Outliers by Macolm Gladwell

I just finished reading "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point and Blink, neither of which I have read). Mr. Gladwell argues that to understand the reason for why some people have incredible success we must look at a variety of factors such as culture, family background, birthplace and even birth date in addition to the personal qualities of the successful "outlier". Although some of these ideas may not be new, his hodgepodge of anecdotes contain the most fascinating tidbits of information. For example, out of the 75 richest people in history going back to the Byzantine empire, no fewer than 14 are Americans born in the 1830s (OK, three of these were born in the year 1840 if you want to be picky); the most successful hockey players are born in January, February and March (no, it has nothing to do with those being icy months); the most successful New York lawyers were Jews born in the 1830s to parents who worked in the garment industry; Colin Powell's family is from Jamaica; and traditional wet rice farmers in Asia fertilize their rice paddies with a combination of burned compost, river mud, hemp and human manure (this factoid is not especially relevant to his central argument, but I thought it interesting as well as gross). At any rate, I was, frankly, enthralled. I'm sure Gladwell will have his detractors - those who will argue that his ideas are recycled, that the rigor of his research is suspect, that he chooses his anecdotes selectively to support his arguments or that he does not give enough credit to the qualities of grit and perseverance over the element of social determination, but I thought the book was a fascinating and provocative read.

Around the House and In the Garden - A Memoir of Heartbreak, Healing and Home Improvement

Back in July of last year, I posted an entry about Dominique Browning, the editor-in-chief of the now defunct House & Garden and how I loved her editor's letters at the beginning of each issue. A few months later the magazine stopped being published. I am surprised at the outpouring that the magazine's ending provoked. Even now, most of the hits I get on this site are from people conducting web searches for "Dominique Browning," and, in the comments to that entry, people bemoan the loss of the magazine and wonder about her whereabouts. I have never met Ms. Browning and have no idea where she might be, I just posted an entry giving kudos to a woman whom I thought admirable. But for those who never got enough of Ms. Browning's writing, I wanted to recommend this book, Around the House and in the Garden - A Memoir of Heartbreak, Healing, and Home Improvement, which I read a while ago and kept meaning to post about. It is a collection of essays written in the personal style of her editor's letters, with the same poignancy and wit, about her sense of loss after her divorce and how her home often expressed the various stages of her grief and healing. Here's a short excerpt:

I cannot say my home healed my heart. But I can say that, as my heart healed, my home reflected it. Perhaps my house forced my hand, at times, with its unrelenting demands. And perhaps at times my heart, gladdened, let me turn my attention homeward. Whatever the strange, looping path I took out of sadness, it wound its way from room to room, like a recurring dream I had as a child, in which I kept lo looking for something in a cavernous, empty old house, never finding it, but never being able to stop the ceaseless searching, either. Maybe my subject is yearning; maybe that's the case for most of us. We yearn to live in houses full of love, happiness, passion, and peace, too. We yearn for domestic bliss. Even when we have found it, we are restless about wanting things to be better. As soon as we get what we want, we want more. That's the nature of being alive, of persevering, of striving. And that is the nature of redecorating.

Books to Read: Atlas Shrugged

"I don't like people who speak or think in terms of gaining anybody's confidence. If one's actions are honest, one does not need the predated confidence of others, only their rational perception. The person who craves a moral blank check of that kind, has dishonest intentions, whether he admits it to himself or not."
-spoken by the character Francisco D'Anconia in Atlas Shrugged

This quote articulates so well something I've often felt. Ayn Rand is a masterful writer and a keen observer of human nature. Although I've never fully bought into her philosophy of "objectivism", I've enjoyed her works immensely. I read The Fountainhead and We the Living back in college, and am now rereading Atlas Shrugged. One of the thickest books ever, but I'm almost halfway through and completely enthralled.

Simply a Beautiful Book: Meditations from the Mat

By Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison, this book contains "daily" reflections on the practice of yoga and the philosophy behind it all. Each essay begins with a thought-provoking quote, and reads like poetry. Here's a link to an excerpt from Amazon: Link.

Books: Cat Getting Out of Bag and Other Observations

I'm off to the bookstore after work today to check out this book by comic artist, Jeffrey Brown, which illustrates the joys of living with a cat. I looked at an excerpt from the book on Amazon (here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0811858227/ref=sib_dp_pt/104-5093148-5803929#reader-link), and cracked up laughing. The drawings are so cute! I find it intriguing that, almost universally, cats seem to share the same insane habits (sticking their heads in paper bags, knocking pens off tables, attacking your socks -- all adorably depicted in this book). I know they also share some less endearing qualities like the tendency to wake people up in the morning! Still, I love cats (I have two), and can't imagine my home without my furry friends. Speaking of which:

I hereby introduce Ichiban (which means "Number One" in Japanese) and Mooky (being bad since he's not allowed on the kitchen counter!).

Books: The Pema Chodron Collection

Even people obsessed with organizing and shopping for their homes need a little spirituality now and then. Pema Chodron's collection of works has become the closest thing to scripture for me. In it, she interprets Buddhist teachings in a way that provides guidance for living and coping with emotional stress that is actually practical. I can't tell if Buddhism as interpreted by her is more a religion or a form of psychotherapy, but it is eerie to me how when I crack open this book at night, the words always speak to some problem or inner turmoil with which I'm grappling. I'm not into proselytizing, but her works have been so helpful to me that I think they deserve to be shared. (Pema Chodron was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown, in 1936 in New York City and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a now a fully ordained Buddhist nun and prolific author, and directs a monastery in Nova Scotia, Canada. )

A Strange Book: "Remainder" by Tom McCarthy

My idea of "going out" means going to Barnes and Noble and perusing the books and magazines without buying anything. Last time, I came across this book in the "urban fiction" section which I picked up. All the critic's endorsements on the back cover indicated that this book was "very strange." I was intrigued and had to have it. I took it home and finished reading it in a few sittings. The prose is eerie and haunting. The story is about a man who has been severely injured in an accident he can't remember. As part of his settlement he receives an obscene sum of money. What he does with that sum is, indeed, all very strange.

Must Have Book: Home Comforts - The Art & Science of Keeping House

Speaking of keeping things clean, Cheryl Mendelson is a Harvard-educated lawyer who woke up one day and decided she was going to write a book (a tome, really) on keeping house. In it, she explains how to one should properly perform such seemingly mundane tasks as vacuuming, dusting, sweeping and sorting laundry. She also covers more involved topics such as dust mites, food safety, care for different types of fabrics and a LOT more. She even discusses the laws relating to domestic employees and potential liability for mishaps occurring on your property. This is not the kind of book you have to read from cover to cover (although I find it engaging), but it is an invaluable resource. More than a reference book, I think the book is a work of art. It reads like a conversation one might have over coffee, but is clearly the outgrowth of the author's passion for her subject: in her words, "the art of making a home a small living society with the capacity to make meet the needs of people in their private life." Thanks to this book, I have learned that keeping house can be a joyous effort. The book is a well-established classic and to "recommend" it feels presumptuous. I therefore simply pass this information along to those who are not yet in the know.