ASK Musings

No matter where you go, there you are.

CBR6 Archive

Sunday

21

September 2014

0

COMMENTS

Rise of the Warrior Cop

Written by , Posted in Politics, Reviews

Five Stars

rise of the warrior cop

We have a problem with policing in this country. Hopefully this isn’t a surprise, although many people have only started to notice this since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson last month. People in many communities, for years, have been more fearful of the police than of the criminals in their communities; this is especially true for black people, who can be shot for having a BB gun, a toy sword, or nothing at all.

Mr. Balko has written a book that unfortunately is all too relevant these days. The book focuses on the problems with the militarization of the police and the culture that sees officers acting as though everyone is the enemy, and it specifically focuses on the drug war and SWAT teams. It has taken me over a month to read (I’ve started and finished two books and about 20 magazines in that time) because it is infuriating. It is well written and well-researched. It is ‘easy’ to read, in that the sentences and paragraphs flow logically, and the book itself is broken down by decade to clearly demonstrate how things have changed. But it is infuriating. I wrote a variation of ‘fuck’ or ‘ew’ on every other page, because each section made me angrier and angrier. Mr. Balko wrote a great, infuriating book, and I wish everyone would read it.

The drug war is ridiculous, but seeing it really spelled out in print, and reading how it is so tied into a culture that seeks bigger and deadlier toys to ‘enforce the law’ made me, and makes me, sick to my stomach. My blood pressure would rise, my pulse would race, and it would take a whole lot of self-control to not just fling the book at a window every couple of pages. Much of this comes from the illustrating stories that point out the times when SWAT teams utterly fuck up. The botched raids are not rare; they are examples of what happens when a group of people gets all the power but has none of the self-awareness to recognize that they are doing something wrong. Shooting dogs in the head, breaking down doors, holding people at gun point without ever announcing who they are. Can you IMAGINE being awoken at midnight by a bunch of people in dark clothes pointing guns and yelling at you? I assume I would pee myself and consider that I was about to be sexually assaulted and then murdered. There is rarely, if ever a need for this kind of use of force, and yet here we are, openly supporting it with federal grants, surplus Pentagon equipment and broken policies.

I live in Seattle, and was here during the WTO riots. Norm Stamper was police chief then, and he wrote a book saying that what the Seattle PD did during those protests – throwing tear gas into crowds, blocking people in – was right. But after his book tour he realized he was so very wrong, and now he realizes that his actions are partly responsible for the devolution of rights of civilians in the face of power-hunger cops. The way the police handled Occupy protests throughout the country was so disappointing; the way some handle the day-to-day operations with quasi-military force to recover a few ounces of marijuana or heroin from non-violent drug offenders should scare the crap out of you.

Are all cops bad? Obviously not. There are some amazing officers doing great work. That isn’t the point of this book. The point is that we’ve passed laws, set policy and created grants that make it easier for police to believe that the law doesn’t apply to them as they seek to enforce the law. That is unacceptable, and we need to speak out and demand some change. Now.

Sunday

14

September 2014

0

COMMENTS

Paris Street Style

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

paris street style

Ah! Yes. This is the book I was looking for. Much more comprehensive than Kate Spade’s ‘Style,’ this 200-page guide features many photos but also a lot of suggestions. It has a point of view, a logical order, and something more than just some lists of clothes to check out. It is based on the premise that most people who have been to Paris accept: women there look amazing. Old, young, tiny, large. They have something figured out and they manage to look uniformly and yet eccentrically phenomenal in a way that I’ve not seen in other parts of the world (including the U.S.).

First, the drawbacks: nearly all the women pictured are, at most, a size 4-6. So yes, it’s much easier to look fantastic if you can buy your clothes anywhere and have the body type that designers have in their minds when they begin to illustrate their fall lines. The authors do not focus nearly enough on how to develop a style when one can only shop in a limited number of places due to size, or when one has extremely limited funds.

With those (admittedly large) caveats in mind, this book does offer some interesting advice about fashion, trends, and building a good wardrobe. Some of the suggestions are ones I have heard before – for example, that accessories are the key to creating many different looks – but others, while not necessarily new, stuck in my head more when delivered in this book. The best is the one about investing in a very few high quality pieces, and taking the time to make sure these items will last. I have a few of these – a trench coat that has seen ten rainy springs, a black skirt that is to me such a classic cut that I’m baffled that I can’t find it anywhere else and so have had it relined to make sure it lasts. But today when I went in search of a couple of items I found myself thinking back to this book and applying what I’ve learned to each bit of clothing to really sort out if buying it would be a good idea (hint: many more times than not, the answer was no).

This book also features several interviews with Parisian shop owners who discuss their view of the French style and what people should keep in mind when developing their own styles. Those parts are fun to read, and some offer great insight into fashion and style; others are not as useful. But once you’ve read the last bit of advice, the authors leave you a treat: a list of shops, cafes and spots the authors recommend checking out. It’s like a bonus tiny travel guide!

Saturday

13

September 2014

0

COMMENTS

Style

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Two Stars

style

I was drawn to this book because I usually like Kate Spade’s designs. The color combinations aren’t always my thing, and I wouldn’t wear everything she makes, but she definitely has a point of view. I figured this book might help me out as I try to sort through exactly what my own style is, beyond dresses with pockets. Aren’t dresses with pockets are the best? I don’t understand why more shops don’t sell them.

But back to the book. I’ve finished it and I’m still not entirely clear what Ms. Spade is going for with it. It’s too small to be a coffee table book, but the content is too sparse to be an actual guide to style. There are sections, sort of, but it’s mostly just a mixture of quotes from Ms. Spade and her husband Andy, some lists of things that fit whatever category she’s discussing, occasional collections of movies and books to check out, and some (admittedly lovely) illustrations. In fact, the illustrations are the best part, but there aren’t enough for this to be just a book of lovely fashion illustrations.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I wish I could get my money back; the final section on clothing and jewelry care is really quite useful, and I can see myself referring back to it on occasion. There are also handy conversion charts to refer to if you find yourself travelling a lot and needing to buy clothes overseas. But beyond that, I don’t think this book has really done much to help me sort out how I want to approach personal style. I was looking for a different book, but that’s okay. I’ll find it, and hopefully it’ll have a secret page full of all the designers who make dresses with pockets.

Sunday

24

August 2014

0

COMMENTS

Americanah

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Five Stars

I first learned about Ms. Adichie from her Ted Talk.

After viewing that video I knew I needed to read her writing. I chose Americanah because I’d heard more about it than her other works, but based on how much I enjoyed this novel I know I’ll be looking the rest

The blurb on the back of the book, while technically correct, doesn’t adequately capture what the book is about. Americanah follows Ifemelu and her boyfriend Obinze through youth and into adulthood, but it is definitely Ifemelu’s book. The situations that Obinze faces are I suppose technically what the back blurb says, but overall I think it’s a better book than the one the blurb describes. The writing jumps around a lot – sometimes it is present day U.S., sometimes the Nigeria of Ifemelu’s youth, and sometimes it is the U.S. in between. But it isn’t confusing – each chapter quickly establishes the time and place, and it all works so well together to build a story.

Usually I write all through my books, but I was just too absorbed in this to make many notes. It’s nearly 600 pages long, but I read it over the course of a week while on vacation and found that when I would pick it up I’d read 100 pages in a stretch. The story itself is more interesting and complex than a simple love story – I can honestly say I did not know how it would end until I finished the book. But it’s also fantastic because of its social commentary. The main character Ifemelu starts a blog from the perspective of a Black African living in the U.S. and navigating race in a very different way than she was used to in Nigeria. The sample blog posts are interesting and insightful, as are some really great chapters about immigration and London. It’s a well-crafted piece of writing that I hope many people choose to read.

Thursday

14

August 2014

0

COMMENTS

Let’s Bring Back

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three stars

lets bring back

This is a book with no plot. And I don’t mean that in an insulting way – it literally has no plot because it’s not that kind of book. I found it in this great store in downtown Seattle that is filled with lotions, soaps, snacks, classic children’s toys and gift books. It’s the kind of store that groups items not by type but by packaging color. I could spend hours in there; on our first trip there I left with three books (see my CBR6 review #31), including this one.

It’s basically a book of nostalgia. In fact, the subtitle is ‘An encyclopedia of forgotten-yet-delightful, chic, useful, curious and otherwise commendable things from times gone by.’ So yeah, a book of nostalgia.

I tend to like books like this, and for the most part this one was entertaining, but some choices the author made strike me as odd. For example, included in this 250-page volume are many deceased celebrities. I get what the author was going for – let’s bring back the glamour of this actor or the whimsy of this designer, but it’s a little weird to just see a name and description of a deceased person in a book called “Let’s Bring Back.” It struck me as indelicate.

The other big drawback is that a couple of things that the author wants to bring back have decidedly unpleasant connotations. On the first page the author suggest bringing back ‘all-white rooms,’ which on the surface sound kind of cool – furniture, walls, everything all the same color (in this case, white). But the example she provides is from a plantation in Louisiana. I’m not really ever going to be on board with ‘bringing back’ anything about plantations; I’m sure she could have found a different example. She also makes a snide comment about Monica Lewinsky at one point, which is unnecessary and mean-spirited.

Putting the tone-deafness of these items aside, there are some genuinely fun things in this book. A few were reminders for me, even triggering an audible ‘oh yeah, we should bring that back.’ Others were just entertaining – usually for things like hot mustard mousse and other food I can’t imagine seeing on a menu these days. But a mechanical desk? Or words like ‘swell’? Yeah, I can see the appeal.

Sunday

10

August 2014

0

COMMENTS

On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Written by , Posted in Reviews

How appropriate that this is my 500th post.

Five stars

on writing well

I love participating in Cannonball Read for a few reasons. I didn’t know AlabamaPink, but I followed her on Pajiba and am happy to support fundraising in her name. I love that CBR motivates me to pick up a book instead of a video game or magazine, and I know I wouldn’t have read nearly as many (mostly good) books in the last 18 months without it. But one benefit I didn’t fully understand until recently is that CBR gives me the chance to improve my non-fiction writing on a weekly basis. This latest read has been particularly useful with that goal.

My husband read ‘On Writing Well’ and thought I’d enjoy it. It bodes well for a book that aspires to be a guide to writing nonfiction that it is so easy to read. Mr. Zinsser wrote the first edition of this book in 1976, but has updated it many times, most recently about eight years ago. It is well-organized, fun to read, and most importantly filled with fantastic advice, as my notebook filled with quotes from it confirms.

A few of Mr. Zinsser’s suggestions are obvious, but that doesn’t mean most people actually follow them. One thing he pushes for repeatedly is to take a stand and remove the passive voice. Until graduate school many of my instructors required that I write in the passive voice; thankfully that changed but I still find myself having to work at using my voice in my writing, especially at work. I don’t think I’m alone in that, and it’s nice to get some advice on being even stronger with my word choice.

But there’s so much more in this book than Mr. Zinsser’s enthusiasm for active sentences. He provides great examples to support his point that we should be crafting sentences, paragraphs and pieces that readers want to read. We shouldn’t be looking for the longest synonym or the most clauses in a sentence; we should tell the story in a way that works for us. He offers great advice to get us there; a few of my favorites are:
• “What do your readers want to know next? Ask yourself that question after every sentence.”
• “Examine every word you put on paper. You’ll find a surprising number that don’t serve any purpose.”
• “Most adverbs and adjectives are unnecessary.”
• “Clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity.”

Unfortunately, while Mr. Zinsser understands and reinforces the power of language, he seems to only allow that power in so far as he agrees with it. He mentions that he used to use ‘he’ as his generic pronoun, but feminists convinced him that such usage was sexist, and so he changed his style. He saw that not using a gender-neutral form whenever possible reinforced the idea that male is the default, and female the anomaly. But in other areas he suggests that being careful with language is just ‘political correctness’ and dismisses it. The specific example he uses – expressing his distaste for the term undocumented resident and preference for the term illegal alien – shows that he still chooses his words based on his political inclination. He sees the error in his ways on gender, but apparently not yet on nationality. That is disappointing.

Despite that one (important) area where Mr. Zinsser and I disagree, I know that much of what he wrote is solid advice. Hopefully as I incorporate his suggestions my writing – for Cannonball Read, for work, and for my own blog – will improve. Or, I should say, I will improve my writing.

Sunday

27

July 2014

0

COMMENTS

Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work by Melissa Gira Grant

Written by , Posted in Feminism, Politics, Reviews

Four Stars

“Sex work can indeed be empowering. But that is not the point. Money is the fucking point.”
– Melissa Gira Grant, Playing the Whore

playing the whore

Growing up I had three basic images of sex work (although I didn’t call it that then): the Julia Roberts / Pretty Woman version; the desperate, drug addicted woman; and the ‘sex slave’ in another country who was ‘rescued’ regularly on Dateline and 48 Hours. I didn’t spend time thinking about sex workers, but I did wonder why sex work was illegal in most places.

Recently I’ve become more interested in labor rights; specifically how society views certain types of labor as worthy (of money or legality) and others as deserving of criminalization or at least disdain. I live in Seattle, where the fight to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour was met with such charming arguments from non-shift workers as ‘what did a McDonald’s worker do to deserve that? I barely make that!’ as though people in the fast food industry aren’t working just as hard as people sitting in air conditioned offices, able to take coffee and bathroom breaks whenever they want.

This interest led me to Ms. Grant’s book. She takes a perspective that is missing in coverage of sex work and workers – one that does not start by asking ‘should people do sex work’ but instead asks what can we do to improve the lives of the people who work in that industry. The book is well-written and educated me on the topic, but when asked to describe it in a few sentences I have a hard time. Each chapter feels like a separate essay in a broader collection, and initially I was not sure of the main purpose of the book, as it covers a broad area. It is not a linear history of sex work, nor is it an argument (primarily) for the decriminalization or legalization of sex work. It is more than that.

Going back through my notes and rereading the portions I highlighted does bring more clarity to me. That is a function not of Ms. Grant’s writing, but of my need to re-read the book to better take in all of the information she shares. Her purpose seems to be to point out all of the ways in which people who seek to help sex workers fail, and in doing so Ms. Grant draws the reader’s attention to the need for the reader to take actions in solidarity with these workers, and support those who can change the conditions of their lives for the better, not pull them out of sex work or make it more dangerous for them to perform the work they do.

Ms. Grant illustrates this in many ways, including critiquing the fight against online posting of sex worker ads and the large anti-sex work organizations that purport to rescue sex workers from horrible conditions. Ms. Grant points out that so many of the ‘rescued’ end up in worse situations, with less agency than they had when doing sex work, and concludes that this stems from the inability of so many to see these women and men as people doing a job and not as one-dimensional ‘whores.’

“The goal, these antiprostitute advocates say, of eradicating men’s desire for paid sex isn’t ‘antisex’ but to restore the personhood of prostitutes, that is, of people who are already people except to those who claim to want to fix them.”

That’s the point, really. Sex workers are people first, people who make their money in the sex work industry. The problems these workers face doesn’t stem from the morality of sex work – they originate with the rest of society, which is invested in making sex work dangerous. The question the reader is left with – that I am left with – is what am I going to do to benefit these workers?

 

 

Saturday

26

July 2014

0

COMMENTS

Whiskey Women by Fred Minnick

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Whiskey Women

I am whiskey drinker. I usually choose Jameson or Bushmills on the rocks, although I’m also a fan of the Four Roses Bourbon out of Lawrenceburg. Until my trip to Edinburgh last year I thought I loathed Scotch whisky; I couldn’t take the peaty, smoky smell. Upon being introduced to the Speyside single malt Scotch whiskies, however, I found another brown liquor to add to the rotation.

Given my love of whiskies, and knowing my feminist views, my husband found the perfect book to surprise me with earlier this month: Whiskey Women. I found it easy to read and full of the type of trivia I enjoy – facts that might come in handy during a pub quiz. But the book contains more than anecdotes that might help me cover my bar tab on a Tuesday night; it tells stories that I had never heard, and would wager most readers have not heard either. Aside from one discussion about Prohibition, everything in this book was new to me, providing a basic overview of a field that is wrongly assumed to be a men-only club.

Mr. Minnick starts this history with a primer on early distilling – think Egypt and the Middle Ages. But he quickly shifts his focus to the 1600s and beyond, usually breaking the stories down by region of the world. He discusses poitín makers in Ireland who cared for the community, widows in Scotland who kept family distilleries running, and U.S. women who subverted the 18th amendment by selling moonshine. Despite my assumption that this book would comprise mostly Irish and Scottish history, a large piece focuses on Prohibition, covering the role of women in its passage and its repeal, as well as the women who worked to survive when their livelihood was made illegal.

I noticed two themes appearing in every chapter through the repeal of prohibition –unsavory law enforcement tactics and clever women. Taxation and implementation played large roles in many of these stories, with revenue police who used reprehensible means to administer their versions of justice. This meant anything from arresting bootleggers to destroying all of the equipment being used in legal operations. I was not surprised to read this; power leads many people to do unsavory things, often under the protection of the law. But women repeatedly found ways to either subvert the law or work within it to continue making liquor available. Their stories are not just interesting; they are stories that anyone who appreciates quality liquor (or the right to access it) should know.

The book wraps up with a brief look at modern women distillers and whisk(e)y fans, including heads of tasting panels and creators of tasting shows that bring distillers and consumers together to provide an opportunity for these buffs to enjoy new and old favorites. This section is thin, squeezing many stories into a tight space. These stories also lack the romance found in earlier sections of the book, such as the Lady of Laphroaig, who kept her distillery running during the war.

It’s great to learn about the women who influenced a field that brings so many people enjoyment; I only have two critiques of the book. The first is that the book focuses on white women; given the pictures Mr. Mennick includes in the book, apparently only white women are ‘whiskey women.’ I do not believe this can be the case, but even if so I think the book would be better for some discussion about why women of color are not well represented in this field.

My second criticism is that while I do not think women should be compared to men, many of the statistics Mr. Mennick includes would be stronger if they were provided in context. Seven women filling a role means one thing if there are seven men doing it, and another thing if there are 700 men doing it – the former might show women were viewed as equals, while the latter might suggest that those seven women were trailblazers. Either way the context would be more interesting for me than the raw numbers.

Saturday

12

July 2014

0

COMMENTS

The Jane Austen Handbook: Proper Life Skills from Regency England

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Thee Stars

jane austen

So I’ve never read anything written by Jane Austen. I’m not sure how that happened, but it did. I hadn’t even seen one of the many films / series based on her books (other than Clueless) until about two years ago, when I watched the Pride and Prejudice series starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. I still haven’t read any of her work, but I now feel a bit more prepared to do so.

The Jane Austen Handbook is a 200-page book that reads as a guide to living in Regency England. It assumes the reader is actually living in that time period (as opposed to reading about a history of it), and assumed the reader is in the same class as most of the main characters in Ms. Austen’s novels. It’s a clever convention, and for the most part I enjoyed it. I think it does a decent job of explaining the period without judging it, although of course as usual the margins of my version are filled with “ack” and “hell no,” especially when discussing what unmarried women were allowed to do.

This was a pretty quick read, but I’m glad I picked it up for a couple of reasons. First, I do plan to start reading Ms. Austen’s novels when I’m traveling this summer (ah, the beauty of the e-reader – I was able to load all of her works onto it in a matter of seconds), so it’s nice to have a bit of an understanding of the time period in which her works reside. And second, when I do inevitably get confused by a term or something a character did, I can refer back to this book and have a better sense of what I’m reading.

Wednesday

9

July 2014

1

COMMENTS

The Lady’s Book of Manners

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Three Stars

ladysbkmanners_xlrg

This book is not widely available online (although apparently you can get it from Amazon for a penny). It’s from a publisher in the UK that specializes in gift books; specifically ‘reprinting’ vintage books as a bit of a novelty. For example, this book claims to have come for a work originally published in London in the 1890s. Given my love of old etiquette books, I can at least vouch for the fact that many items in here are hilariously outdated, so they at least theoretically could have originated in a book from that time period.

I purchased this book when I came across it in a fantastic store filled with all manners of knick knacks, lotions and curios. I find them fascinating, and while the vast majority of the content is classist and sexist, some of it actually is intriguing. Some suggestions are actually not that bad – for example, spend four-five hours in the fresh air each day. Of course this assumes having four-five hours available for such leisure. But still. Can you imagine being able to do that? I have a 30-minute walk each way to work and I feel so lucky that I get than hour to myself, breathing (mostly) fresh air.

The book ranges from the extraordinarily detailed – “When tripping over the pavement, a lady should gracefully raise her dress a little above her ankle. With her right hand she should hold together the folds of her dress and draw them towards the right side.” – to the extremely general – “A lady is a lady at all times.” While some rules are patently outrageous (when referring to ‘servants’ “Never treat them as equals!”), some are quite lovely. For example, “Read such books as will enrich the mind, improve the heart, and add to the happiness and usefulness of your life.” Frankly, I think that’s kind of awesome.

If you happen across this book, and know someone who likes this sort of thing, this one won’t disappoint. But no need to seek it out if it’s not really your style.