DREAMS FROM MY FATHER (Barack Obama, Three Rivers, 2004). Not at all new -- but at-the-moment essential for a momentous present. Obama’s memoir was originally published in 1995 -- before Obama was a father, a senator or the 44th President of the United States and was written in “the belief that the story of [his] family, and [his] efforts to understand that story, might speak in some way to the fissures of race that have characterized the American experience.” (9.5/10 – See full review at RollnSmokeRecords.blogspot.com).
THE NINE: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court (Jeffrey Toobin, Anchor Books, 2008). A fascinating and educational primer about the longest-seated Supreme Court in American history. 9/10.
THE POST-AMERICAN WORLD (Fareed Zakaria, Norton, 2008) A direct and clear rendering of the forthcoming Post American World whereby the glorious sheen that U.S. has enjoyed for hundreds of years gives way to “the rise of the rest.” 8.5/10.
SERVICE INCLUDED: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter (Phoebe Damrosch, Harper, 2008). An entertaining (debut) account of an 18 month stint as a waiter at a newly-opened, ultra-swanky Manhattan restaurant. (9/10 – See full review at RollnSmokeRecords.blogspot.com).
OUTLIERS: The Story of Success (Malcom Gladwell, Little Brown, 2008). This nifty study of why geniuses who are successful become successful (right time, right place, right conditions and practice, practice, practice!) reads like a long, engaging magazine feature. 8/10.
BEAUTIFUL BOY (David Sheff, Houghton Mifflin, 2008) along with TWEAK (Nic Sheff, Atheneum, 2007) An interesting side-by-side analysis of a father-son relationship where the father looks back and sees his part in the evolution of his son’s full-fledged addiction and where the son navigates his spiral. 9/10.
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