The Passion of Christopher Pierznik

After the chaos of the summer, I was finally able to bang out a few titles that I’ve been wanting to get to (although my antilibrary continues to grow). I did my best to mix it up this month, so there should be something for everyone.

Click here for Volume 1

Click here for Volume 2

Click here for Volume 3

Click here for Volume 4

Click here for Volume 5

Click here for Volume 6

                                                  

• Fiction

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003) - The first years of the new millennium was a weird time. Many people were scared of Y2K (my father worked in computer programming so he knew we would be fine), then Bush won a controversial election, then 9/11 happened, then we went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Amid the backdrop of all that, The Kite Runner was published in 2003 and immediately became part of the national discourse, primarily because it took place in Afghanistan and runs for several decades from the fall of the government to the eventual rise of the Taliban. When I would take a walk on my lunch break and browse through Borders or Barnes & Noble (remember those?), I always saw it on the best sellers shelf, but never picked it up. Now that I have, I see that my first instincts were correct. This is not a very good book. It’s not written poorly, but it’s not written well, either. Hosseini pounds the reader over the head with symbolism, particularly in the main character’s dreams, which are frequent and vivid, but also full of exposition. Speaking of the main character - and the book is written from the first-person perspective - this dude is not likeable. In fact, he’s genuinely unlikeable. He’s a whiny, petty, self-involved child of privilege that has zero self-awareness. As a reader, I hated this character and never bought into his motivations or point of view. To put it bluntly, this book sucks, and 1.5 Wu-Tangs is being generous. 

                     

 

City of Thieves by David Benioff (2008) - Novels of historical fiction are tricky. The writer needs to create an interesting world within an historically accurate realm and craft a story that keeps the reader engaged while also staying true to at least some of the facts. City of Thieves does all of that - and more - wonderfully. A story of a 17 year-old sent on a quest through German-occupied Russia during World War II, it is a much more engaging read than one would think from the synopsis. More importantly, it gets better with each chapter, never doing what the reader expects but also not creating plot out of thin air. This was one of the better books I’ve experienced recently.

                                           

Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk (2009) - I find Chuck Palahniuk brilliant and subversive, so I was eager to devour Pygmy. Unfortunately, I gave up quickly. Written as a series of dispatches by a 13 year-old sleeper agent, I couldn’t get beyond the cadence and broken English in which the book is written. I understand the reason for it and I applaud the effort and the originality, but it kept taking me out of the story because I had to keep starting and stopping. And by the looks of it, I’m not the only one. I couldn’t get past page 50.

N/A

                                              

• Non-Fiction

I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi (2009) - Personal finance is one of the hottest topics around and there are almost countless books on the subject (as well as books on the books). People like Suze Orman, about whom I had a Twitter argument recently, have built entire industries on the subject. As a finance professional, I’ve read several of these books and I can say that there are a few refreshing things about I Will Teach You to Be Rich. First, there’s no shaming of someone that either doesn’t make a ton of money or has gotten themselves into a financial hole. We’ve (almost) all been there - myself included - when you live for the moment and focus on enjoying things that you probably can’t afford and the next thing you know, you’re in debt. This book gives the reader a quick, easy plan to not only pay down debt, but also increase personal capital without judging or preaching. For anyone that is looking to get better involved with their finances, this is a great starter book and the first one I would recommend. However, it’s not perfect. The book title is hyperbolic (in an effort to increase sales), but I Will Give You the Steps to Become Financially Independent would have been more accurate and I think putting a photo of himself on the cover is pure hubris. Sethi also makes sweeping generalizations about Indian families and parents as if those of us from other cultures and ethnicities don’t know how to be frugal. Moreover, I found some of the advice to be elementary and basic, but it’s aimed at people in their early-to-mid 20’s, so I’m a decade beyond the book’s demographic and I was given much of this advice early in my life - even though I didn’t always use it. I was proud of myself for doing nearly everything Sethi suggests, if not always maximizing it, and the book speaks from - and to - the perspective of a single person with a halfway decent job and no kids. Depending on your age and financial acumen, there may be some parts that don’t apply to you (and the final chapter gets a bit too Dear Abby-esque for my tastes), but overall it’s a great blueprint for how to set yourself up for the long term.

                                   

                         

Open by Andre Agassi (2009) - As an ‘80s baby, I was too young to really remember the Evert-Navratilova or Bjorg-McEnroe duels, but I do remember the Sampras-Agassi rivalry. And the Nike commercials. I remember reading about Agaassi’s memoir when it first came out and the mentions of the more salacious revelations (Jimmy Connors is a dick, Agassi did crystal meth and wore a hairpiece, Sampras doesn’t tip), so I wasn’t all that interested in his story. I was wrong. From the start, this book grabs the reader more like a novel than an autobiography and even when you know what will happen - he gets over the hump and wins majors, his marriage to Brooke Shields crumbles - it’s still a page-turner, probably thanks in no smart part to uncredited co-writer J.R. Moehringer (author of The Tender Bar). Most sports biographies either don’t name names or focus on the wrong things, but this hit all the right notes. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

                           

• Article

The Pow! Bang! Bam! Plan to Save Marvel, Starring B-List Heroes by Devin Leondard (2014, BusinessWeek) - No Superman. No Batman. No Wonder Woman. They sold the film rights to Spider-Man and X-Men. How, exactly, is Marvel dominating the superhero film industry? By sticking to the source material and taking the subject matter seriously, but also infusing it with joy. This is a great piece on not only Marvel films, but also business, comics, and making the most of an opportunity.

                                               

• Throwback Choice

Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden (2001) - Pablo Escobar built the exquisite jail in which he was held. Then, he escaped. Bowden takes the reader on the journey to hunt down and kill - not capture - the biggest drug kingpin in the world. I read this in two days while spending the summer in Portland, Oregon back in 2002 and I just bought my own copy that I can’t wait to read again.

If you have a book recommendation for me or want more info on something I’ve read, please contact me on Facebook or Twitter.

Christopher Pierznik is the author of six books that can be purchased in Paperback, Kindle, and Nook. A former feature contributor and managing editor of I Hate JJ Redick, he has also written for XXL, Please Don’t Stare, Amusing My Bouche, Reading & Writing is for Dumb People, and others. He works in finance and spends his evenings changing diapers and drinking craft beer. He once applied to be a cast member on The Real World, but was rejected. You can like his Facebook page here and follow him on Twitter here.