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Ten Books Every Patriot Should Read

I think this topic is well-suited for Patriot’s Day and the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks. In the midst of money-hungry politics and ferocious elections, it’s easy to lose sight of the core values, ideas, and philosophies of what being an American is all about.

These ten books serve as a good reminder for all of us. They also show us that there is still a lot of work to be done.

1984 by George Orwell. Orwell’s classic 1949 novel is a cautionary tale presented in the form of a futuristic society controlled by a totalitarian regime. A suffocating dystopia, this frightening new world depicts what happens when absolute power corrupts absolutely. Though 1984 takes place in London, it is a universal story - and a brave, disturbing warning against giving the authorities too much authority. It is an empowering, explosive novel that is, sadly, as applicable today as when it was written. 1984, through its terrifying vision, shows us that knowledge is not only power. It’s patriotism.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. People with a different skin color, a different culture, and a different religion encroach upon the homeland of another and systemically plan a series of violent attacks in the name of liberation. Sound familiar? In Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dee Brown meticulously recounts the plight of Native Americans in the late nineteenth century, displaced from their land and slaughtered by the U.S. government. Another (unfortunately) timeless book that bears that most bitter of lessons: those who do not learn from history are bound to be repeat it. To be a true American patriot, it is vital to understand where the many roots of patriotism lie - both the good roots and the bad.

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau, a quintessential American patriot, was outraged by the dehumanization of slavery and war, and set forth a list of masterful ideas called nonviolent resistance. These idea would go on to inspire the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. In his essay Civil Disobedience, Thoreau challenged his countrymen to peacefully rebel against a government that was trying to control the conscience of the people. He also resisted, by refusing to pay taxes and ending up in prison, the government’s attempts to make American citizens arbiters of injustice. ”That government is best which governs least,” he wrote, introducing the radical idea that Americans needn’t be sheep, but instead a people ruled by conscience -their own and not their politicians’. Now that’s patriotism.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine. ”O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe…. O! receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.” These words, by British-born American revolutionary Thomas Paine, were written in 1776 as a common sense appeal to British authorities for colonial independence. Yet, in this age of war and terror, we can still find the inspiration and pride inherent in Paine’s words: a renegade call to action to stand up, be counted, and rail against the injustices imposed both at home and abroad. Paine reminds us that there is strength in numbers, and only when we realize this will the REAL revolution begin.

The End of America by Naomi Wolf. Subtitled “A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot”, Naomi Wolf’s brilliant 2007 treatise outlines the ten steps countries undertake when transforming into a dictatorship. The scholarship of this book is brilliant, intelligent, and upsetting. But what’s even more upsetting is that all ten steps have already been initiated by our current administration (and most of them covertly, away from the glare of public knowledge). Wolf shows us how we are sleepwalking our way along a rocky, downhill path, and only when we wake up will we truly be worthy of the title “patriot”. There’s great sense in the fact that if we refuse to let our constitutional freedoms be destroyed, it is then, and only then, that we will begin to understand the meanings of patriotism, liberty, and pride.

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. The quintessential book of American poetry by the man who just might be the greatest American poet. Whitman’s 1855 collection of poems cloaks radical ideas of freedom in the guise of some of the most spellbinding poetry ever written. Written in a time when the chaste overseers of American morality were constantly looking over his shoulder, Whitman threw himself into the naked thrill of the senses and fearlessly crafted his beautiful, patriotic odes. But Whitman knew something far more profound than what it means to be an American, or even a patriot for that matter. He knew what it meant to be human, a citizen of the world, demanding justice from blind authorities. Making his claims in the form of verse, Whitman wrote of the hopes of an entire people, a nation, and, in many ways, the world entire. ”I am he who tauntingly compels men, women, nations, / Crying, Leap from your seats and contend for your lives!” (from On Blue Ontario’s Shore).

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Zinn’s 1980 book is the story of the America our high school history textbooks conveniently left out. Meticulously researched and wonderfully written, A People’s History charts the development of the nation through the eyes of the disenfranchised: blacks, women, American Indians, war resisters, and poor laborers. Reading this book, it is impossible not to grasp that the bravery of those history forgot are just as important as the courage of those she remembered. Perhaps even more so.

Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy. JFK’s 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winner is the chronicle of eight rogue senators throughout history who disregarded party lines and ignored the status quo by following their own ideas of freedom and patriotism. Faced with criticism and unpopularity from their colleagues and constituents, the men Kennedy celebrates had the courage and fortitude to bring justice and equality to those deprived of it. We can all take a lesson from the eight senators who put their careers, and perhaps even their lives, on the line for the good of the American people. This is patriotism at its fearless best.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The landmark novel, long considered the best American novel ever written, is so much more than a coming-of-age tale or a courtroom drama. Lee’s only novel (another Pulitzer winner) is a story of social inequality, racism, classism, gender roles, rape, and the bravery of one man who dares to take these issues on - forever altering the American literary and political landscapes. Atticus Finch, defending a black man accused of raping a white woman, is a fictional hero we should all strive to be: heroic, sensible, whip-smart, and fully comprehending of the fact that just because a law is a law doesn’t make it just. Finch is imploring us to fight with the greatest weapon we possess: our hearts.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau. In his trademark collection of essays, Thoreau examines the time he spent living in the woods outside Concord, Massachusetts. Along the way, he carefully inspects the natural world, down to the tiniest points of detail, and uses these details to illustrate the workings of the government and the will of the people. Isolating himself from society in an effort to understand it, Thoreau’s education drawn from nature is intensely moving and terrifically simple. Simplicity and self-reliance, those are the two biggest lessons he walks away with. And what better lessons for a patriot than the ability to think for oneself, whittle oneself down to the barest of necessities, and wake up to life so that it may be lived more deliberately and purposefully? This deliberation, Thoreau came to understand, is at the heart of all those buzzwords that are popular even today: life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.

September 11, 2008 | Filed Under Authors, Essays, Commentary & Criticism, General Fiction, History, Poetry, Politics | Leave a Comment

On Second Thought: A Book Re-Review of “More Than It Hurts You” by Darin Strauss

A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of the book More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss. My critique was kind of a mixed bag, and my final grade reflected that. But something rather surprising happened, and I’ve been re-reviewing my review of this book. You see, I simply cannot stop thinking about these characters, and I’ve come to feel my initial take on the story wasn’t as spot-on as it should have been.

More Than It Hurts You is a bold and ambitious novel that explores some serious, disturbing conditions of the human experience. Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome is just one of the issues it tackles with fearless grace. When you figure in the plethora of other hot-bed topics, like racism, antisemitism, class divisions, and the inadequacies of the criminal justice system, the stories of the three central characters in More Than It Hurts You can really burrow deep under the skin.

Trust me. I should know. They’ve been haunting me for nearly a month now.

The book does go in some unexpected directions, and I would’ve liked to know more about the “lynch-pin” character of Dori, but what has stuck with me with an unforeseen ardor is the originality and power of the story being told here. Darin Strauss, who I simply can’t say enough good things about, has a writing style that is luminous: a penetrating, witty, and altogether affecting voice in contemporary letters. The great gift of his storytelling is evident in the fact that I, the Book Snark, not one to eat crow easily, am compelled to go back and say, “Hey. I was wrong.”

One of the biggest elements of this book that I have carried strongest is its conclusion. I honestly did not know where it was headed, even just a few pages before the end. But the last line…oh my, the last line…has echoed in my snarkskull like no other in recent memory. Now, I am not giving you permission to go get this book just to skip ahead to the last line. If you do that, trust that the Book Snark will haunt your dreams and steal your underwear. You must read this book in its entirety to comprehend the power of the conclusion. With one line, one expertly-delivered blow, Strauss completely, utterly, and unexpectedly changed the entire course of More Than It Hurts You. It is a brave, beautiful move, and I’ve not been able to let it go. I am even going to confess that I’ve woken up in the middle of the night, wondering how Josh and Dori, and little baby Zach, are doing. I think this is less a tribute to my craziness (which is undeniable) and more a tribute to Mr. Strauss’s exceptional storytelling abilities (which are also undeniable).

Perhaps the reason I felt do distracted by the tangents the story sometimes follows is just further evidence of how moved I was by this book. When I read the adventures of Darlene’s father, or Josh and Dori’s lawyer, or Darlene’s doomed blind date, it was taking me away from the mesmerizing tale at the core of More Than It Hurts You. But I am realizing now just how pivotal some of these tangents are, at least insofar as they shed even more light on the three fascinating people fueling the main story.

My final, most important, piece of insight on More Than It Hurts You is this: READ IT. I am confident its force will move you in the same way it moved me: these three people inhabiting your thoughts with both their humanity and their mistakes. This is precisely what has made me rethink my original take on the book. We’re all human, we all make mistakes. I hope that, like me, Josh, Dori and Darlene, wherever they are, are able to own their actions - and the motivations behind them - with the same clarity. New Grade: B+

Image Source CCCOE

September 8, 2008 | Filed Under Eating Crow, General Fiction | 19 Comments

Book Review: More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss

Snarknote Please read my re-review of this book.

Josh Goldin has a comfortable suburban Long Island life. He has a beautiful, devoted wife, Dori, and an adorable newborn son, Zack. He works as an ad salesman for a cable TV network, a job that fits perfectly with his laid-back, “everyman” personality. He earns a decent living, owns a nice home, enjoys new fatherhood, loves his wife, and has a good marriage. So what if he and Dori don’t talk much anymore; that’s to be expected when a new baby arrives on the scene. Right? Right?

Dori Goldin is a former phlebotomist who happily left her career to be a full-time mom. Her life revolves around her son, and she’d have it no other way. Even with baby spit-up on her nightshirt, she’s still a beautiful woman, vibrant, intelligent, and committed to her family. So what if, every once in a while, she has to intentionally inflict serious pain on her son in order to bring the family closer together. Right? Right?

Dr. Darlene Stokes is a brilliant physician, Head of Pediatrics at Josh and Dori’s local hospital. Darlene is African-American, a single mother, and has worked with fierce determination and skill to attain the multitude of achievements she’s amassed in her life. One afternoon, Dori Goldin rushes her son to Darlene’s ER with an inexplicable illness: an illness that posits more than a few serious question marks in Dr. Stokes’s head. When she suspects Dori might have had something to do with Zack’s illness, she’s just making the obvious observations and taking the necessary precautions. Right? Right?

In More Than It Hurts You, Darin Strauss, the author of Cheng & Eng and The Real McCoy, tackles the challenging, fascinating terrain of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (a disorder in which a parent, usually a mother, purposely injures her own child in order to get attention for herself) and its devastating effects. The story is also charged with a panacea of other potentially explosive elements: racism, antisemitism, class divisions, the healthcare industry, the criminal justice system, the slow, agonizing death of American culture. This is a brave, ambitious novel that succeeds nicely on several levels, but falls flat on many others.

Strauss has a terrific gift with prose. Whether burrowing into the innermost thoughts of his characters, or making an airy pop culture reference, he is equally effective. His words are finely-chosen little sparks of electricity that paint a devastating portrait of a family in crises and a doctor in turmoil. Strauss’s impressive prowess with language is what eventually makes this novel as entertaining and readable as it is.

The story, though complex and mesmerizing, doesn’t quite match its author’s talent. More Than It Hurts You frequently veers off-course onto some truly baffling and distracting tangents, and when it does get back in line (which it commendably does), it’s very difficult not to feel a bit jarred. There are a few elongated sequences that, while filling out the “behind the scenes” lives of the characters, prove pretty pointless. Darlene out on a date, in which she waxes philosophical about the current state of music in an overlong indictment of the music industry and music criticism. Darlene’s father, whom she’s never met, just released from prison and unexpectedly becoming a hero during a botched robbery. Josh and Dori’s smarmy lawyer going about his day. All of these plot points are tremendously discursive, and even a little maddening, since the story at the root of More Than It Hurts You is so damn interesting.

Strauss goes to great lengths in painting the detailed inner lives and histories of Josh and Darlene. One feels, at the end of this book, that these two characters are completely human, knowable, and accessible. We learn the stories of their lives, the emotions and fears and mistakes and triumphs that drive them. Both of these characters, for very different sets of reasons, are enthralling.

Unfortunately, this rich characterization does not extend to the book’s central figure, Dori. While we learn intimately the thoughts, ideas, and biographies of Josh and Darlene, we learn virtually nothing of Dori. Though we do come to understand that, in her own messed-up logic, she’s bleeding her son in order to bring her family closer together, we don’t get any inkling of what has led such a bright, sensible woman to this point. There is almost no discussion of her history, what has shaped her and damaged her to result in such a tragically flawed state of logic. And of the three key players in this story, Dori is really the one we should come to know best: she is the catalyst for everything that happens in these pages.

Luckily, we have Strauss’s solid words to carry us through. More Than It Hurts You is definitely readable and often entertaining, but in the end, it doesn’t offer much insight into the illness it’s so harrowingly attempting to examine. If only the story could hold up under the weight of the author’s prodigious talent.

Despite its frequent meanderings, the book does possess some memorable scenes of great emotion and originality. One that plays over in my mind is the passage with Josh, at his company’s lavish annual sales presentation, interspersed with scenes of Dori at home with Zack, strapping him to a board and bleeding him with a needle. This vignetted interplay of such diverse emotion is hugely upsetting and stunningly original.

If only the entire book were as successful. Grade: C+ Revised Grade: B+

Book Title More Than It Hurts You

Author Darin Strauss

Publisher Dutton

Year Published 2008

ISBN 0525950702

Snarkbytes Here’s a funny, drunken Darin Strauss being interviewed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

August 23, 2008 | Filed Under General Fiction | 6 Comments

WHAT IS A SNARK?

The Snark is a creature created by Lewis Carroll in his poem "The Hunting of the Snark". To give a proper description of Snarks, one must look no further than Carroll himself, who summed them up in one word: Unimaginable.

But this much we do know: some have feathers, some have whiskers. Snarks sleep a lot, yet they are an ambitious lot -- with very little sense of humor. They love bathing-machines and tend to bring them wherever they go; they are also handy for striking a light. Snarks live on a far-off island, a place filled with chasms and crags, and are constantly on the lookout for Snark-hunters. Their mortal enemies are hope, care, thimbles and forks.