Omnivoracious

Dora Lives

Pioneer. Felon. Genius. Con man.  These titles (and many more) have been draped on the shoulders of legendary surf icon Miki Dora for decades.   Yet very few ever got close enough to get a clear picture of who Dora really was.   Hitting bookshelves today, David Rensin's All for a Few Perfect Waves offers a rare and engaging look at the life and times of an elusive figure known famously as "Da Cat."  Armed with hundreds of interviews and meticulous research, Rensin tackles the man, the myth, and the legend of Miki Dora.

I recently chatted over email with Rensin about his pursuit of a man once dubbed "The Black Knight of Surfing."

Amazon.com: Miki has been compared to everyone from Jesus to James Dean. After reading All for a Few Perfect Waves, I found my own comparison: he was the Tyler Durden of surfing. Akin to the Fight Club character, surfers cannot always condone Dora’s antics, but we quietly support his pursuit for point-break perfection. Do you agree?
Rensin: I agree. Miki, like Durden, was that sage of harsh reality who made his own way, and the hell with the rest of you. Like Durden he was not completely a loner, and was willing to bring along new initiates if they attracted him with their own inner search. Often while writing the book, I kept thinking about Fight Club and how the rule never to talk about Fight Club was Miki’s rule for himself. Many of Durden’s aphorisms apply as well to Miki: "The things you own end up owning you." "It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything." And my favorite, "Fight Club exists only when Fight Club begins and when it ends." Or, as Miki famously said: "When there’s surf I’m totally committed. When there’s none, it doesn’t exist."

Old Media Monday: Authors on the Tube

After a not-so-brief hiatus, we're back with author/newsmaker television appearances you might want to check out this week.

Tuesday, March 11th
The Martha Stewart Show
Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto and guest Omnivoracious blogger

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Grover Norquist, author of Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives

The Colbert Report
Geraldo Rivera, author of His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S. 

Wednesday, March 12th
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Ronald Kessler, author of The Terrorist Watch: Inside the Desperate Race to Stop the Next Attack

The Colbert Report
Dr. Laura Schlessinger, author of Stop Whining, Start Living

Thursday, March 13th
The Colbert Report
Sudhir Venkatesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

--Dave

Old Media Monday: Reviewing the Reviewers

Tom's currently on vacation, so I'm taking a crack at Reviewing the Reviewers this week.  But fear not:  he will be back in Omnivoracious action before long.

--Dave

New York Times:

• Sunday Book Review - Elizabeth Royte on The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman'€™s Fight to Save the World'€™s Most Beautiful Bird by Bruce Barcott:  " No, it doesn'€™t sound thrilling...but Barcott, a contributing editor at Outside magazine and the author of The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier, makes it so, mashing up adventure travel, biography and nature writing in a steamy climate of corruption and intrigue."
• Francine Prose on A Person of Interest by Susan Choi: "Thematically, A Person of Interest echoes Choi'€™s previous novel, American Woman, based loosely on the events surrounding the abduction of Patty Hearst. Both books testify to the appalling ease with which the past can catch up with and then overtake us. Both say something about what it means to live in a society that is simultaneously tolerant and suspicious, inclusive and all too ready to punish its citizens for the crime of being their authentic selves. Both succeed in making us feel deeply for characters who are profoundly flawed."
• On Valentine's Day, Patricia Cohen revealed the motivation behind Susan Jacoby's The Age of American Unreason: "Walking home [on September 11th, 2001], to her Upper East Side apartment, [Ms. Jacoby] stopped at a bar. As she sipped her bloody mary, she quietly listened to two men, neatly dressed in suits. For a second she thought they were going to compare that day's horrifying attack to the Japanese bombing in 1941 that blew America into World War II. "€œThis is just like Pearl Harbor,"€ one of the men said.  The other asked, "What is Pearl Harbor?" "That was when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War,"€ the first man replied. At that moment, Ms. Jacoby said, "I decided to write this book."€

Washington Post:

• Ron Charles on The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt: "Samantha Hunt's magical new novel is a love letter to one of the world's most remarkable inventors. You may never have heard of Nikola Tesla, but he briefly outshone Edison and Westinghouse, and from the moment you wake up in the morning, you depend on devices made possible by his revolutionary work with electricity. Tesla was born in Serbia in 1856, and his life followed a rags-to-riches-to-rags trajectory that would sound melodramatic if it weren't so tragic and true -- or told with such surprising charm in The Invention of Everything Else."

Los Angeles Times:

• Soledad Santiago on The Flowers by Dagoberto Gilb: "Not since James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice has the unspoken so crackled with sexual tension. Lyrical passages don't always ring as true, but Gilb's dialogue, working class and downbeat, is inspired."€

New York Sun:

• Benjamin Lytal on Dangerous Laughter by Steven Millhauser: "A new book by Steven Millhauser means a substantial treat. He may criticize the pleasures of escapism in his fiction, but he provides them himself. Like Robert Coover and Donald Barthelme, he takes the institutions of fun -€” parks, pleasure domes, fun houses -€” as his subject matter. But unlike these writers, Mr. Millhauser never quite makes a joke of it."

Globe & Mail:

• Paula Newberg on Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West by Benazir Bhutto: "A tragically timed volume, Reconciliation is equal parts memoir, political tract and revisionist history - a shambling narrative that reflects all too well her own and Pakistan's deeply seated confusions, traumas, uncertainties and unfulfilled ambitions."

Times Literary Supplement:

• Elizabeth Lowry on His Illegal Self by Peter Carey : "Peter Carey's fiction is populated by impostors, hoaxers and confidence tricksters: patchwork people, constructed selves caught up in the fraught and absorbing process of reinventing themselves. They are not always likeable, but even the least likeable have that spark of vitality, the high colouring, that distinguishes a successful fictional creation."

The New Yorker:

• Books Briefly Noted - The Lodger Shakespeare by Charles Nicholl: "€œThis entertaining biographical study of Shakespeare takes as its starting point a tantalizing document: the transcript of a 1612 lawsuit, involving his former landlord and a contested dowry, in which Shakespeare testified.  With lively readings of the plays and a nuanced portrait of their author, he capably captures ‘the simmering randiness of the age."

Authors on the Tube: Remembering Benazir Bhutto

Mark Siegel, friend and advisor of the late Benazir Bhutto, discussed the last days and legacy of the former Pakistani prime minister on Wednesday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Regarding her return to Pakistan last fall, Siegel asserted that Bhutto was neither afraid nor ignorant of the dangers she faced by coming out of exile.

"She knew about...the dangers. She also thought it was her responsibility to put Pakistan first [in order] to fight for democracy.  It was that simple.  Pakistan before her own personal happiness, before her kids, before her family.  She hoped for the best, she prayed for the best, but she also planned for the worst."

For the entire interview, check out the clip here.

--Dave

My Memoirs: Two Dozen Words from Dave

While Tom revealed a thoughtful wisdom behind his rationale for multiple memoirs, I can only offer up a simple excuse:  I talk too much.

Here are my contributions to Not Quite What I Was Planning:

How'd I get here?
    Simple mind, simple pleasures, complex path

Homage to fatherhood
    Landed a dream job: Ben's Dad

Why I love the written word
    Can't believe I just said that

As an Irish-American
    I think I'm a walking stereotype
   (or "They're always after me Lucky Charms")

--Dave

The Latest from Oprah

Earlier today, talk show host and FOB (Friend of Books) Oprah Winfrey announced that Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose is her latest Oprah’s Book Club® pick. A #1 New York Times bestseller, A New Earth is a life-affirming look at how to achieve peace and purpose in your everyday life. "Being able to share this material with you is a gift and a part of the fulfillment of my life’s purpose,” she told her Oprah audience on Wednesday. "It was an awakening for me that I want for you, too."

Most notably, her enthusiasm has also spawned a new endeavor, as she and Tolle will host a weekly A New Earth online discussion with readers starting March 3.  Comprising ten sessions corresponding with each of the book's ten chapters, this free interactive classroom is a first for Oprah's Book Club® and a new way for members to connect. 

To pre-register for the class, log on to www.oprah.com/anewearth.

Remembering Dr. King

As we remember the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, it's comforting to know that his legacy has been preserved for future generations thanks to the thousands of incredible books on his life and dream of equality.  Like many Americans, I first learned about Dr. King thanks to grade school curriculum, but don't believe I was properly introduced to this great leader until I read Let the Trumpet Sound by Stephen B. Oates.  In my opinion, few titles better capture the anguish, fortitude, and significance of the Civil Rights movement in our country's history.   Oates masterfully describes Dr. King as a very real and very driven leader who is guided by an unshakable belief in liberty, justice, and the notion of a world in which  "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers."  Simply put, it is a timeless read that reminds us that even a single voice of change can alter the course of history.

--Dave

Weekend Reading List

Here's what we'll be reading this Saturday and Sunday in Seattle:

Tom
Memo to the President Elect by Madeleine Albright
Release Date: January 8, 2008
We're going to be interviewing her for an Amazon Wire podcast in a couple of weeks.

BTP
The River Cottage Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Release Date: May 2008
HFW's River Cottage Meat Book was my favorite cookbook of the year and I just received a galley of the US version of his 2001 River Cottage Cookbook, coming this spring. There's as much quality reading as there is cooking with his books--I hope to do a little of both this weekend.

Anne
Libra by Don DeLillo
Customer Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (1 review)
I was talking to a friend (and huge DeLillo fan) about the musical "Assassins" recently. We ended up on the topic of Oswald and JFK and before I knew it, Libra was tucked away in my bag, with the claim that it’s far and away DeLillo’s best. So far, so good.

Dave
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman  by Yvon Chouinard
Customer Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (45 reviews)
I'm a big fan of how Patagonia is run, as founder Yvon Chouinard stayed true to his beliefs while building a global brand.

Lauren
Borkmann's Point: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery by Hakan Nesser
Customer Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (15 reviews)
It's a mystery worth recommending.

Mari
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Release Date: January 1, 2008

Daphne
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Release Date: May 6, 2008
The publisher is calling this “Meyer’s first novel for adults,” which is a little weird, considering that I’m an adult and I devoured her Twilight series (did anyone else find Eclipse terribly disappointing?). Aaaaanyway, I’m looking forward to it.

Gettin' Biblical with A.J. Jacobs

Anyone familiar with author A.J. Jacobs knows that the guy doesn't do anything half-speed.  He documented his quest to read all 44 million words of the Encyclopedia Britannica with The Know-It-All, and recently spent a full year living in strict accordance with Biblical teachings for his latest work, The Year of Living Biblically.

I caught up with A.J. for an Amazon Wire Podcast to chat about religion,  spirituality, and what he keeps under his sink at home.  (Hint: it isn't Drain-O)  Read excerpts from our conversation below or click here to listen to the entire interview.

Amazon.com: Did this project change your perspective on religion and spirituality?

Jacobs: It did. It's interesting because I expected to get a good amount of rebuking, but I think that people saw that I went in there with an open mind, just trying to understand the Bible and religion.

I grew up in a very secular home with no religion at all, so I was starting from zero. I found there were things about religion that I really loved; things like the sense of gratefulness that it brings. The Bible talks a lot about thankfulness, and I now try to be thankful for the hundred good things that go right every day instead of focusing on the bad things.

Amazon.com: What was the spark that prompted this massive undertaking?

Jacobs: I didn't think there was anything bigger than the encyclopedia, but then I realized that there is one thing bigger. (laughs)   It happened because of my incredibly secular background.  I had assumed that religion would wither away and we'd all be worshiping at the altar of science...but of course, I was spectacularly mistaken. So I wanted to know if I missing something by not having any spirituality in my life. Was I like a guy who went through life without hearing Beethoven or falling in love? Or was half the world massively deluded? That was the motivation of why I decided to dive in. I love to live things, so I wanted to immerse myself and get into the mindset--and sandals--of my forefathers.

Amazon.com: Lewis Black once stated that the God described in the Old Testament is far angrier than the New Testament version. He suspects that having a son might have mellowed Him out. What did you see as the biggest difference between the two versions?

Jacobs: Since I was relatively new to the Bible, I was surprised by the Old Testament God. He's wrathful, but at other times, He's incredibly compassionate. He's not a one-dimensional figure at all.

One of the interesting things to me is that he grows throughout the Old Testament. He evolves, sort of matures, and becomes kinder. It’s a fascinating and complex book.

Click here to listen to the full podcast with A.J. Jacobs.

Holiday Weekend Reading List

Check out the titles the Amazon Books Team will be devouring this Thanksgiving weekend.

Tom:
How the Dead Dream by Lydia Millet
Release Date: January 25, 2008
Great first line: "His first idol was Andrew Jackson."

Mari:
In prepping for Thanksgiving and beyond, I’m vacillating between the simple:
Seriously Simple Holidays: Recipes and Ideas to Celebrate the Season by Diane Rossen Worthington

and the sumptuous:
Williams-Sonoma Holiday Entertaining by Chuck Williams

Dave:
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Customer Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (1,019 reviews)
Critical acclaim aside, I must admit that I'm tackling this title due largely to the fact that I can't get enough of the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder.

BTP:
Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me, edited by Ben Karlin
Release Date: February 4, 2008
I have been dying to read this and a galley landed in this week's mail--perfect timing for a long holiday weekend. A lineup of writers and comedians share their "life lessons" in essays ranging from "You Too Will Get Crushed" to "A Dog Is No Reason to Stay Together" to "There's a Fine Line Between Trying Too Hard and a Horrific Shame Spiral."

Weekend Reading List

Based on your feedback, this weekly post has been expanded with more info on the titles that occupy the Saturdays and Sundays of the Amazon Books Team.

Happy reading!

Tom:
Lush Life by Richard Price
Customer Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (30 Amazon Vine reviews)
Release Date: March 4,  2008
Sorry, it's not out until March, but it's time for us to start thinking about 2008 and I can't keep myself from devouring this one.

Mari:
Born Standing Up by Steve Martin 
Release Date: November 20th, 2007

Dave:
Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet
Customer Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (102 reviews)
Currently available
Since finishing Musicophilia, I've been on a bit of a neurology kick and Tammet's story is amazing.

BTP:
The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead by David Shields
Release Date: February 8th, 2008

Remembering Steve Irwin

The unbridled joy that famously marked "The Crocodile Hunter" is being remembered today, as fans across the globe celebrate the first International Steve Irwin Day.  I myself have donned the celebrated khakis (although I wussed out on the shorts due to the fact that it's 42 degrees this morning) in honor of a man who's passion for nature influenced millions.

I never ceased to be amazed while watching Irwin gleefuly go into depth about the dynamics of an apex predator...while said apex predator loomed menacingly just a few feet (or sometimes inches) away.  Considering I get skittish when one of my fellow editors dons a Lacoste shirt, Steve's up-close-and-personal techniques with wildlife always made him seem larger than life.

His wife and fellow naturalist, Terri, agrees, as she recounts in her recently released memoir, Steve and Me, that the moment she met her husband, she "wanted to build a big campfire, sit down with Steve next to it, and hear his stories all night long."  As long no black mambas were brought for show-and-tell, I'd be game for that as well.

--Dave

Weekend Reading List

Looking for reading inspiration?  Check out a few reads that the Amazon Books Team will be dog-earing this weekend.

Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer - BTP
Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer - Tom
The Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman - Anne
Always by Nicola Griffith - Daphne
East Wind Melts the Ice by Liza Dalby - Lauren
Dog by Matthew Van Fleet and Brian Stanton* - Dave

*I'm hoping to start Schultz and Peanuts, but will most likely spend my weekend poring over Dog with my three month old son.  He can't get enough of it!

Old Media Monday: Authors (Allegedly) on the Tube

It looks as if we have ourselves a writers strike this morning.  I'm hoping for a quick resolution, as an intriguing range of authors were scheduled for TV appearances this week.

(NOTE: this list is moot until an agreement is reached.  Until then, the below programs are re-run city.)

Monday, November 5th
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Karen Greenberg, author of The Torture Debate in America

The Colbert Report
David Levy, author of Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships

Tuesday, November 6th
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Lou Dobbs, author of Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Robert Reich, author of Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life

The Colbert Report
A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

The Ellen Degeneres Show
Jenny McCarthy, author of Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism    

The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Jenny McCarthy, author of Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism

Wednesday, November 7th
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Lou Dobbs, author of Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit

The Colbert Report
Dave Isay, author of Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project

Thursday, November 8th
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
John Bolton, author of Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations

--Dave

Old Media Monday (err...Sunday): Authors on the Tube

This week's author/newsmaker television appearances you might want to check out:

Monday, October 29th
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Michael J. Gerson, author of Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America's Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail If They Don't)

Tuesday, October 30th
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Valerie Plame Wilson, author of Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House

The Colbert Report
J. Craig Venter, author of A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life

Did I miss an appearance?  Give me a shout in our Comments section and I'll be glad to investigate.

--Dave

Weekend Reading List

Up late and looking for a good read?  Here are a few titles the Amazon.com Books Team is reading this weekend.

The Wheelman by Duane Swierczynksi - Daphne
Strange As This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake - Tom
The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg - Mari
The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstein - Dave

Any of those look good?  Give us a shout in our Comments title and we'll post more info next week. 

--Dave

Monovoracious

I must admit that I currently do not live up to our new books blog, Omnivoracious.  While I devour books each week, my reading realm is hardly deserving of an "omni" prefix.  I have nothing against other genres, but my selections always seem to gravitate towards nonfiction titles.  True, I absolutely loved The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao, but it was merely an island of fiction amid an ocean of nonfiction.

Life after Wao has seen me consume The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs, The Day of Battle by Rick Atkinson, The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, 1776: The Illustrated Edition by David McCullough, The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, and Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks.  I honestly do want to broaden my fiction horizons, but with a bio on Charles Schulz and Alan Greenspan's memoir on deck---where does one find the time?

To quote the 20th century poet, Popeye, "I yam what I yam", and clearly what I yam is a nonfiction junkie.

--Dave