Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer

In 2004, right around the time it was becoming all too clear that our military adventure in Iraq was far from "Mission Accomplished", Pat Tillman died in Afghanistan, shot to death by soldiers from his own unit.  For some time, Tillman's death was portrayed by the Pentagon and the Bush Administration as a heroic sacrifice, demonstrating Tillman's honor, courage and patriotism.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

In Where Men Win Glory, author Jon Krakauer (Into Thin Air, Under The Banner Of Heaven), comprehensively depicts Tillman's life and brief career in the Army Rangers, creating the full and contradictory picture of a genuine human being, instead of a media stereotype.  Macho, yet gentle, outgoing, smart, and surprisingly self-aware, Tillman felt compelled to give up a multi-million dollar contract to play pro football for the Arizona Cardinals after 9/11, enlisting as a private in the Army.

Denialism by Michael Specter

Apparently, there are people out there - large numbers of them - who now believe that childhood immunizations for such diseases as mumps, measles, tetanus and polio are more hazardous than they are useful.  That such ignorami are fronted by celebrity "experts" like former MTV bimbo Jenny McCarthy and her current paramour, "comic actor" Jim Carrey, should come as little surprise.

A Softer Dave Cullen

A word to the wise - the new softcover edition of Dave Cullen's stupendously well-researched and emotionally searing account of the 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold high school massacre, Columbine, (reviewed at this site) is now available. 

Tulia by Nate Blakeslee

This is one I just happened upon at the library - I didn't know anything at all about the events chronicled by journalist Nate Blakeslee from 1999 to 2003, so I took a chance, and I'm very glad I did.  Tulia is a small town in the Texas Panhandle, and in 1999, a joint County-State-Federal drug enforcement task force raided it and arrested more than 40 of its citizens on charges of cocaine sales.  The vast majority of those charged were black and impoverished, and the arrests netted fully one fifth of the town's total black residents.

Just another sad story about the intersection of race and poverty with drug use, one might think.  But this bust was unusual in several respects.  First, all of the arrests were for delivery of powder cocaine, instead of the much more common crack.  Second, all of the arrests depended on one sole piece of evidence:  the testimony of Tom Coleman, the Swisher County undercover officer who made, according to his own testimony, more than 100 buys from more than 40 different people over an 18-month period. 

Under The Banner Of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

I seem to be on a God kick lately.  I'm not sure why, except maybe that the nature of faith, taken to extremes, fascinates and horrifies me.  That presumably normal and rational human beings can convince themselves of total absurdities, and then hurt or kill other human beings based on that belief, demonstrates, I think, a profound deficiency in human brain design.  What's worse is that it is a defect that seems to be on the rise.

On July 27, 1984, the 137th anniversary of  Brigham Young and his Mormon followers arrival in their promised land of Deseret (now Salt Lake City, Utah), two brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, slit the throats of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter, Erica, the wife and child of their brother, Alan.  They did this because of a revelation from God. 

Good Book by David Plotz

Have I mentioned my profound contempt and loathing of religious fundamentalists?  Probably.  I was reminded today of the staggering loopiness of these right-wingnuts when Bobo Smyth-Bullard sent me a clipping concerning a fundamentalist's response to the late unpleasantness at Sea World, in which Shamu the "Killer Whale"  lived up to his description and iced one of his trainers.  

Said response was swift and merciless; according to scripture, Shamu must be killed forthwith - via stoning.  (How do you stone to death something that lives underwater?)  Also, his surviving trainers must likewise be stoned to death for good measure, says the Bible.  As often claimed, the Good Book has a solution for every problem, even if most of them involving throwing rocks at people (or aquatic mammals).

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose

I loved this book, but I hate the author.  Why, you ask?  Because the little bastard hadn't even graduated from Brown when he wrote this, and its a damn sight better than anything I could do at the age (or now, for that matter).  God, I loathe natural talent.  Anyway, its still a great read, and if you aren't the jealous type I'm sure you'll like it just fine. 

In addition to people who are more talented than I, I also hate religious fundamentalists - and that's what the book is about, from the perspective of a secret infiltrator - Roose himself, who took a semester off from Brown University to enroll in Jerry Falwell's Liberty College.  Liberty, as you may know, was started several years ago, during the heyday of the Moral Majority, to educate good Christians, while still maintaining their insulation from climate of foul sin that surrounds most Liberal Arts schools.  (I went to UC Santa Barbara, by the way, and majored in beer bonging.)

Life, Inc. by Douglas Rushkoff

Wow, this book is depressing!  Which doesn't mean I didn't like it - although it was really, really depressing.  The subtitle is "How The World Became A Corporation... And How To Take It Back", but as for the taking it back part, the reader's first strategy might be curling into the fetal position, or maybe arranging for intravenous antidepressants.

Columbine by Dave Cullen

I didn't pay too much attention to the Columbine massacre back in 1999.  I was doing drugs, Clinton was President, and all was right with the world, so why bother.  I got the general gist from the constant and unending stream of television news on the subject:  two loner misfits, bullied in school, revenge with guns, shot a bunch of kids, including one religious girl.  End of story.

Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley

Bestselling satirist Christopher Buckley (Thank You for Smoking, Supreme Courtship) lost both his parents in 2007.  Their death was not entirely unexpected - Buckley was 55 years old, and both Mum and Pup (as he called them) were in their eighties, and in failing health.  The interesting part of this memoir is that his Pup was world-famous Conservative author, icon, television personality, and intimate of Presidents William F. Buckley, Jr.; and that his Mum was the almost equally famous society figure, charity fundraiser, extremely tall person (5', 11"), and intimate of everybody Patricia Taylor Buckley.

Bright-Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich

Do you believe that positive thinking can improve your health?  Does God take an interest in your prosperity?  Can you think your way to success?  SUCKER!!!

Barbara Ehrenreich's latest title in a long series of non-fiction semi-satirical socialogical observations (see Nickel and Dimed), is a skeptic's dream.  If you are sick to death of your doctor, friends, family, religious personnel, boss, co-workers, or strangers telling you that you can improve your life by being more positive - this book is a must.