As I mentioned when I started this book, I became a bit obsessed with scientology this spring. I'd already read Janet Reitman's Inside Scientology: ThAs I mentioned when I started this book, I became a bit obsessed with scientology this spring. I'd already read Janet Reitman's Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion, after which I rewatched the documentary Going Clear. I then started watching Leah Remini's A&E documentary series Scientology and the Aftermath (available on Netflix and Hulu).
I've been aware of Leah Remini's career since she appeared on Who's the Boss, back when she and I (and Alyssa Milano, whose "best friend from the old neighborhood" she played) were teenagers, but I wasn't very familiar with her, and I was impressed by both the A&E series and Remini herself: she's very smart, compassionate, and (despite her years in scientology) savvy, and the show was very well done. Remini was in scientology from childhood until her mid-forties and even spent a bit of time in the Sea Org in Clearwater, Florida (scientology's headquarters), but her own story isn't covered in much detail on the show, and she is not mentioned at all in Lawrence Wright's Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, which I also read around this time. Eventually I became so curious about her story that I ordered this book online, waited impatiently for it, began it the day it arrived, and read it in less than two days.
Troublemaker, like many (not all) celebrity memoirs, is obviously ghostwritten, but Remini's voice comes through, and everything about her life is interesting: Her experience in the Sea Org as a child is fascinating to read about, as are her later scientology experiences and her eventual defection from the church. The book does a good job of explaining what scientology is like for both an ordinary member and a famous member, and her process of deciding to leave the church, and the church's reaction, makes for compelling reading.
I'm my mother's daughter in the sense that I love some good gossip, and this book also really delivered in that area. In particular, there's more in here about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes's relationship than I've seen anywhere else, and I ate that up. Tom Cruise comes across as such a bizarre, narcissistic, and genuinely insane person that I'm surprised he didn't try to sue Remini for this portrayal. Maybe he doesn't want to call attention to it? Remini seems so honest that I believe her account, and she's also quite funny, which of course made this book even more entertaining.
Troublemaker is obviously not some kind of groundbreaking masterpiece, but it delivers all it promises in a fully enjoyable and informative read. For that, it deserves 4 stars....more
If you've ever thought that start-ups and cults had a lot in common, you'll feel validated by NXIVM, a shady business with a messianic leader that quiIf you've ever thought that start-ups and cults had a lot in common, you'll feel validated by NXIVM, a shady business with a messianic leader that quickly morphed into a bizarre sex cult with a messianic leader. Don't Call It a Cult provides all the details you could ever need or want on the whole sordid situation. If you still can't get enough, I also recommend the CBC Uncover podcast Escaping NXIVM and the binge-worthy four-part documentary Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult....more
Here is another book where I kept thinking I was reading about a cult instead of a startup. As with Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, you will marvel at Here is another book where I kept thinking I was reading about a cult instead of a startup. As with Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, you will marvel at how investors were so blinded by Adam Neumann's alleged charm that they were willing to sink zillions of dollars into his unproven business. Of course, the difference is that Holmes was promising something truly groundbreaking while Neumann was promising office space rentals. WeNeed to stop giving these charlatans such long ropes with which to hang themselves when short ones would work just as well and probably a lot faster. What would these people do if they actually had to work for it? Also recommended: Hulu's documentary, unimaginatively titled WeWork....more
In general, [Susan] had contempt for people who didn't do what they truly wanted to do. She believed that most people, unless they were very poor, madIn general, [Susan] had contempt for people who didn't do what they truly wanted to do. She believed that most people, unless they were very poor, made their own lives, and, to her, security over freedom was a deplorable choice. It was servile.
She believed that, in our culture, at least, people were much freer than they thought they were and had more options than they were willing to acknowledge. She also believed that how other people treated you was, if not wholly, mostly within your control, and she was always after me to take that control. "Stop letting people bully you," she would bully me.
I don't know, Susan Sontag sounds kind of awesome.
Sempre Susan is a unique book. When Sigrid Nunez (winner of a 2018 National Book Award) was just starting out as a writer, she worked very briefly as Susan Sontag's assistant, began dating Sontag's son David, and moved in with the two of them for what seems like a relatively brief amount of time, a year or so. This is Nunez's memoir of that time. It's different from any biographical treatment, not only because Nunez was actually living with her subject, but also because Sontag was going through cancer treatment for at least part of that time. So this short book is an encapsulation of an unusual period of both Sontag's and Nunez's lives.
The book is well-written and highly entertaining and definitely gave me a good idea of what Sontag was like as a person, but the tone of it bothered me. I have no doubt that Sontag could be difficult, but she was also clearly operating on a different plane from most of us, and I thought Nunez was a bit too snarky about her (as the quote above might imply). It's ultimately a fond portrayal, but even after all these years, Nunez obviously still sees Sontag as something of an annoying parental figure, despite her brilliance. Really, this book made me realize how difficult it is to write a portrait of a highly influential person that actually does them justice. Even an acclaimed author like Nunez isn't totally up to the task. It's hard to believe anyone would be, although a massive bio of Sontag is coming out later this year, so I guess we'll see.
I read this book because I'd recently seen the documentary Regarding Susan Sontag, and it made me curious to learn more about Sontag and of course to read her work. I plan to do both in 2019, and despite its flaws Sempre Susan was a good introductory text....more
Hopefully you've seen the incredible documentary I Am Not Your Negro. This book tie-in is a transcript of all of the audio from the film, along with sHopefully you've seen the incredible documentary I Am Not Your Negro. This book tie-in is a transcript of all of the audio from the film, along with still photos and some introductory material by the filmmakers. By far the most powerful thing about the documentary, and by extension this book, is Baldwin's own words, taken from his talks, talk-show appearances and TV debates, and never-before-seen notes from the book he was working on before his death, a joint biography of and meditation on Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. Baldwin has no equal in our culture and if you aren't familiar with him, I definitely recommend you check out the documentary as an introduction. The film gets five stars from me; this book version doesn't show off Baldwin's compelling charisma, but since it's the same content it also deserves five stars....more
The documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill was released in 2003 and proceeded to migrate on and off my Netflix queue for more than a decade beThe documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill was released in 2003 and proceeded to migrate on and off my Netflix queue for more than a decade before I finally watched it this spring. I have absolutely no idea why it took me so long—the film contains all my favorite things! By which I mean birds, the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, and lovable misfits. When I saw it back in April I immediately became a bit obsessed, and procuring and reading this book, written by the "bird man" himself, became job one on my to-do list.
I had high expectations for this book; I wasn't looking for just some cheesy movie tie-in. The fact is, Mark Bittner spent decades living close to the bone precisely because he wanted to be able to devote his life to creativity and contemplation. I hoped that would translate into a decent first literary outing for him, and fortunately it did. Like the movie, this is an absolutely charming story. After devoting some chapters to his early years on the streets of North Beach (fascinating stuff), Bittner effectively depicts the searching and despair that caused him to start paying attention to the wild parrots of San Francisco. Apparently up until then no experts had wanted to study the birds because they weren't native to the area (!), so eventually Bittner was able to carve out a niche as the go-to wild-parrot person in the city, which brought the film crew calling and changed his life completely. It's all in the book, which is structured bird by bird, with Bittner managing to chart his own life and growth via the stories of the individual wild parrots that most captured his imagination.
I'm a little sad that I waited so long to see this documentary and read this book. The fact is that it's now been about 20 years since Bittner could really be called the "bird man"—he's moved on, emotionally if not geographically, and the whole thing is now an episode of recent history. But I think the fact that I'm now around the same age as Bittner was when the movie was filmed made me understand and relate to him a bit more. Who knows if I would've been as touched by the whole thing if I'd experienced it when I was much younger?
A quick internet search reveals that Bittner is currently working on another memoir, one that delves more deeply into the many years he spent living on the streets (or nearly so) in North Beach. I find this prospect insanely exciting. This is the aspect of his life that I'm most curious about, and The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill makes it clear he's got the writing skills to do it justice. Hurry up and finish your new book, Mark Bittner! Just because it took me over a decade to read your last one is no reason to keep me waiting now....more
Recently I reviewed Janet Reitman's Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion and complained that the book had way too much dRecently I reviewed Janet Reitman's Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion and complained that the book had way too much detail, making it feel like homework. After reading Going Clear, I feel a bit like taking that back. This book, in my opinion, was a little short on detail, particularly about some of scientology's illicit behaviors around the FBI and IRS. I ended up really glad I'd already gotten that information from Reitman's book.
What this book did have, obviously, was a lot more celebrity gossip, and I was definitely here for that. I can't get enough of Tom Cruise's bizarre shenanigans. This book was also more compellingly written than the Reitman book, so I'd be more inclined to recommend it (and its accompanying documentary) to someone looking to get up to speed on the human rights–violating cult of scientology....more
Death at SeaWorld is a hard book to rate. There is no doubt this book is jam-packed with information about whales, both their lives in the wild and hoDeath at SeaWorld is a hard book to rate. There is no doubt this book is jam-packed with information about whales, both their lives in the wild and how they fare in captivity (spoiler alert: they fare poorly). It also provides more details about various injuries and deaths at marine parks than you're likely to find anywhere else, and is probably the most comprehensive account of the battle between OSHA and SeaWorld that's been written to date. It is, in fact, a perfect, depressing microcosm of the ways large corporations can buy off politicians in order to remain essentially unregulated, regardless of the stakes. The writing is pretty corny but entertaining and accessible. If you're interested in this topic, you shouldn't hesitate to read Death at SeaWorld.
Still, this book could've been better. Kirby focuses on a few people of interest in telling this story—some SeaWorld trainers and especially Naomi Rose, a marine biologist who works for the Humane Society. These were all interesting people, and I can see why Kirby thought they would be a good way into all of the information he wanted to impart, but really this book doubles as a bio of Naomi Rose, and I don't know that anyone needed or wanted that. We didn't need to know about every move she made in college and grad school, for instance, or the details of her wedding. In addition to feeling superfluous, this focus on Rose was limiting. For example, the book describes a congressional hearing featuring several panelists, all there to talk about the topic of whales in captivity. Kirby recounts this hearing as a showdown between Rose and a SeaWorld spokesperson, completely omitting anything the other panelists said. I would've liked to have known what the other panelists said! That's why I was there, for the information, not for the life and triumphs of Naomi Rose.
Beyond that, the aforementioned corny writing was frustrating. I don't need Kirby's contrived descriptions of everyone's appearance; if it was important to him for us to know what everyone looks like, why not include a photo section? That would have been way more interesting than his describing women as "older" and "matronly," talking about the "blond strands running down" one woman's back and other awkward turns of phrase, and constantly reminding us how pretty some of the young women are.
In any event, this is still worth reading, and I landed at 4 stars based on the book's sheer informativeness. I recommend following up with a viewing of Blackfish—I'd seen the movie before, but after spending a whole book with the trainers, it was fascinating to watch it again and see what they all actually looked like. Plus, they provided bits of info that weren't covered in Death at SeaWorld, such as their analyses of what actually happened on the day of Dawn Brancheau's death. Finally, if after all this you find you're really into cetaceans, I also recommend the documentaries The Cove and Racing Extinction for extra credit....more
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