Books Just Read

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"The Book of Vice" is a funny chapter-by-chapter exploration of the most common vices Peter Sagal the humorist could find. There are, of course, two chapters on Vegas - one for gambling and one for prostitution. He interviewed swingers and porn stars, gamblers and micro-gastronomists, trying to get to the bottom of why we look for fun in the places we do. Somewhere, someone is having more fun than you and he promises to go find them and ask how they do it. Oddly, by the end of the book, you are convinced, as he is, that it is no more than a matter of seeking out what you really want to do and pursuing it with honesty and vigor, whether it be grilling the perfect lamb chop or fucking 22 people on a Greek yacht or creating the perfect wedding circle quilt. A systematic pursuit of a vice that is NOT what you are actually truly wanting to do will leave you empty and unfulfilled while finding exactly the right one, even if it isn't a vice, will lend you a kind of peace, grace and meaning to your life. Which sounds a whole heck of a lot more preachy than Mr. Sagal makes it sound, truly.

"The Glass Castle" is Jeannette Walls' memoir of growing up with her completely insane parents. Itinerant, poor, alcoholic, neurotic if not entirely manic depressive, she manages to find the poignant and funny moments, as well as the telling instants, in what must have been a grimy, gruesome childhood. The book leaves you with more unanswered questions than I expected - did they ever find the deed to the million dollar property in Texas? Was it even real? How many years of therapy did it take for she and her siblings to be the upstanding and interesting people they are now? Where is her anger about her Dad nearly pimping her out in a pool hall? Why did no one ever tell her parents to their faces that they were abusive wastes of space?

Then I remember that this is someone's real life and not a novel. Real life doesn't ever wind up a story neatly, people never have only one set of motivations and real people don't listen when someone tells them unpleasant truths if they are in the habit of running from all of their problems and disguising it as a thirst for adventure.

Read this with a small portion of your favorite legal soothing substance - I recommend Lady Grey tea - and marvel at her unflinching vision and ability to share in such clear prose. Also, give thanks for your own parents; no matter how much I may complain about mine, they weren't like this.

I think the common thread that struck me was that the only folks in either book who seem to achieve a measure of peace and fulfillment are those who look at what truly IS in their lives and decide what they wish it to be and then go after it, taking into account their responsibilities and legalities. There is a fine line between selfishness and self-fulfillment, but it really isn't all that hard to see and steer clear of - one has to be willing to make the personal sacrifice, though. One also has to not confuse running away from NotPleasure with Self-Fulfillment or Freedom or any other ideal that conveniently masks the fact that one is causing unwarranted pain to others.