God this book is painstaking. (Read: painful.) It's good, it's thorough, and I read all five hundred pages or whatever. But the writing style induces God this book is painstaking. (Read: painful.) It's good, it's thorough, and I read all five hundred pages or whatever. But the writing style induces anguish. It's so full of qualifications like: "But this correlation doesn't imply causality" or "Even when we hold race, class, gender, education, and imcome constant..."
I'll save you hours of your life and give you the summary: Throughout the twentieth century, more and more Americans were participating in clubs, having dinner parties, going to church, volunteering, working on political campaigns--until the 1970s. Then, this steady increase in partipation became a sharp drop, and civic life continues to decline.
Various things could have caused the decline: women entering the work force, racial integration, the internet, longer commutes, busier work schedules. Really, though, the evidence points to two main things that caused this decline: television and generational differences (the baby boomers were less likely to volunteer, Gen X even moreso, and so on).
This is a shame, because people who are involved in civic life (even something as small as playing cards or hosting dinner parties) are more likely to vote, to volunteer, to have friends, to create safe neighborhoods, to make more money, etc, etc.
This book might just finally get my ass in gear to do the volunteering I've been talking about....more
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. So funny that I cannot believe I'd never heard about it. I thought I knew all the NPR humorists, butThis is one of the funniest books I've ever read. So funny that I cannot believe I'd never heard about it. I thought I knew all the NPR humorists, but I stumbled across this gem a few days ago and couldn't put it down. A small part of me is paranoid that all you hipsters knew about this book ages ago, and I'm only catching on now.
One of my favorite This American Life segments is the prologue to "Time to Save the World." Michael Beaumier, who runs the personals ads in the Chicago Reader, talks about a shy man who placed a 'Missed Connections' ad every week about a new woman. Heard it? If not, I won't ruin it, but you should listen to it now. If so, you have an inkling of just how amazing these stories will be.
These are Beaumier's memoirs about working on the personals, helping people find their soulmates even though his relationship is on the fritz. How he gets involved in people's lives even though he knows he shouldn't. How he watches people gradually change their ads until they become something else entirely. But also how his mother collects Irish knick-knacks. And how his boyfriend is a hypochondriac. Man, that's a terrible summary. Just read it!
I know they're huge shoes to fill, but if you like David Sedaris or David Rakoff, you'll also like Beaumier. He's hilarious and disconcertingly wise....more
I loved this book. A straight-forward, simple explanation of Economics. It uses very specific case studies to illustrate the broad theories of EconomiI loved this book. A straight-forward, simple explanation of Economics. It uses very specific case studies to illustrate the broad theories of Economics. It sounds weird, but I honestly couldn't put it down. I read it in less than a week. ...more
I've been on this Economics kick lately: listening to Marketplace, reading other laymen's Econ books. This is basically an intro guide to investing. II've been on this Economics kick lately: listening to Marketplace, reading other laymen's Econ books. This is basically an intro guide to investing. It's not Investing for Dummies, though. It's very clearly written but still manages some very complex ideas. I'd enjoyed it and feel confident to start investing as a result....more
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