Category Archives: book reviews

Jack’s Anti-Book Book Review

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In his weekly guest blog post, the normally mild-mannered Jack gets a bit exercised – –

When I started reading The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom I was fascinated. The book sets out the theory that human cultural groupings act as ‘super-organisms’ that transcend the notion of the individual need. My mind went back to long-ago classes in economics and educational motivation – maximizing utility and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs etc.

Bloom’s theories seem to go against all the accepted rules, but he argues that there is plenty of evidence throughout history that human groups will gather around what he describes as a ‘meme’ that will drive a particular group to dominance. The need to dominate is, in turn, driven by a desire that the group should have the greatest access to the ‘fruits of the earth’. He draws parallels with behavior in ant colonies, bee hives and families of apes and baboons, then introduces many instances of human activity to back his argument, such as the need for recognizable uniforms to distinguish ‘us and them’ as well as the value of having an enemy and the power of hatred.

When I started this book I was drawn into it by his many references to there being ‘a better way’ forward that could somehow avoid wars and the violent overthrow of existing hierarchies. As a Quaker I’m always keen to investigate anything that promotes a more peaceful world and this book seemed to be offering possibilities. However as I read on all I seemed to be reading about was the inevitability of this continual cyclical overthrow of existing dominant groups by the next kid on the block: Christians/Muslims, Capitalists/Communists, Democrats/Fascists, and so on.

Finally I reached his answer (drum roll, please)…..

America had to stay on top and learn how to remain there indefinitely.

Yes – really. Never mind anyone else; get on top and stay there, and that’s good enough.

Maybe Douglas Adams had a better answer – – – 42 makes more sense than “stay on top of the pyramid by keeping ‘lesser people’ on the bottom, and life will be grand– at least, for you.”

As Dorothy Parker says, “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.”

The Monday Book: BOBCAT AND OTHER STORIES by Rebecca Lee

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World Book Night books tend to be a mixed bag. For those unfamiliar, WBN is an annual celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday, in April, when people sign up to give away a box of twenty books. About 30 different titles are among the giveaways, a mix of new releases, recent bestsellers, and classics.

Also some older, past-best sellers. Last year, we had one giver bring his box back and say, “Forget it. I can’t pay people to take this book.” Ouch, man….

So this year, I was wary of the selection. But as often happens, a few people didn’t pick up their boxes, so we opened them and set them out on a WBN shelf inside our shop door, with a note, “Please take!”

And when Jack and I fled to our cabin for a little R&R over Memorial Day weekend, we grabbed a copy of each. One of these was BOBCAT AND OTHER STORIES, a slim volume that came out in 2013, by Rebecca Lee.

What a pleasant surprise! Literate, feminist-oriented, mostly academic-setting stories that circle the human condition in amazing ways. Lee’s writing is insightful, packing information into tight little sentences. She never insults her readers with too much symbolism or other written equivalents of “see, here’s what you should think about this character, dear little readers.” In fact, her stories are a lot like looking at a puzzle with one piece missing, and her story is the hole defining that piece. Less is more with this writer.

The title story is about a Manhattan dinner party involving authors, a shared editor, spouses and lawyers. It’s pure dead brilliant in capturing the way life hits you from behind while you’re focusing on something else. I also got a big kick out of the subtle author jokes. Yeah, at the drop of a hat we will expound our themes ad infinitum. We know; go ahead; make fun of us….

“The Banks of the Vistula” was one of the funniest (as in oddest) stories about plagiarism ever. “Slatland” turned the wronged wife theme on its head. But my favorite was probably “Min,” exploring the new way in which men, women, arranged marriage, East and West are not so much colliding as just sliding around each other these days. The American protagonist in “Min” is best friends with the Hong Kong-American title character, and winds up choosing his arranged-marriage bride, a Philippine nanny who thinks he’s a creep. The juxtaposition of power relations, history, and basic human feelings in this story provokes the kind of laughter that you later analyze: uhh, should that be funny, or more sad?

Lee’s stories prove that it’s a mad, crazy, mixed-up world where almost every traditionally-defined relationship between people, ethnicities, and nationalities is now up for grabs. Which makes the stories something between scattershot, slapstick and searing.