When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
One of my favorite reading memories from when I was younger was sitting on the couch in my parents’ house and cracking open a new David Sedaris book. Ones like Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Naked. That’s why I’m so excited that his newest book, The Land and Its People came out this week! My wife and I went to see him earlier this month at the Orpheum Theater and we cracked up the whole time. He’s just so damn funny. It made me want to reread an old favorite, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. I’ve yet to read another author who so accurately—and so side-splittingly—captures the absurdity of daily life.
Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott
I found this book while browsing the shelves of Changing Hands, and when I saw it was co-written by Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird, I bought it on the spot. There are so many gems of writing advice here. One favorite: “Spend less time defending what you’ve written and more time revealing the truth.” Lamott writes that when she edits her own work she removes anything “that put me in a more sympathetic/desperate light so the reader will feel sorry for me or anxious on my behalf, and like me more,” and that there is nothing more stunning than the truth presented carefully and unvarnished. I just love that. On a similar note, a huge piece of writing—and life—advice I’ve been thinking about is Ryan Holiday’s positive contribution every day rule. Seriously, read this article. And if you like to write, read this book.
London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe
Oh my goodness, I LOVED this book. It’s one of the best I’ve read this year. Keefe is a master of narrative tension. The slow-but-propulsive unfolding of the story made it almost impossible to put down—I needed to know the motives of the people at the center of it all. In that way, it reminded me of—dare I say—the true crime classic In Cold Blood. You find yourself needing to know how the cast of characters came together, what stories they told themselves and others, and how the chain of choices led them where they ended up. It’s seriously so good. (Also, on a semi-related note, crime writer Patricia Cornwell published her memoir this month, and it looks really good.)
Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better by David Epstein
I wasn’t sure if this book would be gimmicky, but I gave it a shot because I loved his book Range. This one is just as good, maybe better. We tend to think unlimited time, money, and freedom would solve our creative and business problems. It turns out what we often need are constraints: rigid limits, real or self-imposed, that force us to think more clearly and creatively. From some of the biggest companies to the most influential artists, from Steve Jobs to Johann Sebastian Bach, Epstein argues that constraints were not just the catalyst but the key ingredient in their success. It’s fascinating, and on top of that, it’s well-written and easy to read. It reminded me of the ideas in one of my favorite books on creativity, Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist. (Btw, Kleon’s newest book Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again comes out next month!)
Misc: I also read and loved Christina Applegate’s memoir You With the Sad Eyes, which is where the Anchorman story above came from.