Book 18 of my 2018 Reading Challenge
Down and Across by Arvin Ahmadi
Summary (via Goodreads)
Scott Ferdowsi has a track record of quitting. Writing the Great American Novel? Three chapters. His summer internship? One week. His best friends know exactly what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but Scott can hardly commit to a breakfast cereal, let alone a passion.
With college applications looming, Scott's parents pressure him to get serious and settle on a career path like engineering or medicine. Desperate for help, he sneaks off to Washington, DC, to seek guidance from a famous professor who specializes in grit, the psychology of success.
He never expects an adventure to unfold out of what was supposed to be a one-day visit. But that's what Scott gets when he meets Fiora Buchanan, a ballsy college student whose life ambition is to write crossword puzzles. When the bicycle she lends him gets Scott into a high-speed chase, he knows he's in for the ride of his life. Soon, Scott finds himself sneaking into bars, attempting to pick up girls at the National Zoo, and even giving the crossword thing a try--all while opening his eyes to fundamental truths about who he is and who he wants to be.
My Opinion
2 star read which means I didn't like it but it didn't make me angry (1 star reads are so bad or offensive they make me mad).
It had big monologues that authors think angsty teens do for some reason even though nobody talks like that in real life (or maybe people do but they wouldn't have many friends since they don't know how a conversation works).
And stereotype alert, the first gay guy Scott met in D.C. talked with a "delicate lisp" and made a dramatic exit when Scott said he was straight. Yikes.
A Few Quotes from the Book
"Most of all, I glared at my mouth [In the mirror]: not just for the fuzzy mustache that was beginning to grow over it, or the squashed M shape of my upper lip - but for the words that slipped out of it. A language I didn't care to speak. Song lyrics I didn't care to sing. Names of exotic food I was too embarrassed to bring to school lunches. Words that held me back from fitting in."
"My dad and I lived in our own fantasy worlds where I'd pretend my failures never existed and he, after some time, believed that I never failed but simply pressed pause. One of our fictions had to be true."
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Friday, October 12, 2018
All Too Human
Book 17 of my 2018 Reading Challenge
All Too Human by George Stephanopoulos
Summary (via Goodreads)
For four years in the White House and one year of campaigning before that, George Stephanopoulos was rarely more than a few steps from Bill Clinton. As the president's senior adviser, he saw it all - the arguments, that back-hall scheming, and the last-minute flip-flops that somehow produced real accomplishments but also set in motion an almost tragic series of events that placed the president's fate in the hands of the Senate. Stephanopoulos's gripping account of foibles and frailty in high places has been hailed as one of the great political memoirs of our time.
My Opinion
I put this review off for a long time because it's hard to review a book about the politics of "before" when dealing with the constant shitshow of politics now. How naive we were to worry about the things we worried about when the book was published in 2000 covering Clinton's presidency in the 90's...it makes me sad.
But here's what I will say about the book...very interesting and well-written, he didn't hold anything back. I'm sure his honesty caused a stir when it came out but what was considered scandalous back then is laughable now, and not in a good way. There were still things relevant today, maybe even more so, regarding "politics" over "substance" and the pressures of siding with your party.
A Few Quotes from the Book
"Because for all the compromises and disappointments, for all the days when my job felt like an exquisite jail sentence, working in the White House was the greatest adventure of my life."
"In the end, a political campaign boils down to talk, talk, and more talk. What are they saying? What are we saying? What are they saying about what we're saying in response to your question? And on, and on, and on."
"There are certain events...that acquire meaning only in retrospect. Others seem significant as they happen: your first kiss, your college graduation, your first house.
The first time you hire a criminal lawyer."
All Too Human by George Stephanopoulos
Summary (via Goodreads)
For four years in the White House and one year of campaigning before that, George Stephanopoulos was rarely more than a few steps from Bill Clinton. As the president's senior adviser, he saw it all - the arguments, that back-hall scheming, and the last-minute flip-flops that somehow produced real accomplishments but also set in motion an almost tragic series of events that placed the president's fate in the hands of the Senate. Stephanopoulos's gripping account of foibles and frailty in high places has been hailed as one of the great political memoirs of our time.
My Opinion
I put this review off for a long time because it's hard to review a book about the politics of "before" when dealing with the constant shitshow of politics now. How naive we were to worry about the things we worried about when the book was published in 2000 covering Clinton's presidency in the 90's...it makes me sad.
But here's what I will say about the book...very interesting and well-written, he didn't hold anything back. I'm sure his honesty caused a stir when it came out but what was considered scandalous back then is laughable now, and not in a good way. There were still things relevant today, maybe even more so, regarding "politics" over "substance" and the pressures of siding with your party.
A Few Quotes from the Book
"Because for all the compromises and disappointments, for all the days when my job felt like an exquisite jail sentence, working in the White House was the greatest adventure of my life."
"In the end, a political campaign boils down to talk, talk, and more talk. What are they saying? What are we saying? What are they saying about what we're saying in response to your question? And on, and on, and on."
"There are certain events...that acquire meaning only in retrospect. Others seem significant as they happen: your first kiss, your college graduation, your first house.
The first time you hire a criminal lawyer."
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