Relentless Inquiry

Morality for Beautiful Girls, Alexander McCall Smith Nice to spend some time with Mma Makutsi as well as Mma Ramotswe. Still don't know how to pronounce 'Mma' or 'Rra'. Still always think of bubbling silver lava and people with sad, gold-coin eyes, seeing those strings of consonants, as they remind me of some of the names ('Mrs Vvv', for instance) in Bradbury's “Martian Chronicles”. Mr J.L.B. Matekoni's sudden descent into depression was an interesting learning experience, and the way it's being handled very well done– might help some folks reading the book. Still fun to read, and I can see the personality-based writing developing. Looking forward to reading “The Full Cupboard of Life” and “In the Company of Cheerful Ladies”. Am curious about the 'pumpkins' they are always cooking there– if they are anything like my kabochas, I can see people eating them often and not getting tired of them.

Catch the Lightning, Catherine Asaro Another oddly choppy offering, which I suspect only made a lot of sense because I've read so many of the other books. Lots of hard science (good hard science), but seemed contrived overall. If you're really serious about the Skolian universe, go ahead and read, there's interesting background stuff and some nifty interludes, like spending a little time on Raylicon itself. Otherwise, skip until you've read some of the more recently written books dealing with earlier storyline.

Kitchen Confidential, Tony Bourdain Holy crap, lions. I heard recently that there is a TV show by this name, and apparently it's somewhat based on the book. The only way I can describe this book is, if you like Hunter S Thompson (by his own admission, a formative influence on Mr Bourdain), imagine if Hunter had been a COOK. Yah. His prose has the same over-the-top adjective-grinding urgency, and his companions in infamy are as engaging as any that HST encountered in his documented travels. BTW, if you do not appreciate, or at least have a tolerance for, bad language, don't even try reading this book. As we hear in “The Level of Discourse”,
“As an art form, cooktalk is, like haiku or kabuki, defined by established rules, with a rigid, traditional framework in which one may operate. All comments must, out of historical necessity, concern involuntary rectal penetration, penis size, physical flaws, or annoying mannerisms or defects.”

Or how about this brief excerpt about one entertainingly scary fellow with a knack for baking, Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown: “Why did G-d, in all his wisdom, choose Adam to be the recipient of his greatness? Why, of all his creatures, did He choose this loud, dirty, unkempt, obnoxious, uncontrollable, megalomaniacal madman to be His personal bread baker? How was it that this disgrace as an employee, as a citizen, as a human being….could throw together a little flour and water and make magic happen? ….To see his bread coming out of the oven…. perfect objects, an arrangement of atoms unimprovable by G-d or man, pleasing to all the senses at once. … Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown may be the enemy of polite society, a menace … a potential serial killer, but the man can bake.”

I'm not sure I'd enjoy Tony Bourdain's fiction, but his quasi-autobiography is awesome, and I'd like to read more like it.