No Pulitzer Prize for Fiction!

I was shocked, shocked to discover that the folks that award the Pulizer Prize could not pick a winner in the category of Fiction.  Really?! No prize for fiction?  Ann Patchett (author of my favorite book--Bel Canto) wrote an excellent Op Ed for the NY Times berating them for their lack of a prize in this category.  In the editorial she surmises why it might have happened, reviews her own ideas for best fiction and concludes like this:

Let me underscore the obvious here: Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings. Following complex story lines stretches our brains beyond the 140 characters of sound-bite thinking, and staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone, two skills that are disappearing faster than the polar icecaps.

Unfortunately, the world of literature lacks the scandal, hype and pretty dresses that draw people to the Academy Awards, which, by the way, is not an institution devoted to choosing the best movie every year as much as it is an institution designed to get people excited about going to the movies. The Pulitzer Prize is our best chance as writers and readers and booksellers to celebrate fiction. This was the year we all lost.

In my last post, I wrote about storytelling as an important survival skill.  Ms Patchett makes the observation that reading stories--long ones--is also an important thinking and skill building  tool.  Fiction, reading, books, all vital to our life on this planet and in these times.  Pulitzer did miss the boat when they failed to award that prize. 

Read on!

Waiting for Daisy and other Writings of Infertility

Perhaps it is my age or my station in life, but suddenly everyone seems to be talking about infertility.  This past monthI was mesmerized both by this memoir of infertility and this account of an alternative family formed by surrogacy and donor eggs in the NY times magazine.  A good friend of mine has been undergoing fertility treatments for sometime and I had the opportunity to be in her company for a few days last summer.  When she talked with another friend on the phone about the procedures it felt to me like she was speaking a foreign language.

This book was fascinating in the "I can't look away" way.   I really am tired of knowing and hearing all about the intricacies and worries of mechanized baby making, but at the same time, I waited around to hear the good news at the end.  Ms Orenstein's story touches on all aspects of the quest to start a family late in life: adoption, new age techniques, cancer treatment getting in the way, and good old fashioned IVF.    I could never picture myself headed down this particular road of infertility treatment and all its heartache, but understand that everyone pictures their life differently than how it actually turns out.  This is why we read stories.

Before I read this, I did now know how little regulated the infertility treatment industry is. There are a lot of substandard practices out there.  Also,  there is a Japanese infant adoption program.  I had not realized that the Japanese had babies to adopt but this family was offered not one but two different Japanese babies.  Who knew?!  Also there are great chapters on the Hiroshima Maidens and an orthodox Jewish family who has...fifteen children.  Good Stuff!

The comments at the end of the NY times article are a must read.  People have a wide variety of very strong opinions about going to great extent to have babies.   I was a little taken aback at how many people thought the NY times couple was just plain wrong.  The world would be a less interesting place without the varied and intriguing ways we choose to live our lives.

What Shamu Taught me About Life Love and Marriage

Amy Sutherland was a journalist who decided to write a book about animal training. She went to one of the only animal training schools in the country. She wrote a book about it called: Kicked, Bitten and Scratched: Life Lessons at the World's Premier School for Animal Trainers which I understand is an excellent book. She also wrote a tiny little article for the NY Times about using animal training techniques on her husband and friends and found the way to instant fame. Her article for the NYT was the most emailed article in 2006. Check it out.

This book is a longer length work based on the article. A lot of the information is intuitive, but when put in the perspective of training people, it sheds a whole new light on human relationships. One letter to the editor in the Times reminds readers that Sutherland did not really change her husband, she changed how she acted and reacted to her husband which in turn prompted new and better responses from him. This is a fascinating book, and my husband doesn't know it but I have started "shamuing" him. If you don't have time to read the book, at least read the article. People are, afterall, animals too.