BOOKS!

[spedbug]

I had a bunch of things I kept thinking, throughout today, "I'll post that to LJ". All of them have been wiped from my memory, now, because I got sidetracked by answering posts. My memory and attention span are like will o' the wisps. Don't show me anything glittery or I'll forget to finish my

I'm very excited because in the middle of what might have been a Very Boring Day, I was urged to go to Borders, by MrBug, and buy a book! Apparently, he was listening to the radio this morning and heard an interview with journalist Norah Vincent. He told me about it, I expressed interest in finding out more about Ms. Vincent and the subject on the 'net and he told me that she'd written a book. Next thing I know, I'm holding a copy of Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey Into Manhood and Back Again in my hot, little hands. Woo hoo!

From the dust cover: Norah Vincent wanted to know what life was really like for men. Many women have long been convinced that men have always had it better, in ever way. To find out for herself if this was actually true, and to see where the common perception fell short, Norah did it: for eighteen months she became a guy.

Following in the tradition of John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me) and Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dime), Norah Vincent absorbed a cultural experience and reported back on what she observed incognito. With the help of a makeup artist, a trainer, and a Juilliard voice coach, she infiltrated spaces and situations women never see. For more than a year and a half she ventured into the world as her alter ego, Ned, iwith an ever-present five o'clock shadow, a crew cut, wire-rimmed glasses, and her own size 11 1/2 shoes - a perfect disguise that allowed her to observe and participate in the world of men as an insider. A sympathetic, shrewd and thrilling tour de force of immersion journalism, Self-Made Man is Norah's perspective on just how hard it is to be a man, even in a man's world

There's more but my fingers are getting tired! ;) Anyway, doesn't it sound intriguing? I'm only seven pages in (from reading at stop lights) and it's already fascinating!

Two other books followed me home from Borders - The Cell by Stephen King (oooo, mind candy! Can't wait!) and Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin (the author of Thinking in Pictures) and Catherine Johnson.

I'm giddy with books! Off to register them, now. Yay! :) :) If I think of what it was I wanted to share, I'll post again.

Comments

[zz-neena.livejournal.com]

That Norah Vincent book sounds great. Off to add it to my *look-for* list!

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

I may start a ring with it once MrBug has read it. When this might be is anyone's guess. I'll have it finished in the next day or two because I tend to gulp books. Mr Bug, on the other hand, tends to be a very s l o w reader and could take weeks with it unless it really grabs him.

If you think you can wait and are interested, let me know.

[reggiesgirl2.livejournal.com]

If you do start a ring on it, please put me on it? It sounds like a book I'd enjoy and I don't mind how long Mr Bug takes to read it. I can wait. :)

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

Consider yourself "in".

[zz-neena.livejournal.com]

Actually, yeah - I'd like to be on that ring.

And I can wait, believe me!

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

You're "in".

[texaswren.livejournal.com]

I do that too--catch myself doing something or seeing something, and my first thought is how I'll write about it. But, then I forget, or even worse, I'll scribble a cryptic note on something and either lose it or have no idea what it means. ;-)

The book does sound good. We keep saying that MrBug is a keeper!

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

MrBug is definitely a sweetheart and a half. When I texted him with this: "Two other books want to follow me home; can I keep them?", he immediately phoned me and said, "I think you should take them home" without asking if they were hard cover books, how much it all was going to come to . . . he constantly amazes and humbles me with his generosity of spirit.

On a related aside concerning "cryptic notes" and text messages- Right after I'd gone back for a second consultation for the LASIK procedure, I started wavering on the decision again. All the old worries resurfaced. One morning, I was going through my old text messages and came across one in my "saved" folder. It was one word. "Resolve". Call me superstitious but the fact that I had that message in my saved folder and happened across it while worrying the LASIK procedure over in my mind really changed my perspective. After that, I was resolved. No more wavering. No more vacillating. I was going to do it no matter what! :)

[texaswren.livejournal.com]

I'd never call you superstitious! I believe too much in listening to karmic messages!

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

I hover somewhere between skeptic and believer with lots of dips in between depending on mood. The fact that I couldn't recall ever "typing" or receiving a message with the sole word "Resolve" made it all the more powerful.

[madame-urushiol.livejournal.com]

Ooooh! I've been eyeing the "Self Made Man" one myself. If you give it a rave review, I'll go out and buy it.

I'm halfway through "The Cell", and it's pretty cool (especially the concept behind it for a confirmed phone-hater like me), but "Animals in Translation" is one of the best books I've read in many years. I loved it. Temple Grandin is one of my idols.

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

I'm only fifty pages in and already hooked. I've laughed out loud more than once and blinked back tears at another. Vincent's writing style is engaging and her perspective is fresh, intelligent, thoughtful and genuine.

Like I told zz-neena, if you're willing to wait an indeterminable amount of time, I'll "ring" this with a small group in LJ.

I'm halfway through "The Cell",..."Animals in Translation" is one of the best books I've read in many years

Sounds like we have very similar taste in books so I'll be presumptuous enough to say you'll love Self-Made Man. I think Temple Grandin is amazing, too. After reading her first book, I knew I'd enjoy this one.

[rarsberry.livejournal.com]

I have read Cell, its great, a real page turner.
Well thats what I thought anyway!!

[spedbug.livejournal.com]

Stephen King is one of my all-time favorite authors. I know a lot of people think he's a hack but I think he's a genius. The only book he wrote that I thought was a stinking pile was The Tommyknockers and I firmly believe it's because he was drunk during most of it's conception.

a real page turner

You said a mouthful! I stood in Borders a week ago and read ten pages of The Cell in about that many minutes!