An Anthropologist on Mars

Sacks, Oliver. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales. New York: Vintage. 1995. Print.

First Sentences:

Early in March 1986 I received the following letter:

I am a rather successful artist just past 65 years of age. On January 2nd of this year I was driving my car and was hit by a small truck on the passenger side of my vehicle. When visiting the emergency room of a local hospital, I was told I had a concussion. 

While taking an eye examination, it was discovered that I was unable to distinguish letters of colors. The letters appeared to be Greek letters. My vision was such that everything appeared to me as viewing a black and white television screen. 

Description:

Oliver Sacks is a practicing neurologist and professor at medical schools in New York including Columbia and New York University, as well as a consulting clinician at a chronic care facility. His experiences with people who have fascinating brain disorders make up his highly engaging book, An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales.

In this collection, Sacks encounters and writes about such functioning, yet uniquely challenged individuals he works with including:

• An artist who, after a minor car accident, wakes to find he can only see the world in black and white. His can no longer distinguish even gradations of black, white, and gray, making his ability to paint frustratingly challenging;

• A surgeon with Tourette's Syndrome (and its accompanying uncontrollable tics, starts, verbal exclamations, and lurches), who still performs delicate surgeries;

• An autistic boy who can quickly and accurately draw complex architectural buildings in detail, even after only glimpsing them for a few seconds;

• A man, blind from birth, who regains his sight and the benefits, but also struggles with the challenges of living in a world of images where before there was only sound and his imagination;

• A 54-year-old artist who only creates paintings of the buildings in his small hometown in Italy, a location he left forever at age 15;

• An autistic woman who created her own business, invented unique machines and holding areas for cattle and other livestock, yet cannot relate to people and the language of social behavior. She must memorize how people act in various situations to remember and hopefully predict how she and others might respond to her. So strange is her distancing from other people and her own memorization of their actions that she says she feels like "an anthropologist on Mars."

Sacks interacts with these people as an interested friend rather than a prescribing doctor in a clinical setting. He converses with them as he tries to simply understand the characteristics of their particular situation, and more importantly how these people attempt to cope with their limitations.

Sacks is a great storyteller and writer, bringing both the naivete of someone looking on a peculiar situation for the first time, as well the in-depth analysis of a trained doctor and researcher using references to studies by experts in these fields to gain insights and possible explanations, but rarely solutions. 

Here are fascinating people, ably presented and befriended by Sacks, who relate their stories with a compassion and thoroughness which allow readers to fully experience the world of people successfully living with neurological disorders that might cripple others.

A heartfelt, scientific, and personal series of human stories that I guarantee will make you look at the lives of others with new admiration and insight into the challenges faces. And when you are done, I guarantee you will be thankful for your own fairly whole and normal life. 

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales

The definitive collection of fascinatingly bizarre but true clinical experiences of Sacks with unusual neurological disorders, including lost memories, inability to recognize faces (including their own), ability to judge lying without hearing words, etc. Sacks treats all patients with respect as he seeks the cause and possible treatment of these cases.

Sacks, Oliver. Awakening

Intrigued by a group of people who contracted sleeping sickness just after World War ! and unable to move for decades, Sacks experiments on them with a new medicine that "wakes" them up to full consciousness, with unexpected results.

Quirkology

Wiseman, Richard. Quirkology: How We Discover the Big Truths in Small Things. New York: Macmillan. 2007. Print

First Sentences:

I have long been fascinated with the quirky side of human behavior.

When I was a psychology undergraduate one of my first experiments involved standing for hours at London's King's Crossing railroad station look for people meeting partners who had just gotten off the train. The moment they locked in a passionate embrace, I would walk up to them, trigger a hidden stopwatch in my pocket, and ask "Excuse me. Do you mind taking part in a psychological experiment? How many seconds have passed since I said the words, 'Excuse me?'"

After querying about fifty such couples, I discovered that people greatly underestimate the passing of time when they are in love, or, as Albert Einstein once said, 'Sit with a beautiful woman for an hour and it seems like a minute, sit on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour -- that's relativity.'

Description:

Seems only logical that after last week's recommendation of a book about fictional "brain thieves" (who insert probes into people's brains, then released them into the world so their activities could be studied) that I should offer a follow-up of a real life psychologist who actually earns his livelihood studying how we humans behave in everyday activities. 

Of course, his scientific, carefully-constructed studies lead to solid data and therefore logical conclusions about all sorts of quirky, superstitious, strange and unusual patters of behavior. The author, Richard Wiseman, calls his field of research "Quirkology," and presents numerous serious, but wacky behavioral studies of these curiosities in his book, Quirkology: How We Discover the Big Truths in Everyday Things.

For many years, Wiseman and like-minded scientists have conducted research into every corner of behavior observing thousands of people worldwide in controlled situations. 

I have examined the telltale signs that give away a liar, explored how our personalities are shaped by month of birth, uncovered the secret science behind speed dating and personal ads, and investigated what a sense of humor reveals about the innermost workings of the mind...measured the amount of horn-honking when cars become stalled at traffic lights...discovered whether suicide rates are related to the amount of country music played on national radio...and proved beyond all reasonable doubt that Friday the thirteenth is bad for your health.

Less you think this a frivolous waste of time for him to study and you to read about, let me assure you that Wiseman is dead serious about his work. He pursues his interesting studies with meticulous attention to detail to filter out any chance of corrupting the data and prejudicing the conclusions. 

The work is serious science, and much of it has important implications for the way in which we live our lives and structure our society.

Each chapter is a different series of studies about a question regarding the psychology behind incidents in ordinary life, such as "Can we distinguish between real and fake smiles?" "Does your birthday actually have any influence on the luck you experience in your life?" Can we tell when a person is lying or telling the truth?" and "Are there words to use in personal ads that will provide a positive response?" Wiseman looks at other studies done in this area and then creates his own live experiments to test new hypotheses about behavior. When you are done with the chapter, you cannot help but agree with whatever conclusions he reaches because the data has been taken from such a large sample audience and the tests controlled so carefully to prevent misinterpretation.

Let's take a look at some of the studies conducted and described in Quirkology by Wiseman and other scientists in this field:

• Does the position of planets actually affect personality and key events? (He decides to study similarities in "Time Twins," those individuals born at exactly the same moment, an also gauge the accuracy of astrological predictions);

• Is there evidence that when you are born influences the luck you fell you receive in your life? (Extensive studies in Australia and Europe show that the people who describe themselves as lucky were born in the warmer summer months);

• Can the way you trace a "Q" on your forehead determine whether you  are a high self-monitor (the center of attention, easily adaptable) or low  self-monitor (guided by inner feelings, tell fewer lies)?

• Can people tell when someone is lying on television? (Wiseman's films an actor on television talking about his favorite movie, then films a second interview with the actor describing a different movies as his favorite. Thirty thousand people phoned in their opinion about which was his true favorite, but results showed they did no better in their choice than if they flipped a coin);

• Can people be lead to believe they have experienced an event that they did not participate in? (Wiseman shows how the false-memory is easily created in people, including Ronald Reagan who told a story to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society about when the Medal was awarded to a pilot who chose to go down with his plane and a crew member who could not escape. Unfortunately, that event never happened and was really the plot from a movie that had become embedded in Reagan's memory as a factual event);

• Can subliminal suggestion inserted into movies or television shows actually influence whether you want to buy a specific product or behave in a prescribed manner?

• Does where you live influence your name? (Examining U.S. census records "uncovered an overrepresention of people called Florence living in Florida, George in Georgia, Kenneth in Kentucky, and Virgil in Virginia...Helen in St. Helen...more Charleses in St. Charles, [and] more Thomases in St. Thomas");

• What's the ideal percentage of talk about "self vs. other" to follow at speed dating tables to increase your chances of receiving a phone number of the person to whom you are talking?

• Is there one joke that is considered the funniest? (This idea was based on a Monty Python sketch where the world's funniest joke makes everyone die of laughter and is therefore banned for warfare. Wiseman constructs a website to solicit favorite jokes and evaluate the humorousness of submitted jokes. He receives over 40,000 jokes and 350,000 evaluations. And yes, he does identify a consensus funniest joke, as well as the jokes most popular with women, Germans, scientists, and Dave Barry fans.)

One incredibly weird study after another is fascinatingly researched, constructed, tested, and analyzed with results that are both surprising and wonderful. They are short and wryly funny, with many studies and examples offered for each quirky topic. Every study makes you learn more about how we respond to each other and the world around us with all our beliefs, intelligence, and idiosyncrasies. 

It is a book that will make you think in completely different ways, and offers a plethora of topics to mystify and delight everyone you tell them to. Of course no one will believe that you can tell whether a person is lying just by listening for specific words, but in Quirkology, you now have the scientific proof to back your wild statements. And what a pleasure that is!

Happy reading. 

Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Wansink, Brian. Mindless Eating  

Fascinating experiments constructed at the Cornell laboratory to discover unknown influences on ordinary people that determine why and how much we eat. Fascinatingly wonderful and will change how you eat, guaranteed! (previously reviewed here)

A Curious Man

Thompson, Neal. A Curious Man: The Strange & Brilliant life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley. New York: Crown Archetype. 2013. Print

First Sentences:

Isaac Davis Ripley, whose son would one day explore all corners of the earth, fled his dead-end Appalachian home at age fourteen and headed west.

He didn't get far before the Ohio River blocked his path. Unable to pay for a ferry crossing, Isaac swam solo across the turbulent river, eventually making his way to Northern California, seeking gold but instead finding work as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. By 1889, having settled in Santa Rosa, he fell in love with a woman fourteen years younger.

Description:

Is there anyone not familiar with the "Believe It of Not" cartoons portraying our unusual and astounding world and its residents? But who knows anything about the man, Robert Ripley, behind these cartoons, his origins, his inspiration, and his life as a famous celebrity?

To fill in the gaps is Neal Thompson, in his new book, A Curious Man: The Strange & Brilliant life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley. He carefully takes readers on a journey through the life of Ripley and reveals all aspects of this wonderfully talented artist, social eccentric, international traveller, and one of the wealthiest men in the world of print journalism.

As a boy in Santa Rosa, California, Ripley was a buck-toothed, jug-eared stutterer who obviously hated oral reports. After convincing his high school English teacher to let him substitute an illustration instead of writing an essay or giving an oral presentation, his drawing career was born. 

Comics were just entering newspapers in 1907 and when teenager Ripley discovered that staff artists could earn $1,000 a year "drawing pictures for a living," he was hooked. Life magazine published his first drawing that year for $8.00, and he was off, taking a job at the San Francisco Bulletin at $8.00 a week "with the promise of a $2 raise if you make good." He didn't, and was fired after four months.

Eventually he landed at the New York Globe as its sports reporter/cartoonist. His cartoons depicted sports in a new way and the prolific output from "Rip" impressed his bosses. He was given plum assignments to travel to Europe, Asia, and eventually around the world to draw what he saw and submit entertaining stories. This travel became his lifelong passion, and his resulting cartoons about the strange people and customs he found were immensely popular. 

In December 1918, desperate for an idea to meet a deadline, he skimmed through the folder he had collected of odd facts about baseball. Pulling a few together, he quickly knocked off "Champs and Chumps," a paneled cartoon featuring unusual players and records. Ripley's next cartoon of oddities did not appear until 10 months later under the new title, "Believe It or Not!" and then appeared only sporadically over the next two years. Ripley didn't care for this hastily-drawn cartoon that much, but his editors encouraged this style and Ripley soon realized he had hit on his winning formula.

Author Thompson's smooth style describes Ripley's rise to international fame and riches based on the popularity of "Believe It or Not!" He lets readers accompany Ripley on his fabulous world travels, his hectic social life, his ongoing research into library archives, and his successful ventures into television. Thompson lets us marvel at the museums Ripley sponsors to house his artifacts, the peculiar homes he builds, the books of cartoons he compiles, and the parade of women who are always at his side. 

Ripley, the homely kid from Santa Rosa, California, became a larger-than-life figure, fabulously wealthy, and well-travelled. His work was (and still is) read worldwide. I know I learned to read by examining his drawings and compelling facts in his cartoon found in our Sunday newspaper. "Believe It or Not!" has had a lasting impact on my interest in words, pictures, and the world, so I was fascinated and immensely satisfied to read that the cartoonist responsible for such exotic pictures lived a life suitable to someone so full of interesting facts.

Highly recommended for all readers who know of "Believe It or Not!" - in other words, everyone.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments

Previous posts

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Ripley, Robert. Ripley's Believe It or Not: In Celebration, A Special Reissue of the Original  

Republication of the original book of his collected newspaper cartoons.

Here Is Where

Carroll, Andrew. Here Is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History. New York: Crown Archetype. 2013. Print

First Sentences:

Here is where it all began: the Exchange Place PATH station in Jersey City, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

This is the spot that sparked my almost compulsive desire to seek out unmarked history sites throughout the country.

Description:

"Unmarked history" are words in the first sentences that caught my attention. Certainly, we all have seen monuments and plaques erected to commemorate major events in American history. But what are these "unknown" occurrences that have slipped under our radar, yet have had a profound impact on our lives?

Andrew Carroll sets out to inform readers of such forgotten, yet important occurrences in American history and the people who made them happen in his absolutely fascinating book, Here Is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History. From technological advancements to crimes, medical discoveries to forgotten patriots, Carroll researches and then visits these overlooked locations, as well as digging out historians and experts to provide insight. 

Carroll is collector of historical minutia culled from "obscure magazines and journals or cited in footnotes and parenthetical asides from out-of-print books." Over the years, he has filled twenty-four filing cabinets with references to little-known events, people, and sites. Finding his calendar clear after losing his job and girlfriend, Carroll decides he is finally free to follow up on these tantalizing tidbits of history. Here Is Where is the end result of six months research about selected events and planning the journey, and six additional months for the travel itself.    

Each chapter opens with an historical quote or snippet from a first-hand account to provide some insight about the historical event. Carroll then retells that story, introducing the people involved as well as the importance of the event. He is a riveting storyteller so these forgotten events take on a vital life with his clear, passionate backgrounds.

Lastly, he explores the site, talking with local experts and often family members to cull their memories. Some sites are now parking lots, some off-limits to civilians (which lead to repercussions later for Carroll), and some are still standing. Often, information he uncovers leads to side trips to related cases of equal fascination which he is careful to document as well. Then he is off to the next destination, criss-crossing the country from Niihau, Hawaii to Daniel Boone's grave.

And what interesting stories and people does he uncover along the way?

• Phil Farnsworth, who invented television broadcasting, but through unbelievably bad luck never profited from his discovery;
• A correction from the New York Times to Robert Goddard (father of the liquid fueled, multi-staged rocket), published in 1969 after the moon landing, to apologize for the paper's January 1920 comments mocking Goddard's intellect and belief that a rocket could reach the moon;
• The illegal, but necessary practice of grave-robbing in the 1800's to procure corpses for medical studies;
• The accidental discovery of penicillin and then the difficulty of brewing large amounts during World War II to make "as indispensable to the Allied war effort as any weapon" during World War II;
• Dr. Maurice Hilleman who "possibly saved more lives than any other scientist" with his vaccines for mumps, measles, rubella, pneumonia, and 35 other diseases; 
• D.B. Cooper and Richard McCoy, the only men who successfully hijacked a jet, demanded money, and then parachuted to safety, were probably the same man; 
• "More that twenty-five thousand Navy and Army Air Corps troops were killed within the United States during World War II ... represent[ing] one out of every sixteen U.S. fatalities in the war"

Other histories relate Carroll's search for the disputed resting places of the bones of Thomas Paine and Daniel Boone along with the circumstances behind their mysterious burials. He recounts how the body of Pete Ray, the only US aviator shot down over the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, was finally returned to his family after being held on ice for 18 years by Cuba (which tried to bill his daughter $36,000 for the refrigeration costs).

Need more? There is the fascinating history of the Spanish Influenza in America and one man's search 90 years later in Alaska for remnants of the virus; the discovery of anesthesia in 1844 by a dentist who noticed, during a public demonstration of laughing gas, that after he took a hit on the gas, he felt no pain in the leg he gashed when leaving the stage. (Previously, all surgical operations from dentistry to mastectomies were done without pain-killers of any type. Yikes!) And there is the first person to scale Pikes Peak in 1857, J.A. Archibald, a woman.

I have a friend who judges non-fiction books by both their last sentences as well as their first ones. It is an odd idea, but one he explained as useful to judge whether the author can keep up the quality writing style to the very end. Peeking at last sentences won't spoil a non-fiction book like it might a novel (e.g., The Odds), so I snuck a look at the last-sentence of Here Is Where. And he's right. The book's final sentences continue to deliver passionate writing, wonderfully portraying the importance of remembering the historical events presented:

"At its best, history nurtures within us humility and gratitude. It encourages respect and empathy. It fosters creativity and stimulates the imagination. It inspires resilience. And it does so by illuminating the simple truth that, whether due to some cosmic fluke or divine providence, it's an absolute miracle that any one of us is alive today, walking around on this tiny sphere surrounded by an ocean of space, and that we are, above eveything else, all in this together."

In all, an addictive narrative on America's forgotten history and people, carefully explained by someone who is fascinated with what he is finding and why it all matters and must be preserved. 

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments

Previous posts

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Randall, Willard Sterne, and Nahra, Nancy. Forgotten Americans: Footnote Figures Who Changed American History  

Interesting profiles and activities of 15 little-known shapers of America, including Tadeusz Kosciuszko (Immigrant Army), Tecumseh (Indian Nation), Louis Sockalexis (original Cleveland Indian in baseball), etc.

Ayres, Thomas. That's Not in My American History Book: A Compilation of Little-Known Events and Forgotten Heroes  

Overlooked people and events at are both fascinating and informative, including men who flew before the Wright brothers. the origin of "Taps," whether Britain owns California, and the truth behind the Boston Tea Party.

Packing for Mars

Roach, Mary. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. New York: Norton. 2011. Print

First Sentences:

To the rocket scientist, you are a problem. 

You are the most irritating piece of machinery he or she will ever have to deal with. You and your fluctuating metabolism, your puny memory, your frame that comes in a million different configurations. You are unpredictable. You're inconsistant. You take weeks to fix.

Description:

As the United States and other nations begin to seriously consider travel to Mars we, the uninformed public, have serious questions that need answers. Not about the logistics of propulsion, the shielding of radiation, the merits of various shelters, and the cost behind such an endeavor. No, we need information about how toilets work in zero gravity, can one bathe en route to Mars, and, of course, what about sex?

To address these and other vital questions about Mars space travel, we have Mary Roach and her remarkably clear, scientific, and quirky book, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. Roach presents chapters to describe real problems faced by Mars astronauts and then provides the solutions currently being explored, such as: 

• "The Perilous Psychology of Isolation and Confinement"
• "Throwing Up and Down: The Astronauts' Secret Misery"
• "Space Hygiene and the Men Who Stopped Bathing for Science"
• "Mating Without Gravity" 

Roach is a member of the Mars Institute's Advisory Board, so has the background and resources to pursue and explain these and a multitude of other questions for lay readers. She clearly relishes researching interesting topics that have a humorous twist. Previous books by Roach include Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex and Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife.

Packing for Mars does not disappoint either in content or writing. From her opening sentences explaining that man is the weakest component in space travel, to her final thoughts on whether Mars is worth the trouble if you have to drink your own urine (filtered) or eat your dirty clothes for their keratin protein fibers. 

There is plenty more appetizing information bit found in this book, all of it based on interviews with space experts, exhaustively researched, and even experienced by Roach herself:

• She visits the Japanese astronaut training program and watches them fold paper into a thousand cranes to test the accuracy and concentration and patience of trainees during isolation to deal with mundane tasks; 
• She tests a mockup of the Russian Mir space station in Moscow that is so small it would "fit in a Greyhoud bus" with sleep chambers like "phone booths";  
• She rides in the Small Pressurized Rover simulator at the Haughton-Mars Project Research Station in the Canadian far north;
• She experiences weightlessness with a team during a NASA training program.

To understand zero gravity, Roach boards the C-9 transport plane that climbs high, then drops rapidly in a long swoop. But along with weightlessness comes nausea for many people, including 50 - 75% of all astronauts. Thus the C-9 carries the nickname, the "Vomit Comet." Roach gamely notes how this "in-helmet upchuck" reality of the Mars trip is being addressed via biofeedback.

Many other interviews with scientists reveal their real concerns about landing the spacecraft; creating prototype vehicles for Marscapes; preventing perspiration and the accompanying odors from sweat-soaked clothes; exercise; escape suits; and of course the use of toilets in zero gravity.

I won't spoil the chapter about sex in space. Suffice to say, Roach talks with researchers who observe movements of seals and dolphins with their mates. For further insight, she bravely watches a three-part porno film and discusses with the director the scenes supposed shot in zero gravity.

All in all, a wonderfully informative, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining look at the world of long-range space travel. Her closing words sum up her philosophy of life, man, and space travel:

"The nobility of the human spirit grows harder for me to believe in. War, zealotry, greed, malls, narcissism. I see a backhanded nobility in excessive, impractical outlays of cash prompted by nothing loftier than a species joining hands and saying 'I bet we can to this.' Yes, the money could be better spent on Earth. But would it? Since when has money saved by government redlining been spent on education and cancer research? It is always squandered. Let's squander some on Mars. Let's go and play."

Couldn't agree more.

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments

Previous posts

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Collins, Michael. Mission to Mars  

Fascinating, research-based plans from Apollo 11 astronaut Collins in 1990 to put men on the planet Mars. Covers all logistical, political, financial, and human questions in the first half, then offers a highly-detailed account from blast off to landing on Mars to return to Earth of such a mission look like.  

Aldrin, Buzz. Mission to Mars  

Completely new take in 2013 for a realistic flight to Mars from another Apollo 11 astronaut and Moonwalker. Very timely as the United States is now seriously considering such a mission

Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles  

One of the best science fiction portrayals of Mars ever, telling wonderous tales chronologically of man exploring Mars, from the first landings and encounters with Martians, to the final missions. Fabulous.  

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession

Grann, David. The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession. New York: Doubleday. 2010. Print

First Sentences:

Reporting, like detective work, is a process of elimination.

It require that you gather and probe innumerable versions of a story until, to borrow a phrase from Sherlock Holmes, "the one which remains must be the truth."

Description:

I picked up The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession because I really enjoy the author, David Grann, (who previously wrote The Lost City of Z), and because I love mysteries, particularly those involving Sherlock Holmes. With no idea of what this book was about, all it took was the first sentence and author to seal the deal for me.

No Holmes mysteries are contained in The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, but these non-fiction accounts rival Conan Doyle's best writing. Grann takes on twelve real life occurrences and individuals that reveal the passionate and sometimes obsessive side of humankind. 

Each incidence is thoroughly described, driven by Grann's compelling interest in the story, his dogged pursuit of details, and then his clear writing style. I found that even situations which addressed characters that held no previous interest for me were suddenly transformed into riveting tales that I could not wait to see how they came out.

Grann opens by covering the mysterious death of the world's foremost expert on Sherlock Holmes (was it a suicide or was he killed to prevent him obtaining secret Arthur Conan Doyle papers?), followed by an in-depth investigation into the possible wrongful execution of a Texas prisoner. 

Then there is an interview and back story of Frederic Bourdin, the 30-year-old Frenchman known as the "Chameleon," who for years passed himself off as an abandoned teenager in fifteen countries, speaking five languages, living in orphanages and families, going to school every day. His only reason? "I am a manipulator ... My job is to manipulate." Nothing sexual, scandalous or evil in his intent - he just wanted to make people believe he was someone he was not.

I loved the absolutely fascinating description of Steve O'Shea, the marine biologost from New Zealand, who is passionately obsessed with finding the elusive giant squid. His focus is not on the 30-foot adult version, but rather the paralarva babies which he intends net and then grow to full size in captivity.

There is a heart-breaking story of a New York City fireman, one of the first to answer the call on 9/11, who woke up in a hospital later that day after being found unconscious several blocks from the Towers. He cannot remember whether he fell as a hero helping others or as a coward running away, and is driven to find the answers no matter what they reveal.

Other fascinating accounts center on the generations of men who created the ancient and now updated vast underground water system tunnels of New York, the lingering career of Ricky Henderson (major league baseball's all-time base stealer) still trying to play professional ball at age 46, and the 79-year-old bank robber recently arrested during his last job.

Each tale unfolds carefully, with details from interviews, news accounts, and visits to significant locations. Grann is thorough in his research, looking into each story from its origin, then non-judgmentally listening, observing, and reporting what he learns from the people involved. His writing then takes over, pulling you in until you cannot stop reading.

Truth may not be stranger than fiction, but in the capable hands of David Grann, it sure is fascinating and fun to read about. What an unpredictable world we live in, and what passionate individuals populate it.  

Happy reading. 


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments 

Previous posts

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Grann, David. The Lost City of Z  

Historical account of the explorations of Percey Fawcett to search for the "City of Gold" in the Amazon. (previously reviewed here)

Drop Dead Healthy

Jacobs, A.J. Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012. Print

First Sentences:

For the last few months, I’ve been assembling a list of things I need to do to improve my health. It’s an intimidatingly long list. Fifty-three pages. Here’s a sample:

•   Eat leafy green vegetables
•   Do forty minutes of aerobic exercise a day
•   Meditate several times a week
•   Watch baseball (lowers blood pressure, according to one study)
•   Nap (good for the brain and heart)
•   Hum (prevents sinus infections)
•   Win an Academy Award (a bit of a long shot, I know. But studies show Oscar winners live three years longer than non-Oscar winners.)

Description:

Don't we all want to be just a bit more fit, lose a couple of pounds, be smarter, see better, hurt less? Well, so does A.J. Jacobs, author of Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection, only he wants it all.

After compiling his 53-page list of improvements he wants to make in himself, he methodically organizes his areas for change by body part or function. Stomach, heart, immune system, brain, teeth, back, and eyes all need work. He also intends to improve his lower intestine, hands, bladder, butt, and even the inside of this eyelids ("for a perfect night's sleep").  

Drop Dead Healthy documents his full-out assault to become the best in every area. He (and his ever-patient wife and family) allow two years to complete this complete make-over.

Each chapter details his efforts on a specific body over one month. Self-improvement techniques come from his consultations with professionals, personal research, and his own common sense. 

And what does he try? He walks on a treadmill while typing this book (and reaches over 1,000 miles before it is completed); dons a bike helmet when walking to safeguard against accidents; wears 3-D glasses to do "weight training for the eyes;" takes a juice cure; joins a laughter club to relieve stress; and explores how much sex is needed to optimize his aerobic capabilities. 

Progress is monitored each month for basic changes to weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, pulse, miles walked, etc.  But Jacobs also includes off-beat highlights such as, "Cans of steel-cut oatmeal consumed this year;" "Times unsuccessfully attempted to switch to green tea;" "Number of yoga instructors who have been surprisingly rude to me;" "Minutes singing per day;" "Frog calls memorized to keep my brain sharp;" ... well, you get the idea.

It's a wonderful mash-up of the scientific and the ridiculous, as he researches and then willingly incorporates into his life any strategies that might improve his health. "The trick," he says, "is to avoid quackery at the same time  as maintaining childlike enthusiasm for innovation."  

Serious? Definitely in his purpose, plan, and willingness to try anything and everything. Comedic? Of course, and delightfully so as we follow him from body part to body function, expert to quack, with varying degrees of success.  

Best of all, he writes in an engagingly dead-pan style that simplifies complex issues about our bodies into terms he (and we) can grasp.  I love his intensity, his curiosity, his commitment to improvement, as well as his candor in sharing every thought, every detail of this quest.

And I did learn a lot about the body and what I actually can do to make improvements myself. 

Happy reading.


Fred

www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com

Comments 

Previous posts

_______________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

 

Jacobs, A.J. Mr. Know-It-All   

The same author attempts to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from Volume A to Volume Z, carrying readers along with him, letter by letter, in his quest for knowledge and trivia. Fantastic!