Book Review: "Warm Bodies" by Isaac Marion

Wow. This book totally caught me by surprise. I don't know whether it's because I'm a complete and utter sap, or because I've been recently enthralled by books populated by vampires and zombies and werewolves and other visions of a dystopian future, but I absolutely LOVED this book. I read it in a little more than a day and now I'm sad that it's over.

In a future in which most of the world has been destroyed by wars and plague and riots, very few humans still exist, and they are hunkered down in former sports stadiums and other large buildings, hiding from the zombies that have taken over. One of those zombies is R. He doesn't know what his name was "before," he doesn't know how long he has been a zombie, but he knows that he is much more curious about the past than most of his fellow zombies are, and he wants to understand what made him the way he is. One day, after killing a teenage boy and experiencing his memories while chewing his brain, he somehow subsumes the boy's soul, and finds himself wanting to protect the boy's girlfriend, Julie Grigio, whose father is one of the leaders of the anti-zombie movement. Julie brings (for lack of a better word) life to R, and the desire to try and change the direction in which the world is headed. And as their unlikely relationship develops and strengthens, they set a chain of events in motion that may have ramifications for all of the inhabitants of their world—both the living and the undead.

At its heart, this book is a story about finding hope where there previously was none, understanding who you are and believing you have the ability to make change happen. But while these themes may be somewhat clichéd, Isaac Marion incorporates them into a fantastic story populated by characters whom you might have never seen before, but who grow on you fairly quickly. Don't let the zombie storyline dissuade you from thinking this book is silly or lightweight; the plot is tremendously interesting and keeps you guessing just where it will go next. I read a brief interview with Marion in which he indicated he wasn't sure if this would be the first book of a series; I certainly hope it will be, because I want to know what comes next for these characters. This is definitely one of the best books I've read this year.

Taking Time to Say Thank You...

Although Memorial Day tends to be marked by most with a day off from work, time at the pool or beach, and barbecuing, it's also a moment to reflect on the bravery of the men and women who have served our country through the years, especially those who gave their lives in an effort to protect and defend the US.

I'm not a particularly patriotic person, because I believe many people who claim patriotism would think gay people are unpatriotic or un-American. And I don't agree with the philosophy of some, that voting a certain way or believing certain things make you more patriotic than others.

However, on Memorial Day, and every day, I am tremendously grateful to those who risk their lives to protect the US, both domestically and abroad. I am grateful to those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country. And I hope there will come a day not too far in the future where anyone who wants to serve our country can do so, regardless of sexual orientation.

Never forget...we are the land of the free because of the brave. Thank you for your bravery and your sacrifices.

The Tempest about Storm...

This is Storm. Storm is four months old and is being raised in Toronto. Looks like a typical four-month-old, no?

When the baby was born, Storm's parents sent out your typical birth announcement. But one thing was missing: the announcement didn't disclose whether Storm was a boy or a girl.

Said parents Kathy Witterick and David Stocker:

"We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now—a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place?)"

This isn't an issue of sexual confusion—Storm's parents are clear what sex their baby is—so only the parents, their two other children (both boys), a close friend, and the two midwives who helped deliver the now 4-month-old baby know its gender. Even the grandparents have been left in the dark.

Why this decision? Stocker and Witterick say it gives Storm the freedom to choose who he or she wants to be. "What we noticed is that parents make so many choices for their children. It's obnoxious," Stocker, a teacher at an alternative school, said.

"In fact, in not telling the gender of my precious baby, I am saying to the world, 'Please can you just let Storm discover for him/herself what s(he) wants to be?," Witterick wrote in an email.

Stocker and Witterick's two other children, Jazz and Kio, are allowed to pick out their own clothes in the boys and girls sections of stores and decide whether to cut their hair or let it grow. Aged 5 and 2, they wear pink and have long hair, and are frequently assumed to be girls, according to Stocker. He said he and Witterick don't correct people—they leave it to the kids to do it if they want to.

Both boys are "unschooled," a version of homeschooling, which promotes putting a child's curiosity at the center of his or her education. Their nontraditional education setting, coupled with the freedoms they have in determining their appearance and clothing, isn't all it's cracked up to be, however. Though Jazz likes dressing as a girl, he doesn't seem to want to be mistaken for one. He recently asked his mother to let the leaders of a nature center know that he's a boy. And he chose not to attend a conventional school because of the questions about his gender. Asked whether that upsets him, Jazz nodded.

There is debate in the scientific community about how this might ultimately impact Storm's gender identification. And while I admire the philosophy behind Stocker and Witterick's decisions regarding keeping Storm's gender a secret as well the freedoms they give Jazz and Kio, I ultimately question their effects. Childhood can be difficult for seemingly "normal" children; for children who are perceived to be "different," treatment by their peers—and even well-meaning adults—is often traumatizing.

While I see nothing wrong with not forcing children to adhere to traditional gender stereotypes, I believe that much of what Stocker and Witterick is nothing short of "experimenting," which may ultimately cause their children more harm than good. If a five-year-old boy is already struggling with being mistaken for a girl, what happens next? Why not experiment with disciplinary actions rather than gender roles?

I'm not a parent, but I don't believe this will be ultimately successful. And I only hope these children don't bear the after-effects well into their adulthood.

Book Review: "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" by Steve Earle

Steve Earle is a pretty fantastic musician, and with his terrific debut novel, I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive, he's proven his talent as a writer as well. This is a tremendously well-written and creative book with characters that slowly reveal themselves to be more complex and sympathetic than you might think, and a plot that mixes despair and hope with a little bit of mysticism.

It's the fall of 1963 in a rundown neighborhood of San Antonio. Doc Ebersole is a disgraced former physician struggling with a severe morphine addiction—and he's being haunted by the ghost of his former patient and fishing buddy, Hank Williams. (The rumor is that Doc gave Williams the morphine shot that might have killed him.) Doc lives in a boarding house and, in an effort to support his habit, treats the local criminals, prostitutes and drug dealers for sexually transmitted diseases, gun and knife wounds, and other injuries and illnesses—and performs abortions for women who find themselves "in trouble." Into this mess comes Graciela, a young Mexican immigrant in need of Doc's services. She stays with Doc after she recovers, and after she sustains a wound that won't seem to heal, she discovers her ability to heal Doc's patients and send them on the road to a new life. But not everyone is happy about these supposed miracles—including the local clergy nor Hank Williams' ghost.

This book really took me by surprise. When I started reading it I thought it would be a harrowing story of a man near the end of his rope, struggling with a debilitating addiction yet trying to help others to feed his habit. But Doc was much more complex than I expected, and the people that surrounded him, including Graciela, were layered, fascinating people. I even found the mystical parts of the book enjoyable, although I felt the subplot with the local priest to be a bit unnecessary. Even as I had suspicions where the book would go, I savored every page. Earle is a talented writer, and he has created a fascinating little world that might not be pretty or happy, but it sure is interesting. Great book.

Life Post-Oprah...

From kenneth in the (212) (one of my favorite blogs) comes this look at post-Oprah America:

Book Review: "If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This" by Robin Black

What a beautifully moving book this was. Robin Black's short story collection examined the tenuous connections of relationships—between parent and child, lovers, friends, siblings, even strangers. Some of the stories (one in particular) made me laugh out loud, some made me cry, but all made me think and have definitely touched my heart. Some of the most memorable stories included the opening story, "The Guide," which followed a father reluctantly watching his blind daughter get ready to head off to college; "Immortalizing John Parker," a story about an artist struggling to paint a portrait of a dying man while dealing with the end of her own relationship; "Some Women Eat Tar," a humorous look at how a woman's pregnancy affects her relationship with the baby's father; and the closing story, "The History of the World," which looked at the difficult yet cherished relationship of aging siblings on a trip to Italy. And that just scratched the surface of the collection.

I never used to read short stories because I didn't like getting attached to characters and getting immersed in the plot, only to have the story end fairly quickly. But the opportunity to experience the range of characters, plots and emotions that Robin Black has created in this collection is amazing. Any one of these stories could stand on its own and be developed into a novel, and I'd love that, because in just a few pages, I felt completely hooked by these characters. This book is fantastic, and given that it is Black's fiction debut, I can't wait to see what comes next in her career.

Will Ronald Go the Way of the Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese??

After nearly 50 years as the innocent, fun symbol of McDonald's restaurants, Ronald McDonald's job is in danger.

The nonprofit advocacy group Corporate Accountability International, which has previously targeted soft drink manufacturers Coca-Cola and Pepsi for the environmental impact of their bottles, has organized more than 550 health professionals and organizations in a campaign to ask McDonald's to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald.

The campaign, which took the form of full-page advertisements in six major newspapers across the US last week, acknowledges that "the contributors to today's (health) epidemic are manifold and a broad societal response is required. But marketing can no longer be ignored as a significant part of this massive problem." Groups such as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Chicago Hispanic Health Coalition, as well as well-known nutritionists and doctors like Andrew Weil, a doctor and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, signed onto the effort.

Is there an obesity crisis in our country, especially among children? Absolutely. But this is less the fault of Ronald McDonald than it is the difficulty in getting children to engage in consistent physical activity instead of playing video games and watching television. And it can be attributed more to the ease by which stretched-to-the-limit parents can buy their kids fast food meals rather than cook dinner after a long day of working or child-rearing.

Ronald McDonald certainly proves an enticement to children, inciting them to ask their parents to take them for fast food. But at the end of the day, the decision to feed children fast food lies in the hands of their parents, and whether or not there is a friendly-looking mascot has no bearing on the final decision.

It is far cheaper to feed children (or adults, that matter) fast food than to buy fruits, vegetables and meats. As that trend continues, parents have few options.

I wish we as a society would be more willing to accept responsibility for things instead of looking for others to blame. It isn't the coffee shop's fault if you burn yourself drinking your coffee, it isn't the donut shop's fault if you gain weight after eating one donut every day, and it isn't the mall owner's fault if you fall into a fountain because you're not paying attention to where you are walking.

I hope McDonald's and other fast food restaurants will continue taking steps to make their food healthier, as that will assist parents who feel trapped into feeding their children fast food. I also hope that children and parents get better educated about what causes weight gain, and how to reverse that trend, and that doesn't include getting rid of advertising symbols.

But I do wish Burger King would ditch the creepy king figure...