terra non firma: yup, I think I still have ADD

Monday, December 18, 2006

yup, I think I still have ADD

I received two of the books I ordered from Amazon on thurs. I have about 10 more pages to go in Rakoff's Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, The Torments of Low Thread Count, The Never- Ending Quest for Artisanal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems. I do love all of the This American Life contributors books, but I've come to realize they're more or less just Bobo mind candy. Funny and wry and smartly satirical but ultimately slightly vacuous. Tasty and easy to digest and they generally preach to the liberal, elite, politically progressive, gay-loving, god-hating heathens of the two coasts. Basically, me. I don't mean to disparage Rakoff and his ilk, but I'm starting to feel a little worn out. Although I still have a deep and abiding love of Sarah Vowell, who I truly feel is a level or two above her compatriots, Rakoff and Sedaris, perhaps because she's such a self-deprecating civics nerd and maybe because she managed to humanize history in Assassination Vacation. In any case, I tore through Don't Get Too Comfortable in 2 or 3 days in what was a fairly busy weekend. I dont think that's a reflection of my prodigious reading talents. I think the book is just a little, um, fluffy. (but what was I expecting with a subtitle that references low thread count sheets?).

The true test of my literary ADD is next. I'm going to start vidal's Lincoln - and we'll see if I can get through fiction again (dipping my toes with historical fiction). I also leave for new york tomorrow, so with a 6 hour flight and occasional train trips between long island and manhattan, this is the perfect testing ground. I usually buy every single shelter and food mag I don't subscribe to for my flight (punctuated by an US Weekly and Vogue here and there). will try to curtail my mag consumption in favor of something a little more...weighty but it will be difficult. wish me luck.

1 Comments:

At 1:42 PM, Jess said...: Agreed on your keen analysis of the TAL contribs. There's another good use for what you accurately label Bobo mind candy -- Mommy Brain reading. I've got the Rakoff book next to my nursing chair and sadly, I haven't even read it yet. Still, it's all I can even fathom to attempt.