a life worth reading

I've been on a biography/memoir reading spree lately; it was not intentional, it just happened and I think it's wonderful, especially because it's is one of my favorite genres. I don't usually write book reviews, but this has been a good streak and I would like to remember it, so here goes...

Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
Des Moines (pronounced Deh-Moin) is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa, a fact that had meant little to me, but the city came alive reading Bryson's memoir, a testament of his way with words. Bryson's affection for the world of his childhood was funny and contagious. Among others, he's argued how department stores and movie theaters are two things that were different and better in the 1950s, parts of a life that he observes are not the same anymore.

I've been meaning to check out Bryson's other works as I have on a couple of good authorities that he's a brilliant travel writer. I actually don't fancy travelogues, but those people were really convincing so I'd love to give him another chance, especially after a positive impression this time around, notwithstanding my unfortunate first encounter with Bryson with the Short History of Nearly Everything where I struggled to finish the first chapter before giving up because I found it soo boring. 

Btw, there are two other US cities that I would now pause and pay attention to when mentioned: Rochester, New York and Detroit, Michigan. The former is Leehom's hometown and the latter, Em's. Leehom left NY since he was 17 and has established his roots in Taiwan, but Em looks like he'd have to be pried away from Detroit. I've just finished downloading Anthony Bourdain's take on the Detroit on his show Parts Unknown (thanks, D, for the heads up! =) and I can't wait to catch it.. soon. ^_^



Eminem's The Way I Am
The day before Em's birthday on October 17 (interestingly, LH's birthday is May 17, so excuse me if I felt a sudden affinity with the number 17 ;), I got a gift in the mail. Well, not really a gift, because it was something I bought for myself, but when it came, I was so excited I believe I might have let out a series of squeals in my colleague's presence haha! But yay, Christmas came early! So yeah, I bought Eminem's autobiography from bookdepository.com (awesome site, can't recommend it enough). It reached my desk just before noon, and by 2pm, I had passed the middle section of the 200+ page book. In my defense, I tried to put it down many many times, but I kept picking it up again. I couldn't help it. *hangs head in shame* But considering that it was really easy reading (not unlike reading a diary entry), and that there were a lot of pictures, it certainly wasn't a feat that I had read that much. By the time I got home, I wasn't very far from finishing it; I felt sad and the dread as I turned the last few pages.

The verdict? I enjoyed it very much but c'mon, why wouldn't I! :) It wasn't the greatest piece of written work, but it was a deeply personal piece. Some reviewers said that he skimmed through the tumultuous relationship with his mother and ex-wife, but really, what else could he have said that he hasn't in all his songs about them? That he didn't mean them? I'm quite sure those thoughts were real. He did briefly touch about the gruesome song about his ex-wife Kim, and he'd explained to her that those hateful songs he wrote about her reflected how he really felt and thought in the heat of their arguments so she would be okay with him putting them out. She relented for most part (did she have a choice?), but I feel that he did go too far at one point (he didn't write about it in the book but it's well documented on the internet), where they were on the way to his concert and she asked him if he would play that song and he said no, but I guess booze and/or drug changed his mind and he went all out deriding her on stage, and she felt so hurt and went home and slit her wrist. I hope he was wrecked with guilt over that incident! But lest you think she was a damsel-in-distress, she was also known to physically attacking him.. in public. So yeah, theirs was the real-life version of his hit song (look ma, a pun!) with Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie.

Like his songs, he's candid with what went on in his life and his head. The book provides insight into his early days struggling with poverty and being on welfare, bullies at school, having to constantly move from one home to another and one school to another, an absent father and an addict mom, minimum wage jobs, baby mama drama, and the insecurities of living where they were. It also chronicles his friendship with Proof who was instrumental in making him into who he is -- it was pretty obvious that without Proof, there'd be no Eminem. Sadly, Proof was killed in a bar fight-gone-awry in 2006 and words just can't express what it was like losing such an important figure like that in one's life; he struggled for years to get back on his feet. There was also his unrelenting pursuit of the art of emceeing, and later his explosion and exposure to the world at large. He hadn't expected to blow up like he did, and fame is still something he grappling with after all these years (he still raps about it). People who are familiar with his songs would already know most of the details of his life, but I think even the most hardcore of fans would still be able to find a tidbit or two in the book that they had not known previously.

My favorite chapter would be the one where he talks about being a father. He said that "being a dad makes me feel powerful in a way I hadn't known before, and it's the kind of power that I don't want to abuse. It's the kind of power that helps me overcome the bad shit from my childhood. It's like I'm rewriting my own history." He's always maintained that he's a father first and a rapper second, and he tries to be there for his kids (he has a daughter with ex-wife Kim, and he adopted the daughter of Kim's twin sister, and another daughter from Kim's other marriage, and "all three of my girls call me Daddy and they are loved the same" awww..) every chance he could. And he talks about how he tries to teach his daughters to be responsible and accountable and that their world isn't just a free-for-all and they've got things to do around the house, and how when they are older they'd have to get jobs and learn what it means to earn.. I'm just glad despite his troubled childhood and shaky relationship with Kim, that he would fall so naturally into the role of a loving, concern and involved father.

And this might be the wackiest confession I've ever made here or anywhere: you know how I've always have fears about attempting motherhood? Oh you probably don't because I don't ever talk about it. But it was something that stuck with me for the longest time, and though I do feel more ready now, Em was one person who actually got me to seriously consider that it probably won't be so bad after all (yes, it was that recent), with this verse in particular from Hailie's Song:

Some days I sit staring out the window, watching this world pass me by
Sometimes I think there's nothing to live for, I almost break down and cry
Sometimes I think I'm crazy, I'm crazy oh so crazy
Why am I here, am I just wasting my time?
But when I see my baby, suddenly I'm not crazy
It all makes sense when I look into her eyes

Yup. Who would have thought, right?

Lol, looks like I think I got a bit carried away with this review. To end, I know it's a very fangirl-y thing to say, but I could understand the reasons behind a lot of things he did, whether if they were justified or not, logical or not. He and I, we are kindred spirit, remember? LOL! Quit rolling your eyes!!



Ravi Zacharias's Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows

All I knew about Ravi before this was that he's a prominent Christian apologist. I sat under his protege's tutelage for the book of John. I knew that J is a huge fan(girl) of his. But I've not heard or read anything by him, and I have no excuse.

This book introduced me to him, not in the way he's usually introduced i.e. accolades upon accolades. I was introduced to a boy of low self-esteem who had no interest in academic but one who is affable and well liked. A boy who often for no obvious reason drew the ire of his father and stood meekly in the shadows of his more accomplished brother. A boy who struggled with understanding the meaning of life and drifted in the ocean of purposelessness for a long time before finding his calling that changed the course of his life, and many, many, many lives whom he's touched.

Many people who come to know Jesus have their lives changed 180 degree and that was what happened to Ravi. He became a voracious reader and his confidence grew, and God had him doing things he never knew he could or going places he never thought he would. You can't help but be absorbed in his story and just rad in amazement and awe at how things turned out.

And for the record, my short review here is in no way reflective of how I feel about the book. I won't necessarily say that it's the best of the lot here as each story and each life has its own charms and snags.. but this was definitely well-written and inspirational. Makes me all the more curious about his works. I suppose I should just get my mind ready to be blown away again.



Nadia Bolz-Weber's Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
I got to know about this book from Richard Beck's review and I was curious enough to buy a hardcover copy of it (usually I'd wait for the cheaper paperback version), also via bookdepository. The heavily tattooed Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber is not your typical pastor, in any conventional sense of the word. Even her life path is unusual as it is presented: engaging, encouraging, irreverent, inspiring and funny.

One thing I loved about this was her brutal honesty. Sure, she swore like a sailor (uncensored in the book), and that would have bothered me a lot, but my tolerance for profanity has risen substantially thanks to Em (I don't know if it's a good thing but life is easier when I don't take offense at everything)(I mean, I still find a lot of things annoying and objectionable, but one less item off the list isn't too bad at all). I like what Beck said when warning reader of the litany of F-bombs in the book: ... to be honest, I get sort of annoyed in needing to give such warnings. Why are so many Christians such pious fragile little daisies? Do we really think Jesus was so easily offended? Goodness sakes, look who Jesus hung out with. 

And may I quote Richard again as to what the book is about:

It's a spiritual memoir that, roughly, moves through three parts of of Nadia's life. The first part covers Nadia's early years growing up in fundamentalist Christianity, her descent into drugs and sex, to her eventual return to Christianity. The second part is Nadia's calling to the pastorate and the founding of House for All Sinners and Saints. And the final part is stories about the growth of the church and Nadia's pastorate. All the way through are raw, powerful and confessional stories of both success and failure, each salted with the crazy juxtapositions created by Nadia's personal history and personality in light of her life as the spiritual leader of a faith community.

What I loved about Pastrix (a word used derisively by some conservative Christians who refuse to recognize female pastors) was how real she was and how forthcoming she was about her struggles with the word of God that most of us would probably think is "unChristian" to utter. I relate to her misanthropic nature and applaud her for fighting it (definitely made me think about how I am right now). Her church, the House of All Saints and Sinners is an all-inclusive church whose congregation would definitely raise more than a few eyebrows in most churches elsewhere. But urm, I'm cool with that. I don't know if I'd fit in there, or anywhere for that matter right now. I feel like I'm on a self-imposed isolation. I feel like I'm drifting. Sigh~ Man, are you guys reading this, I'm confessing left and right in this post. Anyway, I think one of the best things about growing old is realizing that a lot of things shouldn't and don't matter, and I think it's silly how people get up in arms over the wrong things (okay, me included, but yeah, all of us need to grow up). Like Ravi above, her story once again proves that God has a sense of humour most of us would only funny in hindsight, and that his way is wayyy beyond my puny limits, and once again, I put down all my earthly strivings before him and just sit silently at his feet.

Anyway, please allow me to quote Beck one last time: "That's what I most loved about Pastrix, how the bible kept crashing into the messiness of Nadia's life and the life of her crazy and amazing church. Being interrupted by the bible, in hard but often life-giving ways, is something that I can deeply identify with." Check out this video for one of her sermons where she recounted some of the stories she also shared in the book.



Benazir Bhutto's Daughter of the East 
I have just begun on one last autobiography I have in hand but I thought I'd include it in this list, that of Benazir Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1988 until 1990, and from 1993 to 1996. She was assassinated in a bombing in 2007 (right about the time this book was published).

Her name was something I remember from way back then, and her being the first female Pakistani PM was pretty impressive to me then, and now. I'm only in the first chapter, and she talked about having kids during her tenure (she was then the only head of government in recorded history to actually give birth while in office, I'm pretty sure the record still holds). Of course her detractors had a field day trying to overthrow her, albeit unsuccessfully. Can't help but think she must have been one remarkable lady.

I generally don't read political bios because they are very detailed and those details usually just fly over my head, so... I do hope I'd finish this! If I do, and if I would write about it, I'd just update this page.