Book 29: The Promise of Happiness by Justin CartrightThis was an interesting book in a middle-class, family-centric, English way. But oh. my. god. WHAT was going on with the dialogue? It was completely forced and unconvincing, with nobody using any contractions ('I am' everywhere instead of 'I'm') and all the younger characters dropping 'like' into their sentences in random places. Which is a misunderstanding of its quite specific (if redundant) usage.Book 30: Authenticity: Brands, Fakes, Spin and the Lust for Real Life by David BoyleA thoughtful exploration of the movement towards the 'real' (organic and local food, hand-crafted products, community politics and economics etc). I didn't find the categorisation of experiences as 'real', 'virtual real', 'fake real' etc that helpful, but it was still a good jumping off point for further thought. RIDDLED with typos and errors though, as have been a lot of the books I've read recently. Which makes me think that maybe I should have gone into publishing after all, as the industry clearly needs salvation by a properly anal proofreader...Book 31: Stupid White Men by Michael MooreWhatever the minor flaws of Authenticity, it was at least proper writing - properly researched and argued and structured and balanced. Unlike Stupid White Men. I don't know why I bothered really, as I *knew* it was going to be slipshod and sensational and arrogant and short-sighted. Particularly annoying are the many sidebars (hey kids, I know your attention span is 3 minutes so quick! look over here!), which are a undifferentiated mixture of practical tips, important facts, pointless comedy lists and joke advice. What are we supposed to take from it all? Michael Moore has probably done a lot of good, and he's certainly popularised The Cause, but his books aren't for anyone who's more interested in root causes and genuine solutions than in laughing at George Bush. Because really, it doesn't help us any to know that some powerful people are stupid. They're still powerful - and how stupid is that? 09:52 . . .
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