I finished reading Jennifer Government the weekend before last, but haven't gotten around to writing it up until now. Things have been crazy, but here we are now.
Jennifer Government is an insightful, trenchant, and hilarious look at globalism and corporatism run amok. In the world of Jennifer Government no one has family last names anymore. Your last name is the name of the company you work for. So we have characters such as Nathaniel ExxonMobil, John Nike, Billy NRA, and the eponymous Jennifer Government. As you can tell from Billy NRA, even the NRA is a company for hire. Even worse, the Police are for hire. You can even subcontract them as hit men. Children's last names are the sponsor of the school they go to. Jennifer's daughter Kate goes to a Mattel school (instead of Hasbro or some other toy company) so her name isn't Kate Government, it's Kate Mattel.
Without spoiling too much (and there's quite a bit to spoil), the book sets up around a marketing ploy gone awry. Nike's new Mercury shoes are going to be the huge consumer item of the quarter. People are gathering in huge crowds outside of Nike Towns all across the world to get a crack at these shoes (I can't remember the figure, but $5000 per pair seems right). In order to make them even more valuable, two Nike marketing execs come up with an idea to kill some teenagers that just bought the shoes to make it look like they were killed for their new Nikes. Thus, the new shoes will gather even more cachet because it looks like people will kill to get them. As if that isn't weird enough, soon we see Nike trying to abolish the government!
In short, Max Barry's book, while funny, and ostensibly light reading, makes you think about how your choices are manipulated by companies every day. It also makes you think about what the proper relationship between the government and business should be. Good book.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Making the Corps by Thomas E. Ricks
Making the Corps is exactly what it sounds like. How does one make it into the U.S. Marine Corps. Published in 1997 and researched mostly in 1995. Ricks embeds himself with the 3086th recruit platoon at Parris Island, SC and follows them through boot camp and beyond.
Much of it is what you'd expect and have seen on TV and the movies. Lots of physical training, running in combat gear, rifle range training, etc. But there is much to learn here. For one, drill instructors aren't allowed to hit or swear at recruits. If they do and it's found out, it's most likely the end of their career. Other things to note is that compared to Basic Training in the other services, Marine boot camp is as much, if not more, about instilling a set of institutional values in the recruits as training them to be soldiers. That can be handled later at infantry school. Plus, one doesn't often realize what a grueling existence it is for drill instructors and their families.
It was also interesting to see Sen. Jim Webb's name pop up as a person who was critical in re-vamping Marine basic training. Webb is currently the junior U.S. Senator from Virginia, former Secretary of the Navy, and Marine hero during Vietnam. In the post-Vietnam funk, Webb, among others, realized that the Corps had to do something to regain its image. Webb, as Secretary of the Navy, hired maverick General Al Gray to be the man to make those changes. Gray's hiring was opposed by most in the Corps because they didn't want someone who would rock the boat; but Gray's changes, in Ricks's opinion made for a better Corps.
Even though the book deals almost exclusively with enlisted Marines and recruits, Ricks takes note of the increasing alienation of the military from society and the politicization of the officer corps. The Marines feel that one of their biggest fights is against the decadent consumer culture of America and this makes them "values voters" and makes the officer corps very Republican-leaning. Ricks notes that most Congresspeople don't have military experience (I don't think this has changed) and that Bill Clinton didn't serve in the military. I wonder how many of these officers feel now that two Republicans who didn't serve (Bush and Cheney) have them mired down in missions in the Middle East. Ostensibly Bush did, but we know how that story goes. But, the point being, Obama didn't serve in the military either. A semi-autonomous military, as Ricks notes, could be very dangerous to the future of America. Civilians should do more to understand the military, and the military should remember that its role is to protect America and its society.
Much of it is what you'd expect and have seen on TV and the movies. Lots of physical training, running in combat gear, rifle range training, etc. But there is much to learn here. For one, drill instructors aren't allowed to hit or swear at recruits. If they do and it's found out, it's most likely the end of their career. Other things to note is that compared to Basic Training in the other services, Marine boot camp is as much, if not more, about instilling a set of institutional values in the recruits as training them to be soldiers. That can be handled later at infantry school. Plus, one doesn't often realize what a grueling existence it is for drill instructors and their families.
It was also interesting to see Sen. Jim Webb's name pop up as a person who was critical in re-vamping Marine basic training. Webb is currently the junior U.S. Senator from Virginia, former Secretary of the Navy, and Marine hero during Vietnam. In the post-Vietnam funk, Webb, among others, realized that the Corps had to do something to regain its image. Webb, as Secretary of the Navy, hired maverick General Al Gray to be the man to make those changes. Gray's hiring was opposed by most in the Corps because they didn't want someone who would rock the boat; but Gray's changes, in Ricks's opinion made for a better Corps.
Even though the book deals almost exclusively with enlisted Marines and recruits, Ricks takes note of the increasing alienation of the military from society and the politicization of the officer corps. The Marines feel that one of their biggest fights is against the decadent consumer culture of America and this makes them "values voters" and makes the officer corps very Republican-leaning. Ricks notes that most Congresspeople don't have military experience (I don't think this has changed) and that Bill Clinton didn't serve in the military. I wonder how many of these officers feel now that two Republicans who didn't serve (Bush and Cheney) have them mired down in missions in the Middle East. Ostensibly Bush did, but we know how that story goes. But, the point being, Obama didn't serve in the military either. A semi-autonomous military, as Ricks notes, could be very dangerous to the future of America. Civilians should do more to understand the military, and the military should remember that its role is to protect America and its society.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Proprietor
Robert Coogan's The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Proprietor is a vastly overrated book. I have no idea how it made it into Sport's Illustrated's top 100 sports books.
The story is about J. Henry Waugh, who creates a baseball game using dice and paper (Strat-o-Matic baseball, anyone?) and brings his players to life by giving them names and personalities. He can play a season in a couple of months and he keeps meticulous statistics and a detailed history of the Association. We join the story in year LVI (56) of the Association, which, not coincidentally is Waugh's age. Waugh is in a bit of a funk over the league because not much interesting has happened since they came out of a golden age (The Brock Rutherford Era, named after all hall of fame player; inasmuch as a name on a piece of paper can be a hall of famer). However, Waugh is getting rejuvenated because Brock Rutherford's son, Damon, has just joined the league and is shaping up to become a star.
However, everything falls apart when young Damon is killed by a pitch to the head. Waugh thinks about cheating to keep Damon alive, but decides he must play by his own rules otherwise it isn't worth doing. This leads to Waugh's near total mental collapse. His obsession with the game and his hope for keeping his obsession with the game alive appear to have died with Damon. He starts drinking heavily, missing work, and ultimately getting fired. And perhaps, though it isn't explicitly stated in the text, Waugh may have completely gone insane and simply lived as the god of the association, which would involve completely dissociating with the real world.
Coover tries to write a book about obsession and mythology. It's fairly weak tea.
The story is about J. Henry Waugh, who creates a baseball game using dice and paper (Strat-o-Matic baseball, anyone?) and brings his players to life by giving them names and personalities. He can play a season in a couple of months and he keeps meticulous statistics and a detailed history of the Association. We join the story in year LVI (56) of the Association, which, not coincidentally is Waugh's age. Waugh is in a bit of a funk over the league because not much interesting has happened since they came out of a golden age (The Brock Rutherford Era, named after all hall of fame player; inasmuch as a name on a piece of paper can be a hall of famer). However, Waugh is getting rejuvenated because Brock Rutherford's son, Damon, has just joined the league and is shaping up to become a star.
However, everything falls apart when young Damon is killed by a pitch to the head. Waugh thinks about cheating to keep Damon alive, but decides he must play by his own rules otherwise it isn't worth doing. This leads to Waugh's near total mental collapse. His obsession with the game and his hope for keeping his obsession with the game alive appear to have died with Damon. He starts drinking heavily, missing work, and ultimately getting fired. And perhaps, though it isn't explicitly stated in the text, Waugh may have completely gone insane and simply lived as the god of the association, which would involve completely dissociating with the real world.
Coover tries to write a book about obsession and mythology. It's fairly weak tea.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon
As you might remember, I read David Simon's The Corner (which was about a year in a drug infested inner city neighborhood in Baltimore), a few months ago. It was such a good book, I figured I'd go back and read his earlier work, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. I wasn't disappointed. After all, these are the two books that spawned HBO's The Wire. This book was also the inspiration for NBC's hit show, Homicide: Life on the Street.
David Simon (a veteran police reporter for the Baltimore Sun at the time) embedded himself with the Baltimore Police Department's homicide unit from January 1, 1988 through December 31, 1988. For all intents and purposes, he was a homicide cop for the year (though he never tried to act like one...he wanted to blend into the background and that meant dressing and acting like a homicide detective). He attended crime scences, visited the morgue, and participated in a legal exhumation of a body. He was there for search and seizures, interrogations, court hearings and trials, prosecutor's offices, you name it.
The book is so well written that at times it feels like you're reading fiction. The problem is, none of it is fiction. People commit murders every day across this country. Homicide cops have to mentally distance themselves from the crimes in order to cope and do their jobs. They make distinctions between victims (also called taxpayers) and derelicts, dealers, and others who they don't think make a contribution to society.
The life of a homicide detective is rough. Again, all that evil you see on a daily basis, horrific office politics (which is often real politics), incredibly long hours, and incredible stress from dealing with deadbeats all day. This leads to a lot of alcohol abuse among the detectives and a lot of neglected families at home. And if you don't fall in with the unwritten work rules of the homicide department, you'll be hazed mercilessly until you conform or transfer out.
Simon gives us a very honest book. While sympathetic to the detectives, he shows us their flaws (family problems, alcohol abuse, some racism, other things) as well. He also tries to give the "other" side a fair shake as well.
My only problem with the book is that there were so many people involved in the story. Even though each detective was incredibly well fleshed out, it was hard to remember who had a young child at home, who was divorced, who was a sergeant, etc. But this is a minor complaint.
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is an extremely compelling read. Even though it rings in at a weighty 600 pages, they seem to fly by. Great writing by a great journalist on what is unfortunately a timeless topic.
David Simon (a veteran police reporter for the Baltimore Sun at the time) embedded himself with the Baltimore Police Department's homicide unit from January 1, 1988 through December 31, 1988. For all intents and purposes, he was a homicide cop for the year (though he never tried to act like one...he wanted to blend into the background and that meant dressing and acting like a homicide detective). He attended crime scences, visited the morgue, and participated in a legal exhumation of a body. He was there for search and seizures, interrogations, court hearings and trials, prosecutor's offices, you name it.
The book is so well written that at times it feels like you're reading fiction. The problem is, none of it is fiction. People commit murders every day across this country. Homicide cops have to mentally distance themselves from the crimes in order to cope and do their jobs. They make distinctions between victims (also called taxpayers) and derelicts, dealers, and others who they don't think make a contribution to society.
The life of a homicide detective is rough. Again, all that evil you see on a daily basis, horrific office politics (which is often real politics), incredibly long hours, and incredible stress from dealing with deadbeats all day. This leads to a lot of alcohol abuse among the detectives and a lot of neglected families at home. And if you don't fall in with the unwritten work rules of the homicide department, you'll be hazed mercilessly until you conform or transfer out.
Simon gives us a very honest book. While sympathetic to the detectives, he shows us their flaws (family problems, alcohol abuse, some racism, other things) as well. He also tries to give the "other" side a fair shake as well.
My only problem with the book is that there were so many people involved in the story. Even though each detective was incredibly well fleshed out, it was hard to remember who had a young child at home, who was divorced, who was a sergeant, etc. But this is a minor complaint.
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is an extremely compelling read. Even though it rings in at a weighty 600 pages, they seem to fly by. Great writing by a great journalist on what is unfortunately a timeless topic.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)