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nhelregel's review
4.0
Took me a while to finish, as I tend to set books down a lot when they're conveniently divided into digestible chunks. However, I really did end up enjoying most of these pieces. Many other reviewers complained that most of the pieces were older and had already been published elsewhere. Luckily I had only previously read the Michael Pollan piece (in The Omnivore's Dilemma). While some pieces were just OK, many were delightful and eye-opening. Favorites include: Malcolm Gladwell's "Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg," Bill Buford's "Among the Thugs," David Foster Wallace's "Host," and Lee Sandlin's "Losing the War." Also, I realized that I should give David Foster Wallace's non-fiction a chance (I tried his short stories/fiction once and could not get into it). One critique would be that the "new kings" of non-fiction only included two women. :(
misterjay's review
4.0
In general, a great collection of articles, stories, and profiles from a wide range of sources and covering an even wider range of topics. There are several excellent pieces in here and if Ira Glass puts together another collection, I'll want to read it.
Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities - About a kid who was found guilty of securities and trading fraud; good 3/5.
Toxic Dreams - About a small town's fight against an environmental mess that turns out to not be very harmful but the town's economy has become too wrapped up in the fight to stop. Very good 4/5.
Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg - Fascinating look at how some people are connectors and how they influence those around them, spinning people into a web of patterns and intricate connections. Great 5/5.
Shapinsky's Karma - Interesting story of a painter and the Indian man who came out of nowhere to make him famous in the final days of his career. Great 5/5.
The American Man, Age Ten - From Esquire, one author's interview with a ten year old boy and the insights it gives her into men, American culture, and relationships. Great 5/5.
Among the Thugs - Excellent travel / gonzo journalism piece from an American journalist who went to Italy with a group of U.K. soccer hooligans and lived to tell the tale. I'd like to read the rest of the book. Great 5/5.
Crazy Things Seem Normal, Normal Things Seem Crazy - Odd interview with Val Kilmer. Good, 3/5.
Host - Interesting piece profiling a talk radio host; the story tries to find some separation between the real person and the host and, in the end, concludes that there may be no difference at all. Great, 5/5.
Tales of the Tyrant - Lengthy piece profiling Sadaam Husein in the days after the first gulf war. Good, 4/5.
Losing the War - Insightful and somber article on what WWII means to those who have only read the history; the article lays down a line, saying that those who have never been in war cannot understand it because those who have been are unable to define the experience in mere words. Great, 5/5.
The Hostess Diaries - Somewhat stuck-up piece about a cocktail waitress in popular nightspot. So-so, 2/5.
My Republican Journey - Funny look at Dan Savage's attempts to become a Republican in order to change the system from the inside. Good, 3/5.
Power Steer - Interesting piece detailing the life of a beef steer from birth through to steaks; the article does a good job of objectively stating the pros and cons of beef and, specifically, U.S. beef as an industry and as a food source. Great, 5/5.
Fortune's Smile - Great example of the journalist as the story; the piece tells the story of a journalist's entry into the World Series of Poker and how he almost won. Great, 5/5.
Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities - About a kid who was found guilty of securities and trading fraud; good 3/5.
Toxic Dreams - About a small town's fight against an environmental mess that turns out to not be very harmful but the town's economy has become too wrapped up in the fight to stop. Very good 4/5.
Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg - Fascinating look at how some people are connectors and how they influence those around them, spinning people into a web of patterns and intricate connections. Great 5/5.
Shapinsky's Karma - Interesting story of a painter and the Indian man who came out of nowhere to make him famous in the final days of his career. Great 5/5.
The American Man, Age Ten - From Esquire, one author's interview with a ten year old boy and the insights it gives her into men, American culture, and relationships. Great 5/5.
Among the Thugs - Excellent travel / gonzo journalism piece from an American journalist who went to Italy with a group of U.K. soccer hooligans and lived to tell the tale. I'd like to read the rest of the book. Great 5/5.
Crazy Things Seem Normal, Normal Things Seem Crazy - Odd interview with Val Kilmer. Good, 3/5.
Host - Interesting piece profiling a talk radio host; the story tries to find some separation between the real person and the host and, in the end, concludes that there may be no difference at all. Great, 5/5.
Tales of the Tyrant - Lengthy piece profiling Sadaam Husein in the days after the first gulf war. Good, 4/5.
Losing the War - Insightful and somber article on what WWII means to those who have only read the history; the article lays down a line, saying that those who have never been in war cannot understand it because those who have been are unable to define the experience in mere words. Great, 5/5.
The Hostess Diaries - Somewhat stuck-up piece about a cocktail waitress in popular nightspot. So-so, 2/5.
My Republican Journey - Funny look at Dan Savage's attempts to become a Republican in order to change the system from the inside. Good, 3/5.
Power Steer - Interesting piece detailing the life of a beef steer from birth through to steaks; the article does a good job of objectively stating the pros and cons of beef and, specifically, U.S. beef as an industry and as a food source. Great, 5/5.
Fortune's Smile - Great example of the journalist as the story; the piece tells the story of a journalist's entry into the World Series of Poker and how he almost won. Great, 5/5.
lavoiture's review
3.0
Eh. I liked the first few stories, but got really bored after I couldn't force myself to read David Foster Wallace's 3,000-page story. They were kind of downhill from there. I'm also not a huge nonfiction or short story fan, and these were short nonfiction pieces, so...But it was edited by Ira Glass, and I love him. And there were a few interesting stories, so I guess it was worth it. But I didn't finish. I'd say I read 78% of the book, which is good enough.
saraupsidedown's review
4.0
Although many of the essays in this book are now 20 years old, they’ve aged magnificently. Glass selected essays that were stories not just about facts but about the bigger questions driving the story. And those remain as interesting now as when they were originally written.
neerajams's review
3.0
Starts off with wonderful pieces, then trails off to the end. While all of the pieces were insightful in their own ways (though I still think the one about poker was a boring waste of space), my favorites were:
- Host, David Foster Wallace's fantastic, hilarious look at conservative talk radio
- Among the Thugs, Bill Buford's disturbing, drunken, participatory account of British soccor hooligans
- Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg, Malcolm Gladwell's take on how we know the people that we know and why it matters. I know he often over-simplifies, but I still like it
- and Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities, where Michael Lewis voices my thoughts on the silliness of the stock market practically verbatim while telling the story of this crazy, day-trading teenager.
Of all of them, David Foster Wallace's is the one you shouldn't miss.
- Host, David Foster Wallace's fantastic, hilarious look at conservative talk radio
- Among the Thugs, Bill Buford's disturbing, drunken, participatory account of British soccor hooligans
- Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg, Malcolm Gladwell's take on how we know the people that we know and why it matters. I know he often over-simplifies, but I still like it
- and Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities, where Michael Lewis voices my thoughts on the silliness of the stock market practically verbatim while telling the story of this crazy, day-trading teenager.
Of all of them, David Foster Wallace's is the one you shouldn't miss.
librariandest's review
3.0
I didn't read all the essays before the book was due back at the library, but I liked what I read, particularly the first three. I kind of thought Ira Glass picked essays that could be stories on TAL.
meghan111's review
3.0
All of the most interesting pieces are in the beginning of this anthology. It starts to drag by the last half of the book.
erinturkeylane's review
4.0
Contained a great deal of interesting stories, ranging from an environmental and legal catastrophe to how human beings are connected. Ira Glass's introduction explained the book best-- the writing is about real events, but with personal anecdotes and observations that set the stories apart from typical articles.
oregon_small_fry's review
4.0
I really really really liked this book! All the stories were great, except for one that went on and on and on and on and on.
Also- I like Ira Glass and This American Life, BUT all these stories were previously published in magazines or whatever, so I want to know: how much work did Ira actually do? Because he seems to be getting a lot of hype from this book.
Also- I like Ira Glass and This American Life, BUT all these stories were previously published in magazines or whatever, so I want to know: how much work did Ira actually do? Because he seems to be getting a lot of hype from this book.
mrsfligs's review
4.0
In my review of Sloane Crosley's latest book, How Did You Get This Number, I confessed my love for essays, particularly personal essays with a humorous bent. But I like harder hitting essays too, and this collection of non-fiction writing chosen and introduced by This American Life's Ira Glass was a real treat for an essay fan like myself. In my mind, it is also a good introduction to non-fiction writing—a genre that so many readers shy away from (for reasons that elude me).
What makes this book so wonderful is that Glass has cherry-picked some of his favorite non-fiction writing and put them all together so you get good writing on a wide range of topics—from profiles of Saddam Hussein to Val Kilmer, from soccer hooligans to a "typical" 10-year-old boy, from where a steak comes from to what is feels like to make the final table at the World Series of Poker. As you know if you're familiar with Ira Glass's work, he has diverse interests and a innate curiosity about the world around us—and this sensibility is reflected in his choices for this book. Perhaps the best way to get a sense of the diversity of the stories in the book is to provide a brief description of the various pieces (with a little bit of commentary on what I liked and didn't like).
* Michael Lewis kicks off the book with a piece called "Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities,"which was a fascinating look at a 15-year-old high-school boy who gets in trouble with the SEC after he makes a lot of money (like a half a million dollars!!) via day-trading and promoting various stocks on the Internet. In the SEC's mind, Jonathan has done something illegal, but his offense is one that even the head of the SEC is unable to clearly articulate. In the end, it seems that the "offense" was simply figuring out how to make money on the stock market at a young age.
* Jack Hitt's contribution, "Toxic Dreams: A California Town Finds Meaning In An Acid Pit," reads like a satire of the legal system—except that the case he writes about (Stringfellow) is an actual case that is ongoing to this day. I suspect that a writer couldn't come up with a mockery of what legal proceedings can turn into—or how they can take on a life of their own—that sounds more ridiculous than what the Stringfellow proceedings involve.
* Malcolm Gladwell makes an appearance with a story called "Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg," which is about how some people are people who seem to know everybody—a kind of living embodiment of the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game. (In fact, Gladwell alludes to this game and makes a pretty good case that it might be easier played with Burgess Meredith.) By the end, I guarantee that you'll be looking for the Lois Weisberg in your life!
* "Shapinsky's Karma" by Lawrence Weschler is one of the longer pieces in the book—chronicling the unlikely rise to fame by an obscure painter named Harold Shapinsky due to the tireless and almost maniacal efforts of an Indian fellow named Akumal Ramachander, which turns into a story as much about Akumal as it is about Shapinsky. A fascinating look at the art world and what one persistent person who believes in another can accomplish.
* Susan Orlean's contribution, "The American Man, Age Ten," was probably my favorite in the book. After her editor at Esquire asked her to write a profile of Macauley Culkin for a piece he planned on giving the same title to, Orlean asked if she could instead write about a "typical" American ten-year-old instead, which is how she ended up shadowing a New Jersey boy named Colin Duffy. The result is a fascinating, humorous and engrossing look into Colin's world—and what a wondrous place it is.
* "Among the Thugs" by Bill Buford was particularly timely as I read it while the World Cup was going on. The piece in the book (which was an early chapter from Buford's book of the same name) is a first-hand account of shadowing British soccer hooligans as they travel to Turin to watch their team (Manchester United) play. It was a glimpse into a scary world that I don't think I would want to get near.
* Chuck Klosterman writes about his interview with Val Kilmer in a piece called "Crazy Things Seem Normal, Normal Things Seem Crazy," which includes writing like: "The worst thing I could say about him is that he's kind of a name-dropper; beyond that, he seems like an affable fellow with a good sense of humor, and he is totally not f**ked up. But he is weird." As you can see, this isn't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill celebrity profile.
* David Foster Wallace's piece, "Host," was my least favorite piece in the book—probably due to the excessive use of footnotes (printed in the most unusual way) that kept distracting me from the main story, which is a profile of a radio talk show host named John Ziegler. I almost skipped this piece entirely but ended up powering through just so I could write this review and honestly say I read the entire book.
* "Tales of the Tyrant" by Mark Bowden is an extensive piece on Saddam Hussein, which I wish I'd read way back when the U.S. first started getting involved with Iraq. It was quite eye-opening and enlightening and shed a little more light on the country of Iraq and its long-time dictator and what kind of person he was.
* "Losing the War" by Lee Sandlin is an interesting piece in which the author asks various people what they know about war, specifically World War II. And what does he find? "Nobody could tell me the first thing about it. Once they got past who won they almost drew a blank. All they knew were the big totemic names—Pearl Harbor, D-day, Auschwitz, Hiroshima—whose unfathomable reaches of experience has been boiled down to an abstract atrocity. The rest was gone."
* One of the few pieces I felt didn't fit in was "The Hostess Diaries: My Year At A Hot Spot" by Coco Henson Scales. Although an amusing enough look at what really goes on behind-the-scenes at an exclusive nightclub, the piece felt too slight in comparison to the other pieces in the book.
* I really loved "My Republican Journey" by Dan Savage because it reminded me how much I enjoy Dan Savage's writing. (I used to read his sex column in The Onion and just loved his books The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant and Skipping Towards Gomorrah.) In fact, it reminded me that I really should get the rest of Savage's books that he's been writing while I was doing other things. Shame on me!! This particular story chronicles Savage's attempt to infiltrate the Republican Party during the 1996 presidential elections in an effort to change the Republican's view of homosexuality from the "inside." If you've never read Savage's biting, hysterical point of view, this essay is a wonderful introduction. (But not if you're a hard-core, conservative Republican ... cuz' my guess is that you won't really care for Savage's worldview. I love him though.)
* "Power Steer" by Michael Pollan is almost guaranteed to put you off red meat for awhile. The story follows the short life of steer No. 534, which Pollan buys in an effort to "find out how a modern, industrial steak is produced in America these days, from insemination to slaughter." What he finds was eye-opening and probably more than I wanted to know. But if you eat meat, you should probably understand where it comes from the effects of the modern meat industry on the environment. After reading this essay, it made me want to read Pollan's longer books, like The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals or In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.
* I particularly enjoyed James McManus's story, "Fortune's Smile: World Series of Poker," as Mr. Jenners and I went through a Texas Hold 'Em craze a few years back (along with much of America). Chronicling the author's unlikely journey to the final table at the World Series of Poker (back before it was a well-known and a regular fixture on TV), the piece has a "you are there" quality to it that I really enjoyed. If Mr. Jenners hadn't already consumed almost every anecdotal book on gambling and casinos, I might have even had a shot at getting him to read this one.
My Final Recommendation
If you're looking for a diverse collection of non-fiction writing that differs wildly in topics and style but that all share a foundation of good writing that involves the reader, look no further. This collection had everything you could want—and will probably lead you to seek additional works by the authors represented in the collection.
What makes this book so wonderful is that Glass has cherry-picked some of his favorite non-fiction writing and put them all together so you get good writing on a wide range of topics—from profiles of Saddam Hussein to Val Kilmer, from soccer hooligans to a "typical" 10-year-old boy, from where a steak comes from to what is feels like to make the final table at the World Series of Poker. As you know if you're familiar with Ira Glass's work, he has diverse interests and a innate curiosity about the world around us—and this sensibility is reflected in his choices for this book. Perhaps the best way to get a sense of the diversity of the stories in the book is to provide a brief description of the various pieces (with a little bit of commentary on what I liked and didn't like).
* Michael Lewis kicks off the book with a piece called "Jonathan Lebed's Extracurricular Activities,"which was a fascinating look at a 15-year-old high-school boy who gets in trouble with the SEC after he makes a lot of money (like a half a million dollars!!) via day-trading and promoting various stocks on the Internet. In the SEC's mind, Jonathan has done something illegal, but his offense is one that even the head of the SEC is unable to clearly articulate. In the end, it seems that the "offense" was simply figuring out how to make money on the stock market at a young age.
* Jack Hitt's contribution, "Toxic Dreams: A California Town Finds Meaning In An Acid Pit," reads like a satire of the legal system—except that the case he writes about (Stringfellow) is an actual case that is ongoing to this day. I suspect that a writer couldn't come up with a mockery of what legal proceedings can turn into—or how they can take on a life of their own—that sounds more ridiculous than what the Stringfellow proceedings involve.
* Malcolm Gladwell makes an appearance with a story called "Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg," which is about how some people are people who seem to know everybody—a kind of living embodiment of the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game. (In fact, Gladwell alludes to this game and makes a pretty good case that it might be easier played with Burgess Meredith.) By the end, I guarantee that you'll be looking for the Lois Weisberg in your life!
* "Shapinsky's Karma" by Lawrence Weschler is one of the longer pieces in the book—chronicling the unlikely rise to fame by an obscure painter named Harold Shapinsky due to the tireless and almost maniacal efforts of an Indian fellow named Akumal Ramachander, which turns into a story as much about Akumal as it is about Shapinsky. A fascinating look at the art world and what one persistent person who believes in another can accomplish.
* Susan Orlean's contribution, "The American Man, Age Ten," was probably my favorite in the book. After her editor at Esquire asked her to write a profile of Macauley Culkin for a piece he planned on giving the same title to, Orlean asked if she could instead write about a "typical" American ten-year-old instead, which is how she ended up shadowing a New Jersey boy named Colin Duffy. The result is a fascinating, humorous and engrossing look into Colin's world—and what a wondrous place it is.
* "Among the Thugs" by Bill Buford was particularly timely as I read it while the World Cup was going on. The piece in the book (which was an early chapter from Buford's book of the same name) is a first-hand account of shadowing British soccer hooligans as they travel to Turin to watch their team (Manchester United) play. It was a glimpse into a scary world that I don't think I would want to get near.
* Chuck Klosterman writes about his interview with Val Kilmer in a piece called "Crazy Things Seem Normal, Normal Things Seem Crazy," which includes writing like: "The worst thing I could say about him is that he's kind of a name-dropper; beyond that, he seems like an affable fellow with a good sense of humor, and he is totally not f**ked up. But he is weird." As you can see, this isn't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill celebrity profile.
* David Foster Wallace's piece, "Host," was my least favorite piece in the book—probably due to the excessive use of footnotes (printed in the most unusual way) that kept distracting me from the main story, which is a profile of a radio talk show host named John Ziegler. I almost skipped this piece entirely but ended up powering through just so I could write this review and honestly say I read the entire book.
* "Tales of the Tyrant" by Mark Bowden is an extensive piece on Saddam Hussein, which I wish I'd read way back when the U.S. first started getting involved with Iraq. It was quite eye-opening and enlightening and shed a little more light on the country of Iraq and its long-time dictator and what kind of person he was.
* "Losing the War" by Lee Sandlin is an interesting piece in which the author asks various people what they know about war, specifically World War II. And what does he find? "Nobody could tell me the first thing about it. Once they got past who won they almost drew a blank. All they knew were the big totemic names—Pearl Harbor, D-day, Auschwitz, Hiroshima—whose unfathomable reaches of experience has been boiled down to an abstract atrocity. The rest was gone."
* One of the few pieces I felt didn't fit in was "The Hostess Diaries: My Year At A Hot Spot" by Coco Henson Scales. Although an amusing enough look at what really goes on behind-the-scenes at an exclusive nightclub, the piece felt too slight in comparison to the other pieces in the book.
* I really loved "My Republican Journey" by Dan Savage because it reminded me how much I enjoy Dan Savage's writing. (I used to read his sex column in The Onion and just loved his books The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant and Skipping Towards Gomorrah.) In fact, it reminded me that I really should get the rest of Savage's books that he's been writing while I was doing other things. Shame on me!! This particular story chronicles Savage's attempt to infiltrate the Republican Party during the 1996 presidential elections in an effort to change the Republican's view of homosexuality from the "inside." If you've never read Savage's biting, hysterical point of view, this essay is a wonderful introduction. (But not if you're a hard-core, conservative Republican ... cuz' my guess is that you won't really care for Savage's worldview. I love him though.)
* "Power Steer" by Michael Pollan is almost guaranteed to put you off red meat for awhile. The story follows the short life of steer No. 534, which Pollan buys in an effort to "find out how a modern, industrial steak is produced in America these days, from insemination to slaughter." What he finds was eye-opening and probably more than I wanted to know. But if you eat meat, you should probably understand where it comes from the effects of the modern meat industry on the environment. After reading this essay, it made me want to read Pollan's longer books, like The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals or In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.
* I particularly enjoyed James McManus's story, "Fortune's Smile: World Series of Poker," as Mr. Jenners and I went through a Texas Hold 'Em craze a few years back (along with much of America). Chronicling the author's unlikely journey to the final table at the World Series of Poker (back before it was a well-known and a regular fixture on TV), the piece has a "you are there" quality to it that I really enjoyed. If Mr. Jenners hadn't already consumed almost every anecdotal book on gambling and casinos, I might have even had a shot at getting him to read this one.
My Final Recommendation
If you're looking for a diverse collection of non-fiction writing that differs wildly in topics and style but that all share a foundation of good writing that involves the reader, look no further. This collection had everything you could want—and will probably lead you to seek additional works by the authors represented in the collection.