Saying “Yes!” to everything seems like it should be a really bad idea. Just think of the amount of advertising we’re subjected to on a daily basis. But despite a fair amount of close calls (almost getting beat up in a bar, doing drugs with a stranger in Amsterdam, almost being consumed by a Malaysian lizard) and mounting credit card debt, saying “Yes!” turned this Brit’s life around. What struck me was how he referred to his way of life, e.g. “Yes wanted me to do this,” as if Yes were a higher power. This book has probably been written with the word “Yes” replaced by “God.” What started as a way for Wallace to force himself to hang out with friends more often thus turned into something of a spiritual journey, as he relinquished control of his life.

Add this one to my list of books for a hypothetical high school English class.

Apparently the Yes Man story inspired a bit of a cult, which Wallace has dubbed “Join Me.” It’s quite popular in Belgium, but he’s still working on the Norwegians.

Here’s the true story of why you’re prescribed a certain medication when you go to the doctor. It’s not what you think. This was an interesting follow-up What Should I Do With My Life? Shouldn’t someone working less than 30 hours a week and making six-figures would be happy? Actually, I’d be miserable at that job too. The only success I ever had selling anything was M&Ms in 6th grade for our trip to Camp Bernie. I stood outside Grand Union every day for a week and asked everyone who passed, “Do you want to buy a box of M&Ms?” I remember one guy tried to give me some tip about saying I was from St. Thomas More School and we were doing a fundraiser for our retreat and all. Wow, that didn’t work at all.

The best aspect of this book is that it doesn’t profile the most successful (rich) people in the world as most books concerning the subject would. We all know that Bill Gates dropped out of college and became filthy rich; that doesn’t help me figure out how to live my life. Po’s approach is more focused on how people found what really makes them happy in life. The people, journeys, and destinations are quite diverse. While there likely isn’t one person that the reader will identify with, there are so many stories that the reader is likely to see similarities in many of those profiled. If nothing else, it made me feel more confident about my path, so in that sense, I’m glad I read it.

I found this in the sale section of Barnes and Noble after reading 1421, which describes the Chinese world expedition that commenced in that year. Columbus Was Last summarizes 15 pre-Columbian “discoveries” of America. The stories come from every part of the world and vary in believability. The best section of the book is the last chapter which attempts to explain why Columbus’s voyage became legendary while others were forgotten, in spite of apparent discrepancies in the Great Navigator’s accounts. Although only one (Vikings landing in Newfoundland) is generally accepted scientifically and historically, I’m convinced that at least one other party made their way to America between the native Americans and Columbus. Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know for sure who actually made the journey.

I consider the Harry Potter series as sort of a DaVinci Code with a broader target audience. They’re both entertaining and fast; so while they’re not likely to change the reader’s life, they are enjoyable, unlike the books most are forced to read in school.

Another positive to the Harry Potter series is that they seem to get better with each installment. One of my complaints about each book is the time devoted to getting Harry to school. This one (#4) is quite brief in getting Harry away from his ‘muggle’ relatives and into the wizarding world. The mystery is fairly sophisticated, with smaller mysteries along the way, and it does a good job building on the previous episode (The Prisoner of Azkaban).

I found The Gun Seller via comments posted on bn.com, which was probably not the best way to find a book, since those ratings are generally worthless. It had some problems and was somewhat formulaic, but in the end, I enjoyed Laurie‘s first novel. I saw a quote in the liner notes comparing the sarcastic/irreverent tone to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and I could never really get that out of my head. Since the overall plot is common to movies, I pondered how well The Gun Seller would translate to film. But while government agencies, terrorists, and conspiracy theories make for good (or exciting at least) movies, I don’t think the sarcasm would translate well since it’s primarily in the internal dialogue of the narator/protagonist. I suppose the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie would give me a good idea, but that’s told in third person, so maybe not.

Odie gave me The Power and the Glory with the bold preface, “It might be my favorite book,” surplanting Cannery Row. It’s pretty obvious why. Greene provides a compelling commentary on the difference between faith and religion. If there’s a parallel universe where I’m an English teacher assigning five-paragraph essays, I bet this book is on my reading list, and my assignment is “Discuss the whisky priest’s attitude toward religion (and subsequent actions) while in prison as compared to his time in the Lehrs’ village.” Another good one would be, “Why does the whisky priest spend so much time with the half-caste, whom he distrusts?” or even “Do you think the Catholic Church should have been so threatened by this book to ban it?” That’s another universe though.

EST is Cory Doctorow’s second novel, and as with Magic Kingdom, the setting again is a world slightly more advanced than our own, but not unimaginable. The twist this time is that tribes exist throughout the world not based on race or religion, but instead on common way of life of a particular time zone, regardless of where the members actually live. While I find this an intriguing (and plausible) premise, the major effect is messing up sleep schedules. Thus, a considerable amount of time is explaining tribal life with little impact on the plot. What’s left of EST is sort of a love story, corporate sabatoge, and a debate of happiness versus inteligence. It was enjoyable enough to read, but I had higher hopes for this book.

I think this is a science-fiction book that approaches something we could imagine in our lifetime, and then pushes the envelope a little further. Basically people are fused with wireless technology, sort of a hyper-Blackberry type device implanted in your head, for communication and access to the internet 24/7 directly via the brain. This brain-computer interface allows also for memory back-up and transfer to another body, such as a clone of yourself, to achieve immortality in essence. Money as we know it is replaced by “Whuffie,” which is sort of currency of reputation. Society is already moving toward this lifestyle with cellular and wi-fi devices all over the place, and I can completely see somebody embedding them inside their bodies and making them CNS responsive. Immortality via clones I’m not so sure about.

A couple of interesting points from Down and Out:

Cory Doctorow’s site: craphound.com

I read The Hitchhiker’s Guide a few years back with the intention of reading the entire five part trilogy. I think I made it through the second part, but sputtered midway through the third. The recent movie version rekindled my interest, so I revisited the sci-fi classic. It’s probably the best book that destroys the Earth in the first 20 pages. There’s some cute humor, a few jabs at government and philosophy, and a unique creation story. I’m not sure if this was intended at all, but the theme that comes to me is not to take ourselves too seriously. If that’s the point, then maybe I should read it again.