Brock Yates’ Cannonball! is an interesting automotive history lesson on the five cross-country races that define long-distance road rally. Yates, who organized the five events (running in 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, and 1979), provided the historical background and presented a very technical history of the races, which I found interesting, but pretty lifeless. Fortunately, he also invited other Cannonball Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash participants to write up their stories and accounts, which adds much-needed flavor to the book. Jack May’s description of his 1975 victory (1973 Ferrari Dino 246GTS, co-driven by Rick Cline) is a highlight—his zip!-whoosh!-bang! journal writing style really puts color into the narrative.

What is amazing is how low-key the actual running of the event really was, and how low the average speeds tended to be. Outside of the winners, average speeds including stops were in the range of 70-80 mph. Heck, I can run those speeds in my Neon these days, though to even have a chance at sustaining them I’d need an extra fuel cell (range is everything).

Overall, pretty good book that has entertained me thoroughly. Between the “priests” and the TransCon MediVac, and tales of drive-aways and Ferraris, I don’t see how any movie could top the real thing.

For the record, I’ve never seen any of the relevant films inspired by the races, though I’d like to see Cannonball Run just because it’s “official.” However, as Yates noted in the book, I can see where Steve McQueen would have been a better choice for the film. I think it’s time for me to watch Bullitt again.

1. (Current Book)To Engineer is Human, Henry Petroski
2. Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway
3. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
4. Restoring the Lost Constitution, Randy Barnett
5. Candide, Voltaire

I finished Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need in 24.5 hours. The brevity of the book, and the lack of finals to study for, contributed to my rapid completion of the tome. I thought it was pretty good.

“Pretty good! That’s all! But this is Dave Barry, greatest humorist of our time!” I hear you scream. Yeah, yeah, I know the hype. I even link to his blog and read his column religiously. But Travel Guide was just not as laugh-out-loud funny as his columns. Maybe it’s the length, but it just wasn’t the spectacular success I expected. Maybe it’s the subject, and Hits Below the Beltway will be better (Barry 2004!), but I won’t know that for a couple of books.

The next project is Cannonball!. I expect it will be interesting; details on quality to come after I read it.

1. (Current Book)Cannonball! World’s Greatest Outlaw Road Race, Brock Yates
2. To Engineer is Human, Henry Petroski
3. Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway
4. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
5. Restoring the Lost Constitution, Randy Barnett
6. Candide, Voltaire

Just finished The Flyers. It offers a good review of the Wright brothers’ accomplishments, and pairs that with the author’s modern-day experiences both in following the Wrights’ path and in his own opportunities to fly and visit aeronautics meccas.

That means I’m starting in on Dave Barry. If you hear laughing, it’s probably me.

1. (Current Book)Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need
2. Cannonball! World’s Greatest Outlaw Road Race, Brock Yates
3. To Engineer is Human, Henry Petroski
4. Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway
5. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
6. Restoring the Lost Constitution, Randy Barnett
7. Candide, Voltaire

Thought I’d lay these down while I’m thinking about it.

• I, Robot, Isaac Asimov
• Catch-22, Joseph Heller
• More Terry Pratchett stuff from the Discworld series, probably including Small Gods and Mort
• Apparently there are Red Dwarf books, which I wouldn’t mind reading.
• Additional items to be tacked on until I make another post

Finished A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Strange book. Has interesting bits, but overall, I don’t get it. It’s entirely possible that there’s nothing to “get,” though.

Reading list currently stands at eight books in the following order:

1. (Current Book) The Flyers, Noah Adams
2. Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need
3. Cannonball! World’s Greatest Outlaw Road Race, Brock Yates
4. To Engineer is Human, Henry Petroski
5. Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway
6. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
7. Restoring the Lost Constitution, Randy Barnett
8. Candide, Voltaire

The book first, because it’s easier. Then I’ll shower and return with the other bit.

Monstrous Regiment went well. The synopsis is that a girl in the horribly backwards Discworld country of Borogravia, which incidentally has this bad tendency to declare war on its neighbors, joins the army to find her brother. Borogravia is a monarchist-theocracy, whose leader may very well be dead and whose god, Nuggan, regularly issues edicts (“Abominations”) about what is and is not allowed. Abominations have included, at various times, the color blue and babies, just to give you some idea.

In any case, Pratchett seems to be trying to attack a lot of subjects in about 350 measly pages. Topics include gender discrimination, the nature and propriety of war, the differences between men and women, and the power that but a few people can wield under the right circumstances. What occurs, of course, is that none of these subjects is discussed in much depth as a matter of necessity. The book makes up for this by having a good though at times quite predictable story, and by being funny. Often very funny. One of the things I liked about this book is that Pratchett isn’t very wrapped up in Discworld himself. The characters all speak in a British accent and drink beer. Clich?s are either exploited for humorous gain or thrown entirely out the window, also for humorous gain (my favorite joke is a footnote about an accidental crossbow shot that, rather than hit a bird, drifts a little and misses a squirrel thirty feet away).

Short review then, is that this book is worth reading for the humor and story, if not for the insightful social analysis. On the insightful social analysis front, it has little new to say, but it does bring to the fore a number of topical situations in an extremely abstract way. So abstract, in fact, that it is very difficult to apply what he’s written to anything that happens to be going on. Maybe that’s what Pratchett was going for, I couldn’t say. So wait for it in paperback, or borrow it from someone. Quick read and fun.

It’s now been nearly two weeks since the symposium. I’ve managed to not write about it yet, which is quite an accomplishment. The correct course of action at this point is to vow, at this point, to review my notes and set my thoughts down immediately following my workout at 2000.

While I’m here: It’s time for a reading list update!

1. (Current book) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
2. The Flyers, Noah Adams
3. Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need
4. Cannonball! World’s Greatest Outlaw Road Race, Brock Yates
5. To Engineer is Human, Henry Petroski
6. Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway
7. Life of Pi, Yann Martel

Finished Monstrous Regiment a few days ago. I should talk about that too when I get back.

First, the Squee! book is not a graphic novel, it is just a collection of previous Squee! books all in one place for convenience, plus some other things.

Second, it is probably the most bizarre thing I have seen, with the possible exception of FLCL. Wait, no, FLCL is definitely weirder. Squee! has the notable advantage of being understandable by Americans. It is also much funnier, with a safe amount of self-awareness. There were also lots of miniature interludes in the first half of the book which had me laughing harder than the comic itself.

The second half of the book are random comics, comprising a few short collections. I would say that they were trumped pretty soundly by the Squee! comics, although, “And that, kids, is how I met your mother,” ranks high on the list of best punchlines.

Moving on to Douglas Adams’ posthumous work next. Josh, thanks for the diversion.

Just finished Michener’s Space. It’s a good piece of historical fiction, and I enjoyed reading it. Michener brings together so many disparate characters, from the German engineers to American politicians to astronauts to a man who sells outrageous stories of Martian invasions and calls them truth. While lacking something in tension—the story is a very detached, matter-of-fact narrative for the most part—it is made up for in the rendition of the characters. Well worth reading, though I am not sure if I would care as much for other Michener novels.

My reading list currently stands as follows:

1. The graphic novel Squee!, (edit) Jhonen Vasquez
2. The Salmon of Doubt, Douglas Adams
3. Gone for Soldiers, Jeff Shaara

And books not in my possession that sit nebulously at the end of the queue:

• Whichever Clancy novel follows Debt of Honor
• Rise to Rebellion, Jeff Shaara
• The Glorious Cause, Jeff Shaara
• A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter M. Miller

“In the brief silence that followed, Mott reflected that this good woman had seen space and been repelled by it. As the wonder-machines leaped into the air at Canaveral, probing ever outward, extending the dimensions of the comprehensible universe, she had intentionally contracted the perimiters of her world, making it ever smaller and easier to control. And he concluded that all persons are obligated to wrestle with the universe as they perceive it, and those who are terrified by the prospect retreat to little corners from which they seek to destroy the machines doing the outward probing and the men who manage them.”
—James A. Michener, Space

Though this amply explains the Total Perspective Vortex, it also strikes me as a remarkably powerful sentiment. We are obligated to wrestle with the universe as we perceive it, and more importantly, we must not be scared. That fear leads us only into a denial of truth, which endangers the future of humanity itself.