It’s a few days before the inauguration. Writing has been on hiatus for a couple of months. Basically since the election. Trying to absorb the results and understand our country. It’s been challenging. Over the past year, our Monday coffee group discussions have not be on the winning side of current events. At least, our version. Politically we all are on the left-of-center spectrum. Some of us see only in black and white. No need to question finely-honed views. Who is good and who is bad are clearly defined. It made for some good discussions. But not just discussions. Loads of emails. Sharing articles and general rants. It was exhausting. Not my mates, but the continuous focus on a potential dystopian future. Time off was needed. Cold turkey on Richardson, Reich, Vance, Hartmann, Silver, Facebook, MSNBC, ad nauseam. Regain a bit of balance. Time for a reset and read some of the books stacked up in the office.
Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics
The author, a NYT reporter, who suffers bouts of depression, embraces psychedelics in an effort to manage his mental health. Trippy blends a memoir with reporting on the current use of psychedelics to cope with PTSD, substance abuse, depression and other mental health issues. The recent ballot question in Massachusetts was decisively defeated, and, in retrospect, it was probably too much, too soon. But it’s clear that there growing acceptance for psychedelics.
3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the Lost Empire of Cool
I can’t believe it’s been 25 years attending the New Orleans JazzFest. I’ve never been a huge jazz fan, but every year, we tend to spend more time in the jazz tents.
3 Shades describes the making of Kind of Blue, the 1959 Miles Davis recording, which included John Coltrane and Bill Evans, both who went on to important solo careers. The author sets out the life stories of each of the central musicians leading to recording Kind of Blue, and the aftermath both professionally and personally for the Davis, Coltrane and Evans.
Jimmy Breslin: The Man Who Told The Truth
I’m thinking that you need to be either a New Yorker, meaning New York City, or form the metropolitan area. Breslin was larger than life, and wrote in a time when newspapers were considered more favorably. There were more papers, more editions (morning & evening), and more competition. Breslin was born and lived his entire life in Queens, and started investigative writing in the 10940’s. Breslin’s writing style focused on the common man, and he raged against NYC power, whether Giuliani, Koch or Trump.
Table for Two
This collection of short stories and a novella was recommended for our book club, but unfortunately, did not make the cut. Our club tends to favor non-fiction, mainly history. These are good stories, and I think reading a bit of fiction in the club would offer to discuss the complexities of human nature and motivation.
Knots & Crosses - Hide & Seek - Tooth and Nail
I have visited Manhattan’s Mysterious Bookshop several times, and look forward to the weekly email describing the new releases in the variety of mystery sub-genres. Apparently, the Inspector Rebus series is an example of tartan noir, taking place in Edinburgh. Rebus is complex, religious but anti-church, a reader whose apartment floor is piled with book purchases, a drinker, and a man with a Jekyll/Hyde personality type. These are the 1st three in the series.
It’s a few days before the inauguration. Confirmation hearings are ongoing, and it seems clear that most, if not all, will be confirmed. The Democratic senators were disappointing in how they questioned the Secretary of Defense nominee. A couple of my coffee mates are sure that the end days are near, obsessed with alarmist judgements. I’m not quite ready to take that plunge, preferring to wait and see. But if this group of sycophants is considered an example of meritocracy, then we are in for troubled times.
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