Food Rules: An Eater’s Handbook by Michael Pollan (New York: Penguin, 2009) Michael Pollan might be saving more lives than the FDA but he is dancing around a big issue: the role of multinational corporations in poisoning America’s food supply. In his new book, Food Rules, Pollan argues that highly processed foods – “edible foodlike substances” – are a leading cause of chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease among … Read More »

How many years will it take before “ebooks” overtake “dead tree books” in popularity among book readers? No more libraries. No more bookstores. Ebooks are digital books that can be downloaded onto wireless reading devices – most notably, Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad – from a variety of online retailers. Younger generations will make the switch without a second thought – especially after schools begin adopting ebooks to save money on textbooks. Travelers … Read More »

Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street by Jim Wallis (New York: Howard Books , 2010)   IN HIS NEW BOOK ON THE ECONOMIC CRISIS, JIM WALLIS argues that the division between the rich and poor is leading us toward a new Great Depression. He backs up this claim with some staggering statistics: – The average American is slowly sinking in a quicksand of personal debt. In 2006, 173 million … Read More »

PETALUMANS LOVE TO READ. And we love to read together. In book groups. There must be twenty or thirty book groups in town. Maybe more.* A few are public. Most are private. It’s next to impossible to get into a private book group. They’re more selective about new members than a blind bride picking out a wedding dress. That may be the reason some have survived for decades. THIS MONTH four … Read More »

Howard Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States,” has died at age 87. His book made a strong impression on me as a young seminarian in the 1980s when I was involved in a movement to end genocide in Central America. It told the history of America from the victim’s side of the story – Native Americans, African slaves, Chinese immigrants, women and low-wage workers – which meant … Read More »

Mary Roach is a woman of extraordinary candor, warmth and kindness.  It’s impossible to gain a full appreciation of her unique wit, spontaneity and insights into the human condition in a printed interview.  For a fuller portrait of the author, I recommend watching a lively interview of her at Fora.tv: http://fora.tv/2008/04/15/Mary_Roach_In_Conversation_with_Beth_Lapides Mary Roach was born in New Hampshire. After graduating from Wesleyan University in 1981, she moved with friends to San Francisco where she began … Read More »

Writing with Intent: Essays, Reviews, Personal Prose: 1983-2005 by Margaret Atwood (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2004) The contrast in this week’s news between the billions in bonuses paid to Wall Street financiers who benefited nicely from government handouts of taxpayer money and the suddenly exacerbated misery of millions of impoverished Haitians was unbearable. What is the text message number for AHH! The anger of ordinary citizens hasn’t risen to a fever pitch … Read More »

Are right-wing Christians working to establish a theocracy in America?   This argument is made by many social critics including Chris Hedges (American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America) and Jeff Sharlet (The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power).  But nowhere in literature has the specter of religious totalitarianism in America been more frighteningly presented than in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. This month I … Read More »

Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel by Thomas Keating (New York: Continuum, 2009) The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism by Andrew Harvey (New York: Hay House, 2009)   It’s so tempting during the holiday season to offer advice on the promise and perils of consumerism in leading us down a path of certain disappointment. The tireless machines of capitalism – which have even occupied the former bastions of communism … Read More »

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (New York: Random House, 2009)  Book reviewers have agendas.  Those who are assigned books to review by newspaper and magazine editors are paid to provide readers with a well-crafted analysis of a book’s merits and deficiencies. Their judgments – especially in the case of a successful author like John Irving – are often harsh or even vicious. They’re more than willing to piss off … Read More »