Book learning #75 Letters from America by Alistair Cooke

Oh Dear Christ!

This was one of several wonderful Christmas books (2011 was a profoundly good year for the Christmas books).

A brief look through the photographs and I saw a style worth following. A brief look through the essays and I recalled a long lost friend.

The earliest essays dated from 1946. They were poignant, funny and true. That pattern continued for the next 60 odd years. The essays cover a wide range of topics, almost every aspect of American life, society and government.

These essays made February feel like a homesick month, a rich, textured form of homesickness, an aspirational feeling, a good feeling.

Thank you Mr Cooke.

nb. The image is not that of the book in question. I have taken the rare step of choosing an image I like as opposed to an image the publishers like.

Book learning 65. Nixonland by Rick Perlstein

Oh Christmas book, Oh Christmas book, I love you because you lasted me into March.

I also love you because you were the warm chocolate bath of US political history that this US political uber-junkie needed. The immersion was almost perfect, good enough for the long soggy winter, the damp problem, the crying babies, the work pressures.

I would leave you by the bedside each morning with a whisper, 'I'll be back, tonight, I promise'.

I kept my end of the bargain, you kept yours. I told my friends about you, I took you places, hell, I even took you down the pub once or twice!

You told me about the hippies, the yippies, the war, the riots. We hang out with Ed Muskie, Spiro Agnew, Jerry Rubin and that swarthy fellow who kept on about the silent majority.

You delighted me with tales of the 1972 election and the insanity of the conventions, the social nuggets and Martha Mitchell.

Most of all, you reminded me why I consider Richard Nixon to be the benchmark of the darker arts of politics, the satanic master of the craft.

Thank you.

Book Learning 58: Blue Blood by Edward Conlon

Blue Blood by Edward Conlon.

The first of the Christmas books bites the dust.

A pacey first 350 pages which stalled abit after that, became a bit repetitive. I still thoroughly enjoyed it even if I did flick a bit towards the end. The most enjoyable parts were the history of the NYPD and the folklore angle.

At various parts of this, I felt homesick for the old place.

I'm gonna pass this onto a good old friend.

Book Learning 52:America, Empire of liberty by David Reynolds

America, Empire of liberty by David Reynolds

I have a favourite brand of chocolate bar. Well known within my family, I receive one twice a year, at Christmas and on my birthday. On each occasion I unwrap the chocolate bar, place it in the fridge and nibble on it for months (not being a huge fan of chocolate) a chunk here, a week or two later, another chunk. It's treating chocolate the way some people can smoke twice a year when they enjoy a little too much red wine. It's a testament to the non addictive side of my personality, a feat of restraint.

I was given this book for my birthday at the end of March, on the same day that I opened my

biannual choccy treat. Like the chocolate I was able to dip into this book every now and then, swill the flavour around in my mouth and delight in the taste.

In 645 pages Reynolds attempts to provide an overview of American history from prehistoric times to November 2008. Of course there are gaps and the weight is clearly post 17th century liberal. But it's still a lovely thing to hold and behold. It was originally a BBC radio 4 series broadcast last year, 15 minute shows focussing on a different element of the American story. As a result of this format it's an ideal read for the moderately informed (or, like me, well informed in parts but clueless in others) This book has proved to be a real comfort of late, chapters and sections manageable enough to sit with for half an hour here or there, in the garden, on the loo, late at night in bed. Not only has the content been interesting and enjoyable but the style has made it a pleasure to engage in the art of reading.

If all book could be such.

Book Learning29:Rats. Observations on the history and habitat of the city's most unwanted inhabitants. By Robert Sullivan.

Rats. Observations on the history and habitat of the city's most unwanted inhabitants. By Robert Sullivan.

A fascinating read. Not just the rats themsleves but an unsavory history of the city we live in, of how rats affect our daily lives and how we affect theirs. Sullivan goes in for some cool history of the sanitation dept and living conditions on some of the tougher neighborhoods. He also hangs out with a lot of pest control folk. All good stuff.
My favourite bits were the comparisons of Brooklyn and Manhattan rats (Brooklyn ones are generally more chilled out) and the list of rat foods (they love mac n' cheese). Also some good myth busting- there are not as many rats as there are people.
All in all, not bad. I still hate the fuckers though.