Lately, I’ve been trying to reduce my consumption of tv (which has been tough, damn you network executives and your cheesy yet addictive programming!), and in turn have been doing some reading. I find reading provides two main rewards for me:

1. Sometimes I learn stuff.

2. Even if I don’t learn stuff I can at least take on an air of intellectual superiority since “I read a lot”.

The latter is probably the biggest reward. I think this is mainly because I delude myself into thinking that someday I’ll be able to walk away from this engineering gig and be able to write for a living. And for now, if I can’t write for a living, at least I can be on the other end of the literary world. Problem is, I’m not that creative (hence the engineering gig), so I’ve been reading a lot of memoirs, because memoirs seem like the most feasible genre for me. The problem with that is, I’m not sure my existence thus far has really provided a whole lot worth reading (as you are all painfully becoming aware of). Therefore, I’ll have to lie a lot, which goes back to the creativity thing. It’s a vicious circle indeed.

So, as far as literary works by actual authors go, I have recently read and enjoyed: Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (I know this is a “family” site, but hey, it’s the title of the book), Me Talk Pretty One Day, Running with Scissors, and just to mix it up a little The Genius and the Goddess.

Of the memoirs, I liked Me Talk Pretty One Day the most. David Sedaris is a funny guy, and has a way of making somewhat every day occurrences seem hillarious. Also, he’s quite the wordsmith without being pretentious with his vocabulary. I like that. On the other hand, I liked Running with Scissors the least. It had its moments, but for some reason I never really connected with the book. I think I just didn’t like Burrough’s wording as much. The Genius and the Goddess reminded me a lot of books by Herman Hesse. It had a sortof philosophical nature to it and a focus on internal human struggles, which I find interesting. I’ve read a lot of Hesse’s books as well, because “I read a lot”. See, I feel better already.

MPB