The Sex Lives of Cannibals

I tore through this book. I really like the author and I will try to get his next book, "Getting Stoned with Savages." If you ever had an inclination to chuck it all and move to a very small island in the South Pacific, this is the book for you!

He also has ingenious titles to his chapters, such as:
"Chapter 2: In which the Author reveals the Fruit of his Research into the Strange Island Nation he has declared his new Home (which leaves much unknown), compensates for his Ignorance with his Lively Imagination (which is inadequate, very much so), and Packs (inappropriately)."

Therein lies:

"To picture Kiribati, imagine that the continental U.S. were to conveniently disappear leaving only Baltimore and a vast swath of very blue ocean in its place. Now chop up Baltimore into thirty-three pieces, place a neighborhood where Maine used to be, another where California once was, and so un until you have thirty-three pieces of Baltimore dispersed in such a way so as
to ensure that 32/33 of Baltimorians will never attend an Orioles game again. Now take away electricity, running water, toilets, television, restaurants, buildings, and airplanes (except for two very old prop planes, tended by people who have no word for "maintenance"). Replace with
thatch. Flatten all land into a uniform two fee above sea level. Toy with islands by melting polar ice caps. Add palm trees. Sprinkle with hepatitis A, B, and C. Stir in dengue fever and intestinal
parasites. Take away doctors. Isolate and bake at a constant temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The result is the Republic of Kiribati."

Enjoy!

d

Julie & Julia

How appropriate of me to write a blog entry about a book, based on a blog.

From http://www.twbookmark.com/: "Julie Powell is 30-years-old, living in a rundown apartment in Queens and working at a soul-sucking secretarial job that's going nowhere. She needs something to break the monotony of her life, and she invents a deranged assignment. She will take her mother's dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she will cook all 524 recipes. In the span of one year."

So some parts of this are really good, some parts are really funny, some parts made my stomach hurt (September 11 in NYC). It is, like a blog, kind of spotty and not always consistent in tone. Also, sometimes she is a little too forthcoming in her personal life. Sometimes a reader would like a little censorship. That, too, is like a blog - it's the first draft of the first thought in your head.

Over all, this is a book I have been circling for a while and I finally pulled it of the shelf at the library. I enjoyed it and recommend it for a quick and easy read.

d

Oliver Sacks

Ok, I think everyone already read this book. But, I just finished "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and it's really good. It can get a little 'sciency', but they are clinical tales, so you should know what you are getting yourself into.

Oliver Sacks also wrote the "Oaxaca Journal"

In the mean time, I also read some terribly boring books on food that I won't burden you with at this time. Tonight I'm going to the lib to get a book on cd of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time."

Enjoy your weekend!

d