Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Book report: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen First off, this guy deserves a medal, because, to write this book, he had to read TWELVE high school American History textbooks in their entirety, a feat I’ll bet has never been attempted before or since. My guess is that his goal was to read an even twenty, but after he woke up in the hospital with his eyes bleeding, he decided to scale back his plans a little, to preserve his health and sanity. Lowen’s goal is to expose all the information that is incorrect or missing from American History textbooks, which leads to the first amazing fact this book presents: information is incorrect or missing from American History textbooks. My first reaction to learning this was outrage: you mean, they force us to learn this crap and it’s not even true? That’s right, it’s wrong. A lot. My second reaction was: how is this possible? How can you tell people things that aren’t true? Until I

Book report: Sleights of Mind, by Stephen L. Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, and Sandra Blakeslee I love magic tricks. Even when I know exactly how the trick is done, I’m amazed by the skill of the magician. If you think about it, the whole idea of magic tricks is fascinating. We KNOW that they are not doing what they pretend they are doing. We KNOW that they can’t get the jack of clubs to rise to the top of a deck of cards, or pull a rabbit out of an empty hat, or make a person vanish. But we still watch, we’re still fooled, and we still enjoy it. How is this possible? We are watching what they do the entire time. Why don’t we SEE what they are really doing? Why do we believe that something impossible has just happened? This book answers those questions, and many more. The first two authors are researchers and experts in human perception and neural processing, especially about illusions. The third author is a professional writer, who I believe is largely responsible for the very

Book report: The Escapists, written by Brian K. Vaughan, various artists, characters created by Michael Chabon Why does “escapism” have such a negative connotation? So much of life is built around escaping. What else are movies, theater, music, sports, TV, books, and margaritas about? We are blessed with brains that enable us not only to deal with reality, but also pretend that it doesn’t exist. Who doesn’t enjoy a good story of escape? So, why does escapism get such a bad rap? How can I explain The Escapists? A few years ago, Michael Chabon wrote a great novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. That was about two Jewish young men, Kavalier and Clay, who write a comic book about their original character, The Escapist, who helps people get out of dangerous situations. This current graphic novel, The Escapists, takes place in the world of Kavalier and Clay. Max, another Jewish young man discovers his deceased father’s collection of Escapist memorabilia. The young man beg

Book report: Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life, by Steve Martin Steve Martin is a performer whom people either love or can’t stand. I love watching and hearing Steve Martin, from his comedy albums to his appearances on SNL to his movie career. This book is a memoir about his professional life as a performer. It has lessons for performers of all kinds, but also for anyone who tries to be creative and original in their life. This is not a biography or an autobiography. He leaves out important information about his life, because it doesn’t pertain to his life as a performer. But what he does include is fascinating, significant, and well presented. This is a guy who, by his own admission, couldn’t act, couldn’t sing, and couldn’t dance, but who yearned to be a performer, to stand up in front of an audience and entertain them. As he puts it, “obsession is a substitute for talent.” He worked with what he had, which wasn’t much. He came from a financially and emotionally impoverished famil

Book report: Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card Humanity is in trouble. The Buggers, an insect-like alien race, have already attacked Earth twice, and Earth barely survived each attack. Now, Earth is preparing for the third invasion, knowing it will be hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned by the Bugger fleets. A desperate search is on for a supreme military commander who can lead Earth’s meager forces against the impending invasion. In this society, children are routinely tested for the right psychological combination, and the best candidates are implanted with “monitors” for up to three years. The chosen few are selected for Battle School in a space station, and the best of those go on to Command School. Andrew (Ender) Wiggin is one such child. Six years old when the story begins, he is small, weak, and nonviolent. He is tormented incessantly by his jealous, psychopathic older brother Peter, and defended by his loving sister Valentine. He’s the target of bullying and beatings at

Movie report: Thor In Norse mythology, and the Marvel comic books, Thor is a god. This movie makes it clear that the residents of the realm of Asgard are not gods, but their vastly superior technology was seen as magic by 10th century humans, who saw fit to worship them. This is how you get days of the week named after you. With that point out of the way, you can sit back and enjoy the entertainment without any nagging theology. !!! SPOILER ALERT !!! When the movie begins, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is swaggering like every other top jock you’ve ever seen as he steps forward to be named the next king of Asgard by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins). The ceremony is interrupted by Frost Giants breaking into a secure area to steal back the MacGuffin that gives their realm its power. They don’t succeed, but hot-head Thor is so ticked off at being upstaged that he gathers his boon companions, including his brother Loki, and sets off to the Frost Giant realm to kick some butt. The ensuing ba

Movie report: Gattaca Someday, Uma Thurman will appear in a movie where she doesn’t smirk. This isn’t that movie, but I had my hopes. For the first third of it, she is stern and suspicious of the main character, Vincent. She has good reason to be suspicious. The world of Gattaca, as with most good science fiction, is like our world, but with a twist. In this world, parents have the option of scanning their almost-conceived children for genetic defects, and correcting any problems, plus doing a genetic makeover to produce designer babies. This is sold to parents much as special day-care and pre-school is sold to parents today: don’t you want the best for your child, to give them the best start in life? Who can say no? Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is a child made the old-fashioned way, in the back seat of a car, without genetic upgrades. He has a heart condition that will limit his life, and he needs glasses. His younger brother, however, gets the full genetic treatment and is the family’

Book report: The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins Boy, do I miss Carl Sagan. In the good old days, if I wanted to read scathing indictments of religion, closely reasoned arguments against the existence of God, and a boost to atheism generally, all I had to do was reach out and read Sagan’s latest book. I was guaranteed to find fascinating insights, clever analysis, and impressive reasoning, all in his elegant and memorable style. Plus, the bonus of Sagan himself as a courtly and genial host. Now, all we have is Richard Dawkins and, believe me, it just ain’t the same. In reading The God Delusion, I find myself in a peculiar position. I am unquestionably Dawkins’s target audience. I’m reasonably intelligent, educated, and have a background in science and math. I tend to be analytical, critical, and skeptical about every other topic under the sun. I even believe in evolution. However, I do happen to know that God exists, for reasons that would not impress any other person, but that ar

TV report: Who Do You Think You Are? Genealogy is one of my favorite hobbies. The genealogy of my own family is very difficult to pursue, because before about 1910, it’s all in Italy and Portugal. My wife’s genealogy, on the other hand, is both fascinating and accessible. She has lots of ancestors in America, and many interesting ones, including a fellow who once owned the city of Springfield, Massachusetts and two veterans of the Revolutionary War. Some people look on genealogy as irrelevant: it’s all about the past, which has no effect or impact on present life. I disagree. Our view of ourselves depends very heavily on what we know about our families. Your image of your life must change if you find out that you are a descendant of a slave, a slave-owner, an accused Salem witch, a Holocaust victim, a World War I hero, or European royalty. Each week, the TV show “Who Do You Think You Are?” shows the process of uncovering some of the genealogy of a celebrity. The choice of using a

Movie report: Invictus I recently became interested in rugby and, looking for videos to help me understand the game, I happened upon the movie Invictus. I found a lot more than I was looking for. In 1994, Nelson Mandela, freed after nearly 30 years in prison as a political prisoner and recently elected President of South Africa, attends a match of the country’s rugby team, the Springboks (it’s a kind of gazelle). They are a pretty crappy team, and are losing to England. Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) notices that the whites in the audience applaud when the Springboks score, but the blacks applaud when England scores. To the blacks, the Springboks (and their team colors), are a symbol of apartheid. Mandela sees this rugby team as a way to help unify the country. He invites the white team captain, Francois Pienaar (played by Matt Damon), to tea. Mystified, Pienaar accepts, and there is a strange meeting between the two. Although Mandela never said it, Pienaar comes away with th

Book report: I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov This book is a collection of tales about robot behavior. Asimov, anticipating a time when autonomous and intelligent robots would have to coexist with human beings, created his three laws of robotics: a robot must not cause or allow harm to a human, a robot must obey a human (except if it involves harming a human), and a robot must preserve its own existence (except where that conflicts with the previous two laws). These laws have been elevated to science fiction canon, and are often quoted and used in other works by other authors. Each story involves robots acting in unexpected ways, and people trying to figure out why the robots are acting the way they are, and setting things right, if possible. They are all good stories, written as clever mysteries, and are well told. But Asimov’s genius goes way beyond creating a world, and its rules, and strange situations in it, and telling entertaining stories about it. His genius is in recognizing th

Movie report: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 [Spoiler Alert!] In her first scene in this movie, Hermione performs an action that is utterly logical and completely heart-breaking. Knowing that the bad guys will come searching for her and will stop at nothing to catch her, she erases all traces of herself from her parents’ memories. It is so poignant to see this girl, this child, remove her very existence from the people who love her most. To save them. To save her. Maybe. That’s the kind of movie this is. The carefree days of fun spells and hijinks are gone. There are no quidditch matches in this movie, no scenes at Hogwarts at all. Voldemort and his minions have all the power and are all too willing to use it. Their coup of the magical world is complete, except for Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Mind you, the minions are not all happy about this situation. It’s clear that the Malfoys are wondering if it’s such a treat to be so close to someone who is absolutely evil. T

Book report: Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again, by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley This is the 3-issue sequel to Miller and Varley’s 1986 masterpiece “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns”. At the end of that 4-issue work, Batman, after defeating the Joker and a nameless anarchical criminal leader, pretends to be dead to escape the notice of Superman and the authorities. Now, 3 years later, the world is a wonderful place. The Dow is at 50,000. Congress passes laws unanimously. Everyone is happy. Well, not everyone. In fact, most people have it pretty crappy in this world. Wealthy and powerful people and corporations have the world in their pocket. Dissent is outlawed. The President is revealed to be a CGI creation – and nobody cares much. Except for Batman. Enough about plot. It is the style of DKSA that smacks you in the eyeball. It’s like a comic gone berserk. There are almost no settings. Just the people, ma’am. Sometimes just a chin or a finger. It’s like Dark Knight Returns on

TV report: The Cape (NBC) “The Cape” is a new superhero action TV show that has some interesting aspects, but also some goofy and wrongheaded parts that must be straightened out to achieve success. [SPOILER ALERT!] In this show, The Cape is a superhero along the lines of Batman, namely, that he doesn’t have any super powers, but relies on special prowess, equipment, and inner drive to overcome enemies. The background is that Vince Faraday is an honest cop who is framed for a murder by a local billionaire-slash-criminal-mastermind named Chess. Faraday is believed dead, which makes his wife and young son safe from Chess. Faraday decides to stay undercover to keep his family safe while he tries to take down Chess in vigilante style. It’s almost the reverse of Batman’s origin: Batman’s family was killed, and he dedicated his life to justice. In “The Cape”, Faraday is actually the one believed dead. I like the part where a local circus takes Faraday into the fold and teaches him all

Book report: The Myth of Stress by Andrew Bernstein I’m not big on self-help books. I certainly need the help, but I’m skeptical. Too often, the book claims to be the absolute solution, and it can’t be: people are too different. Or it demands some absurd commitment of belief and energy that I’m not going to invest. Or it simply doesn’t work. So, for me to pick up, read, and recommend a self-help book is very unusual. But “The Myth of Stress” is an unusual book. It starts by introducing the explanation behind stress that we’ve all come to know – and then debunking it. As we all know, stress is caused by the fight-or-flight response to danger that we evolved to survive. Saber-tooth tiger shows up: we either run, fight the tiger, or become lunch. Only the runners and fighters survived. Now, whenever the modern equivalent of the saber-tooth tiger shows up, we have the same response, but it’s no longer helpful. We can’t run from our work or families. We can’t battle the other commuters