Reading

In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod
I could not put this book down. It’s up there with the very best books I’ve read this year, alongside Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again by Austin Kleon, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, I Wrote This for Attention by Lukas Gage, and London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe. Junod is an exceptional storyteller, and this memoir reads like a mystery as he tries to understand the larger-than-life man his father was. It’s shocking and honest, and it does one of the best things a book can do: it teaches you about life, about people, and about…yourself. Easily one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read.

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
I started reading this book two months ago and then stopped because I felt like I should be reading something more . . . educational? My mom said that was nonsense, that the book is really good, and that I should keep reading it. I took her advice and she was right: it’s excellent. (I have also resolved to only read books that look interesting. I feel like I’m always making this resolution?) Anyway, not once in the book’s 700 pages was I bored. And I don’t even particularly care about the Manson story. I usually roll my eyes at the attention it still receives, the same way I roll my eyes at the mention of Bundy or Gacy. But this book, written by Manson’s prosecutor no less, is fabulous in its own right. It reminded me of my favorite true crime book of all time, In Cold Blood. Charles Manson was a frustrated musician who claimed the Beatles were sending him messages through their songs. He convinced his followers that he was Jesus Christ (he implied his name should be read Man’s Son). This dude had an answer for everything—a mind so warped and calculated it left no room for reason or humanity. I could go on and on and on but suffice it to say: take my mom’s advice and read this book. There is something interesting on every page.

Idle Thoughts: Letters on Good Living by Tom Hodgkinson
This little book came with my subscription to The Idler magazine. It’s a bunch of short, delightful, and thought-provoking essays on everything from why nappers are more clever to the absurdity of buying cars—especially on credit. I really enjoyed it.

The Waste Books by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
This book is a banger. A collection of philosophically deep, occasionally humorous aphorisms? Sign me up! (It reminded me of another book of aphorisms I love, The Bed of Procrustes.) I’m still making my way through, but here are some passages I’ve already starred:

“Do you ask me, friend, which is better: to be plagued by a bad conscience or with a mind at peace to hang from the gallows?”

“Man is capable of his greatest works when his mental powers are already on the wane, just as it is hotter in July at two in the afternoon, when the sun is already declining, than it is in June at midday.”

Misc.
I read and loved Jet Li’s memoir, Beyond Life and Death. I’m slowly savoring One! Hundred! Demons! by Lynda Barry, and LOVING The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman. And, as always, you can see my growing list of favorite books here.

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.