Why We Hate Us

206. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux retraces the journey he took through Asia thirty years ago.  I had only read the first chapter, an introduction to travel and its delights and difficulties, and I already knew the book would be brilliant. Theroux intermingles a little history of Asia with his own history and stops to visit here and there with other authors. The NYT found the book to be pompous but that was not my reaction at all; if anything, Theroux came across to me as a man who has been humbled by his journeys. My only disappointment was that he skipped China. I was happy to travel through Asia with this wonderful guide.

207. The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know is Wrong by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

Lots of shockers in this book. Driest place on earth. The largest living thing. The most dangerous animal that ever lived.

Very fun browsable book.

 208. Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium by Dick Meyer

I had to put this book down several times. It was horribly depressing. But it addresses a very important question:  Why is it that we live in the most affluent society that has ever existed yet we are not pleased with ourselves?  Like most books of this sort, the author spends twenty chapters addressing the problem and one tiny chapter offering solutions.

The biggest problem seems to be that people have no real connections. Almost half of America feels isolated.  And our lives are shallow, not deep. Here’s a quote I like:

“With all our riches and freedoms, we have assembled what we thinly call ‘lifestyles’—assemblages of recreation, work, consumer goods, freely chosen beliefs, family arrangements, and a great deal of media. Our new arrangements are not providing the nourishment we need, the warm relationships and ready guides. The older, connective tissues of American life are fraying, and the new, artificial ones are weak.”