Book Review: "The Know-It-All"

While I was reviewing A. J. Jacobs' most-recent book, I became aware that his previous book had been about a project to read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica. So when I found a used hardback copy in Von's a few weeks ago, I jumped at the chance to read it. (Take that Amazon: $9 in hardback, even cheaper than the Kindle version)

Jacobs approaches his task of reading the entire encyclopaedia as a way to measure himself against his successful attorney father. Feeling that his pop-culture jobs as writer/editor at Entertainment Weekly and Esquire had diluted his Brown education, he decides to complete a task his father never finished--all forty-four million words. Along the way he shares humorous stories of becoming a Mensa member and attending a conference, competing in a crossword puzzle tournament, and auditioning and appearing on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". As he journeys through the alphabet, Jacobs makes connections and highlights the commonalities all cultures and times share, as well as pointing out some very shocking (and often humorous) differences. We see the facts from his reading connect in often unusual ways to his daily life and watch Jacobs struggle with reconciling, remembering, and digesting his growing body of knowledge. Sometimes he does so successfully...and sometimes...well...

As with his last book, I really appreciate Jacobs' transparency, and I can identify with his foibles, social awkwardness, and borderline obsessive-compulsive behavior. After reading two of his books, I feel I know him, and I'm inspired by his willingness to immerse himself in his work--to let the process of discovery change him, rather than just writing to make a buck.

I highly recommend the book (the short chapters/sections make it the perfect bathroom book)--it's informative, funny, and touching.

Book Review: "Perfecting Ourselves to Death"

I'd read this book a year or so ago, but when packing up my bookcase I came across it and decided to give it another read. I'm glad I did.

As the title of this blog alludes, I suffer from this particular ailment, although I like to think I'm in recovery. I can relate to author Richard Winter's quote of Paul Tournier when describing a fear of making mistakes--a common symptom of perfectionism.

"Fear of making the wrong decision makes it difficult to give up any options that are available....perfectionists want to do everything, but choose nothing, and so never get started. Living means choosing one thing rather than another, but these people will give up nothing, and so lose everything."

For me, a black/white mindset makes it tough to see life's middle ground. Life is growth, and growth is often messy--lived out in the tension between black and white. It's not that I think I'm able to be perfect; I'm not sure any perfectionist would think they could be. It's just that a "wrong" choice risks missing out on the "best" option, and so even a "good" option seems like loss. Life becomes avoiding future wrongs and regretting the past mistakes...

Winters also does a great job at reaching the heart of perfectionism's utility: control. The idea is "if I can be perfect, and make the situation perfect, then there is no risk that I'll get hurt". The natural result of working through perfectionism is facing that you're finite, not in control, and learning to live in the tension of the unknown. It's a process of openness, vulnerability, and facing disappointments as inevitable but not fatal.

Winters writes that the antidote is contentment...a functional trust that Jesus is good and in control, and that we don't have to be. Contentment is hard for perfectionists, as they are always dissatisfied and pursuing more. Giving Jesus control is a scary proposition.

Toward the end of the book, Winters quotes The Velveteen Rabbit when describing the process of becoming spiritually and emotionally mature:

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender...
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. " You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

The choice is pretty simple, really. We can choose to remain in the toy box in our packaging--protected from being broken and scratched and bruised and scarred by interactions with the world. Or we can let Jesus and others love us and in the process mature and be come Real.

Another Forgotten Treasure

I remember when David Hasselhoff was cool.

I always dreaded the end of a weekend--even in primary school--but the one thing that made it worth it was Knight Rider on Sunday nights. Who can forget that amazing theme song...

But I remember one tragic Sunday in October when K.I.T.T. went head-to-head (grill-to-grill?) with Goliath and was almost destroyed. Part of the suspense leading up to this season 2 premier was the opportunity for fans to send in a postcard and request a "KITT Kit" schematic of the modifications to K.I.T.T. that would be coming...and would you believe I found mine in a box of old keepsakes during my last move!?





My memories of the document was that it was much more technical than it really is. Also, I don't know if it was just me or the nature of these mail-in things, but I remember being so jazzed when it came in the mail; this was back in the day when I *NEVER* got mail, much less anything so cool as to be KR related, and enough time had passed between sending in my postcard that I'd forgotten it was coming.

Anyway, I hope kids today have such things to look forward to, but I'm guessing the web and instant downloads have eliminated them...

In the candy isle at Sam's

I guess if you want to skip the middle man...