Wired: The short life and fast times of John Belushi, Bob Woodward

Title:		Wired: The short life and fast times of John Belushi
Author:		Bob Woodward
Rating:

I decided to read this book because I have made the comment on a few occasions that certain authors need a visit from the samurai editor. And of course, when you get there you have to think about John Belushi. He was an amazing performer and capable of so much.

Sadly Wired can only be described as a downer.

The writing is utilitarian, not pretty, but it's a journalist's account of Belushi's life, not a fan's, so that is to be expected. The problem is actually the subject matter.

Belushi's slide into drug addition and death makes for painful reading. He had a cocaine habit of vast proportions, and his fame meant he had more than enough money to sustain it. To make matters worse, though, almost the entire culture he was surrounded with treated it as perfectly normal. A couple of people seemed to have tried to provide some restraint, but nothing was effective and the train wreck that was his life continued without a hiccup. Woodward drops names all over the place, and almost none come away looking good. It makes for unpleasant reading.

If you want to know more about Belushi's short life you'll find it in Wired, but it isn't fun reading.

Just Call Me Mike, Mike Farrell

Title:		Just Call Me Mike
Author:		Mike Farrell
Rating:

Just Call Me Mike is the autobiography of Mike Farrell, actor, star of M*A*S*H, and citizen activist. Farrell gives us enough back story to set the stage, and then proceeds to tell us what he's done between his birth in 1939 and 2007 when the book was published. In truth, it's an interesting story for its scrupulous honesty. Farrell often feels he's not in control of his own life, and we see get a sense of that (and recognize the same thing in ourselves) as we read.

M*A*S*H is covered very quickly, just a single chapter and a mention or two in other places. Clearly he loved working on the show and admired all involved, but his family and activism mean a lot more to him than M*A*S*H. I found that refreshing.

Farrell has been a champion of many causes, including exposing (and opposing) our government's role in various countries in South America, opposing the death penalty, supporting labor unions, and others. He's a man of principles, and he doesn't come across as a member of the left or the right. Others might try to pin him to a particular political agenda, but I don't think that's what drives him. Instead what matters to him is doing the right thing, setting an example.

I cannot quite claim to agree with every stance he takes - though in fact I agree with most of them - but I admire his honesty and willingness to say what he thinks is right. In my opinion, America would be a lot better place if more of us were like him. You get the sense that for him confrontation isn't the goal, reasoned conversation is. In this age of talking (screaming!) heads and sound bites, Farrell's openness is a breath of fresh air.

There isn't anything huge and earth shattering in these pages, but they're definitely worth reading. For someone with only a high school education, Farrell's made a difference, and we can all learn from his example. Recommended.

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, Alan Alda

Title:		Never Have Your Dog Stuffed
Author:		Alan Alda
Rating:

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed is the autobiography of Alan Alda, aka Hawkeye Pierce of M*A*S*H. Over the years I've heard a few interviews with Alda and he's always sounded interesting, with a childhood spent backstage at burlesque shows and other unusual history. His biography confirms that, along with his mother's mental illness and the difficult relationship he had with his parents in general.

It's a light read. He approaches some serious topics, but does so fairly obliquely, stating what happened to him or what he was thinking, but not making a big deal out of anything or expecting the reader to follow in his footsteps.

If you've wondered what life is like for the kid who was born into a performing family, went into acting early, landed a starring role in M*A*S*H, went on to host Scientific American Frontiers, and then did things like The West Wing, you'll get the gist of it here.

Note that the book was published in 2005, before his roles in The West Wing and a few recent movies. He's got a newer book out now titled Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself that may cover that more recent history.

He's an interesting character, and M*A*S*H was some of the best television ever made as far as I am concerned. While this book isn't going to make anyone's ten best list, it's worth reading if you're a fan.

The Glorious Deception, Jim Steinmeyer

Title:		The Glorious Deception
Author:		Jim Steinmeyer
Rating:

Magic has always been something that fascinates me. From as far back as I can remember I was always interested in seeing magic performed and trying to understand how it was done. I have zero belief in the supernatural, so I always assumed (and still do) that the great magicians are just fooling my senses in some way. But I've never pursued my interest in magic to the point of actually learning how to do it. Clearly it requires too much grace and coordination - things I lack entirely - for me to pull it off.

But that doesn't mean I'm not interested in reading about it, and when The Glorious Deception came to my attention I hoped that it would be entertaining and enlightening. It was.

At its heart, the book is a biography of William Robinson, also known as Chung Ling Soo, "The Marvelous Chinese Conjurer". He was one of the biggest magicians of his time, performing mostly in Europe for many years. As you can probably guess - with someone named Robinson being called a "Chinese Conjurer" - there were some odd things going on in his life. But the story of William Robinson, on its own, wouldn't use this many pages. Yes, there were some complexities to his life, but if the book were only about him it would be less than half as long.

What Steinmeyer does in addition is tell a lot of the story of magic at the time - roughly 1860 through 1920, including the birth of vaudeville. It talks about various important performers and the acts they had. In a lot of cases it gives enough detail to understand how various illusions were actually performed, which I really appreciated.

If you have any interest in magic this is a good read. It will help you to understand a lot of where modern magic comes from, and the ways in which it is done. I've never been either a big biography or history fan, but this book held my attention from start to finish. Recommended.

Marley & Me, John Grogan

Title:		Marley & Me
Author:		John Grogan
Rating:

My wife was given this book for Christmas, and spent a fair bit of time howling with laughter while she read it. Then she set it down on the top of my TBR pile, so I picked it up next. The story covers the life and times of Marley, a huge, goofy, and borderline psychotic Labrador Retriever owned by John Grogan and his family. The subtitle is "Life and love with the world's worst dog" and that gives you a pretty good idea of what is coming. Marley lived a long and full life, and I can assure you that parts of it are amazingly funny. Of course, any story of this nature covers the end as well, and I spent the last two chapters bawling my eyes out as I read about Marley's failing health and eventual end.

I love my dogs. They mean more to me than almost anything, and I do my best to take them everywhere I can. Sometimes they drive me crazy, of course, but that's all part of the package deal. I won't recount their stories here - though I still need to write them up for posterity - but I will say that Nikki suffered one of the same issues that Marley did: a horrible fear of loud noises, particularly thunderstorms. If you read this book and learn what Marley was like, you've also learned about Nikki in that case, though she was a lot lighter than Marley, which reduces the damage potential somewhat.

Grogan covers more than Marley's life, though. This is basically an autobiography. He's a good writer, and the stories are good, but they are at their best when Marley is on the center stage.

Recommended reading if you're an animal lover, or want to be one.

When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours, Teller

Title:		When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours
Author:		Teller
Rating:

I think I found a reference to this book on paperbackswap.com. Regardless of where I heard about it, I've always liked Penn and Teller's brand of magic, so I requested it on a whim.

Think of it as a short, light hearted biography of Joe and Irene Teller - the parents of Teller, the quiet half of Penn and Teller - by their son. It was inspired by Teller's discovery that his father had drawn cartoons at one time, hoping to be published (and make some money in the process, of course).

I found the book to be a brief but amusing diversion. The cartoons are interesting, but the center of the story is Joe Teller's life as he grew from boyhood to marriage to WWII. He spent time as a tramp, riding rail cars all over the lower 48, and some of that lifestyle is briefly documented here.

There isn't anything amazing in these pages, just anecdotes from Teller's parents as they look back on their first 40 years of life. But it is fun in its own, quiet way. I'd have liked to see more paintings by the Tellers, though. The few included show they both have significant skill with paint - far more than I will ever have.