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Ingrid Fetell Lee (age well hidden but she's in her 40's) is a
Brooklyn-based designer and writer whose work focuses on the way that
design affects our health and happiness. As founder of The Aesthetics of
Joy and in her role as IDEO fellow, she empowers people to find more
joy in daily life through design (and she has a good publicist who writes this stuff). She is the author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness (on my TBR).
One of the things I know about writing is this: Spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
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Annie Dillard (1945 -- ) is an American author best known for lyrical, narrative prose. In May 2021, I read and reviewed Pilgrim of Tinker Creek:
I
have no interest in being a naturalist, a botanist, an etymologist, but
I was enthralled by Dillard's lyrical, enraptured descriptions of
nature in all its wild diversity. I can't imagine inching on my belly
through long grass filled with who knows what bugs and critters just for
the chance to observe a muskrat up close, but I'm glad that's exactly
what Dillard did. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek opened my eyes to so many
aspects of the natural world that I've never observed or even
considered, giving me a new perspective on the "natural order" (or
disorder). All in all, a very satisfying reading experience.
Written in 1993 and set in 2025, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler is a story set in a California that has descended into anarchy as a result of the impact of climate change. The fifteen-year-old narrator, Lauren Olamina alternates between fierce anger, gritty determination, and numb acceptance as she and first her biological family and then her adopted family struggle to survive.
With her straight-forward, understated style, Butler lays bare the many horrors of a rapidly disintegrating society. My mom always said "the veneer of civilization is very thin," and that's a central motif in Parable. When pushed to the brink, many will do unspeakable things.
The idea of a new "religion" called Earthseed is central to the book. It stems from the narrator Lauren's attempt to find meaning and hope in the insanity all around her. I confess that I don't really "get" Earthseed. It doesn't resonate with me, but Lauren's struggle to find meaning certainly does. Parable made me feel more terrified than hopeful. Definitely a parable for our times.
I thought that I struggled with dystopian books and that Parable of the Sower is an exception (along with Station Eleven), but then I googled "best dystopian novels" and discovered many I have loved and would even consider re-reading: 1984, Animal Farm, Handmaid's Tale, Hunger Games, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Oryx and Crake, to name just a few. I need to figure out the sub-genre I haven't enjoyed (Zone One and A Visit from the Goon Squad) so I don't miss out in the future.
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According to Wikipedia, Josh Billings was the pen name of 19th-century American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw. He was a famous humor writer and lecturer in the United States during the latter half of the 19th century. He is often compared to Mark Twain.
It might seem strange to begin a discussion of the afterlife with A Wrinkle in Time, but for me the book was incredibly formative. I was 11 years old when it was published and was lucky enough to read it shortly after publication. I remember very little of the story (which obviously wasn't that earth-shaking for me) but the idea of tessering blew my mind: "essentially the act of traveling faster than the speed of light using a fifth dimension. ... You add that to the other four dimensions and you can travel through space without having to go the long way around." The idea that there were other worlds, that time isn't linear, that alternative ways to approach reality are possible -- just wow! To this day, I'm fascinated by stories on the page or in film that break the barriers of time, space, or both.
Fast forward to 1989 and another book that has stayed with me, The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson. It gave solidity to my notion that "after," we will be able to see across the expanse of history, understand what happened and why, and ask questions of whatever designer put it all together. I remember attending a confirmation class with our younger daughter. The facilitator asked each of us to describe heaven (assuming, of course, that we all believed in heaven). People waxed poetic about fluffy clouds and angels, beautiful pastures, seeing deceased loved ones. When my turn came, I simply said that heaven would mean getting the answers to life's unanswerable questions.
And that brings me to today and the source of these meanderings about what comes after. I recently read (and loved) The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, which prominently features the ghost of a beloved and irritating book store customer. My treadmill podcast for today was a conversation between Erdrich and Kerri Miller, an outstanding interviewer on our local public radio station, MPR. They had a lengthy, delightful, and funny conversation about ghosts, angels, and being haunted. I remain skeptical but... as Erdrich pointed off, we often say "(fill in your favorite deceased relative) would be so happy if she saw us having so much fun ... or so much success." And of course, we say "Grandpa X would turn over in his grave if he saw this."
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Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978) was a renowned and ground-breaking American cultural anthropologist. Although I've never read her work books directly, I have, like so many others, read about her work and her theories. I have read Composing a Further Life by her daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson.
-- Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
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Neil Gaiman (1960 - ) is a prolific English author who spans multiple genres. His work is on my TBR.
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Hubert Humphrey (1911 - 1978) is a favorite son of Minnesota. He served for many years in the U.S. Senate and as Vice President for Lyndon Johnson. He ran for President in 1968 amidst the roaring controversy over the Vietnam war. He lost to Richard Nixon. How different history might have been...
Another long-time favorite, whose made-for-radio voice is the opposite of grating, is Kerri Miller. She is a first-class interviewer whom I have enjoyed for years on our local public radio station, MPR. My favorite segments have always been her author interviews which are available on podcast. She also hosts several live author events each year, and her guests often compliment her on her skill as a questioner. Kerri's podcast has gone through several iterations and is currently called MRP News with Kerri Miller.
A segment on Happier with Gretchen Rubin about book recommenders led me to Anne Bogel and the What Should I Read Next podcast. It has been around for 5 years or so, and I'm a late arrival, so I find myself binging on old episodes. I admire Anne's ability to succinctly summarize the essence of a book and hone in on its target audience. She describes herself as a matchmaker -- recommending just the right books for her podcast guest. her soothing voice and approachable manner balance her vast knowledge and razor-sharp intellect. Listening has of course made my TBR (to be read) explode, but I've also become more selective in what I choose to read. The success of my 2021 reading (measured by the quality and range of what I read) is in large part due to What Should I Read Next.
In an episode of What Should I Read Next, Anne interviewed the team of Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers. They are co-authors and hosts of the podcast Pantsuit Politics. I appreciated their knowledge, their philosophy, and their humor, so I searched out their podcast and fell in love. As their tagline says, it really is a different approach to the news and current events. And for me, a welcome change from other news podcasts I was listening to that painfully try to save America. I've become a Sarah and Beth groupie.
Notice that all these podcasts feature the voices of women? That seems to be where I gravitate, and I don't think it's because they are in the treble clef. All of these women are truly brilliant and insightful. And they are all funny, accessible, and self-deprecating to just the right degree. The Pantsuit Politics hosts explicitly talk about approaching the world with grace. That's an important word that hasn't necessarily headlined my own lexicon. But more and more, I believe that combining knowledge with grace is the true source of wisdom.
