Volume 1, Issue 4
June 13, 2019
So we ran with the 3 free book contest, and one Book Jammer ran away with the prize. If you want to feel a little jealous of which three books this Jammer won, here’s what’s coming in hot: ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, ‘Celestial Bodies’ by Jokha al-Harthi (won the Man Booker Prize 2019), and ‘West with the Night’ by Beryl Markham. Yep, queue the crying and the regret. But don’t feel bad, we will still be eternally grateful if you share this with more people and get them to subscribe.
We asked a ton of you for feedback and we’ve made quite a few changes in our style and format. I won’t call the changes out, would love to see what you think of the flow. Also- John is going to be writing fewer reviews going forward but will be heavily involved in the creative styling and content delivery. He’s got a pretty good reason too, he’s working on having a book of his own reviewed by a newsletter like this… So you’ll be seeing guest posts in the next few additions from some pretty awesome people.
Thanks for your readership, and keep spreading the word (subscribe here)!
Until the next page turn,
Max and John
If David Foster Wallace and John Steinbeck were to have a novelistic love child, it would be Trout Fishing in America. In one of the most arcane story lines a book has ever produced, Trout pulls you through 1960s America with nostalgia and puzzling surrealism. Brautigan uses Trout Fishing in America as a slogan written on the backs of teenagers, as a name of a homeless man, as a physical place, and as a state of being.
‘It was not an outhouse resting upon the imagination. It was reality. An eleven-inch rainbow trout was killed. Its life taken forever from the waters of the earth, by giving it a drink of port wine’
‘Trout Fishing in America Shorty appeared suddenly last autumn in San Francisco, staggering around in a magnificent chrome-plated steel wheelchair.’
Brautigan’s style is hard to summarize in its substance and more apt to be explained through its evocation. He uses Trout Fishing in America to break every convention to writing a book. There is no plot to follow, there is no climax, no rhythm to latch on to. As the reader, you go from San Francisco, to Idaho, to random American towns in between. Each chapter feels like a vignette, where some vignettes weave together, while others exist for a page or two and then disappear into your imagination. The book captures surrealism at its most extreme. Brautigan uses Trout Fishing in America to tell these little stories of America, often small town America or the marginalized folk. Sometimes the analogy can feel realistic and profound and other times, simply nonsense. Regardless, his intentions seem to be on keeping the reader alive and moving and confused and stirred. It is hard not to enjoy this book for its sheer novelty.
I picked up this book based on a roundabout circumstance. I was listening to an old podcast episode from This American Life called ‘The Room of Requirement’ — which was a lovely narrative on how libraries produce magical moments. One of the stories revolved around a library that brought to life the plot for Richard Brautigan’s book Abortion (although the book does relate to abortion in some respects — the primary plot is about a librarian who accepts any book, published or unpublished, into her library). Followed by some research to learn more about Brautigan, I went to the bookstore in search of this book. Unable to locate it, I went with Trout Fishing in America. Although I was completely stunned by its writing, and frankly confused for the first 30 pages, I eventually succumbed to the reality that this book had no reality or reason. And when you appreciate its marvelous ability to challenge you as well as produce vividly creative passages, it wraps you up like a weeping willow in the wind.
It still strikes me as odd, and likely a genre I won’t be wedded to, but it was refreshing, and a very quick read, providing a nice change of pace between books. It hooked me enough that I will still look for his book Abortion, and enough to recommend to someone who is looking for a quick and entertaining literary dalliance.
-Max
To start, the story is amazing. Set in 1940s Leningrad, two young Russian soldiers — one imprisoned as a thief, the other a deserter — are sent on a suicidal mission to collect a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. If they successfully procure the eggs, they get to keep their heads. (Keep in mind they must accomplish this absurd task — find eggs, an unheard-of delicacy — in an area where nearly everyone is starving and living in utter deprivation.)
What starts as a hopeless hunt for eggs through a freezing, war-torn city, quickly turns into a thrilling and daring adventure. It features near-death escapes from cannibals, encounters with malevolent Nazi generals, and brief bouts of tender romance. Through the harrowing journey, a great friendship grows between the two young men, Lev and Kolyov. As they trek through the snow, eating paper candy and busting each other’s balls, they rely on each other’s bravery to survive. Throughout their adventure — as they evade bullets, cannibals, and Einsatzgruppen (death squad) officers — they must remember their mission: find the dozen eggs or they’ll be executed by the colonel.
As a big Game of Thrones fan, I was excited to learn that the show’s co-creators are also fiction writers. After browsing through a few of their books on Amazon, I decided on this one, City of Thieves by David Benioff.
I wasn’t expecting it, but six months into 2019, City of Thieves has become my favorite book of the year so far. And one that I’ll read again, probably come winter.
Out of curiosity — because I loved the book, every page, all the way through — I read some of the negative reviews on Amazon. The only complaint I could find is of the book’s vulgar language. It’s true. The book uses vulgar language throughout and there’s lots of sex talk (the narrator was a 17-year-old boy when he went on this mission). If you’re easily offended by the word fuck or tits or cock, then this book isn’t for you. But I thought the whole thing was thoroughly beautiful, especially Kolyov’s vivid dialogue, which is full of the precise vulgarities of a courageous teenage soldier during wartime.
Benioff is an amazing talent as a fiction writer. Eager to see another book from him in the near future. Until then, I’ll read this one again.
Would also love to see this become a movie.
-John
This book. What. A. Force. Ansary tells the history of Islam, from 622 AD, when it was officially founded by Mohammad, to current day. Destiny Disrupted gives everyone the education most Westerners were not exposed to during school. The reader is taught about the early days of Islam: from Mohammad’s revelation and his trek from Medina to Mecca up until present day where he discusses the evolutions and causalities that led to splintered Islamic factions, wars, politics, and ultimately the growth in fundamentalism.
Ansary pulls together a deep and complex history into a narrative that is readable, demonstrable, and informative. He explains how Islam is not just a religion but equally a legal, political, and cultural system. That the Quran is their religious text, but the Hadith is the societal and legal interpretation of the Quran, which greatly intertwines the personal and political sides to Islam. He explains that in 16th century Europe the Protestant Reformation was the birth of individualism, that life was to be lived beyond just the scriptures of God. It was a moment in time that allowed Europeans to pit scientific discovery against the Bible, and allow the discoveries to stand its ground based on empirical and mathematical logicism. In the Islamic empires from 700AD onward, it remained a society based around community and religion, where religion drives community, and community drives the values of the individual. This has often been at odds with the advancement of scientific discovery and cultural modernization. Ansary takes the reader through the 20th century struggle to move toward a secular society by some Islamic communities, and how this is currently being counteracted by the most extreme Islamic groups that follow Wahabi ideology (embodies a strict interpretation of the Quran).
His recounting of clashes of empires and the evolution of cultures and societies across Eurasia, is some of the best historical storytelling I’ve ever read. Even though each page feels like it unveils 20 new facts and it’s impossible to recall even a large proportion, everyone can walk away from this book with kernels of knowledge that feel immensely enriching. I highly recommend this book. And if you want one more that will shed light specifically on decisions of the 20th century and implications on the Middle East, pick up A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin.
-Max
The title of this book sums up the plot pretty well. This is the true account of a 39-year-old guy who made amazing improvements to his health and fitness through dramatic lifestyle changes. It starts with Rich’s college career as a swimmer, which ended due to severe alcoholism, a demon that would haunt him until he eventually went cold turkey in his early 30s. Sober but still unhealthy into his late 30s, Rich Roll went from burger-eating couch potato to elite and “plant-powered” triathlete in a matter of a few years.
This book is divided into three basic parts, in this order: 1) high school and college athletics, alcohol addiction, and going sober, 2) going plant-based and reclaiming health and extreme athleticism 3) food recipes and meal plan resources.
Although I liked this book a lot, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. The first 100 pages read like an alcohol addiction memoir (not a bad thing, I actually found it interesting, and it’s his story). Still, I was much more interested in the fitness and diet part of his story. The actionable parts for me.
What I found most helpful about this book was learning about Rich’s shift to a “plant-powered” diet, where he derives most of his energy from vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, and seeds. In the book, he outlines specific meals, which I’ve tried out and have been awesome. I also loved his description of his transformation from 39-year-old couch potato (on his way to probable cardiac arrest), to 42-year-old Elite Triathlete. I loved hearing about his shift in mentality. At its core, this book is about pursuing your passions and not settling into a life of mediocrity. It’s about being fully alive. In that sense, the message is pretty universal.
That said, if motivation and self-awakening are solely what you’re after, I’m sure there are better books out there.
But if you’re looking for a dose of motivation while doubling down on your health and fitness goals and learning how to transition to a plant-powered (or just more vegetable-heavy) diet, then this is a great read.
Rich Roll’s podcast is also great.
Why I read this book: I recently turned 30 and, consequently, freaked out a little bit — in a good way. I jotted down a bunch of resolutions for my 30th year, a list of goals I want to achieve before I turn 31. Among them, is the goal to complete a triathlon next spring. A broader goal is eating more vegetables, drinking less coffee, and becoming a better endurance athlete (legs just aren’t what they used to be). Which led me to Rich Roll’s book, Finding Ultra. It worked for me.
-John
The Gist: A communist undercover agent, a self-described “man of two minds” — a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain — gives his coerced confession as a political prisoner. He (a spy, unnamed throughout) starts with the violent and heartbreaking evacuation after the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Then he takes the reader through his time in refugee camps and his new life in Los Angeles. Beautifully blending different genres, The Sympathizer is one part spy novel, one part immigration story, and one part love story. (And we’re probably missing a bunch of other stories: identity, coming of age, friendship, thriller, comedy…it’s a versatile and rangy read, and the narrator spares no detail)
What makes this book especially gripping and truly ground-breaking is the perspective. There are many great books and films that have told the story of the Vietnam War and its aftermath (briefly) from an American perspective. The Things They Carried, Apocalypse Now, Ken Burns’ new-ish doc series The Vietnam War (now available on Netflix). To understate things completely, this is a worthy read from a wholly new perspective.
John’s Take
Wow. Some books are just so incredibly well-written you almost don’t care where the story takes you. This is one of those. Viet Thanh Nguyen is that good of a writer.
Fortunately, the story is equally compelling, and it’s told from a perspective I haven’t heard before: that of the Vietnamese. Although I guess the narrator is half Vietnamese, half French. In fact, his whole personality is two-sided and mysterious. A spy, a spook, a man of two faces, the narrator tells his tragic — and sometimes comic — story of escaping Vietnam, living in Los Angeles as an immigrant, and being an undercover communist agent. He tells his story of survival.
The book starts with a scene that some of you may have seen portrayed in movies or books (it’s usually the last scene, the end of the Vietnam War): The Fall of Saigon. But it’s told from a chilling, on-the-ground perspective. And that’s what makes the book so memorable: the point of view. And that the story continues after most Americans left the city.
In a year of reading some great thrillers and historical dramas, this book stands out as probably the most unique. It takes the aftermath of an event I thought I knew a good amount about — the Vietnam War — and offers something entirely new. More than that, it makes you care about someone very different from you through sheer force of great storytelling. Someone who would be an extra in most Hollywood movies about Vietnam — someone who is never named — becomes this story’s hero. And he’s unforgettable.
Max’s Take
Truthfully, I can’t say it much better, or differently, than John. I read this book quite some time ago, but when John told me he was reading it I had immediate positive recollection of the Nguyen’s novel. It’s a book that takes you down paths of importantly unique historical perspectives about a time America collectively remembers with regret and anger. It also takes you down paths of the human psyche, of loneliness, of migration, of jealousy, of contempt. I remember it feeling long, and a bit wordy at times. But there is a reason why it won the Pulitzer Prize. My personal plug for reading it: you’ll learn and you’ll be entertained. But blame John if you don’t like it :)
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Have an awesome weekend!
Max and John
