James

"And who are you?" "I am James." "James what?" "Just James."

Percival Everett's book is mostly a captivating retelling of the "The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn" told from the perspective of the slave, Jim. In parts 2 and 3, the author adds more to Jim's tale and the struggles of an American slave at the time of the Civil War. It is a brutal story that points to the evil of the oppressive white people and even the acceptance of some of the slaves themselves. It leaves you with an understanding of how wrong slavery is, even in the best of situations. The book has a triumphant ending for both Jim/James and Huck, however humans continue to be subject to servitude and discrimination. 

Bad City

Dave's selection is an interesting one coming from a USC educated Pasadena doctor that had his residency at USC's county hospital. The LA Times journalist, Paul Pringle, fearlessly takes on USC, the Pasadena Pollice Department, and his own newspaper the LA Times in his reporting on three separate scandals. Much of the book revolves around the first scandal involving the head of the USC Medical School, Dr. Carmen Puliafito. The story took years to publish due to special privilege and cover-up, with little justice ultimately served. The author focuses on the damage afflicted upon young victims, particularly Sarah Warren. The second scandal involved a USC student health gynecologist that abused young women for 30 years before being exposed. The third involved the massive college admissions bribery scandal involving wealthy clients, Singer, and USC as the prime college target. All three scandals happened under the watch of the powerful USC President, Max Nikias, who ultimately steps down with a golden parachute. 

The book is a triumph of hard-nosed journalism and the underdog over corruption, wealthy privilege, and bureaucracy. I remember hearing about two of the scandals, but not the first. There is limited justice served, but the privilege still get-off lightly, despite the best efforts of individuals willing to risk it all to do the right thing. 

Next Book Club Meeting

The next book selection is "Bad City" by Paul Prinkle and will be hosted by Dr. Moritz at his house on Tuesday April 9th at 6pm. 

Not the End of the World

Hannah Richie is a 30-year-old Oxford data scientist from Scottland. Her recent book is an optimistic guide to solving the major environmental challenges of her generation. The book addresses air pollution, climate change, deforestation, food sources, biodiversity, plastics, and overfishing. Each of these challenges are inter-related and affected by the wants and needs of a growing population. She optimistically points out that population growth is slowing and should top out at about 10 billion. Deaths from childbirth, infectious disease, disasters, as well as world-wide poverty, have all dramatically decreased. She paints a picture of a world where everyone will have the opportunities for a good live while sustaining and improving the planet for future generations.

Hannah challenges her generation to become the first sustainable generation. To pull together and overcome both the deniers and the doomsdayers. Through the use of data, see web site www.ourworldindata.org, she makes a convincing argument. What can we as book clubbers of a certain age do for the future of the planet?

My list of sustainable activities includes solar panels to meet energy needs, two all-electric cars, no heating or A/C, draught tolerant landscaping, rain barrels, increased insulation, four willy attic vents, induction cooktop, LED lighting, rechargeable batteries, compost, reusable bags, farm boxes, minimal air travel, and eating more veggies, chicken, sustainable fish, and minimal beef. As Kermit the frog said, "It's not easy being green." I remember in the introduction to "Upsizing" the author lamented that he promoted a soap that used palm oil that contributed to the destruction of rainforest. All we can do is the best we can and don't sweat the small stuff. 

Book Ratings

The following is the link to the complete list for your entry: Compete book list. Please click on the link and input your ratings on a scale of 1-5.

We are in our 26th year and have read 291 books and counting. We have read a lot of very good books with an average rating of 3.64 on a scale of 1-5. 90% of our books received a rating of 3.0 or greater with the top 10 4.5 or more. Stanley and Dr. J are the toughest critics with and average of 3.41 with everyone else averaging between 3.68 and 3.73. On the low end we have just a few that fall below the Mendoza line established by Who Moved My Cheese at 2.86. This includes the third book chosen overall (by me) of "A Pirate Looks at 50" and Bill's "There is no Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled"(which also holds distinction of the longest title). We still have only read one book twice, "The Limits of Power", in 2009 and 2014 and I still can't remember it even though it rated very well at 4.13 and 4.25.

The book list covers a wide variety of books consisting of roughly 2/3rds non-fiction. Topics include the classics, politics, business, adventure, history, science, environment, humor, and morality. Multiple authors include Thomas Friedman (4), Malcolm Gladwell (3), Bill Bryson (4), Phillip Roth (3), Dan Brown (3), Sam Harris (3), Michael Lewis (3) and 2 from Russell Banks, TC Boyle, Tom Brokaw, David Brooks, David Guterson, Laura Hillenbrand, Hope Jahren, Jon Krakauer, Eric Larson, Annie Proulx, Alan Weisman, Eric Weiner and Irvin Yalom. We have branched out over the years to include a wide variety of authors and topics.

Ours Was the Shinning Future

Bob's selection, subtitled "The Story of the American Dream", was a challenging read. The booked covered a long period of American history from 1890's Gilded Age, Progressive movement, Roaring 20's, 1930's New Deal, 1940's Labor movement, 50's Boom, 60's Civil Rights and Great Society, 70's Nixon, 80's Reagan, 90's Clinton, and the 21st Century. He covered the Roosevelts, Eisenhower, Kennedys, MLK, but also Randolph, Jordan, and Bork. The country has experience periods of Employer, Government, Employee, and employer again dominance. The book addresses classic liberalism, laissez faire, or rough and tumble capitalism, strong progressive, top-down government, and strong labor union involvement. The author favors a form of "democratic capitalism" that includes influence from labor. Too often our country has favored the wealthy employers and self-interest groups at the expense of the working class. He feels that there is not enough current investment in education, transportation, child-care, and research to build a strong future for the majority of Americans. 

Leonhardt challenges both political parties to address the growing inequality by both universal and communal means. Many issues, such as immigration, will require compromise on both fronts. The book seemed long, repetitive, off on tangents, too neatly analyzed, and a bit overwhelming. Nonetheless, I am glad I read it. The book was a great brain exercise that challenges the reader to address their own prejudices. It got me to look at labor unions, employers, the south, the working class, and the undereducated in a different light.

Oath and Honor

Liz Chaney's appropriately titled book Oath and Honor is a detailed account of the actions of Donald Trump and his associates starting with the election of November 3, 2020. Liz, her staff, and the House Special Committee engage in an in-depth examination of the creation of the "Big Lie" and the January 6, 2021 insurrection. The book is well written, with short chapters explaining each of the unlawful actions by the Trump administration, including the 7 parts of Trump's plan. She gives special attention to the brave individuals that stepped forward to protect our democracy and national security. Like all politicians, she is overly self aggrandizing of both herself and her team. Nonetheless, she bravely stood up to her party to protect the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power. By doing so she paid the price of loosing her seat and her power.