The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work - Alain de Botton

Two centuries ago, our forebears would have known the precise history and origin of nearly every one of the limited number of things they ate and owned, as well as of the people and tools involved in their production. They were acquainted with the pig, the carpenter, the weaver, the loom and the dairymaid. The range of items available for purchase may have grown exponentially since then, but our understanding of their genesis has diminished almost to the point of obscurity. We are now as imaginatively disconnected from the manufacture and distribution of our goods as we are practically in reach of them, a process of alienation which has stripped us of myriad opportunities of wonder, gratitude and guilt.

I loved this book. The author takes an in depth look at some ordinary, and yet eccentric jobs--electric power line engineer, cookie maker, motivational speaker, commercial fisherman, and more. Each chapter elaborates the fine points of the job as well as examines the interactions between humans and the work we do. The author writes in a very readable and engaging style while making the reader constantly evaluate how we live on planet earth.

We see both pleasures and sorrows in the working world. Mostly, the reader is left to question how it is we got into the predicament where our working life can be so separated from nature and human needs. The author provides interesting insights into the unusual aspects of many jobs while illuminating the extreme disconnection many experience in the corporation dominated world of today. I highly recommend this book.

The Invention of Air - Steven Johnson

So this is a history book about the Enlightenment and the American Revolution that travels from the carbon cycle of the planet itself, to the chemistry of gunpowder, to the emergence of the coffeehouse in European culture, to the emotional dynamics of two friends compelled by history to betray each other.

This is an entertaining book about Joseph Priestly, a scientist who made some great discoveries in the late 1700s. He was also a great intellectual who contributed to a variety of discussions with famous people including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Priestly was a free thinker who opposed religious fundamentalism and supported the French revolution. That got him in trouble in Britain and he immigrated to the US seeking more freedom to continue his scientific work. That work included discovering that plants create oxygen.

The book is well written with the author displaying his own opinions on the development of science and intellectual thought. For example, he praises the benefits of early coffee shops where thoughtful people could discuss ideas at length. Priestly's life is fascinating and if this book didn't get a little bogged down with details in the last half, I would have given it my highest rating.

Letters from A to X - John Berger

I wanted to put my hand on a letter and draw its outline to send you. Sometime after - whenever it was - I came across a book which explained how to draw hands and I opened it, turning page after page. And I decided to buy it. It was like the story of our life. All stories are also the stories of hands - picking up, balancing, pointing, joining, kneading, threading, caressing, abandoned in sleep, cutting, eating, wiping, playing music, scratching, grasping, peeling, clenching, pulling a trigger, folding. On each page of the book there are careful drawings of hands performing a different action. So I'm going to copy one.

I'm writing to you.

Now I look down at my hands that want to touch you and they seem obsolete because they haven't touched you for so long.

I think it would be impossible to not love a John Berger book. From A to X is like a rich desert that hits your mouth causing you to pause and say "Oh my!" I finished it, after a slow devour, and wanted to immediately read it again.

The book is written as a story in letters from a lover to her amour in prison. Inventively composed, it not only includes the letters, but is also interspersed with tidbits of philosophy. "The universe resembles a brain, not a machine. Life is a story being told now. The first reality is story. This is what being a mechanic taught me."

This is a book to savor. Berger is one of the finest living writers. The book is a tour de force of fine writing and expounds a world view of people versus the machine.

Negotiating with the Dead - Margaret Atwood

Writing, Writers, The Writing Life - if this last is not an oxymoron. Is the subject like the many-headed Hydra, which grows tow other subtexts as soon as you demolish one? Or is it more like Jacob's nameless angel, with whom you must wrestle until he blesses you? Or is it like Proteus, who must be firmly grasped through all his changes? Hard to get hold of, certainly. Where to start? At the end called Writing, or the end called The Writer? With the gerund or the noun, the activity or the one performing it? And where exactly does one stop and the other begin?

Atwood takes a fresh, fun, and stimulating look at writing. There is no shortage of books by writing on the art of writing. This, however, is a good one. The book grew out of series of lectures on writing. A lot of ground is covered on a thoughtful look at the unusual skill and art involved in writing. More than a book to teach one how to write, this book examines what's involved in writing and those who perform it.

While Atwood offers a disclaimer that she is not a scholar, simply a reader and a writer, she quickly dispels that notion with her erudite discussions about various aspects of writing. If you enjoy good writing and want to examine the art, you will enjoy reading this book.

Rouse Up, O Young Men of the New Age - Kenzaburo Oe

"I'd given Eyore the definition of foot," I told her. That's what opened a passage between us and gave us a handhold on the day. The trouble is, I promised I'd define everything in this world for him. But so far "foot" is the clearest definition I've come up with and that wasn't even my own invention; it was gout that made that possible.

I love Oe's books before I read them. That's because his chapter titles are so intriguing, such as The Ghost of Flea, A Cold Babe Stands in the Furious Air, and The Soul Descends as a Falling Star to the Bone of My Heel. The chapter titles come from William Blake who influences Oe and plays a prominent part in this book.

This book continues to study his family and mentally challenged son. Subtle and powerful, it takes the reader through many dynamics of human relationships. Oe weaves writings from Blake throughout the book. The father-son relationship with a severely handicapped child is portrayed beautifully in both its complexity and pain. As the child becomes a man, the mental status of his son creates challenges most of us never experience. I think a lot about Oe's books after I finish them, which for me helps define a great book.