Running With Scissors

I did not enjoy this book. Which is not to say that it was not well written, nor well thought out, nor that it was unfunny. I simply did not enjoy this book.

It was painful.

As a memoir of a troubled childhood I can understand that the pain that Augusten went through was steady, agonizing, and traumatic. If his focus was to make the readers feel this way as well, then way to go Augusten, you succeeded. You've created a book that is as difficult to read as it was likely to live through.

Arguably the most absurd book I've ever picked up, it is without a doubt the most absurd life I've ever read about. That Augusten is alive today would have been enough of a triumph. That he has maintained a sense of humor about the idiocy he's lived through (abusive drunken father, neglecting delusional mother, abandonment to be raised by his mother's hippie shrink) is startling, as well as highly commendable. Still, he's created a work that made me unbelievably uncomfortable, delving too comfortably into themes like physical, mental, and sexual abuse; abandonment, and worst of all, pedophilia.

Augusten's take on the craziness is often hilarious and provided many moments of out loud laughter. Running with Scissors is definitely engaging and certainly a page turner, if only because you can't help but wonder what new atrocity has bloomed in his life.

Commendable writing? Absolutely. An enjoyable experience? Not in my book.

First Day

I've been accused in the past of pessimistic behavior. I prefer to think that I am simply incredibly observant and decisive in my decision making. Unfortunately people like me tend to see things like the rain before the rainbow.

Still, I'm a realist first and foremost, so I was prepared to see some strange things my first day on my new job at the Coaltion for the Homeless. I didn't believe that I would get to the root of the homeless sitaution in NYC so quickly though.

Simply put, the inmates are running the asylum over here.

The second my email is activated I see that my boss has written an email, ccing me, to a member of our staff. The email states that my co-worker needs to push another staff member for an answer because 'Joe' (a senior staff member) seems to have his thumbs up his ass all day. And this is my way of making this into a gentle paraphrase.

So anyways, what does my co-worker do? He forwards the entire message to 'Joe.' Yeah, my boss is none too pleased about that littel oversight.

So I move on from this humorous little issue and start to become familiar with the database. I notice that we send several hundred direct mail pieces, per month, to the same address. I look at the address and it seems familiar.

That would be because it is the office address for the Coalition.

Turns out we provide homeless people with an address here(sort of like a PO Box), so that they can receive important bills, records, and so that they leave an address for job related correspondence. And it turns out that someone here before me input all of those records into our donor database.

So in essence, we are spending money we bring in (print and postage costs) to ask homeless people to help themselves. We are doing this by mailing letters downstairs to our mailroom by way of the USPS.

And this is all before lunch.

Y: The Last Man

The multitude of comic book movies hitting the cinemas is due to the impressive creativity that has exploded from the comic community in recent years. And of course, Hollywood's theory has always been to adapt rather than create, and thus the boom is born.

One comic that is sure to be adapted is Y: The Last Man. Personally, I think this would make a much better limited HBO series, but that's my impression. Very similar to Carnival, but with the action of a Band of Brothers / From the Earth to the Moon.

Here's how the story goes:

In the summer of 2002, a plague of unknown origin destroys every last sperm, fetus, and fully developed mammal with a Y chromosome - with the exception of amateur escape artist Yorick Brown and his surly male helper monkey Ampersand. This "gendercide" instantaneously exterminates 48% of the global population, or approximately 29 billion men.

Of course, Yorick acts like must of us would, which is not to say he sleeps with every remaining girl, though he does get his share. No, Yorick is not mindful of how important he is, and as the women surrounding him fight for his safety, or his destruction, Yorick does the one thing we all would be stupid enough to do. Set out in search of his true love, an exchange student trapped in Australia.

Some want Yorick to be used and exploited to repopulate the world. Others want to see the end of MANkind. It's these forces, constantly in opposition, that make Y a great read and something to look for in the future.

The Stern Syndrome

You may not work where I do, or as of this afternoon did, the prestigious business school of the spoiled and pampered, known as the NYU Stern School of Business, but that will not stop you from related to a little issue I have these days, known to me as the Stern Syndrome. You can call it whatever you want, Sprint Syndrome, Minolta Madness, or Citigroup chaos, it doesn't diminish the fact that office life sucks and that we, as office workers, are no different from hostages.

To explain...

What is the Stern Syndrome?

The Stern Syndrome, as it has been named, is an offshoot of the well known, “Stockholm Syndrome" which was dubbed for an incident in 1973, where four Swedish hostages held in a bank vault for six days during a robbery became attached to their captors. According to psychologists, the abused bond to their abusers as a means to endure violence.

I have personally experienced, during a period from 2003-2004, a violent exodus of co-workers that has to date seen the elimination of 13 people from positions at the NYU Stern School of Business. According to psychologists, those remaining,like myself, or as we call ourselves ‘the hostages,’ have been forced to bond with our abusers, enduring emotional and physical torture, all in the name of a paycheck.

The Origin

At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, February 10, 2003, I replaced a fellow by the name of Eric Rabbani as a member of the “Annual Giving” team " of the NYU Stern School of Business. "The party has just begun", announced a 30 year old escapee Rabbani sarcastically, as indeed, I have been a part of what I term as a hostage situation for some 563 days, 9 hours, and 51 minutes.

While the Stern situation may not have been of world shattering importance, interviews with escaped hostages yielded surprising results -- results that have been confirmed in numerous other "hostage situations" that have occurred in the Alumni Affairs and Public Affairs departments at Stern. Even though the captives themselves were not able to explain it, they displayed a strange fear of escape from their captors, similar to a bond between a slave and his slave owner, identifying with them, while fearing those who sought to end their captivity, and thus their steady paycheck. The schoolÂ’s location is what gave its name to this mental aberration known as "The Stern Syndrome".

Describe the Characteristics

Long-term psychological study of this and similar hostage situations has defined a fairly clear and characteristic set of symptoms for the Stern Syndrome:

The captives begin to identify with their captors. At least at first this is a defensive mechanism, based on the (often unconscious) idea that the captor will not hurt the captive if he is cooperative and even positively supportive. The captive seeks to win the favor of the captor in an almost childlike way. Some examples can be seen in disgusting displays of kissing ass, volunteering for additional work, or simply by not turning a chainsaw on the highest level of authority available.

The captive often realizes that action taken by his would-be rescuers is very likely to hurt him instead of obtaining his release. Attempts at rescue may turn a presently tolerable situation into a lethal one. This is where fear of where the next paycheck arises. With the gut wrenching feeling that one may not make rent or have medical benefits available to them, the idea comes about that it is safer to remain than to leave.

Long-term captivity builds even stronger attachment to the captor, as he becomes known as a human being with his own problems and aspirations. Particularly in political or ideological situations, longer captivity also allows the captive to become familiar with the captor's point of view and the history of his grievances against authority. He may come to believe that the captor's position is just. This is a frightening occurrence that allows the hostage to excuse abusing behavior, similar to a ‘battered wife’ syndrome seen in abused women. This dangerous scenario finds hostages identifying with thought that lacks intelligence or meaning and backing ideas that are inherently wrong.

The captive seeks to distance himself emotionally from the situation by denial that it is actually taking place. He fancies that "it is all a dream", or loses himself in excessive periods of sleep, or in delusions of being magically rescued. He may try to forget the situation by engaging in useless but time consuming "busy work". This is a common occurrence, whereas hostages can be visually identified by their lack of interest or care, as well as their inability to engage in the necessary bullshit of day-to-day office life.

Observed Strategies for Survival

Victims have been known to concentrate on survival through avoidance of direct, honest reaction to destructive treatment. They become highly attuned to pleasure and displeasure reactions of victimizers. As a result, victims know much about captors, less about themselves. Victims tend to develop psychological characteristics pleasing to captors: dependency, lack of initiative, inability to act, decide, think, etc. These reason are why the “Stern Syndrome” is a major reason for the lack of productivity at the University.

Summation

The Stern Syndrome is not something to be taken lightly, as it is a harbinger of impending doom and misfortune to come. Having beared witness to much horror in the past year, I can only state that denial of terror and anger, and the perception of their victimizers as omnipotent people are dangerous ideas to possess. I have seen intelligent, dedicated, and successful workers chewed up and spit out by the machimediocrity mediocraty. I have seen a system settle for what worked, rather than for what works better. I have experienced compliments given for the wrong reasons, to the wrong people, for a job poorly done. All in the name of kissing ass or rewardingpreviously perviously had.

The concluded theory is that the only healthy strategy for survival is to escape by any means necessary. Which is what I'm thankfully doing today.

Bringing Down the House

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. And sometimes a non-fiction book comes along that tells a true story that is more bizarre and more unbelievable than anything that could spring from an author’s imagination. “Bringing Down the House” is one of those stories.

Debated about its truthfulness since its arrival, this story tells of a group of MIT students that join forces to take millions from major Casinos throughout the world. Using team play, logic and probability, and expert training they dive into a glamorous lifestyle fraught with more danger than they could ever have expected.

The author does a fine job recounting the story through the eyes of one of the team’s Big Players, introducing the team’s orientation, then moving the action quickly to the casinos, not forgetting any of the details of the team’s roller coaster ride. Interestingly for the reader, Mezrich does not forget to delve into the mathematics, the strategy, and how the teammates fit into what character roles. This makes the story, spotlighting blackjack and casino gambling in a way that the uneducated reader can understand and relate to.

This book is a difficult one to put down and one that you will certainly pass along to your friends. Easy to devour in a short time period, it is not simply a quick read, but a good quick read. And it will likely change the way you see casinos and gambling for a long time to come.

Goat

I believe that connections can be made with a book by just about anything. A simple review, even a book jacket is enough to do it. Anything that summons up a spark of interest in a story or subject that you are either curious about or can relate to.

With Goat, by Brad Land, I found myself curious after reading a review in the New York Times. Hoping to be sucked into a gritty story about pledging a fraternity for all the wrong reasons, I soon realized that this would be a book that I could not relate to, even if it was well done.
The story itself can be mezmerizing, with a hip narrative style and plenty of angst, but my interest waned as soon as I connected myself into the story.

Never one to for fraternitys or gangs, I had hoped to gain insight into why many find them so hard to resist. The intoxication of the group mentatlity is one that I understand perhaps only slightly more than the alocoholic intoxication that usually went along with it. I hoped that this novel would help me understand the type of people that I tended to shy away from at school, not reinforce my beliefs even further.

As the novel's protagonist tries to recover from an act of random violence, he follows his younger, self-centered brother, Brett, to Clemson University, and Kappa Sigma. Once there Brett, a brother by blood, acts just as his brothers by vow, betraying him at every chance. Thinking that joining the frat will help him fit in with others and heal, the author endours barbaric hazing rituals of humiliation and intimidation that serve to revive the phobias linked to his earlier abuse.

As the abuse against new pledges ("goats") mounts, I found myself questioning just why people choose this. How can one not question the frat's thinking is the most common thought I had, yet many of the 'goats' who really should be called 'sheep' continue to blindly follow into harms way.
When the inevitable tragedy occurs, it is too late for the reader, as you might be like me, practically calling out for blood so that someone will wake up to what is going on.

I'd like to think Land walked away from this incident more whole and with a stringer sense of self-respect, but even the ending leaves doubt in my mind whether anything aside from heavy books sales can save this person's future.

While I can't argue that the book was readable, speaking to the fears many have of isolation and loneliness, overall I was left wanting more answers and insight from the author. With that in mind, I give in a hesitant recommendation.

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