Preview: Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar

First of all, I have to say that Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar is an excellent title. I've seen this book at the bookstore several times and been pretty tempted to pick it up. Other obligations and shiny things have distracted me, though, so I was glad for the chance to read some of this as part of my email book club this week.

Written by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, this book is a light-hearted explanation of Philosophy, which uses jokes to explain big ideas. Or as the blurb says, "Philosophy 101 for those who like to take the heavy stuff lightly." (Find more on the authors' website here.)

From what I read, I wouldn't really call it laugh out loud funny. The humor reminded me of an older era - think Benny Hill and vaudeville. Some of the jokes are bawdy, most of them are kind of corny. Still, the authors' goal wasn't to write a tract on how to be funny, it was to write a readable book on philosophy, and it looks like the succeeded very well on that front. Will you walk away knowing everything there is to know about Spinoza and Kant? No, not by a long shot. But will you have a broader understanding of well-known philosophical concepts? Yes, absolutely.

In some ways, Plato and a Platypus reminded me of Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder. Published in 1996, Sophie's World is by now, I think, used in many Philosophy 101 classes in the world. It's more of a textbook, couched as a story about a young girl learning about who she is through studying philosophy. I enjoyed reading Sophie's World a lot, and thought that both the story and the concepts it explained were fascinating. Plato and a Platypus is, though, much funnier and more light-hearted, so if you want to learn more about philosophy and prefer humorous books, this is the one for you.

Buy Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar on Amazon.
Buy Sophie's World on Amazon.

On The Road

This week's e-mail book club book, is Queen of the Road by Doreen Orion.

From the book jacket:

A pampered Long Island princess hits the road in a converted bus with her wilderness-loving husband, travels the country for one year, and brings it all hilariously to life in this offbeat and romantic memoir.

Doreen and Tim are married psychiatrists with a twist: She's a self-proclaimed Long Island princess, grouchy couch potato, and shoe addict. He's an affable, though driven, outdoorsman. When Tim suggests "chucking it all" to travel cross-country in a converted bus, Doreen asks, "Why can't you be like a normal husband in a midlife crisis and have an affair or buy a Corvette?" But she soon shocks them both, agreeing to set forth with their sixty-pound dog, two querulous cats--and no agenda--in a 340-square-foot bus.

"Queen of the Road" is Doreen's offbeat and romantic tale about refusing to settle; about choosing the unconventional road with all the misadventures it brings(fire, flood, armed robbery, and finding themselves in a nudist RV park, to name just a few). The marvelous places they visit and delightful people they encounter have a life-changing effect on all the travelers, as Doreen grows to appreciate the simple life, Tim mellows, and even the pets pull together. Best of all, readers get to go along for the ride through forty-seven states in this often hilarious and always entertaining memoir, in which a boisterous marriage of polar opposites becomes stronger than ever.

So far, I'm enjoying this one quite a bit and think its pretty funny. It is also, I fear, a look into my future. Here's a little story about my in-laws (who I love):

Many years ago, my father-in-law bought a Unimog that had been converted into a camper. [FYI, a Unimog is a Mercedes-Benz truck originally built as a German missile carrier (or something).] Since then, he has tricked it out with everything you could imagine (including a wind turbine for off-the-grid electricity) and it is one serious RV on steroids. I wish I had a photo of the finished product. Here's a photo of a virgin Unimog:



Even though they are retired, my m-i-l and f-i-l both volunteer and keep busy, so going off for a year isn't in the cards for them. But still, the in-laws, God love 'em, have taken this thing all over, including to Alaska. I don't imagine that this was my m-i-l's first choice for summer vacation, but she's a great sport and this was a dream of my f-i-l's.

And, like father, like son. Though my husband's dream isn't to spend extended periods of time crammed into a truck, cruising the roads of America. No, no. His goal is to some day spend an extended period of time crammed into a boat, sailing the Pacific. We occasionally sail and pretty much every time we do, my husband suggests that we throw it all in for life living aboard a sailboat. In my more delusional moments, I agree, but then I get home, and look at my closet and our bookshelves and I think, I could never live on a boat.

So, if author Doreen Orion and my mother-in-law are any indication, I'll be packing up my belongings and moving to a boat in about twenty years. Yay!


Buy Queen of the Road on Amazon.

Review: Food Books

This week's Email Book Club book (see my previous post here) is Service Included by Phoebe Damrosch. Its about her time working at Per Se, famed chef Thomas Keller's NYC restaurant. From reading the first chapter, I'm intrigued and really excited to read the rest. That's not surprising, though, because I love reading most of those behind-the-scenes food and restaurant books out there.

The Papa Bear of these books (at least for me) is Kitchen Confidential by the one and only Anthony Bourdain. If you haven't read it, I can't imagine why. It is fantastic -- a fun read, great stories, really funny. Go read it now!

Another food book I liked (though its not up there with Kitchen Confidential) is Heat by Bill Buford. The best part of Heat is Mario Batali from the Food Network. The man is clearly crazy. I'd love to meet him.

Email Book Club

In addition to my actual book club, I belong to the Dear Reader email non-fiction book club (sign up here). Every weekday I get a 5-minute portion of a book. By the end of the week, I've usually read the first chapter of the book and have a really good idea of whether or not I'm interested in reading more. This week, I am reading Out of Poverty by Paul Polak. Its about poverty and why traditional approaches to poverty eradication haven't worked. So far, its interesting.

Other books I have read from Dear Reader that I have been really intrigued by include The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodward,  The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee (yes, that is the number 8, its not a typo), The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman (one of my favorite authors already) and Too Far From Home by Chris Jones.