100 Books, Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Some books are that good. They are parodied, recycled, passed over, and come back again with a resonance in the world of storytelling that few ever equal. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a masterwork of literature with its themes of love, regret, friendship, honor and the knowledge that all things in this world pass. If you have never read this book then I cannot call you a true lover of literature.

Summary
George and Lennie are migrant farmhands, traveling the barren world with little to call their own. George, the small and intelligent one, has secured them work at a farm where they can begin to collect wages that will someday allow them to buy their own place. Lennie, the large and childlike one, dreams of having their own place where they will "live off of the fat of the lan'" and where he will get to tend the rabbits.
The two find comfort in the farm with Lennie proving his exceptional physical labor skills and a new partner in their endevor, Candy. Daily life in the worker's clubhouse is shown, especially in one scene where the men convince Candy to kill his beloved, elderly dog.
The comfort is short, however, when the hot headed owner's son, Curley, picks a fight with Lennie and ends up with Lennie crushing Curley's hand. Another form of trouble comes in the form of Curley's wife who feels she is too good for the life she has chosen and often hangs too close to the workers.
The climax comes when Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife and George, knowing Curley will kill his friend, has to end Lennie's life.

The Good
What can I say that has not been said about this book? The characters, plot, dialog, setting, language, etc. are all perfectly balanced to tell a simple story about the desperation of man.

The Bad
The only bad aspect of this novel is its simplicity. This is not a detriment to the story, but to everyone who must see the plot and characters parodied for all eternity.

Why is it banned?
Of Mice and Men could be banned for a few reasons. The language is often both racist and misogynistic towards Crooks, the elderly black man in the story, and Curley's wife respectively.
The violence, while not gratuitous, could also be a reason, as the story depicts a dog being shot, a woman being murdered, and a man being executed with a shot to the head. The scene where the men encourage Candy to put the dog down could be seen as inciting violence toward animals, particularly elderly ones. Combined with the misogyny of the earlier language, the murder of Curley's wife could also be seen as an attack on women as well.
Some may be disappointed with the depiction of Lennie as a mentally disabled person, as well. While his childlike attitude is forgivable, the violence he exhibits is not and may lead some to the wrong conclusions.

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100 Books: The Adventures of Captain Underpants

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary
Two boys hypnotise their principal into becoming the hero of their self-published comic book, Captain Underpants. The three of them then go on to defeat Dr. Diaper and his robotic henchmen. Seriously.

The Good
The story is simple and the writing is crisp. The plot moves along at a quick, however painful, pace and the accompanied art fits the pulp style to a tee. The book is great fun, especially if you are willing to lift your suspension of disbelief and become the 7 year old this book is targeted to.

The Bad
 The characters are pretty dull. Yeah, they play pranks and get away with mischief but never in an organic way. Things seem pretty slapdash as one event just happens with little effort to explain or even make sense of the world it attempts to create. There is little in the way of lessons or morals that while never a problem in stories, causes this pulp to be little more than filler for more well-told comic adventures.

Why is it banned?
The use of a grown man in his underwear is enough to ban this juvenile book. However, the depiction of both the over powering, child hating authority figure and the boys glee in subverting him could also cause the material to be banned by a more "moral" centered community. The boys pranks could also be seen as a bannable offence as they could encourage children to do them to disasterous results. Also, there's a poo gag.

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100 Books: Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. Bissinger

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




Summary
Friday Night Lights is the study of a town in the thrall of high school football. The players, parents, coaches, teachers all get a story component while the economic and racial pain looms in the background.

Is it good?
Well, yes and no. This is a well crafted book that is given to great tension and flowery language but can also shift gears to chapters of dry commentary and history. When comparing the game descriptions to the exposition about Texas oil, one can see the clear distinction in writing styles. When the book is good, talking about the people that play the game and the controversey's around them, the book is very good. When the book goes off topic into the economic turmoil of the region (a topic that does inform the story) it falls flat. I can see teenagers skipping large parts of this book to "get to the good stuff." I almost did it myself. Special mention to the author's technique of spilling people into the narrative. When it works, such as the former players in the last game, it gives a tension and gravity to the story. When it does not, such as when it gives backstory to people not involved with the program at all (fans) during the last game, it pulls you from the story and creates quagmires to slog through.

Why Was It Banned?
The language (especially the racially motivated speech) is unfiltered by these West Texas folk. The teenagers speak like teenagers and the racists speak like racists. Multiple quotes are more than enough to see why this book was objected to being taught in the classroom or included in a high school library.
Some themes may also be seen as objectionable, particularly the racism. While the book makes its position clear on the wrongness of judging a man by his cover, impressionalbe minds could turn a blind eye to the opposing arguments. Some parents may also be unwilling to let their progeny know of the good and bad sides of being a local celebrity. The passages of players running wild and getting off with little more than a slap on the wrist could be encouraging to some like-minded individuals. Conversly, I could see how the failures of these kids could lead to some students giving up both on and off the field.

Conclusion
A good book with a multitude of dry pages. Skates the line between a book a high school football player would finish and a book a high school nerd would read to take the piss out of their jock counterparts. As I said above, had I not been reviewing it, I would have skipped several parts of this book.

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Book Review: Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Caution: I may spoil major events of the book and the book series as a whole. This is book 13 of the series, I strongly advise reading the rest of the series before you read this book. Okay... here we go.

Summary:
Harry Dresden is back from the dead after being shot through the chest at the end of Book 12: Changes. He, along with the ectomancer Mortimer and various other friends, must solve his murder and stop a dark power that is rising in Chicago.

What I Liked:
It's a Dresden Files book. That means it includes the action, charm and snark (BOO!) that comes with every Harry Dresden adventure. Reading this series is a delight as each book returns the reader to a world that has evolved from page one. Each character, faction and landscape has been altered by the adventures in organic and wholly real ways. As each book pounded our heroes, some grew stronger and some broke.
My favorite part about Mr. Butcher's writing is the characters (and the cultural references, but can I claim that as his?) Each person in these books is laid out in great detail and it has been fun watching them change from book to book. Special reservation goes to Molly, Murphy and Mortimer for the dramatic shifts each has made from their first appearances.

What I Didn't Like:
The villians. The Corpsetaker from "Dead Beat" (one of my favorite of the series) has returned in ghostly form to once again grow in power and become a real Corpsetaker again. Or something. On the other side of things is some douche sorcerer with a gang. Both felt really tacked on in this one, almost slowing down the story. The Corpsetaker serves as a good enough ghostly villian while the doucherer is low level for our mighty group of dudes who have toppled whole vampire courts. I know this is suppposed to be a more personal story, but the absence of a real good villian hurt the story.

What I Eh?
The end. In a story where the main premise is the guy coming back from the dead to solve his own murder, I feel kinda cheated that it was him all along with a little brain wipe. This kind of twist is a little beneath the Dresden Files, especially with the unreliable narrator being pulled just two books back in "Turn Coat" when Harry did something else without letting the reader know. I could buy it if we were given a bookend as a reason for the narration (and therefore why some stuff is left out,) but the reader is just supposed to accept these books as his case file notes? How incomplete to not mention that, oh yeah, you were the person who put a hit out on you? The ending also included a "look at your past life" montage of chapters that while engaging (especially the bit with Mouse and his daughter) also felt a little tacked on.
The new character. Fixt (who we will see again about two books from now, I bet, if not sooner) is a bland, young copy of Dresden who will probably become either one of the Alphas or Morty's apprentice.

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100 Books: In the Night Kitchen

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the Night Kitchen is the story of a little boy who dreams of some pretty horrific stuff. A child of the 60s-70s psychedelic acid rock craze, this children's book reminds me an awful lot of the creepy Raggedy Anne and Andy movie that came out a few years later.

Summary (spoilers)

Okay, stay with me here cause I am gonna run through this. A kid hears a noise in the night which leads him to falling into darkness. He falls into some batter and three cooks then decide to bake him into a cake. He makes a plane out of the batter and promises to get them milk for the batter instead of him. He does so, prompting an odd "milk in the batter" sequence before the kid wakes up and finds there is cake in the morning.


Why Banned?

Did I mention he does most of this nude? On at least three separate occasions you get a full monty shot of this kid's junk. This horrifying issue of baking children into cakes is brought up as well and is done so with pretty straight forward intent. If you want to go out on a limb, you could tie the nudity and the milk to get a symbolic wet dream scenario, but honestly that is kinda gross and I do not want to think too hard on the subject of this kid's junk. Also, there are probably some parents that will object to the giant red "Cock a Doodle Doo" written at one point in the book.


Final

In the Night Kitchen is a fun acid trip of a story, and that is okay because it is all played as a dream sequence. While some symbolism is there if you really try, this story is a fairly simple tale that will delight most readers. However, the odd addition of nudity may turn some folks off, as stylized as the art is. I would not have a problem showing this to my kid, but be careful showing it to anyone else's, if you know what I mean.


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100 Books: And Tango Makes Three

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you want to read this book first, please do so. I am about to spoil the entire plot of this easy book that can be read by an adult in 6 minutes. I'll wait after the jump.

Summary

So the book starts out with establishing shots of Central Park and its inclusion of a zoo with many animal families. Enter Roy and Silo, two male penguins that hang out together, do everything together including building a nest and do not really pay attention to the lady penguins. After a while, Roy and Silo start to notice other penguin couples are hatching eggs, so they try to do it with a rock. When the rock does not hatch a little fuzzy penguin, the keeper, Mr. Gramzey, gives the two an egg from two other penguins. Roy and Silo take diligent care of the egg until it hatches the baby "Tango," named by Mr. Gramzey because "it takes two to tango." Tango grows into a healthy penguin and hangs with his two dads.

Why was it banned?

It is easy to see the homosexual references the book presents that would make some jerks parents uncomfortable, especially after the book tells us the keeper believes they are "in love." Opponents of same sex marriage and parenting would have issue with the message that the book sends.

Another angle to take would be from biologists on the anthropomorphizing of animals and their attachments. Putting labels like "love" and "happiness" on animal relationships, while well known in children's literature and movies, can lead to folks being eaten by bears. This is a true story, but there is a danger in equating wild animal relationships with human relationships. We are simply different creatures and however our biology dictates behavior, the psychology of a higher human mind does create differences in our behaviors.

Also a biology thing is the ethical question of a keeper giving an egg to animals that are exhibiting differing behavior than the norm. While male penguins in the wild are very caring of their young, who knows what could happen when introducing another penguin couples egg into the mix? I am not equating this to humans, and I know that there are tons of examples of animals caring for another animal's young, but other animals eat other animal's young, too.

Final thoughts

The watercolor-type illustration is good and the writing is tight. I enjoyed the story and found it to be touching and delightful. I wanna see these penguins in real life.

As far as it being banned, I kept thinking while reading this book: Would it change anything if this was a male/female couple raising another couple's egg? I have seen Lifetime movies about that and those flicks always end with a court case. I can see the original parents, Betty and Porkey, causing a long, drawn-out court case to get Tango back. Or what about a female/female couple? Sure, it would be hot penguin action, but would it make as much difference to detractors as two males?

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100 Books: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is a collection of short stories, poems and songs of the "scary" sort. Most only last for a page or two, including many illustrations by Stephen Gammell as well as musical notes for the songs. Divided into chapters, the book includes "jump" stories (to get YOU! as you grab a friend), ghost stories, urban legends, and humorous tales bookended with a great introduction on the history of the scary story oral tradition and a full source page for all the stories. The sources and bibliography read almost like a college paper on horror stories throughout the ages.

Example of the illustrations

For younger students, age 10 or younger, I would steer clear of this book. The illustrations are graphic and disturbing and the written content can lean towards the gross-out scares. The language is tight, often going for the base story without character, but does not talk down to the audience. This book is for young teens who wish to have stories to tell by a campfire, which might be the best way to enjoy this book. Those looking for a little history in the background of urban legends and oral story-telling will get an education as well.

Favorite part: As a kid when I read this, I loved the jump scare stories (who's got my toe?). As an adult, I love the notes section best as it gives more behind the scenes, including the fact that Mark Twain used to tell the "Golden Arm" story on his tours. Favorite story? "Room for One More" because I love a good premonition.

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Podcasts: The New Late Night

I only discovered podcasts within the last year.  Over this time, I have come to one conclusion:  podcasts are now what late night TV used to be.  I remember sneaking downstairs to see a movie star, band or comedian on The Tonight Show (with Johnny) or Letterman.  In college, some of my best memories were being with my friends late night and watching Conan goof around and have fun talks with celebrities.  SNL has always been a staple of my late night viewing, even before I could understand it.  The problem with these programs is as I grew up, I could not find myself in front of them when they were scheduled.  I tried to watch the new Conan show, and almost made it a full week, before life intervened.  Now I find these same experiences with podcasts.  Funny and fascinating people having interesting and hilarious conversations about topics I am interested in and that I can listen to when I choose.  Ah, techanologie.  

After the jump are several of my favorite audio podcasts that I never miss in no particular order.  Alert: most are comedy and get frequent explicit tags.  That's just how I roll.  I know there are many more (and I listen to twice this list probably), so throw down in the comments about your favorite podcasts.

WTF with Marc Maron

Maron was always I could count on to give at least one moment in his comedy routines for someone to say, "WFT did he just say?  Damn, that's messed up."  A great podcast recently covered in the New York Times, Marc Maron specializes in frank talk about his life and his always interesting guests.

Nerdist

Ever have one of those nerdy conversations with your friends when you looked at each other and said, "Man, no one else would understand what we just said." Chris Hardwick and friends have these type of conversations all the time, often bringing excellent guests along for the ride.

Doug Loves Movies

Like movies?  Well, Doug freaking loves them.  Comedian Doug Benson gets some truly spectacular guests together for a live show that discusses, well, movies.  Each show also ends with a fun challenge called "The Leonard Maltin Game" that will leave you yelling at celebrities through your Ipod.

This American Life

Ira Glass lets you into a theme of Americana each week.  Current events are often covered in a thoughtful and reverent way while off the wall subjects are introduced that make you think about the world around you.  For all the NPR fanatics around, you fellas already know what I am talking about.

Webcomics Weekly

Get some webcomic creators together and have them talk about the business and their lives.  That is the basic premise and it becomes truly enjoyable if you read the webcomics these folks write.  Very funny folks having great conversations.

Smodcast

This is the one that got me into podcasts.  I love Kevin Smith and his purely frank take on life.  Partnered with Scott Mosier (or anyone else on the now huge row of the Smodcast network) and you have excellent, funny conversation where two dudes that like to talk and have fun with each other.

The Moth

If there is one thing in this world that can stop me cold is a good story.  Presented in spoken word, various people get up and tell a story, often with a particular theme. The stories never fail to be engaging, to the point where I cannot listen to them in the car for fear of becoming lost in the narrative.

NSFW

Ever watch those Japanese game shows where you are not too sure what is going on but enjoying the hell out of it?  That's this show.  The New Show Full of Win features magician Brian Brushwood and funny man Justin Robert Young and various guests competing against themselves and their audiences for awesome.

WeirdThings

These are the smart kids in the back of the classroom that are planning the hunt for Bigfoot when they grow up.  Episodes generally consist of Andrew Mayne, Brian Brushwood and  Justin Robert Young throwing themselves into fake scenarios of "weird things" that often descend into madness.

The Onion Radio News

It is The Onion.  I should not have to describe these short, hilarious, fake radio announcements.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour

My newest and most favoritest podcast, The Thrilling Adventure Hour is a live show in Los Angeles done by various performers in the style of old timey radio.  Hilarious enough that I have to stop what I am doing, lie down and close my eyes away from others so as not to endanger them and me.