Frozen in Time

JTH's adventure book covered the stories of 4 downed lost planes in Greenland during WWII, the rescue efforts and survival stories, and the modern day expedition to try and retrieve the rescue plane and crew. The crashed planes included a C-53 transport where all crew was lost, a B-17 where the Canadian crew were able to walk to safety, and the B-17 PN9E that is focused on in the book. The crew of the PN9E survived over 4 months of extreme winter conditions due to heroic efforts from a supply plane, dog teams, the PBY Catalina team, and the crashed crashed Grumman Duck. The book goes back and forth between the survival story of the PN9E and the current day harried expedition to retrieve the Grumman Duck rescue plane and it's two occupants. It is interesting to learn about the hash conditions of Greenland as well as the great lengths mankind will extend to retrieve lost ones.

The Second Mountain

OK Stanley, I am confused...you chose a book written by a Jewish kid, that went to Christian schools and summer camps, became a secular Marxist in college, went to work for William F. Buckley upon graduation, is the "conservative" political perspective for Yale, the New York Times and PBS, divorces his converted Jewish wife, then marries a cute young thing and becomes a Evangelical Christian.
On top of that, he writes books on Sociology including "The Social Animal" and this one. I like and agree with much of the book, but he really looses me in the faith section. The book addresses occupation vs. vocation, contract vs. true marriage, logic vs. faith, and tribes vs. community. He describes himself as a "wondering Jew and a very confused Christian." His commitment to Christianity requires a "belief in the absurd" and he realizes that he can come across as a know-it-all.
The second mountain requires an unselfish commitment to community. He talks about the concept of weave and a commitment to serve others. He identifies with the Evangelical Christians and a humbling before God. At the same time he admits Evangelicals have in inferiority complex concerning intellect and a superiority concept concerning morals.
My take on the book is David Brooks is a complicated and somewhat confused guy. The second mountain is basically an altruistic commitment to serve ones community. To me a moral society is not dependent of blind faith.

The Third Hotel

Just finished David's book and I am not sure what happened...
Clara is a 37 year old Midwest elevator saleswomen taking a trip to Havana for a film festival featuring a Zombie horror movie. Her husband was a film professor that died a month before in an accident involving a late walk and a car. She goes ahead with the trip anyway, regularly seeing visions of her late husband and chasing them throughout Havana. The horror films help with the dislocation from reality. She becomes a guest/patient at a resort/asylum, gets in a train wreck, and somehow leaves Cuba for Florida.
Clara is a train wreck. She wanted to be married yet wanted to leave. She was an off-putting child that had regrets with her parents. She becomes a total mess with the death of her husband and a feeling of guilt.
The book is very difficult to follow. It is all over the place chronologically from zombies to fingernails.
Unusual book!

Dopesick

What is Dopesick?

Dave's book was an everything you could want to know about the current opioid epidemic and how we got here in America and especially in Appalachia. From smoking opium, to injecting morphine and later heroine, opioid usage did not take off in Appalachia until the introduction of prescription pain killers. Purdue industries promoted and distributed the pills OxyContin as a non-addictive pain killer for effective treatment of acute and chronic pain. The pills were wildly over prescribed and distributed through various pill mills resulting in massive abuse and addiction.

Dopesick is the pain and suffering resulting from trying to break the addition to opioids. The suffering is so bad that people will sacrifice everything to chase the next hit. The current policies focusing on punishment and imprisonment rather than treating it as an illness and health crisis has not worked. It is a tremendous problem that is killing many Americans. It will require years of long term drug maintenance programs and added healthcare. Maybe the Sackler family can foot some of the bill from their profits.

March book selection

My book selection for March is a murder mystery featuring Inspector Armand Gamache set in a small village in the Canadian province of Quebec. The author, Louis Penny, has written 15 books in the series and the first one was written in 2005 and titled Still Life. Liz has read all 15 and I am currently enjoying #4. There may be little to no discussion to follow, other than what is with the quirky characters in Three Pines and would we want to live there.

Hope you enjoy the escape...here are some key players:
Surete chief inspector Armond Gamache, wife Rene Marie
Artists Clara and Peter Morrow
Bistro and B&B gay hosts Gabri and Olivier
Crazy foul-mouthed poet Ruth Zardo
Book store psychologist Myrna
Assistant detective Jean Guy Beauvoir, trusted agent Isabelle Lacoste, and troubled agent Yvette Nichol

The Circuit

Just finished Bob's sports selection all about the 2017 professional tennis circuit. The book truly digs into the personalities and athletic specialties of many of the top 20 or so male players. Although 2017 ended with a sense of natural order of Nadal and Federer clearly establishing themselves as the number 1 and 2 players, you witness the fall of Murray and the struggles of Djokovic from injury, and simultaneously sense the rise of many young stars ready to move into the top positions. The book lets you experience the grind of the long season and the struggles to get to the top levels. It provides a window to the sheltered, privileged, yet tortured life of the typical tennis star and the often brooding and boorish behavior. The book is an everything you every wanted to know about men's tennis written by someone that loves the game...maybe TMI

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

At first I was skeptical of Paul's choice this month thinking that it was going to be another business book on how to succeed in the 21st Century. It turns out that Yuval Harari is a gay male historian living on an Israeli commune practicing extensive meditation. The 21 lessons are his deep thoughts organized in chapters from disillusionment to meditation.
Harari states that the only certainty in life is change and he fears that many people are in danger of becoming irrelevant. He describes religions and politics as collections of stories. Nations are built on these stories resulting in nationalism, communism, and liberalism. People adopt various levels of religious belief based on Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, or other stories. The author states that moral behavior does not depend on religion and only a secular society has the primary objectives of seeking truth, compassion, and freedom.
The author feels that people should be aware of the dangers of power, technology, and rituals in controlling our minds. He feels that though meditation we can better understand our own minds and have a better chance of finding truth.
Yes Paul, this book should make for an interesting conversation.

Exit West

Bill's selection of Exit West is a timely personalizing of the current immigration crisis. We all tend to forget that refugees from Syria and other war torn countries are very much like you and me. They are, more often than not, bright, skilled, and hard working young people that are able to contribute mightily if given the chance. Mostly they are good people that are subjected to tremendous hardship through no fault of their own. The author puts a face on these individuals and their secret doorways of escape.

Tailspin

The People and Forces Behind America's Fifty-Year Fall and Those Fighting to Reverse It
Steven Brill's book is a detailed explanation of everything that is screwed up in America and how we got here. He divides Americans into the protected and the unprotected. Although the country has prospered over the past 50 years, the profits and spoils have primarily gone to the protected class. He describes this group as the meritocracy (as opposed to the aristocracy) that has taken over with their talents and privilege. With advance training, this privileged group has used the "financialization" of the "casino economy" to accumulate vast wealth and control. Unions and workers have been greatly weakened and inequality has risen to new heights. Workers have been left behind by globalization and automation combined with inadequate retraining. Poverty levels continue to plague the country along with decreasing safety nets.
In the mean time, the protected class has built "moats" to safeguard their interests. Using techniques such as gerrymandering to suppress voters, Hastert Rule to block legislation, and the nuclear option to pass judges, congress has been able to serve their special interests. Money has become a major factor in all legislation, particularly with the recent passing of the Citizen's United case removing limits on corporate contributions.
The book describes a steady progression of enriching the protected meritocracy from the complaining Carter, the exploiting Reagan, the finessing Clinton, the shopping W, the hopeful Obama, leading to the irrational Trump. The Republicans have been a unifying force in leading the progression (ie Newt 90's) culminating in the total resistance of the Obama administration.
The book ends by calling for resistance from a coalition of the middle class and the poor to "storm the moats." Unfortunately, "Things may get worse before they get better."

How Democracies Die

This 2018 book by Levitrsky and Ziblatt is a warning to Americans of what is currently happening to our "democracy" and where we may be headed. The book examines the fate of previous democracies on their path to authoritarian states from Europe in the 1930's, Latin America in the 1970's, and more recent authoritarian rulers. More often than not, "democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments themselves." The authors warn against the gradual breakdown of democratic norms and use the terms tolerance (acceptance) and forbearance (restraint) to describe how a democracy can be sustained. They describe authoritarian rule as rejecting the democratic rules, denying legitimacy of opponents, tolerating violence, and readiness to curtail civil liberties. The Republican party has made a pact with the devil by nominating a president that meets all four criteria. The authors point out that this erosion of democratic norms has been a gradual process that has accelerated since the late 90's. Republicans have been greatly influenced by big money groups, the Tea Party movement, focused media, and racial identity. The book ends with a chapter titled "Saving Democracy" and describes three possible futures for America. They have suggestions for both parties and provide hope that through elections and strengthening of the "guardrails" the democracy can be saved.

What does it take to have a successful Book Club?

A few weeks ago, PBS had a guy on the Newshour who stated 7 things he felt it took to make a successful male book club.

1. Pick a good name - He came up with "Literary Domination Society" to sound macho. We settled on no name.
2. Take turns picking the book - check
3. Pick new and interesting books - check...mostly
4. Everyone must read the books - check
5. Rate all the books - check...eventually
6. Keep records - check
7. Keep going - double check

We are about to complete our 20th year, even without a name. Way to go guys!

How to Change Your Mind

Eight months ago Dr. J had us read a difficult book called How Emotions are Made. This time we read an equally tough book on how to unmake the organized brain. The author teaches us everything we ever wanted to know about psychedelic drugs, provides a comprehensive history of their development, and takes us along for three trips on LSD, mushrooms, and smoking the toad. Pollan provides an argument in support of the benefits of psychedelics for providing end of life comfort, treating addictions, and dealing with depression and anxiety.  He also suggests that we may be once again moving towards accepting psychedelic drugs for recreation use and finding spirituality.
I enjoyed learning about familiar names of the psychedelic 60's from Abby Hoffman (discovered LSD) to Timothy Leary (Harvard professor and LSD for all). There was Ken Keasy, Marshall McLuhan, Cary Grant, Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg, Eldrich Cleaver, Robert Kennedy, Ram Dash, and John Lennon. There was the interesting conservative character Al Hubbard providing support for the early development to the ultimate demise from the overreach of Timothy Leary. The book gave more meaning to the phases "far out", "acid test", "psychedelic", "peace and love", "be here now", and "tune in, turn on, drop out".
The author ends by praising the benefits of psychedelics for combating the over-active default mode network (DMN) brain. We live in a world with high depression, anxiety, OCD, and addiction, that can be treated by non-addictive drugs that increase entropy and thinking outside the box. He points out that many in Silicon Valley (ie. Jobs) have been taking micro doses to help their creative thinking. He argues that a pure psychedelic, taken in the proper amount, with a trained guide, can be a benefit to many people by quieting the ego and increasing ones spirituality.
The book left me thinking that I am not ready to book my trip, but I am more open to seeing the potential benefits. There will be tremendous resistance from the current social order, however who knows where it will eventually go?

Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials

This book was kind of a downer about Millennials written by an unhappy Millennial. The book defines the Millennial generation as the group of Americans born between 1980 and 2000 (now 28 to 38). Our book club consists of Baby Boomers (1946-1965) and late Silent Generation. The author, Malcolm Harris, is a self described communist and editor at The New Inquiry.
The book takes the reader through childhood, college, and work to describe the life and times of the generation. He addresses law enforcement, reward systems, and consequential generational behavior. Oddly the overall behavior of Millennials is better than one would expect given their age and prior generation roll models. Despite the dangers of social media and easy access to drugs and porn, drug and sexual abuse are down in the overall group (particularly when discounting for use of marijuana). He portrays the generation as victims suffering "intellectual degradation" that is overly "managed in the workplace."
The author has a point that the generation is inheriting significant problems of inequality, debt, and environmental damage. It will be up to his generation to tackle these critical issues and I hope there are individuals that will be up to the challenge. The author comes across as overtly cynical and his "seven signs of the bad future" paint a bleak picture. Hopefully a tactic including a combination of "buy it", "vote it", "give it", "protest it", and "put it down" will help guide the generation towards constructive change and positive solutions.

Waking up White

Bob's book was an interesting choice of a woman's take on the very sensitive issue of racism. Wikipedia states that "racism" has evolved from a believe in the unique differences in races of humans (ie. genetics) to a modern definition of the practice of racial discrimination. A recent poll asked if our president was a racist and 49 percent said yes and 46 percent said no, mostly along party lines. The truth is we are probably all racist to a certain degree. On the other hand, the current administration practices and supports white supremacy and empowers racial discrimination.
The female author is more sensitive to the nuances of racism than us typical males. She points out that women use webs instead of ladders and are better collaborating than competing. She states that a bullying situation has a bully, a victim, and bystanders. The bystanders have an important role in curbing the bad behavior. She expresses that we need to go beyond tolerance to engagement and solidarity.
Although she lost me a few times by being a touch over-sensitive, she expresses a view that is currently underrepresented in America today.

The Invention of Nature...Hooray for Humboldt!

Alexander Von Humboldt lived nearly 90 years from 1769 to 1859. He was considered by many to be the most famous man of his time, following possibly Napoleon Bonaparte. According to the author, more places, plants, and animals on earth are named after him than any other person.
Above is a document from his 6,000 mile travel through South America documenting the plants and topography 1799-1804. In his 60's he traveled over 10,000 miles through Russia by horse drawn carriage between May and November 1829. He climbed many peeks, crossed many rivers, traversed  valleys and plains, while all the time carefully documenting his findings and adding to the human understanding of the natural world.
Wikipedia refers to Humboldt as an influential proponent of Romantic philosophy and science for his glorification of nature. On the one hand he worked for the king of Prussia and on the other he was critical of authoritative rule and slavery. He was an adviser to Thomas Jefferson, lived in Paris in the Napoleon years, comrade to Bolivar, was friends with Goethe, and mentored numerous young scientists with his open sharing of information and seminars.
I see Humboldt as the first great environmentalist. He had an early understanding of the dangers to the environment from the Industrial age including climate change from CO2 emissions, deforestation, and threats to biodiversity.
Humboldt provided the foundation and inspiration for great thinkers for generations to come including Darwin, Thoreau, Marsh, Muir, and Haeckel. His Naturgemalde drawing above, Views of Nature, and comprehensive Cosmos series provided a treasurer trove of information for others to build from. Nonetheless, he has been largely forgotten in America, probably because of being Prussian and the pursuing world wars.

Who we are and how we got here

I finished the book and it was a tough one. I must say, I liked it more than I thought I would and I took away several nuggets from reading it.
How old are modern humans? There was a major migration out of Africa about 50,000 years ago, but there are remains of early humans from earlier migrations dating 100,000 to 150,000 years ago in remote corners of the world. Early settlers in the Americas were thought to be only 10,000 years ago, but now they have found remains from much earlier. Much has happened in Eurasia, India, and China in the past 4,000 years, but there are many secrets in the ancient past including numerous ghosts in the genome. What is our individual heritage? Europe had early hunter gatherers, farmers from Iran, and hunter gatherers from the Russian steppe (not to mention a touch of Neanderthal). China had the Han dynasties, Taiwanese settled islands from Madagascar to Indonesia, and how did the early humans get to Australia? Apparently all modern humans originated in Africa at some point in time, in one wave or another.
Interesting how mutations in the genome can be traced for health concerns and are a problem with isolated populations. Also interesting how aggressive males like Genghis Khan can spread their Y chromosomes across a wide area. There are ethical issues to be addressed in this emerging field and we must guard against the evils of racism and nationalism and focus on understanding and embracing our diversity. "In this field, the pursuit of truth for its own sake has overwhelmingly had the effect of exploding stereotypes, undercutting prejudice, and highlighting the connections among peoples not previously known to be related."

Enlightenment Now

TMI! Either this was a really difficult read or I am not very enlightened.

This was like a "Short History of Nearly Everything" with underlying explanations. A comprehensive review of history, philosophy, political science, religious studies, and science as well as some Sam Harris like reasoning thrown in.

Although I finished the book, I feel I could read it again and come away with much more. I like the idea of the Monty Python saying "always look as the bright side of life" and the hope that the world will continue on a road of "progress". I do worry about mankind's impact on the environment and lack some of Pinker's faith in humanism. However, I do believe an expanded enlightenment and humanism is our best hope against Romantics, fascism, and theocracies.

Origin

I really enjoyed Dan Brown's latest book. It was again a travel log book with an exciting plot with lots of twists and turns. It brought back lots of visual images from our trip to Spain in 2008. I love Barcelona and the rest of Spain and above are pictures from Barcelona, the Spanish countryside, a very large church in Girona, and the Cathedral outside the Palace in Madrid. I like everything Gaudi, Winston Churchill is a hero of mine, and Sam Harris is one of my favorite authors. Brown addresses the challenges of current religions, technology, as well as the concept of Singularity...what's not to like.

John H pointed out the major question from the book, "Would you rather live without technology, or in a world without religion? Would you rather live without medicine, electricity, transportation, and antibiotics, or without zealots waging war over fictional tales and imaginary spirits?" Will "The dark religions...depart so sweet science can reign." Or, as Father Bena sees it, there is a place for an enlightened Christianity that becomes a "spiritual partner of science" to "help humanity build a moral framework and ensure that the coming technologies will unify, illuminate, and raise us up...rather than destroy us."

How Emotions are Made

This is the first book that I needed to take notes throughout in order to better understand. There are recurring themes throughout, including emotions are constructed and not essential to each one of us. We make our own predictions and are ultimately in control and responsible for our actions. We create our own affective realism, concepts, and social reality.
The book made me think of other books including The Gene, The Social Animal, Younger Next Year, and Waking Up. I thought of the TV show Bull in the legal chapter. It made me think about the concepts of evolution, religion, spirituality, biology, and culture. I also thought about the use of language and other short cuts to aid in making faster and better predictions (like the CRSPR technique in genetic sequencing).
Nevertheless, this was a really hard book and I am finished with my book report.

When English Fall

It has been a little while since I finished Bob's latest book about the Amish people in an apocalyptic world. I really enjoyed it and it raises many interesting questions concerning living a simple life, our dependence on modern technology, the role of faith, law and order, and the complexity of the world we live in.
I admire the Amish people and I doubt that anyone of us could live life the way they do. God and faith are not enough to deal with the threat of the outside world (just look at Las Vegas). On the other hand they deserve to be left alone.

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Interesting observations and projections packed in a short read with a really big appendix. Felt to me a little like a text book that I may be quizzed on later. Overall a positive take on technology solving our future challenges like the book Abundance. On the other hand, it does address the responsibility of leadership to protect the earth, make the technological advances accessible to the masses, and warns of the potential threats. The Fourth Industrial Revolution feels to me more like a continuation of the Third (Computer/Data/Internet) on steroids.
The two email links sent out by Dave M and Bill were timely takes on the potential treat of monopolies in our future https://pocket.co/xMn8wE?cta=1&src=ph and the state of our current corporate environment https://charlierose.com/videos/30816. I am in agreement with Grantham in the importance of the climate change issue.

My kind of book. What is the future of the human race? What is our individual environmental legacy? 102 tons of waste? I hope not.
So many indirect references to other books including Upsizing, Abundance, Collapse, even Inferno. Are we in a decadence stage and is that a bad thing? Should we not be transitioning from extravagance to frugality? Can we transition from conspicuous consumption..i.e. large houses, SUV's, bottle water, obesity and substance abuse...to less waste.
Half of the world does not even practice waste disposal, what happens when they start generating our level of trash? Much of the waste problem is rooted in plastics, can we break our addition?
There are many sites dedicated to the cause of reducing waste including Zeri.org, zerowastehome.com (Bea Johnson), Wastelessliving.com (Christine), and Surfrider.org to name a few. What can each of us do, or, more importantly, what are we willing to do?

Plot against America...when should America go to war?

According to fivethirtyeight.com today, in May of 1940, 62% of Americans in a national poll said the US should stay out of supporting the allies in the conflict in Europe, even if Hitler was about to be victorious. What if Roosevelt was not reelected?

Zanzibar Chest referred to the value of one American to the number of Israelis and Africans. What about Bosnia, Somalia, Darfur...Syria? 

Should the decision be based on national security, national interests, war crimes, genocide?

Is there ever a good time to use force? Now that we are cutting back on international aid and diplomacy (state department). What is next?

I haven't quite finished the current book, but it does not look good for the alternative universe.

Link to The No Name Book Club Book on Blurb

The completed book is now publicly available through www.blurb.com/bookstore. You can search the book on the Blurb site by title or author. The paperbacks are $25.49 and the hard copies are $40.49. It is also available free as a download on Kindle. Thank you all for your great contribution.

Significant Numbers verses Alternative Facts

Dave's current selection of Strangers in there own land talked of the deep story and the great paradox. It got me thinking about what I thought I knew verses what many others believe. The author outlines a few things in Appendix C (Fact-Checking Common Impressions) that inspired me to look up a few facts for myself. Luckily there are some great government sponsored sights for fact checking that are still operating.
1. usgovernmentspending.com - Good site for checking the total government spending (7 trillion) by category.
2. usdebtclock.org - This is a great up to the second sight for monitoring the budget deficit (592 billion) and the national debt (20 trillion).
3. census.gov/popclock - This is a fascinating sight monitoring population growth (7.35 billion).
4. earthtimeline.com - This is a fun sight to check the ages of the earth (4.54 billion years).
5. climate.nasa.gov/evidence - Good site for climate change facts (15 of the 16 years since 2001 are the warmest on record).
Although the recent wave of alternative facts is very concerning, I believe there eventually will be a reality check for the deep stories.

Paul's favorites

When Bill and I dreamed up the book club idea over 18 years ago I was looking for a way to gather a bunch of men (no women) to read and discuss books to expand our knowledge. The early books were often short and non-fiction and my particular favorites were books that taught me something. 

Given the fact that I am currently the only member still regularly working, I found the writing assignment difficult to narrow down to just five books, but here goes:

1. Martian - This might be my favorite. It is an exciting adventure story that the author makes technologically feasible.

2. Lexus and the Olive Tree - This was the first of many excellent business related books by one of our favorite authors, Thomas Friedman. Still a great explanation of Globalization.

3. Abundance - This books gives hope to entrepreneurs using technology to solve the problems of the world.

4. The World Without Us - The sobering environmental tale of what can happen.

5. Freakonomics - Unique yet rational way of looking at the world.

Other books deserving mention include novels The Art of Racing in the Rain, The DaVinci Code, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Perfect Storm, Slaughterhouse 5, and the Art Forger. Some of my other non-fiction favorites include Henrietta Lacks, The Man Who Killed Pluto, The Presidents Club, The Things They Carried, The Last Lecture, Moneyball, and Younger Next Year.

Dave M's favorites

My 8 favorite books from years past area in no particular order:

Bob Proctor’s, Empire of the Summer Moon is really a shocking book. An early scene depicting a group of Plains Indians roasting their settler captives on an open fire, repeated raids on settlements with men women and children massacred or made slaves. It shows me that there were negative human traits on both sides of the settlement movement with the settlers equally brutal.

Paul LaCombe’s, The Lexus and the Olive Tree introduced me to globalization and it’s incredible scope. I had no idea of its influence on trade and culture. Combined with the internet it led directly to China’s rise, as well as influencing ISIS, Brexit, and other phenomena. There”s no going back.

Bill Lockwood’s, Tortilla Curtain is a very entertaining and well written book that was further enhanced for me by my meeting T.C. Boyle at my 50th High School reunion in upstate New York, of all places.

John Staff’s, The World is Hot Flat and Crowded provides further stories of globalization and more importantly the population explosion worldwide with its effect on our ability to manage food supply, disease epidemics, and the economies of high population areas. The case for population control is laid out here.

John Higgins', Unbroken is an unbelievable story of courage, struggle, and redemption of the amazing Louie Zamperini! Another great Laura Hillenbrand book.

Stan Pine’s, In Art Forger I learned more about the art world than I thought I ever wanted to know.  They had an art auction on recent cruise and I kept wondering how many of the works were forgeries, and by the looks of them, a lot.

Dave Jones’, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a well written mystery. I read it through almost in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down.

My favorite is Cloudsplitter. It had everything a novel should have from familial love, violence, sin, and redemption on a huge stage.

I know this is eight pick’s, but I wanted to include everybody’s efforts. I think picking the right book is the hardest part.

Bill's Favorites

Thank you for this project.  It caused me to revisit all our books and remember wonderful discussions with each and all of you while breaking bread together – okay, and a bit of vino as well.  We are fortunate indeed to have this strong and unusual fellowship.  I am grateful, thank you!

The End of Faith by Sam Harris

Admittedly, Harris presented ideas that fit my worldview – so this book was easy for me to like.  I have often recommended this book to others with: “Harris describes why the collective we cannot have a conversation without using science and its basic laws”.  He pointed out that moderates can & often will subordinate their dogma to common sense (science) and that fundamentalists cannot.  Hence the additional appropriate scrutiny on whichever religion is demonstrating the more fundamentalist views at any given time (Post 9/11 Islam in this case).  As I write this just after the 2016 election, and as an moderate independent who voted democratic in this election, I find having any conversation with “the opposition” difficult at best.  So finding common ground is, and will continue to be, a challenge and a goal. 

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

This relationship between an older dying mentor and his younger protege caused us to talk about mentors and other relationships in our lives in general that influenced us.  From this discussion I made a goal to have more meaningful conversations with those close to me.  I still have much work to do but I am appreciative of the influence.  As Bob Proctor wrote: “The book set the tone for freewheeling discussions that often take us places well beyond the book itself”. Many of our books that seem to have generated the most emotion and sharing have been about the inevitability of death - which tends to help us focus much more on making the most of “this moment” of our lives. 

The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini

I loved the story of boyhood friendship and the subsequent challenges of 2 boys from different religions and classes.  We were treated to the good and not-so-good side of relationships: fathers and sons; humans and their gods; men & their countries – in a beautifully written story from Afghanistan. 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I felt like I lived The Help in some small way.  I moved from the first American melting pot (military dependent housing and schooling) on an army base in Germany – to Columbus, Georgia in 1958 – 4 years before the time period of this book.  I had played, studied, and shared meals with blacks and all other ethnic & religious groups and knew them as friends and neighbors.  Then I went to separate water fountains, bathrooms and schools.   Black fathers had to look away from whites and show subservience – in front of their families – or ….!  I find I am angry still. This book helps me think we have made some progress away from man’s inhumanity to man.  I found it heartwarming, humorous and an accurate depiction of the time & place. 

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

This was our war when we were young.  I chose to join the national guard to avoid the draft when I dropped out of college with a low lottery number.  I was exposed to a few of the men who went to Vietnam in my 8 weeks of basic training which amounted to living in one large room with fifty 18 to 24 year old “boys” from all walks of life.  Most were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds but not all.  There were a few college grads, dropouts like me, and many who were given the choice of the army or jail.  Some were clearly afraid but still said things like: “I’m going to kill me some gooks”.  In 1971, the year after my boot camp, a fellow worker at a lumber company who had just returned from a tour in Nam said: “sometimes we would mow down water buffalo”.  I avoided him thereafter but feel like I understand him a bit better after having read this book.  I very much like the writing – just not the subject matter.  But sometimes we learn more from what is not so easy.

Bob's Favorites

This was an impossible task to pick only five books from the over 200 we have read. I finally went through each page of listed books and tried to gauge the one’s that had stayed in my memory over the years. For those that had remained in my head, the reasons were a mixture of the writer’s craft, the story told, the knowledge gained, my personal connection and how the book helped us become closer together over the years.

The books are listed by the order they were read and not their standing in my memory.

1. Tuesday with Morrie, (Bill Lockwood): This short book was about a young journalist and his dying mentor. Their conversations and reflections stimulated our new group to talk about mentors in our own lives. We got to know each other better as each of us drew on own personal history of mentors in our lives. The book set the tone for freewheeling discussions that often take us places well beyond the book itself.
2. The Night of the Avenging Blowfish, (John Staff): Cleverly funny story of a young OC guy and his travel to a tropical island where the native’s outhouse is a lovely beach where they enjoy communal conversations while dumping to begin each day. I still laugh when I remember parts of this book.
3. The Control of Nature, John McPhee (David Moritz): I had seen articles by John McPhee in the New Yorker and always liked his skill of exploring the world with wonderful attention to detail. Here McPhee checked out how folks in Iceland stopped a volcano flow before it could destroy their town. Then he went to New Orleans (before Katrina) to write how the Army Corp of Engineers tried to tame the mighty Mississippi. Then (to my surprise) McPhee came to our own San Gabriel Mountains. with the story about how we foolishly built homes in the path of runoff from the very steep slopes. Every time I hike past a debris !! basin, I think of John McPhee.
4.The Life of Pi, Martel Yann (me): Yann imagined an incredible tale about boy and tiger lost at sea, sharing a lifeboat. His writing was so compelling, I bought into the story. In the end the reader was given a choice to believe the tiger really existed or was a metaphor the boy had created. I chose that the tiger was real.
5. The End of Faith, Sam Harris (David Jones): I had left my Catholic upbringing in college, but was having trouble deciding what my relationship with a god should be. Harris convinced me it was OK to accept to being an atheist.
6. The World is Flat, Tom Friedman (Stan Pine): All of Friedman’s books are great for learning more about the realities of our world. We almost never get a true understanding from our political leaders. It was wonderful to have a very readable Tom Friedman to try to make sense of the globalization all around us.
7. The Limits of Power, Andrew Bracevich (me): When I read Bracevich, I feel he has just slapped me in the face to get my attention. If we could harness our claimed “exceptualism” to the economic realities and willingness to sacrifice, we would realize the use of military might is not the best answer to dealing with the world.
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larson (David Jones). Larson created the toughest young woman ever. It was so good, there were 2 movies made. I liked the US version where Rooney Mara brought the slim wisp of a super girl to life.
9. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand told the extraordinary story of Louie Zamperini. Born and raised in nearby Torrance, where he was a juvenile delinquent who became a disciplined Olympic runner. But his life crashed along with the Air Force plane as he fought in the Pacific. His survival at sea only to be rescued by the Japanese to spent his days being tortured by a sadistic camp leader. He survived to return home with PTSD. The then unknown and untreated psychological condition, almost did him in but again he survived. Hillenbrand was lucky that he was still alive when she wrote the book.
10. The Boys in the Boat. Daniel Brown, (David Moritz). Brown introduced us to a group of Washington University students from poor to middle class homes who became heroes of the rowing world and won their event in the Olympics. Each of their stories told about their grit and determination. Unlike the rowers from the East Coast, they had to earn money while they studied and practiced to become the best. There was a wonderful English character, who made their boats from native cedar. While in Seattle visiting grandchildren, I went to wooden boat restoration place on Lake Union. One of his boats still hangs from their ceiling.
11. Quiet, Susan Cain (David Jones). Susan Cain, an introvert, wrote this explanation about those among us who are introverts and how they have been unappreciated. My granddaughter, Hailey, is a full fledged member of the introvert world. Until this book, Uli and I fretted about her lack of friends and aloof nature. She was always happiest at home reading a book rather than on the phone or engaging with others. The book showed me, that I too am somewhat of an introvert. Now we can embrace Hailey, who plays violin in the school string orchestra and gets all A’s. It turned out at our book club meeting that most of us confessed to being introverted.

Knowledge and History

We have read several books that have provided historical information in both non-fiction and historical fiction books. We have read about presidents Washington, Lincoln, Garfield, Teddy Roosevelt, Kennedy, and the ex-presidents club. We have learned about the civil war, WWII, Vietnam, and the first marines. We have learned about Sherman's march, abolitionists, pre-WWII Germany, post WWII America, and 1927 America. We read about Olympic athletes, Newton, cowboys and indians, the LAPD, Cuba, failed civilizations, and "Nearly Everything". Although the amount of knowledge is considerable, as pointed out in the book The Shallows, the difficult part is finding it with our random access memory.

John H's Fab 5

My five favorite books are the following:

End of Faith
Endurance
Quiet
Muzzled
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

END OF  FAITH
For years I have struggled with the hypocrisy of organized religion. I went to 16 years of Catholic school and finally realized that for me the Catholic religion was a religion of smoke and mirrors. It was hard for me to understand how life choices, political decisions, and murdering people  were a result of what the Bible contained. When I finished reading End of Faith, it was clear to me that all organized religions were at one time or another, attempts to get people to behave and believe in a certain way, no matter how drastic  the methods were. Unfortunately, that included killing and torturing people if they did not want to believe in the chosen religion or because they participated in another organized religion.  I found myself very angry after reading this book at fellow human beings who lost their way in an effort to sell their beliefs. Pretty sad chapters in our world history.

ENDURANCE
Recently I was out in my patio reading as the sun was setting. I realized I was getting cold and immediately went into the house to get a wrap. When I came back out I suddenly  thought about the book Endurance and what the men in that book experienced. I just started laughing at myself and thought about what it would be like to be in their situation. I couldn’t imagine sleeping in a wet sleeping bag in sub zero temperature for months on end. Neither could I imagine eating only whale blubber for the same length of time. I was so impressed with the fortitude, strength, and determination of these men. At no time did they complain or give up. Each time I thought it could not get any worse for these adventures, they were thrown another horrible challenge with which they had to deal. Truly amazing that they all made it back to civilization.  Shackleton  was such a competent and dedicated leader that he lost not one man on this incredible journey. So the next time you feel a little chill or hear your stomach rumbling because you haven’t eaten in several hours, think about what these incredibly brave  men endured and you too will chuckle at yourself.

QUIET
I sure wish I read this book in high school! It would have given me a much better understanding of what makes up an introvert and how, knowing that fact about myself, I could have navigated school and life more effectively. I finally figured out that I was an introvert but it was after my days in school. Sitting in class, paying attention, but not contributing to the class discussions, caused me to feel some sense of guilt. Had I read this book earlier, I would have realized that this is who I am and it was OK not to feel compelled to jump into discussions. My personal challenge in my career was that I was an introvert doing a job the required me to be an extrovert. I think that took a lot of extra energy at times, but over all, it was well worth the effort. The author suggest that whether you are an introvert or extrovert, your job is to figure out what you are meant to contribute to the world and make sure you contribute it. He says we should spend our free time the way we like, not the way we think we are supposed to. Feeling guilty about being either an introvert  or an extrovert is just wasted energy and will get in the way of enjoying our lives to the fullest.

MUZZLED
Although this book was written in 2011, it definitely applies to the world today, and especially what has been happening with the election in the past 18 months. Now that Donald Trump has been elected president, the content of this book becomes even more important. The election has caused the United States to become anything but united. If we don’t start to listen to each other, we will never find a way to coexist comfortably in the area of politics. Although we all bear some blame for this lack of understanding and accepting each other’s perspectives, I think the press and the pundits bear a great deal of the blame. What is presented is a war between the two (or three) parties and the fight should be as contentions and nasty as possible….after all, that’s what sells.  The author points out that we get the media we deserve. He thinks we are all in on the joke of watching and listening to the gossip and nonsense that passes a real news. We all need to do something to make sure we get real news and not the dog and pony show that sells and presents only one side of a situation. And the only things that we generally choose to  listen to and believe are the things we believe in already. We all tend to surround ourselves with people who are like minded. And that is fine  except this  causes us to not listen to other’s perspective. It is not at all easy to change this trend, but if we don’t, we will continue to go along with a muzzled country.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
This is the only book that received a score of 5 from every member. I think it was because it was a well thought out and interesting plot, cleverly presented, and the characters were interesting and well developed. There were many twists and turns and just when the reader felt he may have figured out the ending, the author threw in another unexpected twist. It was a compelling read that required that reader to pay close attention and not put his mind in auto pilot which can be easily done in many mysteries. The movie was entertaining and well done, but the book was a real work of art.

David's 5 favorites

Well, I’m still the “rookie” in our group, having started in 5/03, and continuing to look forward to our meetings.  I’m especially appreciative of the “stretching” that membership in the club has meant for me.  Reading books I never would have chosen, and thinking about their effect on me has been a wonderful education, and the discussions are always interesting to me.  So, I started this exercise trying to pick 5, but here’s the 12 and the categories I settled on.

First, Fiction
Cloudsplitter by Banks
Human Stain by Roth
Girl Tattoo by Steig
Man in the Basement by Mosely

Second, Finding Meaning
End of Faith by Harris
Moral Landscape by Harris
Staring at the Sun by Yalom

Third, Learning Perspectives
Lattitudes and Attitudes by Friedman
World is Flat by Friedman
World is Hot by Friedman
Varieties of Scientific Experience by Sagan
Unaccountable by Makary

Now the tough winnowing.
1. Human Stain.  The great American novel for me.  I’ve read all Roth’s work, and this is the best.
2. Cloudsplitter.  The best of Banks that combines history, character study, religious zeal, and tragedy.
3 .End of Faith.  This book and author came along as I was undergoing a sea change in my faith, and has been enormously helpful for me
4 .Staring at the Sun.  An important book that helped me to consider my mortality.  Yalom has been a mentor in my professional growth.
5. The World is Flat.  I always feel informed by Friedman, this positive look at the future of the world is my favorite.

Psychology

Since Dr. Jones joined the group in 2003 we have read several books that have a psychological theme. The books that come to mind are The Schopenhauer Cure, Blink, and a First Rate Madness. There is a psychological aspect to many other books we read such as the survival instincts in Endurance, Into the Wild, and the 33 Buried Miners. There is also the trauma of war in books like The Things They Carried and Killer Angels. Having a psychologist in the group has helped us all read more into both the non-fiction as well as the fiction books.

Religion and Spirituality

The group is made up of men raised with various religious teachings and levels of belief. We have members with Catholic, Mormon, and various other Christian backgrounds. One member even trained to be a minister, however no one is currently active with a church. We have read books that have challenged organized religion including Under the Banner of Heaven and End of Faith, as well as a few philosophy books and fiction novels such as DaVinci Code and Dissolution. Overall I would say that the group generally places reason over faith, however there is level of spirituality as well. We have read books about human spirituality including Life of Pi, Stillness Speaks, The Moral Landscape, and The Social Animal. We have read several books on mortality including Tuesdays with Morrie, Being Mortal, When Breath Becomes Air, The Last Lecture, and Staring into the Sun. As a group we have been able to openly discuss difficult questions concerning the meaning of life and each of us have come away with our own special understanding.

Stanley's top 5

These are my top 5 and why:

Tuesdays with Morrie – A wonderful and touching account of a supportive relationship between two men of very different ages and backgrounds.

The Greatest Generation – An account of the amazing contributions made by the (mostly) men who returned from WWII and worked very hard to make the U.S. a strong and highly respected country.  Yes, we know that there was a segment of our population that, mostly because of racial issues, did not completely share in our “middle class” affluence.  But overall I consider the post war period, in which I had the opportunity to live and work, a golden age for the U.S.

The Perfect Storm – A very well written and exciting account of the ocean disaster that befell a vessel due to the convergence of several weather patterns.  The term, “Perfect Storm”, has become a descriptor of some very important events.

Don’t Think About an Elephant – A very interesting discussion of how words and actions can direct the thinking of people.

The World is Flat – A very incisive (to me) early introduction (2005) to the global changes underway in our world and the effects that there were, and will have on our society

Food and Drink

The standard fair at the launch of the book club over 18 years ago was sandwiches and basic beer, wine, and soda. Over the years it has evolved to everything from soups and stews, to pot roast and comfort foods, gourmet dinners and fancy recipes, ethnic and theme foods, to take out and restaurants. Stan has been our soup and stew man, Bob and Uli have provided creative culinary offerings, John and Mo have provided the ultimate comfort food, David, Dave, and Paul have been branching out, and now being from out of town I have resorted to restaurants. The nice wines and beer and sodas have always been great. Often the menu has been in theme with the chosen book and sometimes the decor has been as well (thanks Mo). The obligation of hosting, as well as book selection is not taken lightly.

Business

Given the nature of our book club, meeting monthly and not all prolific readers, several of our early books were short business books. The shortest was about 50 pages in Who Moved my Cheese. We have also read Lexus and the Olive Tree, Blink, Drive, Moneyball, Freakonomics, Outliers, Macrowikinomics, and Abundance. We have read about the failures of business in The Big Short and the potential future in The Post American World. Each of these books have provide us with insight into the workings of individuals as well as business.

Funny that only Paul is still meeting with a regular business group and Bill is in search of a new business. Dave is still relieving doctors once a week, and there is considerable volunteer work being done by several members. Nonetheless there is some serious brain power available in the group if we can locate the information.

True Adventure

This category has some great true life survival stories including Endurance, Into the Wild, Perfect Storm, and Touching the Void. War related stories like Black Hawk Down, Lone Survivor, Zanzibar Chest, The Pirate Coast, Killer Angels, Kite Runner, Three Cups of Tea, and Unbroken. As well as sports stories including Seabiscuit and the Boys in the Boat. Even treasure hunting in Ship of Gold and the Deep Blue Sea. All these books were exciting page turners.

Fiction and Literature

Just over a third of the books we have read to date have been fiction (72/206). Some of our books, such as Devil in the White City, Slaughterhouse 5, Dissolution, In the Garden of Beasts, and The March, I would classify as historical fiction. A few other books were comedies such as Bad Monkey and Blowfish. We read children and young adult books including Education of Littletree, Holes, Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter, Life of Pi, Thunderbolt Kid, and Hunger Games. We read a few classics such as Ivan Ilyich and the Sun Also Rises, as well as some contemporary renowned authors. Our suspenseful books included Kiss the Girls, Friend of the Earth, The Plague, Dust and Shadow, DaVini Code, and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There were also some pleasant stories such as My Losing Season, A Sad Affair, The Tender Bar, and The Art of Racing in the Rain.

Clearly we have read a wide variety of fiction books.

Science

We have read a few books on science, medicine, and space with a chemical professor and a medical doctor in the group. Science books include The Varieties of Scientific Experience, How I Killed Pluto, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Grand Design, Isaac Newton, Stiff, and Taste. Dave knew the guy who killed Pluto and Stan had us do our own taste tests. It certainly helps to have a scientific perspective to some challenging concepts provided by the likes of Hawking and Sagan.

The Environment

The environment has been my personal topic of obsession over the years with Upsizing, Southern California - An Island on the Land, The Control of Nature, The Once and Future World, The Earth is Hot, Flat, and Crowded, The World Without Us, Getting to Green, Friend of the Earth, and Countdown among the selections. The topic of climate change, the future of the planet, and what can we do about it are discussed pretty regularly by the group with concern for the future generations. Maybe there are solutions to problems presented by books like Countdown that have not yet been considered, as the book Abundance would imply.

John S Favoites

Several years ago I selected my five favorite books as A Short History About Nearly Everything, Holes, End of Faith, The World is Flat, and Night of the Avenging Blowfish. Since then we have read many books that I have found to be equally enjoyable. I would put my favorite books in the same following categories:

1. History and interesting information
2. Children and young adults
3. Thought provoking
4. Important issues and events
5. Fun reads

I enjoy learning new things and no book had more general information than A Short History of Nearly Everything. We have read several historical books involving the presidents and politics, conflicts and wars, and adventures. We have also read books on science and the cosmos. It is difficult to choose a favorite in this category since each one addresses a different event, so I am stinking with Bryson's book over Endurance, Ship of Gold and the Deep Blue Sea, Killer Angels, Garfield and so many more. Bryson is such a good writer that he is able to present a tremendous amount of information in a book that is both enjoyable and understandable.

The children and young adult category has a few really good reads from The Education of Little Tree, to Harry Potter, to Holes, to Hunger Games. Even though Hunger Games is a young adult book I will have it edging out Holes. The series of books are exciting page turners based on a scary futuristic world.

The thought provoking books include Dave's psychological additions, studies on human nature, and religion. Many of our fiction books fall in this category. There is always Tuesdays with Morie and When Breath Becomes Air. I still find End of Faith extremely powerful and put it ahead of the rest in this group. The book addressing the disturbing consequences of religious extremism.

The books on important issues is similar to the previous category but a little more concrete. Stanley introduced us to a few books on politics that have help explain some things and Dave brought in a couple on medicine. Friedman's books on globalization and the middle east have been high on my list. I also liked Zakaria's book, Zanzabar's chest, and the recent books Muzzled and Hillbilly Elegy. However I have to pick one of the environmental books. There have been a several including The Once and Future World, Upsizing, and Getting to Green, but I will go with Countdown. Countdown takes on the urgency of the taboo subject of overpopulation.

The final category is fun reads and this includes so many really good books. John H. bought us many exciting and manly books and Bob bought us a variety of fun stories. I still like the silly comedies like Blowfish, Me Talk Pretty Some Day, and Good Monkey. I really liked The Art of Racing in the Rain and The Art Forger, but I will go with the groups only perfect 5, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The book had interesting characters, settings, suspense, and story line.

Politics

The group is made up of half Democrats and half Republicans. A couple of the wives are actively involved in local and state politics and we each have our opinions. There are no Trump supporters in the group, however there is a varied level of support for Hillary. We have read books about California politics, immigration, the primary system, and several presidents. Political books include Don't think about an Elephant, California Crack Up, Mexifornia, Let the People Rule, Garfield, The Limits of Power, The President's Club, The Big Burn, and Getting to Green. 

We have shared our political thoughts from the end of the Clinton administration, though the Bush W. years, and now through the rest of the Obama years. We have discussed the effects of 911, the Iraq war, the recession, global climate change, immigration, and a host of other local and national issues.

The current selection of Hillbilly Elegy helps to give a perspective on the latest presidential election. Speaking of the latest election, Bob wrote: The white middle class workers voted from their fear that their place in our society is shrinking. That fear is not likely to be changed by President Trump. But we now can add the fears of 20 million who will lose their health care, the 3 million Muslims and other minorities who will fear their place in America, the fear of 15 million Hispanic families who have undocumented members of their families, the fears of our global partners who fear a move to isolation and the fear of consumers that regulations protection will be dismantled. As our new President might say, Sad. Several of us have since weighed in on the event and are generally surprised and disappointed with the outcome. 

In the meeting following the election the group discussed the direction of the nation. The book Hillbilly Elegy did not provide much insight for the plight of blue collar workers in America. It is a nice story about what one individual can do with a few good role models and some military training. America and the world will continue to evolve with greater diversity, automation, and globalization regardless of the recent election. Blue collar jobs will continue to disappear and we discussed Musk's idea of a universal basic income. In the mean time we will have to endure some bumps in the road.

Book club is a unique opportunity for eight guys to openly discuss politics in a lively yet civil forum.

Members

The No Name Book Club is made up of eight men between 62 and 80. When we started 18 years ago we were all working professionals consisting of a medical doctor (Dave), lawyer (Bob), psychologist (David), head master (John H), college science professor (Stanley), entrepreneur (Bill), business consultant (Paul), and accountant (John S). We are now mostly retired but actively involved in many pursuits. Member hobbies include wood working, golf, traveling, surfing, bird watching, gardening, spending time with kids and grand kids, and reading. The group includes highly successful individuals that are experts in their field, not to mention their accomplished children.
Politically we are all over the board from fiscal conservatives (Paul and Bill) to progressives (Bob, Stanley and David). Dave, John H, and John S are somewhere in between. Each of us have our own causes and passions. Stanley is a strong supporter of public education, science, and local politics. John H is an expert on primary and secondary education. John S is deeply concerned with the environment. Bob is an advocate for the under-served working class. Paul and Bill believe in the power of innovation and technology. Dave and David continue to be passionate concerning the fields of medicine and mental health.
As a group we are able to discuss issues openly from different points of view with respect to each other's feelings. It has proven to be a great way to get a different perspective on issues. Lastly they are all nice guys that you enjoy hanging out with.

No Name Book

Alright, here is my plan for a coffee table book for the No Name Book Club. I have set up something on Blurb with the following suggested Chapters:
Introduction
History and members
Food and drink
Politics and other major topics
Fiction
Book ratings and our 5 favorite books
Epilogue
The idea is to post each of the chapters on the blog and encourage input from everyone. We already have a start on History, Book Ratings, and Other major topics. The final product will be a 8 1/2 by 11 hardback book with a minimum of 20 pages. Please update your book ratings and I welcome your input and suggestions.

Hillbilly Elegy

I recently saw J.D. Vance on PBS discussing his book. The following is link to a TED talk https://www.ted.com/talks/j_d_vance_america_s_forgotten_working_class?language=en and a link to an article by David Brooks http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/28/opinion/revolt-of-the-masses.html. I see he also was on CNN, ABC, NBC, and covered in the New Yorker as well. He is getting a lot of attention and helps to explain the phenomenon of Mr. Trump.

From Bill...

About the Book 

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 

"You will not read a more important book about America this year."—The Economist 

"A riveting book."—The Wall Street Journal

"Essential reading."—David Brooks, New York Times

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility.

But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that this is only the short, superficial version. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. Vance piercingly shows how he himself still carries around the demons of their chaotic family history.

A deeply moving memoir with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.

Dissolution

Dissolution of the Monasteries occurred in England under Henry XIII and his chief counsel Thomas Cromwell from 1536 to 1541. The Protestant Reformation is sometimes seen as the end of the Middle Ages (476-1517). Henry XIII was the second in the Tudor line in England and established the Church of England to separate from the Pope and the Catholic Church. His wife #2 of 6 was Ann Boleyn who he accused of high treason, incest, and adultery so he could move on to #3. He also killed off philosopher Thomas Moore, a couple of other wives, and many others. This is before the Age of Reason.

"The Bible says God made man in his own image but I think we make and remake him, in whatever image happens to suit our shifting needs." Matthew Shardlake

Here is a link to more pictures http://www.photoshow.com/watch/fS5cb8HQ

Thank you David for choosing Countdown

Weisman addresses the taboo issue of overpopulation from the perspective of every corner of the world from Palestine to Iran, England to Italy, Costa Rica, the Philippines, China, India, Pakistan, and Niger. The topic is put in political and religious context and from the perspective of globalization. The world population was pretty stable for 200,000 years at 1.6 billion until 1900. With less infant mortality and nearly double life expectancy we now stand at 6.9 billion with 10 billion projected by 2100...but it does not have to be. As the Mormon woman from Utah said, "There is not a single problem on Earth that wouldn't be easier if there were fewer people." Weisman's challenge is "Do we have the will and foresight to make decisions for the sake of descendents we will never know?"

15th Anniversary

Don't look now, but the next meeting will be our 15th anniversary!

I hope that doesn't mean I need to break out the crystal.

Younger Next Year

Does anyone else have a heart monitor?

Do you have a regular exercise routine?
What is your maximum heart rate (220-age)?
Do you know your aerobic rate (65%)?
By the way Chris Crowley turned 78 in September and looks great

Harry's rules:

1 Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life
2 Do serious aerobic exercise four days a week for the rest of your life
3 Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life
4 Spend less than you make
5 Quit eating crap!
6 Care
7 Connect and commit

The Shallows

After 12 years of a variety of provocative and entertaining books and the friendly interaction with 7 very smart guys, I ask myself what I have learned.
What is the meaning of life?
What is knowledge?
What do I believe?
We have read classics, escaped in fiction and adventure, studied the economy, explored the cosmos, addressed poverty and the environment, and pondered philosophical questions.
So…what do I know?
Not much…my working memory can’t find a damn thing.

As a group or "reading class" are we developing "an increasingly rare form of cultural capital" or "an increasingly arcane hobby."

More Sam Harris information

Check out the videos on the book (particularly the one by TED) on his web site at http://www.samharris.org/. You can also check out the non-profit organization he co-founded at http://www.project-reason.org/.