I remember when I was in high school, my appetite for books was at an all time high. I would buy a few books occasionally since I was on a tight budget but I borrowed a lot of books from friends and I raided the school library and devoured every interesting book I could find.
When I was in college, I felt that I was simply too busy to read books as I was doing way too many things - studying hard to get high grades, leading projects and events for several student organizations, tutoring for extra income, going out with friends, and embracing all the great things that college life had to offer. But when I started working, I rediscovered my love for books mainly because I got a job in a location where there isn't much to do after work.
Now, for my first post for this entry, I decided to write about my favorite bargain bookstore finds. There is a bargain bookstore in a nearby mall where I currently live and it has been one of my favorite go-to places when I have nothing better to do. I have found that this bargain bookstore sometimes have more interesting selections compared to that of popular bookstore chains, and the books are sold at ridiculously low prices too. I have bought quite a lot of books from this bargain bookstore (more than two shoeboxes worth) but for this post, I'm going to write about three of my favorites.
1. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Got it for Php 10
In this book, American journalist Barbara Ehrenreich documents her experience of trying to live the life of a low-wage earner in the US. She travelled to three different states to work on several low-wage jobs: as a waitress in Florida, as a housekeeper in Maine, and as a saleslady in Minnesota. One of the reasons I liked this book so much is that it presented a picture of America that is quite different from the image of prosperity and comfort that I am used to seeing in American movies and TV shows. This book talks about how a growing number of Americans are going through the same struggles that most people in my third-world homeland Philippines are facing: poverty, unemployment and underemployment, low wages vs high cost of living, lack of affordable housing and health care, etc. I found this book memorable because Enrenreich wrote with journalistic insight as well as with a truthfulness that is very raw and human.
One insight from the book that really hit me was, "people working in low-wage jobs cannot be simply considered as unskilled workers." Low-wage or blue-collar jobs often require as much and sometimes even more mental and physical effort as white-collar jobs. So white-collar workers should feel fortunate rather than entitled of the relative abundance and comfort that they get from their jobs.
Scoot Over, Skinny: The Fat Nonfiction Anthology
Edited by Donna Jarrell and Ira Sukrungruang
Got it for Php 20
This book is a collection of nonfiction on the many dimensions of human fatness: physical, personal, social, mental, and spiritual. I found most of the essays, and this anthology as a whole, interesting because it gives a rather holistic portrayal of fatness as a complex and multifaceted human condition. Some of my favorite essays are:
1. "Tight Fits" by Ira Sukrungruang is a chronicle of Sukrungruang's trip to his parent's homeland Thailand and an exploration of the literal and metaphorical implications and consequences of being fat in his struggle to "fit in."
2. "The Man Who Wouldn't Stop Eating" by Atul Gawande gives an account of people suffering from morbid obesity who choose to undergo gastric bypass surgery which they see as their only hope of losing weight.
3. "Fat Guys Kick Ass" by Steven A. Shaw explains why fat guys "run the world."
4. "Big Game Hunters" by Sarah Fenske talks about "hogging" or the practice of guys going out to look for quick hook-ups and one night stands with fat women.
5. "Fat Like Him" by Lori Gottlieb tells the story about a recovering anorexic's love affair with a morbidly obese man.
6. "Fat Lady" by Irvin Yalom talks about how a psychotherapist, while treating a morbidly obese patient, was compelled to examine and evaluate his own personal biases.
7. "Fat Lady Nuding" by Donna Jarrell tells the story of how a fat woman found inclusiveness and acceptance by attending nude parties.
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007
Anthology edited by Richard Preston
Got if for Php 75
This is one of many books from The Best American Writing series which gets published every year. But there is a reason why this book is especially close to my heart. This is the book where I first read about Joan Roughgarden's research. Joan Roughgarden is a transgendered professor of Biology at Stanford University. In her book "Evolution's Rainbow," she challenges Darwin's sexual selection theory which asserts that sex is basically for the purpose of reproduction and so all aspects of sexuality can be explained by this biological need to reproduce. For example, Darwin's theory explains that males have stronger sex drives than females because "sperm are cheap and eggs are expensive." Professor Roughgarden spent a significant amount of time doing research on animal sexual behaviors that are inconsistent with Darwin's sexual selection theory. Of course, an important bulk of this research is on homosexual behavior observed in numerous animal species. It turns out that homosexuality is not only a "human reality," as Hillary Clinton said in a speech, but it is also a much broader biological reality. Professor Roughgarden proposes an explanation for these sexual behaviors that are inconsistent with Darwin's theory: that sexual behaviors like homosexuality exist for the purpose of collaboration and cementing social bonds.
Of course there are many other interesting science essays in this book, two of which are "Cooking for Eggheads" by Patricia Gadsby which is about molecular gastronomy - the scientific study of cooking and food, and "Health Secrets from the Morgue" by Michael Perry which presents insights on health in the context of performing an autopsy.
I think that reading books is such an exciting experience because it is like travelling to new places. I remeber something I read in a Brown University viewbook where it was said that Scheherazade set out on a journey similar to Odysseus' 10-year adventure on his way home. Scheherazade took the same journey without leaving her room because she set out on a journey of the mind by reading a lot of books. She then shared stories from this adventure to the murderous king for 1001 nights until she was able to "bring peace and joy to my [the King's] heart, and peace and joy to my kingdom."
And I think that hunting for books in a bargain bookstore is a similar adventurous journey of discovering intriguing titles you've never heard of and experiencing the incomparable delight when these books surprisingly turn out to be loaded with extraordinary pleasures of the mind.
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