What I'm Reading

In Progress

Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth

I thought I should read a Philip Roth novel, and I found this one at a used book store. It's good so far; the part I've read is about a young man who works at a library and has a romance with a rich girl.

Out of the Mouths of Slaves by John Baugh

This is supposed to be about the African-American dialect of English, something that sounded really interesting. The author is a professor of linguistics at Stanford, so I had high hopes. So far, though, it's not very good. I agree with some of his ideas about connections between language and social stratification and also about education, but I can't say that I'm learning anything from this. I was expecting a linguistic history, but all I've gotten is the author's opinions on various topics. He's not a fantastic writer, either. I'm planning on skipping to some later chapters that look more promising.

Just Finished

The Earl of Louisiana by A.J. Liebling

I loved the other Liebling book so much that I got another. This one is about Earl Long, the brother of Huey Long, and his last campaign for governor of Louisiana. Once again, the writing was fabulous. I also liked this book because of the subject matter, and I'm not sure someone who didn't find the topic interesting would find the great writing a sufficient reason to read this. One of the central themes of the book is race relations in Louisiana and the way the politicians manipulate the tension between whites and blacks. The Longs were able to bring together two groups with common economic interests: poor whites and poor blacks. The other policians, though, can't do this, so they exploit the racism of the whites to get their votes. Liebling writes as an interested spectator, like he's telling his friends about a great horse race he saw. Fantastic!!

Liebling at The New Yorker:Uncollected Essays

What I really want to read is Liebling's book on eating in Paris, but my library doesn't have it. This one makes a promising start with an essay about a man who sets the odds for bookies at horse tracks. I loved every minute of this book. Some of the essays are about Liebling's experiences in Paris immediately before and after the occupation during World War II; others are about totally random things, like the only U.S. midshipman ever executed for mutiny. Liebling is the writer I would love to be, if a fairy godmother granted me three wishes. He makes everyday experiences interesting, and he's subtly funny.

Office Politics by Wilfred Sheed

This novel is about a man working as a junior editor at a small magazine headed by his idol. He expects it to be a fabulous job, but he gets sucked into, well, the Office Politics. The two senior editors are strange birds who are competing with each other, but they, along with some of the administrative staff, are also trying to undermine the editor-in-chief. They each try to get the new man to join them in their schemes to depose the editor. It's dark, but funny nonetheless. It's true, too, even though it's in exaggerated form--I think most people who have worked in an office will recognize the behaviors exhibited by the characters.

Social Darwinism in American Thought by Richard Hofstadter

This is pretty heavy going--I like to read a chapter or so and then stop and let it soak in. But, Hofstadter is a great writer. In this book, he traces the history of social Darwinism from the influences of Herbert Spencer in the 1800s up through the early 20th century. I like it because it gives me a better understanding of U.S. politics in the past, but also because it illuminates the background of conservative thought today. One thing I kept thinking about is that many conservatives today still espouse the views of the early social Darwinists (although they don't call themselves that, necessarily), but they are violently against evolution. At least the older folks had some consistency. They worked out ways to harmonize their religious views with their belief in Darwin's theories as applied to both science and society. I think a lot of people today take the "survival of the fittest" phrase and apply it to society without thinking about how that really plays out in evolution--for example, whether learned behaviors are inherited. This is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in a while, and I think I will probably read it again.

The Last Commissioner by Fay Vincent

This book by Fay Vincent, the last real commissioner of baseball, is chock-full of great baseball stories. Vincent was Commissioner Bart Giamatti's second-in-command during the investigation of Pete Rose, and Vincent has a lot to say about those events. He says that Giamatti refused to tolerate gambling in baseball because it affected the integrity of the game and thus the enjoyment of the fans. I think the same reasoning applies to today's steroid scandal. Vincent also has great stories about MLB and Negro League players, and he tells them from the viewpoint of a fan and baseball lover. The one thing I could do without is his syrupy praise of George W. Bush.

Fiction
Miscellaneous Nonfiction
Politics, History, and Other Social Science Topics
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