Let them entertain you!

This week's reading was comprised of the quirky novel, pop science and the anti-spin doctors.  All in all, entertaining reads for different reasons.  One took your mind on a wildly creative ride, the second took you into historic realms that only science, good and bad, could offer and the last was a series of cautionary tales with sensible advice in a world anxious to get its next scoop.


Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (2012)

In this quirky novel, agoraphobic, eponymous title character drives the story in ways we couldn't even imagine.  Though Semple makes us snicker against our better judgment.

We meet Bernadette through her teen daughter, Bee, a bright young lady who ultimately pieces together why her mother disappeared and where she went.  And Bernadette is hardly the mom we think she is.  No, that is not sinister as it sounds.

The Seattle family relocated years before from California, after which Bernadette's agoraphobia escalated to the point where her most mundane errands were delegated overseas to an Indian assistant.  Bee is unique on her own, but her mother's idiosyncrasies take her differences at the school community into another realm.  Father, Elgie, an outlier in his own way, works for Microsoft.

Reminiscent of Mr. Popper's Penguins in my mind, the family has booked a trip to Antarctica to celebrate Bee's academic achievements.  Though family discord and Bernadette's disappearance has thrown the plans into disarray.  Where has Bernadette gone?  Finding out was a bizarre joy.


The Violinist's Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean (2012)

How did the 1945 atomic bombs on Japan physically affect the individuals who survived?  Are cats like potato chips and are some people predisposed to not just having one?  Did Stalin support humanzee hybrid experiments?

These questions and many more are addressed in this scientific history.  Even Einstein's brain and JFK's tan are discussed in terms of their DNA in accessible terms for those who are not cohorts of Watson and Crick.

In fact, Kean offers a look at the history of genetic discovery and the men (and women!) behind the science, such as Mendel, Lamarck, Watson, Crick and others.

At times, the material is dry but more often than not it piques the curiosity of even the non-scientifically inclined and explains many phenomena through a genetic lens.


Masters of Disaster: The Ten Commandments of Damage Control by Christopher Lehane, Mark Fabiani and Bill Guttetag (2012)

Spin?  That's the natural inclination and everything we've been 'told' to do.  But it's actually not best if you want to walk away from a crisis with minimal damage and your credibility intact.  According to these partners in a 'strategic communications' firm with high profile clients like Bill Clinton and Goldman Sachs, if you feed the 24 hour internet/news cycle and can't keep your story straight, you're doing it wrong.

Lots of real-life anecdotes from the always-in-crisis political, sports, entertainment worlds on what to do and what not to do when disaster strikes, often of your own making.

I read, therefore I am,
the lowercase b