Roth's The Plot Against America; after a few moments of introspection and a one over of the afterword, I set it on the shelf, paused, glanced back, stared down the spine of the paperback, pryed open my MacBook, and pecked away at the keys. I was writing a post about the Great American Novel.

Around the third sentence, three or four other windows were open. I was chatting, browsing my RSS feeds, buying pointless stuff; the post died shortly there after. I prefer to think I was mentally drained by the late hour or wanted to give it 100% of my focus; however, in part, it was my suspicion that my future-self three months from now would look back at my amateur attempt in disdain. The post is still coming someday; it could come out when I am dinner, waiting for the Metro, or lounging at a Wine bar - for now I'll keep reading.

Some highlights of what I've read recently:

The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth - What if Lindenburg, a Nazi sympithizer, won the 1940 Presidential Election? After that complicated assuption, the book follows a Jewish American family living in New Jersey trying to find its way in a changing America. It is a chilling, shocking, and dishearting story; I believed every word of the bizarro-1940 America.

The Breif Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Jaun Diaz - A vivid account of a ghetto nerd in 1980's who wants to be the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and can't get laid despite his best efforts. I read this cover to cover on my flight to SF. Oscar Wao deserves a spot next to Holden Caulfield and Scout Finch as a great fictional character.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan: Not a must read like Omnivore's Dilemma, but worth the slender 256 pages. But serious go read Omnivore's Dilemma if you haven't.